As a student, did you ever feel like you were just checking off boxes for your transcript? You stand proudly on the stage at graduation, waving to family and friends, only to stand there alone much later with what feels like little more than a collection of courses and some student debt.
What’s the value of your education? How do you answer the question everyone asks:
“So what did you do in University? “
Enter: the ePortfolio.
Where your parents used to pack their fridge with rudimentary kindergarten paintings and A+ spelling tests, something about your 20 page civil engineering paper just isn’t as visually appealing.
You commit hours to proper formatting, chronologically dating, and valiantly describing your contributions to earning your employable skills, and trying to jam all the connections between your academics and external achievements into less than 4 pages of a paper resume.
But can you change that? ePortfolios give you the power to showcase your achievements, inside and outside the classroom, in a way that is both comprehensive and effective. And for you personally, they give you an unprecedented chance to look inside your learning, to go deeper into the education you’re achieving, to see it’s genuine value and how it’s weaving the path of your future.
And employers are looking for them. ePortfolios are used by employers to assess skills, and they are proven to help in the hiring process.
And it doesn’t stop there. Employers are going to Google you. Rather than finding your Facebook profile as result #1, you can take control of your digital footprint and put your electronic portfolio front and centre as a representation of what you can offer their company. Your future boss isn’t going to ask you in an interview if you got an A in organic chemistry…but they will question your ability to communicate effectively, your approach to teamwork, and your adaptability. Using artifacts from your educational achievements alongside your personal goals and aspirations, you will walk into your first interview with a professional leg up on your competition.
What’s so great about an ePortfolio anyway?
There are so many reasons I love being so heavily involved in our campus ePortfolio project.
- I get to teach workshops. (…and I love to teach workshops)
- I get to introduce students to a tangible and creative way to express themselves.
- I get to make connections visible and relevant for students.
- I am forced to adapt- technology is always changing, people are so smart, and I have a lot to learn.
- I can teach a new way for students to reflect on their learning.
- I get to be creative for a living.
- I get to watch growth happen in the way that students and faculty use the tools they are given.
Electronic portfolios are a reflection of your experiential learning. In other (easier to grasp) words: ePortfolios tell the story of where you’ve been, where you’re at, and where you’re going. They allow you to revisit your thoughts, your ideas, your challenges…then reflect on how those have changed, or give you a more complete vision of why they’ve stayed the same. They build quality into the statement: “this will look good on my resume” and show both you and the viewer how far you’ve come.