A Principle-Based ePort Goes Public (and Almost Loses its Principles!)

Abstract

When an institution-wide electronic student portfolio “goes public” beyond the campus, the processes of its conceptualization, development, implementation, and evaluation appear seamlessly successful. Similar to a published manuscript, all is in place, and the tortuous paths of creation are invisible. Yet we can learn from both the steps and missteps of any innovation. This chapter describes the evolution of the Indiana University (IU) student electronic portfolio from its initial conception as a first-year “electronic report card” of student learning of core skills to a fully integrated enterprise system that enhances, documents, certifies, and evaluates learning. The discussion moves from a 1995 prototype developed at Indiana University—Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) to the 2005 public release with OSPI and Sakai, with the goal that the processes described this case study will be informative and helpful to those wanting to create, adapt, or adopt an ePortfolio structure on their respective campuses.