Building Student-centric ePortfolios in Practice : Areas of Documentation in a Craft Learning Activity

Abstract

The present researchers studied elementary school students’ use of electronic portfolios (ePortfolios) in their craft education over a three-year period. The data consisted of the textual and the visual content of the students’ (n= 38) ePortfolios. The students’ productions were analyzed and conceptualized through the qualitative analysis of content. Atlas.ti and SPSS programs were used to analyze, organize and visualize the data. The results indicate that the most emphasized areas in the textual content of students’ ePortfolios were a combination of the process and the free learning reflection. The process aspects of the work were also clearly dominant in the documented visual images in the ePortfolios. The results confirmed that if ePortfolios are used in a flexible way with appropriate, open assignments, variations on use and the end-product are self-evident. The ePortfolio method enables an individual, rich, and versatile learning reflection, which could be used as evidence of learning or as support for learning – including the required elements for each function. Keywords: electronic portfolio, craft education, documentation, reflection

The present researchers studied elementary school students’ use of electronic portfolios (ePortfolios) in their craft education over a three-year period. The data consisted of the textual and the visual content of the students’ (n= 38) ePortfolios. The students’ productions were analyzed and conceptualized through the qualitative analysis of content. Atlas.ti and SPSS programs were used to analyze, organize and visualize the data. The results indicate that the most emphasized areas in the textual content of students’ ePortfolios were a combination of the process and the free learning reflection. The process aspects of the work were also clearly dominant in the documented visual images in the ePortfolios. The results confirmed that if ePortfolios are used in a flexible way with appropriate, open assignments, variations on use and the end-product are self-evident. The ePortfolio method enables an individual, rich, and versatile learning reflection, which could be used as evidence of learning or as support for learning – including the required elements for each function.