E-portfolios show knowledge, skills, growth

BOWLING GREEN, O.—A student's portfolio may look good on paper but it may be even better in pixels. Electronic portfolios are gaining popularity among college students as a way to show prospective employers, as well as family and peers, what they've learned and how they're applying it.

One such student is Brian Maxwell at Bowling Green State University, which is among the leaders nationally in adopting the technology. Maxwell, who graduated magna cum laude in May with a bachelor's degree in music, used his e-portfolio to secure a spot in a training course for teachers of the Orff-Schulwerke music education system for children.

“By e-mailing the director of the course (at the Eastman School of Music) and leading her through my e-portfolio, I was able to demonstrate that I have had significant teaching experience and met the requirements for the course,” he explains.

Bowling Green is in the top 5 percent of colleges and universities working with e-portfolios, according to Kevin Kruger, associate executive director of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA). BGSU, which was among the first 10 member institutions of the National Electronic Portfolio Learning Coalition, is unique due to “more of an institutional commitment (to the technology) involving both academic affairs and student affairs,” he says.

Maxwell, who has accepted a position as a music instructor in the Fairfax County (Va.) Public Schools, says e-portfolios give potential employers “a more vivid and rounded view” of job seekers than a traditional resume alone.

“By watching videos of my teaching spanning my years at BGSU, prospective employers were able to see my growth as a music educator and my ability to work with students in diverse settings,” he adds.

Achievement tests don't do that, notes Dr. Milton Hakel, an Ohio Eminent Scholar in psychology at BGSU. He understands the idea of trying to raise the performance level of all students, Hakel says, but real learning lies in being able to do something with knowledge, “so this is a place where I think technology can really help create a better alternative to plain old achievement testing.”

Recalling the point in e-mail's development “when we didn't know we couldn't live without it,” Hakel believes that e-portfolio technology is on the same track. “Within five to 10 years, it will be indispensable in higher education,” he predicts.

Learn more about e-portfolios by visiting Hakel's site at http://mhakel.with.bgsu.edu and Maxwell's e-portfolio at http://bmaxwel.with.bgsu.edu .

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(Posted June 07, 2006 )