Brandon Leavell

4/1/2019
ETEC 424

Folio Thinking

In the modern day, most people have ditched the usage of traditional portfolios and are

now utilizing ePortfolios. However, some people may not recognize the unique differences

between a traditional portfolio and an ePortfolio. Essentially, traditional portfolios are a

collection of printed work, whereas an ePortfolio encompasses a collection of work and files that

are stored online. Traditional portfolios have many disadvantages such as the documents being

fragile, easy to lose, challenging to update on a consistent basis, and it is a tedious process to

reproduce the work. On the contrary, an ePortfolio has many benefits such as being safely stored

online, easily accessible by teachers and students alike, easy distribution methods, and it is

simple to update. In addition, ePortfolios give students the option to include a wide variety of file

types such as texts, videos, pictures, hyperlinks, and much more.

The utilization of ePortfolios have many positive benefits for learning and assessment of

student performance. Within the idea of assessments, there are two different types: assessment of

learning and assessment for learning. Assessments of learning “involves looking at assessment

information at the end of the teaching and learning process to rank students’ achievement levels

against a standard” (Siedlecki, 2012). Therefore, this will include students taking standardized

tests and comparing their scores against other students on a district or national level. On the

contrary, assessment for learning is used to “assess a student’s comprehension and understanding

of a skill or lesson during the learning and teaching process” (Bennett, 2017). One key benefit of

assessment for learning is that it gives teachers valuable insight for configuring ways to modify

or adjust their instructional strategy. Some other great benefits are that it helps teachers monitor

student progress and it also helps determine what students might be at-risk.
Brandon Leavell
4/1/2019
ETEC 424

Thankfully, utilizing ePortfolios can address both assessment of learning and assessment

for learning in a few ways. To address the assessment of learning, ePortfolios are able to be

graded by teachers and then the teachers can take the scores of all students and compare them

with the entire class, with other course sections in the school, or the same course on a national

level. In addition, teachers can utilize assessment of learning to compare student achievements

with aligning to the course learning goals and objectives. To address the assessment for learning,

teachers are able to access students’ ePortfolios at any given time to monitor their progress, see

who in the class may be struggling, and to provide students an opportunity to critique the course,

which will give the teacher valuable insight as to how they can modify and further enhance the

instruction for future classes. In addition, ePortfolios “allow students to select their best work

and make specific decisions about what they share with others” (Assessing with ePortfolios,

n.d.). This creates more of a learning experience as it requires students to think more about what

pieces of work to upload. Unlike ePortfolios for assessment of and for learning, viewing grades

or transcripts only provides a number and it does not give teachers much valuable insight or

depth to what is really going on.

In regards to ePortfolios providing a means to document learning “lifelong and lifewide”,

one way I believe that ePortfolios support these attributes are by giving students the online

records they need to use in the future, such as in their career fields. In addition, the practice of

using ePortfolios promote students engaging in self-assessment strategies as they progress.

Therefore, these affordances are important for ePortfolio assessments as students are involved in

real world contexts and develop lifelong learning skills along the way.
Brandon Leavell
4/1/2019
ETEC 424

References

Assessing with ePortfolios. (n.d.). Retrieved February 26, 2019, from

https://teaching.unsw.edu.au/assessing-eportfolios

Bennett, J. (2017, December 8). Assessment FOR Learning vs. Assessment OF Learning.

Retrieved February 26, 2019, from

https://www.classroomassessments.com/blog/assessment-for-learning-vs.-assessment-of-

learning

Siedlecki, J. (2012, May 10). Education testing: Assessment OF learning versus assessment FOR

learning. Retrieved February 26, 2019, from

https://www.msdf.org/blog/2012/05/education-testing-assessment-of-learning-versus-

assessment-for-learning/
Brandon Leavell
4/1/2019
ETEC 424

Responses

Response to Bailey Arthur:

E-portfolios are definitely a great useful tool for teachers to assess student learning and

achievement progress over time. Also, they are indeed helpful in increasing student knowledge

of utilizing technology in various ways. I am not currently aware of many teachers using e-

portfolios and I certainly did not have teachers use them in my high school days, but I think more

teachers should use them in the future. Not only are e-portfolios useful for assessing students

learning progress but it is also helpful for teacher reflection and self-assessment to see if they

need to change their ways of instruction. Overall, your post was detailed, concise, and I enjoyed

reading it.

Response to Tracie Quintero:

I like how you stated the benefits of students using e-portfolios and the teacher's benefits from

using it. E-portfolios are not only great for students learning how to use technology and tracking

their progress, but it also teaches them how to self-assess, organize, and manage their work

which is going to be valuable to them in their future careers. Having an e-portfolio allows

students to be in control of what they want to include for their work to showcase to others. Also,

obtaining feedback on e-portfolios will allow students to be creative in how they make

adjustments to their work. Finally, I agree that it is a great idea for teachers to give students a

rubric to work off of so they know what the criteria is for the grading on the e-portfolio.

Response to Joni Miller:

Brandon Leavell
4/1/2019
ETEC 424

I like that you distinguished the differences between portfolios and e-portfolios and it was a great

way to open the discussion post. Clearly, the benefits from using e-portfolios outweigh that of a

standard portfolio, as e-portfolios have very easy access to retrieve, edit, and you do not have to

worry about losing the files if they are online. Moreover, you did a great job showcasing the

differences between assessment of learning and assessment for learning. As future educators,

using e-portfolios for assessment of learning will be a valuable tool to help us in our careers.