The learning theory behind ePortfolios
In an educational context, the primary value of ePortfolios (according to the Co-Director of the Inter/National Coalition for Electronic Portfolio Research) is that they “are a way to generate learning as well as document learning." Both of these aspects – generating learning and documenting learning – are important, but it is the first one (generating learning) that sometimes gets overlooked, even though it is crucial to the success of the ePortfolio process. Essentially, an ePortfolio generates learning because it provides an opportunity and virtual space for students to critically assess their academic work, and to reflect on that work and make connections among different courses, and connections between academic work and other activities, such as work experiences, extracurricular pursuits, volunteering opportunities, and more.
Randy Bass and Bret Eynon describe this process of critical reflection as one that makes “invisible learning” visible. By invisible learning, they mean two things.
First, they mean the intermediate steps that occur whenever a student, or any person, is attempting to learn something or do something. That “something” might be a tangible thing like writing an essay, or it might be a more abstract goal like understanding a theory. In either case, it’s easy to focus exclusively on the final product (the essay or the theory), and to disregard or forget about all the stages of learning and doing that preceded that product. All the steps and false starts and decisions that preceded the final product are one form of invisible learning. By reflecting on them, students can learn more: they can learn more deeply, they can learn more about how they learn, and they can learn how to do even better the next time. It’s rather like a tennis player. He or she might have a good serve, but it will probably improve only if the player reflects on all the motions that occur before the racquet actually hits the ball: how the feet are positioned, how the ball is tossed, how the racket is turned, and so on. To improve, the player needs to reflect on all those intermediate steps that are “invisible” in the sense that he or she doesn’t usually think about them in a conscious way.
The second thing that Randy Bass and Bret Eynon mean by invisible learning are the “aspects of learning that go beyond the cognitive to include the affective, the personal, and issues of identity.” In other words, the process of learning something doesn’t involve just the rational mind; rather, our feelings, our personality, and our sense of self are all involved – sometimes facilitating that learning process, and sometimes hindering it. For example, if a Canadian student is learning about global warming, then a memory about a warm winter when the local pond did not freeze might serve as a useful “anchor” for that student to hang certain facts on, or it might bias her to accept evidence that is not credible. Similarly, if a student suffers from a lack of confidence, then that poor sense of self might prevent him from learning as well as he otherwise might. By reflecting on those affective, personal, and self-identity factors, students can develop meta-cognitive skills that can enhance their learning.
From a broader perspective, ePortfolios fall within a learning theory known as social constructivism. That theory proposes, in part, that learning happens most effectively when a student constructs a system of knowledge for themselves, rather than simply having information presented to them. Additionally, the theory proposes that another determinant of effective learning is that it happens in a social context – that is, we construct our knowledge through dialogue and interactions with others. With ePortfolios, the process of reflection originates as a solo activity, but becomes social through a feedback loop, as the student’s instructor, peers, mentors, and even family members respond to and provide commentary on those reflections. In this regard, making and then sharing an ePortfolio with others is somewhat like telling a story: the story of one’s journey of learning. In this regard, ePortfolios can overlap with another recent trend in higher education – namely, digital storytelling. As defined by Educause, digital storytelling is “the practice of combining narrative with digital content, including images, sound, and video, to create a short movie, typically with a strong emotional component.” The Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (at Georgetown University) explains why digital storytelling can be a pedagogically effective tool: Digital storytelling works at the intersection of the emotional and the epistemological aspects of learning, bridging story and theory, intellect and affect. For many students, an emotional engagement with the topic – or a problem in the most generative sense of the word – is the point of departure that allows them to connect their stories to the relevant theories. As emotions are reclaimed cognitively, they enable students to write themselves into existing discourses and to contribute personal perspectives to an academic community.
Like a digital story, an ePortfolio is a kind of story: it’s a narrative of a student’s learning. Additionally, an ePortfolio can include actual digital stories as part of its collection of artifacts.
Finally, because ePortfolios are a student-centered activity -- one in which the student is free to choose what artifacts are included, and is free to reflect on the process of his learning – they foster engagement and motivation, as is affirmed by an article about ePortfolios in the Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology:
Research on student engagement with learning suggests that when students perceive that they have choices in how to learn subject matter they are more engaged and motivated to move beyond simple information acquisition to trying to gain an understanding of the subject (Entwistle, 1998; Kuh et al., 2005; LaSere Erickson & Weltner-Strommer, 1991; Marton & Saljo, 1984; Ramsden, 2003). Electronic portfolios (e-portfolios) appear to offer this opportunity for learner control and to be capable of supporting or promoting deep learning as students are able to make connections between the learning which occurs in different contexts: academic, workplace and community. Indeed, it is this recognition that learning occurs beyond the classroom that makes e-portfolios attractive to many educators.
In short, as Randy Bass and Bret Eynon asserted in The Chronicle of Higher Education, “If we truly want to advance from a focus on teaching to a focus on student learning, then a strategy involving something like electronic student portfolios, or ePortfolios, is essential.”
ePortfolios Explained. Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo.
