E-portfolios: Using Technology to Enhance and Assess Educational Technology Outcomes

The shift from paper portfolios to e-portfolios has arrived in educational institutions worldwide. This study investigates e-portfolio systems as a means of improving performance-centered assessment, enriching students’ learning experiences and documenting the students’ progress and achievements. The current study reveals the experience of implementing a course-level framework for e-portfolios and an approach taken in initiating student electronic portfolios in the Department of Educational Technology (DET) at Ajman University of Science and Technology, UAE. Data was obtained in several ways, including Likert scale responses and interviews with the participants; students’ journals and final reports; notes from the Practicum site supervisor and the DET lab technician; and analysis of the electronic portfolio product. The work and responses of the Practicum students were compared for three consecutive Practicum classes. Analysis of the results showed that developing formative and summative portfolios fluctuated extensively between the three Practicum classes of DET graduates, as did the outcomes. In spite of this fact, the findings suggested that the use of e-portfolios could serve as an influential learning and assessment tool when driven by a clear understanding of the desired outcome and the specific skills to be assessed, and when sufficiently mentored, peer-reviewed, and based on sensible principles.