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The emergence of e-learning requires new strategies and methods of teaching and learning that are more learner centered, which in turn leads to changes in the roles of the instructor and the learner. Learners have become more active and responsible for their learning, where they are at the core of the learning process. Meanwhile, the instructor has shifted from solid yet boring lectures, with the occasional short-answer question, to more active group-work strategies, such as cooperative, collaborative, and problem-based learning (Davidson, Major, & Michaelsen, 2014), that actively engage the learners in their learning process. The instructor has become a coach and a facilitator of the learning process. The emergence of Web 2.0 tools has led to the development of the concept of e-learning to become more interactive and productive. This development depends on the extent of the learner’s involvement in e-learning environments. This situation has led to a shift from constructive to connective learning. Consequently, the assessment methods have been improved to focus on processes and products that develop multiple skills through projects based on social networks. As a result of the information revolution in the 21st century, which has positively affected the entire field of education, it has become crucial to train teachers in designing, producing, and employing such new assessment tools based on Web 2.0. One of these tools is the e-portfolio.
E-portfolios document all work for reflection, self-assessment, and personal satisfaction with learning, as well as encourage peer-to-peer expertise exchange. E-portfolios can support a student-centered learning and teaching approach, as well as measure student performance and monitor institutional quality (Coffey & Ashford-Rowe, 2014). As an e-portfolio is developed better in groups (Elliott, 2008), cooperative and collaborative e-learning could be suitable strategies for teaching such a skill. There are many free online platforms that do not require any coding to create e-portfolios, such as Blogger, Google Sites, and WordPress. Google Sites is a free website publishing platform that is easy to use. Moreover, it is a powerful platform for teamwork that allows Google users to participate in the website creation process and keeps a digital record of team-member contributions over time (Denton, 2012). Therefore, Google Sites has been selected in this study because it is believed to improve student interest and collaboration (Davies, Pantzopoulos, & Gray, 2011; Terrell, Richardson, & Hamilton, 2011). This paper aims to determine whether cooperative or collaborative e-learning is the better strategy for developing preservice teachers’ skills in designing e-portfolios, as well as these skills’ effects on product quality and achievement motivation to design e-portfolios.