The ePortfolio Process

"Collect, Select, Reflect, Publish"
Taken from the Penn State e-Portfolio Site

Penn State University describes the ePortfolio process as"Collect, Select, Reflect, Publish," a fitting slogan for the steps involved in creating the online representation of an individual's work and thoughts. Each step in the process is a crucial part of the development of an ePortfolio.

The first step, Collect, is the process of gathering evidence of academic, professional, or personal growth; projects from classes, work from internships, certifications or commendations, and work from co-curricular activities are all examples of evidence. Evidence comes in many forms and many formats, but for an ePortfolio, a piece of evidence must be in a format accessible on the Web. This step also involves the preparation or translation of evidence into a Web-ready format such as PDF (Portable Document Format), Microsoft Word, JPEG, etc.

Second is Select; this step involves examination of a collected body of evidence and the selection of those pieces of evidence that are most representative of an individual's work. Even though most work represents some aspect of an individual's thoughts and growth, not all pieces of evidence are appropriate for an ePortfolio or for the Web. This is an important step and cannot be skipped; an ePortfolio should not inundate the viewer with redundant evidence, but neither should it under-represent its creator. This step and the one after it, Reflect, also involve the actual creation of an ePortfolio using the IC Web Profiler.

Reflect is the most personal part of the ePortfolio process; this step involves reflection and discussion of what an individual has learned. An ePortfolio should not be just a collection of work and evidence. It should also contain evidence of academic, intellectual, and personal growth. It is important to not only present hard evidence of work, but to also simultaneously present the lessons learned or the growth acheived through the completion of the work presented. An ePortfolio isn't just about what has been done; it is about what has been learned.

Finally is the step Publish. This is the process of posting an ePortfolio to the Web server, making it accessible to the Ithaca College community or to the Web-viewing public. However, this is not a purely technical process, as careful thought must be given to the intended audience of an ePortfolio, and the potential impact of the evidence presented.