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=ePortfolios at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee= Matthew Russell (Center for Instructional and Professional Development) University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

**Background**
The University of Wisconsin System sponsored a pilot project for the D2L e-portfolio product, starting in January 2009. The goal of this pilot was to explore the newly developed ePortfolio tool by Desire2Learn, the UWS centrally supported Learning Management System. The direct integration of the D2L eP product with the LMS offers advantages in portfolio building and easy access by faculty mentors and students. It was determined that this product could offer additional advantage in familiar interface and availability to all students who are users of D2L.

**The Project**
Originally, the Office of Learning Technology Development sponsored the cost of the 1500 pilot user licenses. The Learn@UW utility offered free support of the software as well as disk space usage during the pilot. A decision was made to host the D2L eP product fully integrated with the production Learning Environment locally. This provides a full experience for users who has access to their current D2L courses, as well as the Competency and Rubrics modules if desired. The pilot was originally planned for one year. It was extended for free (no additional cost for licenses) for an additional 18 months, allowing more thorough evaluation of the product by the participating campuses. There was a regular exchange of issues, suggestions and feedback to D2L from the Learn@UW support team and the participating campuses. Feedback was collected from both faculty and students during the pilot.

Thanks to the success of the pilot, the University of Wisconsin System adopted the ePortfolio tool for the entire system. As of June of 2011, any campus can employ the ePortfolio tool inside D2L. At UWM, the School of Education and College of Nursing have both adopted the D2L ePortfolio tool.

**Campus Participation**

 * **UW-Milwaukee** – since January 2009
 * **UW-Stevens Point** – since January 2009
 * **UW-Colleges** – since January 2009
 * **UW-Whitewater** – since January 2009
 * **UW-Madison** – since January 2009
 * **UW-Green Bay** – since June 2010

With questions, at UWM or elsewhere, or to make comments on this page, feel free to contact me at either russelmr@uwm.edu. I have given presentations around the state, at national conferences, and in online seminars with other universities, and I am always happy to answer any general questions about ePortfolios from any interested parties.

//**What are ePortfolios? Why should students make them?**//

A portfolio is commonly a physical carrying case used for porting paper-based materials, though perhaps more importantly, the collection is often a current project or a representative collection of a person's work. Being portable, the artist can retrieve or select materials from the case at any given time and present the work to different people or to small groups in the context of the situation. Think similarly now about this concept and attribute it to what's called an electronic portfolio, or ePortfolio.

An ePortfolio is typically thought of as an organized collection of digital media files that represent one's work or achievements over time. These files can be text-based writing samples, audio or video clips, photographs, presentations, and projects. One key difference is that the files, or documents, are stored as digital data accessible on the web. A web-based ePortfolio can also be designed and made accessible to a specific audience, to peers, professors, advisers, potential employers, or to anyone on the web. Another key attribute is that the owner of an ePortfolio can write, or record, thoughtful reflections on the material as a matter of learning, by taking one's experience more completely into account. Other people can also comment on a person's work, providing multiple perspectives on the material.

//**Individual Courses at UWM:**// There are a number of individual courses, in face-to-face, blended, and online formats, from a variety of disciplines using the ePortfolio tool at UWM. Here is a sample of the disciplines:
 * Anthropology (blended course)
 * Architecture (online course)
 * Art (Digital Art, face-to-face course)
 * Curriculum and Instruction
 * English as a Second Language
 * Business Writing
 * Freshman Seminar
 * Japanese
 * Comparative Literature/Translation (online course)
 * Nursing and Clinical Lab Sciences
 * Library Internships


 * //Program-based Projects (Proposed and In-Progress)//**: UWM is beginning to use the ePortfolio tool to meet certain program-level requirements.
 * Biological Science Program Assessment
 * Business Administration - Masters in Nonprofit Leadership Program Assessment
 * Administrative Leadership
 * Graphic Design Portfolio Review
 * Dance (Professional Development and archives of Student Performance)

//**ePortfolio: Suggested Best Practices**//
 * ePortfolio use should begin slowly and with a spirit of experimentation
 * ePortfolios should anticipate meeting students’ academic and professional needs
 * ePortfolios must meet explicit course learning objectives
 * ePortfolios must be easy to use and grade for both students and faculty
 * ePortfolios should have the capability to capture more than UWM academic experience
 * ePortfolio use will increase when integrated with other applications or D2L tools
 * All ePortfolio work must be tied directly to course assessment items!
 * ePortfolio use and support improves with consistent systematic planning and familiarity with the tool

ePORTFOLIO RESOURCES:

 * [|Beginning to Design ePortfolio Assignments for Courses]: A brief guide to considering how to integrate ePortfolios into course work, assessment, and evaluation
 * [|Progress Report for the D2L ePortfolio Pilot] (August 2009)
 * [|What are ePortfolios and how can they be used?]Presentation to the Online Program Council (Nov 09)
 * "An e-portfolio is a purposeful aggregation of digital items – ideas, evidence, reflections, feedback etc, which “presents” a selected audience with evidence of a person’s learning and/or ability." (Sutherland and Powell, 2007)
 * [|Using Reflective Activities in ePortfolios] (February 2010, ePortfolio Showcase, Madison, WI)

