Purposes for implementing e-portfolios could be mapped to a continuum where on one hand the institutional goals are the primary consideration, and on the other, where a student-centered approach to teaching and learning is the focus. These purposes need not be mutually exclusive although debate as to whether an e-portfolio can serve both as a 'record of progress' as well as a personal development planning tool has evolved.

Assessment for Learning

Assessment for learning implies a less prescriptive and more developmental approach to working with students in a structured and supported manner for the purpose of getting them to reflect upon their own learning, performance and / or achievement so that they might use this to plan for their personal, educational and career development. As a part of this process students develop knowledge about themselves and through this process build a stronger sense of professional identity and improve their ability to relate their learning and achievements to personal and professional interests and needs. Institutions in the UK and Europe are obligated by national policies to utilize Personal Development Planning (PDP) tools, i.e., electronic portfolio tools that maintain this PDP focus.

Lifelong / lifewide learning is a general educational goal that every program aspires to achieve in their graduates. Assessment for learning types of approaches to electronic portfolios foster personal development attributes such as reflective meaning making, strategic awareness and critical curiosity, indicators that faculty and program administrators can look for as indicators of lifelong learning. Here is a link to The Impact of e-Portfolios on Learning by Becta, a key partner in the strategic development and delivery of the UK's information and communications technology. The results of this report indicate positive impact in a range of areas of personal development..

Program Evaluation

Whether a program of study is obligated to seek accreditation or not, program administrators search for ways to improve or enhance current offerings, or adapt the program in place to meet the needs of a special group of students. Program evaluation involves identifying learning outcomes, i.e., what it is you want your graduates to be able to know, to do or to value as important, and then providing opportunities within the curriculum that allow students to demonstrate progress in these areas.

Specific learning outcomes can often be associated with one or more courses in a program of study. However, as this process of developing a curriculum map of these outcomes often identifies, opportunities to engage in some desired learning outcomes are poorly represented. This is often the case when the outcomes are not content specific and span course offerings, i.e., outcomes that involve leadership, appreciation of diversity or making ethical decisions.

Electronic portfolios can provide a mechanism for capturing evidence that demonstrates achievement of a wide range of learning outcomes across course and out of class experiences. Over time this record of achievement might serve faculty and advisors as a basis for advising students at the same time providing program administrators with data for making program improvements.

Accreditation

The accreditation process involves collecting and reporting information about a program focusing on what is taught as well as the evidence of the learning that results providing justification that accreditation standards are met. Accreditation agencies such as ABET in the engineering, sciences and technology areas and NCATE, education, have become more outcomes oriented, requiring programs to provide both examples of student learning as well as an aggregation of assessment data demonstrating how this drives internal program evaluation. Currently there are 206 programs at Penn State that are undergo accreditation.

Accreditation is a labor intensive process. This is due in large part to the collection and consequent analysis and reporting of program information and evidence of student learning. Great promise exists that e-portfolio / assessment systems can provide efficiencies in all of these areas. More immediate online access to assessment information can serve to improve teaching and learning in a more timely manner. Please see the e-Portfolio Systems Work page for current efforts at Penn State.