Creating Student e-Portfolios with Google Sites

To begin using ePortfolios for either a course or program, it is important to map the products that students create—i.e., ePortfolio artifacts—to specific objectives or standards. Course objectives describe what knowledge, skills, or attitudes that you want students to show they have mastered. By assigning projects that align directly with these objectives, students know what is expected and instructors know what to evaluate. When mapping artifacts to the objectives it is also important to think about the level of competency required. For example, asking a student in a biology class to write down the process for dissecting a frog is a lower level of competence than asking that same student to demonstrate that he or she has actually done it (e.g.,video clip). Reflective statements allow students to describe how they feel when performing the skill.

Academic standards often predetermine what skills and knowledge students need to show. Instructors can still be creative with how students use an ePortfolio to demonstrate their competencies. Instructors can also add components that the standards often do not require, such as reflective statements, leadership skills, and community-based activities.