ePortfolio
In the CODES program, we use WordPress for ePortfolios. Why WordPress?
- WordPress is free and open source, so we (and our students) aren’t locked into a vendor contract for a proprietary platform.
- The IRIS Center maintains its own WordPress multisite instances, which means that we can provide individual sites to students at no extra cost. It also means that we can set up templates and network-wide controls that protect students and their work.
- WordPress allows students to tailor their sites to suit their aesthetic and express themselves both personally and professionally.
- WordPress is used for over 40% of the world’s websites. That means that being able to create and edit WordPress sites is a valuable skill in its own right that will serve students well when they leave the university.
What is an ePortfolio?
An ePortfolio is a digital record of academic and co-curricular work compiled by a student and accompanied by narrative reflection on their learning process. ePortfolios serve multiple uses and audiences simultaneously. They can be used by faculty and administrators for University assessment and by faculty for process-oriented pedagogy, formative, and summative assessment. For students, an ePortfolio functions as a personal website, a public-facing record of achievements that can be shared with instructors, classmates, advisors, community groups, employers, and graduate schools.
Why ePortfolios?
ePortfolios are a high impact practice (HIP) that will help students integrate their learning across the entire educational experience. ePortfolios enable students to synthesize their learning across courses and program requirements, create a record of their accomplishments, curate a transportable dossier of their work, and demonstrate career-readiness. This process facilitates individual and community identity development. They also help achieve equitable student outcomes. Pedagogical models that integrate ePortfolios have been shown to increase student grades, retention rates, and graduation rates for at-risk students.
Using WordPress for ePortfolio
The IRIS Center maintains a dedicated WordPress space for ePortfolios. We’ve developed a model for CODES that incorporates contract grading, spaces to store and reflect on artifacts from specific courses, and spaces to reflect on their personal and academic journeys at SIUE.
We’ve also developed templates for the CODES ePortfolio using different themes. Students can choose from three themes: Hemingway, Ashe, and TimelessMinimal. While these themes have similar layouts, their different aesthetics and customization options allow students to tailor their ePortfolio to their own tastes.
Students update their ePortfolios at specific points in each CODES course. They pair artifacts (assignments, notes they’ve taken, revisions they’ve done, etc.) with reflections on their learning and learning process. This iterative process of reflection encourages them to look at their education holistically, drawing connections across courses and across semesters as well as integrating learning they’ve done beyond the classroom.