E-portfolios :: Making Things E-asy (3)

E-portfolios :: Making Things E-asy
by John K. Waters
Ease of Use
A key difference between an e-portfolio solution and the tools commonly used for building websites is ease of use, Sproll says, noting that RISD itself now uses digital portfolios. “The problem with students designing and building their own websites is that it’s so time-consuming,” he says. “Three years ago, we had our students building their own sites with Dreamweaver. It’s a fine program, but if you’re not studying to become a webmaster, it’s too much.”
BYTESIZE
The Electronic Portfolio Consortium is a collaboration of higher education and IT institutions that develops e-portfolio software environment and management systems.
Weigand agrees that simplicity is essential to the efficacy of the technology. She is able to set up online portfolios of student work with just a series of mouse clicks, and no special funding. “It’s not about programming,” she says. “It’s not about knowing HTML or Flash. It’s click here and there, and then you’re done.”
E-portfolios are proving to be a practical tool for Weigand, because they allow her to store digital representations of drawings, paintings, and sculpture online, rather than scrounging up cabinet and closet space for the real thing. “The e-portfolios are great for this,” Weigand says. “You can provide multiple views of each piece, multiple examples of each student’s work—all by photographing, scanning, or typing and attaching files. And they can be viewed anywhere in the world, literally. What you end up with is something like an online gallery.”
Sproll recommends that any school new to digital portfolios make sure to keep technical support close at hand. “We’re constantly tweaking our portfolios to meet the needs of our program designs,” he says. “That’s very important to us.” Sproll knows he’s fortunate to have at his disposal two of the technology’s pioneers. “It’s one of the best things about having Jeff and Kelly closely connected to RISD. When we have suggestions, they’re right here.”
As far as Yan is concerned, schools should not commit to any technologies that require a lot of technical support. He says the deciding factor in any e-portfolio purchase should be ease of use. “It’s one of the most overlooked but most important factors in the successful adoption of any technology in any school, whether it’s K-12 or higher, however theoretically cool the technology might be,” he says. “Teachers are already overworked. The last thing they need is a 20-hour training session. That’s old-school thinking. If a product is difficult to use, it simply will not be adopted.”
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