Choosing an e-Portfolio System
There are four options regarding choice of software:
your current VLE may have such a tool
there are stand-alone commercial products available
open source products are being produced by some JISC projects (examples are ePET and PETAL which is based on the Open Source Portfolio Initiative)
or you may wish to develop the software yourself
If you choose a commercial product that is independent of your VLE you should check that the product complies with standards in order to enable interoperability with your VLE and other institutional systems.
Whatever route you take, we advise that you carry out an investigation and analysis before designing your system in order to ensure that your e-portfolio system meets all the requirements of all stakeholders. Generic guidance on system selection is available from our infoKit on System Selection. A useful reference report is Developing and Implementing a Methodology for Reviewing e-Portfolio Products, Ward and Richardson, The Centre for Recording Achievement.
A multi-disciplinary approach involving all stakeholders is essential to elicit your system requirements. If you fail to do this, then it is probable that your students and staff will not use the system to full advantage or that your system will not meet their requirements. Involving learners in the early stages will have benefits. For example, if they are digital natives then they may view systems and especially interfaces differently to you, also the learner should be at the centre of an e-portfolio and it is easy to forget this if there are no learners involved in the implementation. A clear set of requirements, including the goals for the project and pedagogic model of e-portfolio, will go a long way to a successful implementation. Some current systems may not meet all of your requirements but as this is a rapidly changing area it is worth taking time in choosing your system. You may also have to accept that in a few years' time, there may be functionality available that was unanticipated.
There are some considerations that you may not immediately think of:
Learner Information Package (LIP): 'LIP is designed to allow information about learners, including their progress to date and awards received, to be transferred between different software applications'. You may find it useful to download the briefing paper.
The Bologna Agreement: One aspect of this agreement is that 'in order to ensure student mobility through the transferability of their achievements, a credit system similar to ECTS shall be launched; credits shall also be obtainable in non-HE contexts such as lifelong learning'. You will need to take this agreement into account when writing your e-portfolio system requirements.
Further information is available from http://www.hefce.ac.uk/partners/world/bol/.Also ministers of the 25 EU member States agreed to some principles relating to lifelong learning and these can be applied to portfolios. These principles were put into a policy covering individual entitlements, obligations of stakeholders, confidence and trust, credibility and legitimacy.
As with any new system, institutional support is vital, both managerial and functional. Integration of the e-portfolio into the academic programme is one method of sustaining its use; encouraging learners and tutors to view the e-portfolio as embedded, as a natural part of the learning process.
