ePortfolios for All: A Roadmap for Success

Abstract

A 3-pronged approach to enhance student learning, development and eventual employability is proposed in this application. Different stakeholders of student learning will be involved in different aspects of the project. Firstly, a repository of both general and discipline specific ePortfolio templates will be developed for immediate adoption and customisation by students. The discipline specific ePortfolio templates will serve as a 'roadmap' to guide first-to-final-year students to achieve programme outcomes and become ideal CityU graduates. In addition to generic information, support resources and services being embedded or linked in the templates, faculty members from respective disciplines will be encouraged to add more substantial directions and suggestions to guide students to identify the CityU Ideal Graduate's attributes, programme outcomes, professional standards and benchmarks. There will be more instructions and tips to help students plan and accomplish goals systematically, effectively and strategically. Thus apart from official information about programmes and courses articulated in Forms 2a and 2b, a more user-centric approach can be used, via the discipline specific ePortfolio templates, to help students to identify how to achieve outcomes through emphasising whole person development. Secondly, we aim to work directly with and for the students to publicise the uses and benefits of ePortfolios. Interest will be raised by a series of promotional campaigns with an emphasis on the value of developing and using ePortfolios. Regular training workshops will be held on: a) the concept of ePortfolios, b) the technical skills needed to create an ePortfolio, and c) how to present oneself to a potential employer. Students will be encouraged to use ePortfolios to set goals, plan, record, reflect and present their development and achievements. Thirdly, we will collaborate with teachers and coordinators of co-curricular activities to promote reflection as a critical skill for learning and self development. As the goal of achieving an ePortfolio culture needs to involve the whole university community, a number of teachers will be encouraged to develop their own professional portfolios. ePortfolio workshops for staff will be arranged to guide teachers and coordinators of co-curricular activities in this endeavour. It is envisaged that the participants will be able to make use of their newly acquired skills to promote reflection in teaching and developmental activities. Simultaneously, investigation of the use and value of ePortfolios will be conducted in order to identify their effectiveness in promoting active, reflective and effective learning, personal development and career preparation. Thus, there will be an on-going data collection process to review and adjust the action plan.