Leveraging the ePortfolio for Integrative Learning

Book excerpt: The fruit of the authors’ more than 15 years of using and writing about ePortfolios in general education and disciplinary programs and courses, this book is a comprehensive and practical guide to the use of the ePortfolio as a pedagogy that facilitates the integrative learning that is a central goal of higher education.Faculty and administrators of programs using ePortfolios can use this guide to help their students work individually on an ePortfolio or as part of a class or program requirement. Readers will discover through examples of student portfolios and targeted exercises how to assist students in making their learning visible to themselves, their peers, their instructors and their future employersWhile interest in ePortfolios has exploded—because they provide an easier and more comprehensive ways to assess student learning than traditional portfolios, and because they have the potential to transformatively develop students’ ability to connect and apply their knowledge—faculty and administrators all too often are disappointed by the lackluster ePortfolios that students submit. Reynolds and Patton demonstrate how systematically embedding practices in the classroom that engage students in integrative learning practices dramatically improves outcomes. The authors describe easy to use and practical strategies for faculty to incorporate integrative ePortfolios in their courses and curricula, and create the scaffolding to develop students’ skills and metacognition.The book opens by outlining the underlying learning theory and the key concepts of integrative learning and by describing the purpose, structure and implementation of ePortfolios. Subsequent sections cover classroom practices and assignments to help students understand themselves as learners; make connections between course content, their personal lives, and to the curriculum; bridge theory to practice; and consider issues of audience and communication and presentation in developing their portfolios. The book goes on to cover technological issues and assessment, with a particular emphasis on the use of rubrics; and concludes with explicated examples of ePortfolios created in a first-year program, ePortfolios created by graduating students, career-oriented ePortfolios, and lifelong ePortfolios.For both experienced faculty and administrators, and readers just beginning to use ePortfolios, this book provides a framework and guidance to implement them to their fullest potential.