UCalgary ePortfolio

UCalgary ePortfolio is your personal flexible digital space for reflecting, documenting, representing, collaborating, and sharing your learning. An ePortfolio is a collection of evidence that can help mark the significant stages in your life as a lifelong learner. You can decide what to collect here such as documents, graphics, audio files, videos, presentations, course work, etc. But these collections are much more than a bunch of stuff. It’s about organizing what you collect to show a process of learning over a period of time. An ePortfolio is a digital repertoire that can relate to your participation in specific academic fields or experiences outside of your academic career.

Why should I create an ePortfolio?

Creating an ePortfolio makes the process of your learning visible. It can prompt you to reflect on learning, ponder over what is important and identify possible gaps between your goals and achievement. You decide what items you want to include in your ePortfolio, how you want to organize them, and who you want to share them with.

And it is fun.

Reflection is an important part of this process. ePortfolio will provide you with the space to involve yourself in the process of discovering, understanding and communicating learning. The value of creating an ePortfolio lies in your ability to actively engage with your thought process and ask yourself reflective questions such as:

  • What have I learned?
  • Why did I learn? / Why is it important to learn?
  • Has my learning been connected and coherent?
  • Is my learning relevant, applicable, practical?

Over time, your reflective practice will help create a meaningful foundation in which your ePortfolio can thrive and eventually present a powerful showcase of your knowledge, skills, competencies, and experience.

How should I use an ePortfolio?

There are many ways to make the most out of your ePortfolio. But before counting all the different ways, it all boils down to your purpose for creating one. Having a specific reason for why you decide to create an ePortfolio will help you understand which items best demonstrate your learning. ePortfolios can be created for a variety of purposes, some of which include:

  • demonstrating professional growth and a commitment to lifelong learning
  • collecting different assessment items to be used as evidence of learning or progress
  • creating a repository to store artifacts of learning to revisit student, staff, or faculty members’ work
  • showcasing collections that align with specific competencies
  • facilitate career development

4 Steps for creating an ePortfolio

Collect
Collecting, saving, and organizing artifacts from programs of study, courses, and individual learning experiences.
Select
Using a critical framework to choose the artifacts that best serve as evidence of learning and development.
Reflect
Reflecting, in a structured way, on how the evidence that has been selected demonstrates an evolution in learning.
Connect
Identifying points of connection across the artifacts and reflections for the purpose of creating a polished summary.
Reference: E-Portfolios: Best Practices for Use in Higher Education, Compiled by Dr. Robin Alison Mueller, Educational Development Unit

Resources

Academic Resources
Additional ePortfolio Resources

Examples
    • ePortfolio Coach: This site was developed by Mohammad Moravvej, a PhD candidate in Schulich School of Engineering (SSE), University of Calgary. This site enables students and professors at the Schulich School of Engineering (SSE) to use ePortfolio tools to enhance the student learning experience.
    • Mohammad Moravvej’s ePortfolio: A personal ePortfolio site, created by Mohammad Moravvej, a PhD Candidate at University of Calgary. This site is a great example for all students, particularly senior undergraduate and graduate students, who are interested in documenting their learning and experience.
    • Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning, Educational Development Unit

Questions? Please email: tiapps@ucalgary.ca