Implementing EPortfolio Tools Within Curricula - IDEA Paper #78 - Faculty evaluation rubric for ePortfolio platforms

Oct 15, 2026

EPortfolios showcase learners’ progression, achievements, and abilities through purposeful collection of work, supporting institutional accountability and accreditation evidence. The authors survey current ePortfolio platforms used in academic settings and create evaluation matrices covering learning goals and activities, competency tracking, collaboration, access, usability, customization, and retrospection/concept mapping. No single platform satisfies all criteria, so they provide a rubric for faculty or administrators to select tools aligned with platform purpose and integration into existing curricula.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Overview

Why Do Educators Use EPortfolios?

Micro Level

Implementing EPortfolio Tools Within Curricula: A Guide for Faculty IDEA Paper \#78 • April 2019 Emily Bair and Rachel Niemer • University of Michigan Chia-Ju Lee • National Taiwan University Olivia S. Anderson • University of Michigan Abstract EPortfolios can showcase students’ learning progression, achievements, and abilities through the purposeful collection of their work. The implementation of ePortfolios within curricula can also demonstrate institutional accountability and serve as primary evidence for accreditation. The authors explore the current available ePortfolio platforms that are utilized in academic settings. They developed a set of evaluation matrices to review current ePortfolio platforms, consisting of (a) learning activities/goals, (b) competency tracking, (c) collaboration ability, (d) access, (e) user-friendliness, (f) customization, and (g) retrospection/concept mapping. Although no ePortfolio platform satisfies all these criteria completely, each possesses individual advantages that make it uniquely useful in particular academic situations. The authors provide a rubric to guide faculty or administrators when choosing an ePortfolio platform, which considers the platform’s purpose and how it will be integrated into existing curricula. Keywords: EPortfolio, curriculum, assessment, evaluation Overview The implementation of electronic portfolios (e Portfolios) in academic settings continues to expand, because of the advancement in web technologies and their ability to capture knowledge, skills, and behaviors attained by learners. AnePortfolio helps learners document their mastery of practical skill sets; develop personal, professional, and social responsibility; and integrate and reflect upon years of experiences—all professional attributes that are valued by communities and businesses, according to the Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) (Miller & Morgaine, 2009) . AnePortfolio provides a comprehensive space for learners to continuously document and reflect upon progress toward defined goals, in order to develop and shape professional competencies by the end of their education. Within an ePortfolio, an artifact, or tangible work product, evidences a competency. A reflective statement on the learner’s experiences, summarizing the connection between the artifact and the competency, often accompanies these artifacts. EPortfolios provide different advantages to various users, because they can be engineered to serve a variety of educational needs within a single academic program. In a survey of 43 colleges worldwide, Chatham-Carpenter, Seawel, and Raschig (2010) found that approximately three quarters (74 . 7%) of those institutions used ePortfolios to help students reflect on their learning. Chatham-Carpenter et al. also found that students used ePortfolios beyond the learning process. Institutions encouraged use to showcase career-related skills for potential employers (69.8%); as a tool at the programmatic level, to help review and assess curricula (58 . 1%); and to demonstrate professional standards (53 . 5%) . Although ePortfolios may be integrated into an educational program for a variety of reasons, implementing and planning for their successful integration always involves many decisions. A guide to the thought process behind this planning was laid out by Poklop and Peagler (2010) in their “ePortfolio Planning Framework”, which outlines the effects of inputs, such as curriculum and assessment goals, and desired results, or outputs, on the design and integration of ePortfolios. Our goal in this paper is to provide assistance in ePortfolio planning, specifically regarding inputs and curriculum integration, to determine which features an ePortfolio platform must possess to support one’s overarching purpose (Figure 1) . Given Poklop and Peagler’s framework, it makes sense to incorporate backward design, by first identifying the desired outcomes of the ePortfolio co

FAQs

What purposes do ePortfolios serve in academic curricula?

EPortfolios can demonstrate students’ learning progression and achievements, support institutional accountability, and provide evidence for accreditation. They also help learners reflect and track competencies over time.

How do the authors evaluate and compare ePortfolio platforms?

They review available platforms using evaluation matrices that include learning activities/goals, competency tracking, collaboration ability, access, user-friendliness, customization, and retrospection/concept mapping.

Why is there no single best ePortfolio platform?

The paper finds that each platform has distinct advantages and none meets all evaluation criteria completely. Selection should therefore match the intended purpose and how the platform will integrate into the curriculum.

Oct 15, 2026

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