Learning portfolios (also known as an ePortfolio) enable students to collect, reflect on and share their formal and informal learning achievements from both inside and outside of the classroom. Evidence may include input text, electronic files, images, multimedia, blog entries, and hyperlinks.
Examples of ePortfolios
Evernote has become a very popular app to use for digital portfolios in classrooms. It is easy for students to learn and use, which makes it ideal for classroom use. With this app you can capture photos, take notes, record audio, and make entries searchable. It is available as both free and paid versions.
Google Keep is a note-taking service developed by Google. Google Keep lets you quickly take and save those notes, photos, voice memos, and checklists to Google Drive, and then access them again on any other web-connected device you use. Keep offers a variety of tools for taking notes, including text, lists, images, and audio. It is free to use but requires you to have a Google account.
Microsoft OneNote is a note-taking and personal information management application that makes collecting, organsing and sharing digital information easier and faster. It lets you store text notes, photos, audio, and video snippets in an organised manner. Sharing and searching notes with others is easy and stress-free. Its recent versions can sync automatically via Skydrive, making it easier to access materials from any device. OneNote is free as part of Microsoft Office.
Benefits
Learning portfolios are useful as both an assessment and reflection tool, illustrating a student’s knowledge and skills development.
Considerations
Check with your university if there is a ePortfolio application already used by students within the institution. It is likely that such an application will be the best option to use for your students.