E-portfolios: How to showcase your professional self

Abstract

The goal of the session is to introduce the participants to the idea of using an e-portfolio (e-pf) platform in order to enhance a graduate’s chances of success at interview. Students need to create an overarching narrative of their past experiences so that they can plan their future careers (Graves & Epstein, 2011). An e-portfolio gives the students a frame to recognise common themes in their experiences. Students can revisit and revise the e-portfolio frequently due to the electronic medium, empowering them and their future (Buyarski, Aarom, Hansen, Hollingsworth, Johnson, Kahn, Landis, Pedersen & Powell, 2015). Naturally, each e-pf will be unique to the student but the e-pf itself can be seen as a unifying platform that allows the student individual expression while being accessible to all. Self-authorship, reflection and meaning making all attribute to the creation of the e-portfolio and the unique aspects (Buyarski et al., 2015). The session will be instructive and interactive and will consist of demonstration, video use, role-play and reflection. The participants will be shown the technology, examples of its use in action and then asked to use the platform in a role-play situation. The attendees will, therefore, experience how the e-pf idea works and will be able to reflect upon whether they think it would be useful for their own educational contexts.