Meeting the Accountability Challenge by Implementing a Campus-Wide ePortfolio

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Meeting the Accountability Challenge by Implementing a Campus-Wide ePortfolio

2/24/2006

By Neal W. Topp
University of Nebraska at Omaha

The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), a state-supported campus in the University of Nebraska system with 15,000 students, has begun a campus-wide ePortfolio initiative. The project is spearheaded by faculty, staff, and administration, and includes all colleges, the Vice Chancellor's office, and the Information Technology Services division. Currently, more than 2,000 students populate several types of student ePortfolios, and more than 400 faculty members are building ePortfolios to be used in their annual review process. Our goal is to include all faculty by the 2007 annual review. The faculty ePortfolio implementation will give our instructors valuable first-hand experience and will help them understand the potential of student ePortfolios.

The campus-wide student ePortfolio will be in alpha stage by fall 2006. This portfolio system will allow programs or departments to customize the portfolio to meet specific needs, while still reflecting campus-wide expectations such as general education requirements. In addition to improving student assessment and communication with our constituents, we anticipate improved curriculum, course instruction, and student learning outcomes accruing from this process.

Many U.S. colleges and universities are using ePortfolios, but most have implemented the process with relatively few students or within an isolated program, department, or course. Few institutions have implemented a coordinated campus-wide ePortfolio for all students and faculty. We believe that creating an "ePortfolio culture" will help meet the goals of our institution's strategic plan which places students at the center of its enterprise, promotes academic excellence, and fosters deeper engagement with our community.

Why focus so much attention and so many resources on this large ePortfolio project? We believe that a convergence of factors makes implementing ePortfolios possible and important at this time. Seven of these factors are:

1) Advancements in technology now facilitate ePortfolio use. Computers are generally available, students have the necessary skills, digital storage is cheap, and current data base technologies can support ePortfolio implementation.

2) The work of Ernest Boyer and Mary Huber (along with many others) on the scholarship of teaching and learning has helped higher education focus on improving student learning. ePortfolios are one excellent method to document learning outcomes and the teaching that promoted that learning.

3) The national work of the Partnership of 21st Century Skills has been accepted by many in the P-20 educational community. The skills people will need to succeed include information and communication skills, thinking and problem solving skills, and interpersonal and self-directed skills. Measuring and documenting these skills is difficult with many assessment methods, but can be addressed through a robust ePortfolio process.