From a Social Digital Identity to an Academic Digital Identity - Introducing ePortfolios in English language enhancement courses

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by SANS

Social digital networking has become a borderless way of life, shaping how university students construct and share identities. This paper examines Lingnan University students’ social networking habits and analyzes how these social profiles can be repurposed for academic goals through an ePortfolio system in English language enhancement courses. By considering student attitudes and motivations, the study reports adoption outcomes and explores perspectives on social versus academic digital identities. The resulting ePortfolio approach aligns with students’ broader digitized lives.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Background of ePortfolios in Universities across Hong Kong

From Social Digital Identity to Academic Digital Identity

Adoption of ePortfolios in English Language Enhancement Courses

Students’ Attitudes Toward Social and Academic Identities

From a social digital identity to an academic digital identity: Introducing ePortfolios in English language enhancement courses Preet Hiradhar Jeremy Gray Authors Preet Hi radhar is a language instructor and E folio coordinator, in the English Language Education and Assessment Centre ( ELEAC) , at L ingnan University, Hong Kong. Correspondence regarding this article can be sent to her at: [ph@ln.edu.hk](ph@ln.edu.hk) Jeremy Gray is Head of the English Language Education and Assessment Centre ( ELEAC) , at Lingnan University, Hong Kong. He can be reached at: [jgray@ln.edu.hk](jgray@ln.edu.hk) Abstract: Social digital networking is a facet of living that recognizes no national borders or social boundaries and has become a way of life . This paper investigates the social networking habits of students at L ingnan University and considers how these habits can be channelled for academic purposes by introducing an ePortfolio system into their language enhancement courses . The investigation analyzed the purpose and usage of these social profiles thus forming the basis of the need for academic profiles . After considering the attitudes and motivations of students, this paper reports on the adoption of an ePortfolio platform which best suits the academic needs of students by introducing it into two important language enhancement courses . The paper thus explores students ’ attitudes towards two forms of digital identities : social and academic . This process has led to arriving at an ePortfolio system that is in synch with the other digitized aspects of students ’ lives . Ré sumé : Le ré seautage social numé rique est l’une des facettes de la vie qui ne connaît ni les frontières nationales, ni les démarcations sociales; cette pratique est devenue un mode de vie . Le pré sent article examine les habitudes de ré seautage social des étudiants de l’Universit é Lingnan et étudie la façon dont ces habitudes peuvent être canalis é es à des fins universitairespar l’introduction d’un systè me de portfolios électroniques dans les cours de perfectionnementdes langues . L’enquête a analysé quelles fonctions ces profils sociaux remplissent et quelle est l’utilisation qui en est fa ite, ce qui constitue la base d u besoin de profils universitaires . Aprè savoi r examiné la ré ponse et la motivation des étudiants, cet article pré sente les ré sultats del’adoption d’une plateforme de portfolios électroniques qui ré pond bien aux besoins des étudiants universitaires à la suite de son introduction dans deux cours importants de perfectionnement des langues . L’article utilise ainsi la ré ponse des étudiants à l’é gard des deux formes d’identit é s numé riques : sociale et universitaire . Ce processus a permis d’obteni r un systè me de portfolios électroniques qui est en phase avec les autres aspects numé riques de la vie des étudiants . Introduction Ever since their emergence over a decade ago, social networking sites have been proliferating in number and popularity worldwide . Social digital networking is a facet of living that, like the Internet itself, recognizes no national or social boundaries . With over 100 social networking sites in existence and over a billion registered users on these sites, social networks today seem to have become a way of life . From this ever increasing number of networking sites and users emerges a behaviour that has become a part of popular youth culture across continents and is increasingly popular amongst youth in Asia, especially Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, as in other countries around the world, individuals adopt social digital identities through social networks to communicate with friends, colleagues, families and indeed complete strangers . The recent surge in the popularity of web sites like Facebook and, in Hong Kong, Xanga, have taken digital networking to a level where, among the younger generation at least, this is fast becoming the norm rather than the exception. MySpace, one of the best known s

FAQs

What problem does the paper address with ePortfolios?

It examines how students’ social digital identities can be channeled into academic purposes by introducing an ePortfolio system in English language enhancement courses.

How does the study connect social networking habits to academic profiles?

It investigates the purposes and usage of students’ social profiles, using that analysis as the basis for building academic profiles through ePortfolios.

What aspects of digital identity does the paper compare?

The paper explores students’ attitudes toward two forms of digital identities: social and academic, and how social identities transfer into academic ones through ePortfolios.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by SANS