An e-portfolio: A learning and assessment tool or an additional burden for students?

Maor, D. (2011) An e-portfolio: A learning and assessment tool or an additional burden for students? In: 20th Annual Teaching Learning Forum, 1-2 February 2011, Edith Cowan University, Perth.

Abstract

The goal of the use of e-portfolio is for students to demonstrate their learning over the semester or over a period of time in an authentic and interactive way. In this particular case, during and following an intense one-week course on e learning, students were required to describe their learning through the e-portfolio experience. These requirements provided students opportunities to develop new skills in using IT, skills of engagement with others, reflection on self and peers' work and this enabled a new way of assessment. The results were unique individual portfolios that required clear criteria to maintain equitable judgments on students' engagement and development of learning skills.

By using e-portfolio the assessment became part of the learning process. The questions that will be discussed in this presentation are: 1. To what extent the e-portfolio became part of the learning process or was it an additional burden for the students? And 2. To what extent the e-portfolio became a satisfactory tool for assessment according to students' and teachers' perspectives? Exploring these questions provides insight into different ways of assessing students' learning within a tertiary context.