//**Tutorials and Resources for D2L ePortfolios at UWM**//
 * [|ePortfolio Tutorial Presentation: Artifacts, Collections, and Reflections]
 * [|ePortfolio Tutorial Presentation: Presentations]
 * [|ePortfolio Tutorial Presentation: Sharing Items]
 * [|ePortfolio Quick Guide for Students (Artifacts and Presentations only]
 * [|ePortfolio Quick Guide for Students: Posting an ePortfolio Presentation to a Discussion Forum in D2L]

//**Examples of ePortfolios (UWM)**//
 * Composition (Research Project) [|Sample ePortfolio Presentation 1]
 * Composition (Research Project) [|Sample ePortfolio Presentation 2]
 * Art History [|Sample ePortfolio Presentation 3]
 * Comparative Literature (Reflection Journal) [|Sample ePortfolio Presentation 4]
 * Graphic Design (Portfolio) [|Sample ePortfolio Presentation 5]
 * Nursing (Summative ePortfolio) [|Sample ePortfolio Presentation 6]


 * //ePortfolio Rubrics & Use in Assessment//**
 * [|ePortfolio Assessment Tips (UW-Stout)]
 * [|Assessment Strategies and Questions for Developing ePortfolio use (UWM LTC)]
 * [|Supporting Your Students in Using ePortfolios (UWM LTC)]
 * [|ePortfolio Rubric (UW-Stout)]
 * [|ePortfolio Rubric (ePortfolio Portal)]
 * [|ePortfolio Rubric (Penn State, Science-based)]
 * [|ePortfolio Rubric (Resume Assessment)]
 * [|ePortfolio Rubric (Vandervelde)]
 * [|Association of American Colleges and University Rubric Page]
 * [|Assessing an Economics Programme (use of ePortfolios for program-level assessment)]


 * //General Resources//**
 * [|Dr. Helen Barrett Electronic Portfolio page] Dr. Barrett is widely regarded as one of the forerunners in modeling the use of electronic portfolios in higher education
 * [|EDUCAUSE ePortfolio Resources] Listing of articles and resources on ePortfolios from EDUCAUSE
 * [|MERLOT ePortfolio Portal] (Includes information for additional colleges/universities using ePortfolios, an assignment database and showcase)
 * [|ePortfolios in California State University system]
 * [|Portland State University and ePortfolios for General Education]
 * [|CSU Day of ePortfolio Planning] (includes video links of presentations)
 * [|ePortfolio Portal (UK)] and their [|Article Database]
 * [|LaGuardia Community College ePortfolio Portal]: Widespread ePortfolio use and resources
 * [|Penn State ePortfolios]
 * [|AAEEBL (Association for Authentic, Experiential ane Evidence-Based Learning)]: Organization supporting ePortfolio use


 * //Articles, Presentations, and Assignment Ideas//**
 * [|LTC ePortfolio Poster Session Slides (Educause, 2009, Denver, CO)]
 * [|"The Sticky ePortfolio System: Tackling Challenges & Identifying Attributes"] (Jafari, Educause Review, July/August 2004)
 * [|"Reflection, Revision, and Assessment in First-year Composition ePortfolios"] (University of Georgia Cohort, July 20, 2007)
 * [|"Web-Based Portfolios: A Vehicle for Examining Prospective Elementary Teachers’ Developing Understandings of TeachingScience"] (Zembaul-Saul, Haefner, Avraamidou, Severs, and Dana, JSTE 13(4), 2002)
 * [|"Scaffolding Reflection and Articulation of Scientific Explanations in a Data-Rich, Project-Based Learning Environment: An Investigation of Progress Portfolio"] (Land and Zembal-Saul, ETR&D, 51(4), 2003)
 * [|"Managing Online Discussions with a Participation Portfolio"] (John Fritz, UMBC)
 * [|"Effective Practice with ePortfolios"] (JISC, UK)
 * [|"E-Portfolios as a Hiring Tool: Do Employers Really Care?"] (Ward and Moser, Educause Quarterly, Nov 4 2008)
 * [|"Implementing Electronic Portfolios: Benefits, Challenges, and Suggestions"] (Meyer and Latham, Educause Quarterly, Nov 1, 2008)
 * [|"Extending the Portfolio Model"] (Greenberg, Educause Review, July/August 2004)
 * [|"The Art of Putting Together a Design Book"] (Interview with Nomi Altabef on online ePortfolios for artists)
 * [|"Electronic Portfolios"] (Presentation to Visual Art Practicum Course, Matthew Russell, UWM)

//**ePortfolio Survey Instrument**//
 * UWM ePortfolio Survey