Online Portfolio

Online portfolio is easier to access, easier and faster to deliver, and is preferred by employers. The online portfolio is also available to a wider audience.

What is Online portfolio?

Online portfolio

An Online portfolio, also known as an digital portfolio, is a collection of online evidence assembled and managed by a user, usually on the Web. Such electronic evidence may include inputted text, electronic files, images, multimedia, blog entries, and hyperlinks. Online portfolio s are both demonstrations of the user's abilities and platforms for self-expression, and, if they are online, they can be maintained dynamically over time. Some Online portfolio applications permit varying degrees of audience access, so the same portfolio might be used for multiple purposes.

An online portfolio can be seen as a type of learning record that provides actual evidence of achievement. Learning records are closely related to the Learning Plan, an emerging tool that is being used to manage learning by individuals, teams, communities of interest, and organizations. To the extent that a Personal Learning Environment captures and displays a learning record, it also might be understood to be an online portfolio.

Students have been taught to create digital identities using presentation software or tools to create web pages. More recently the use of virtual learning environments (VLEs) in schools and universities has led to an increased activity in the creation of e-portfolios for a variety of reasons. Most of these online portfolios, however, are retained within the VLE and are not easily accessed outside the VLE. This results in problems of exporting data and related interoperability issues. An alternative approach is to use a system externally hosted to any institution. This permits transition through the various stages of education and employments and even into retirement.

E-portfolios, like traditional portfolios, can facilitate students' reflection on their own learning, leading to more awareness of learning strategies and needs. Results of a comparative research, by M. van Wesel and Prop, between paper based portfolios and online portfolios in the same setting, suggest use of an online portfolio leads to better learning outcomes.

Types

There are three main types of online portfolios, although they may be referred to using different terms:
developmental (e.g., working),
reflective (e.g., learning), and
representational (e.g., showcase).

A developmental online portfolio is a record of things that the owner has done over a period of time, and may be directly tied to learner outcomes or rubrics. A reflective online portfolio includes personal reflection on the content and what it means for the owner's development. A representational online portfolio shows the owner's achievements in relation to particular work or developmental goals and is, therefore, selective. When it is used for job application it is sometimes called Career online portfolio.

The three main types may be mixed to achieve different learning, personal, or work-related outcomes with the e-portfolio owner usually being the person who determines access levels.

Usage

Today, online portfolio are gaining popularity in:

Schools
Higher education
Continuing professional development
Job applications/professional advertisements
Therapy groups
Assessment
Accreditation
Recognition of prior learning (RPL)

Some online portfolio can be used for presentations, a number of different assignments and most popularly, class studies. Others may be used within an education setting for assessment and accreditation, such as an institutional online portfolio.

An Institutional online portfolio is a multimedia Web site designed to help document and organize a college or university's story, goals, and standards. It can foster a depth and breadth of connections among other institutions as well as within the institution itself, its programs, and its constituents and can provide an efficient means to reinforce shared visions and commitments to its mission.

A major use of online portfolio is for the assessment of National Vocational Qualifications [NVQ]. A number of providers enable candidates to build portfolios which can be accessed by nominated assessors and verifiers from any internet access point. The online portfolio does not make the gaining of the internationally recognised qualification easier, but it does make the whole process much more cost-effective.

online portfolio are supporting all components of good RPL practice through effective evidence capture and validation; by establishing linkages to existing forms of evidence, and by complimenting the conversational style of good RPL process through regular asynchronous dialogue.

In the context of the RPL assessment process, the online portfolio is able to streamline evidence identification and validation, and enable assessors to effectively make judgments about the authenticity of evidence when it is verified through existing legitimised sources, such as Student Management Systems (SMS) or Learning Management Systems (LMS).

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