Conclusion
At the end of a two-year process of developing the Work and Professional Studies Electronic Portfolio Project, we are trying to take account of what we have accomplished. We know that through working on their electronic portfolios, students realized that they were living and working in an interdisciplinary world. Despite the dramatic technical setbacks, the process of working on the eportfolio in Blackboard, videoconferences, and WPS Eports encouraged the students to articulate connections among different skill areas and tasks. The process of collecting, selecting, and reflecting on their eportfolios helped students realize that no matter what workplace setting they were in, they owned their knowledge and skills. This process of realization did not take place in isolation for students, but rather emerged as they became a community of learners. This group of students was separated by physical distances from each other, yet through a combination of technologically-mediated communication venues they saw each other’s work developing over time.
At the end of the semester, a student wrote, “I see the portfolio process as a way to continual develop and set goals for myself so I think it will provide me with a good means of assessing myself and keeping track of my progress toward a goal…. I see it as a way to set goals and document milestones of sorts. The only problem I see now is with the technology not the portfolio or the process itself because it seems, that it will be of continual benefit to me.”
Another student noted, “I feel I have learned a great deal from this class or really from the series of IDS classes collectively. They helped me to define:
- What I want from work,
- What I want from my education,
- Where I want to start,
- And where I want to go.”
Collectively students owned the process of developing their eportfolios, because they worked together and controlled the means of production in many ways. When they became frustrated with the project, it was tied to technological access issues that they had no control over.
The lessons learned here suggest that eportfolio developers should attempt to make systems accessible and open. What does that mean? It means that the composition tools and software used by students to create their eportfolios should be as common as possible. The development of site-specific, database-driven solutions tends to isolate students and diminishes their control over the final product. In their feedback to us, students have emphasized that they see electronic portfolios as useful in crossing the academic and workplace divide. As one student wrote, “It has helped me to see that I can combine and showcase my skills in a way that is appealing to employers, which builds optimism in me toward work possibilities.” Students want to be able to innovate, individualize, and revise their eportfolios beyond the college classroom. Teaching students about the composing techniques and the composing tools to be used in electronic spaces gives them greater control over their portfolios.
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Working (on) Electronic Portfolios
Connecting
Academic Work and
the Workplace