Advantages of Electronic Portfolios for Civic Engagement Projects
Electronic Portfolios:
- do not cost anything
- are easy to set up and use
- do not require downloading any software
- do not require any programming skills
- can easily incorporate multi-media (such as video and audio recordings and colored graphs and photographs) and at no cost
- are more environmentally friendly than alternatives
- decrease the risk of losing or damaging the portfolio
- have good privacy settings
- can be customized easily
- can be updated by all group members much more easily than paper portfolios
- can be shown to others (e.g. community partners, employers, friends)
- encourage collaboration
- provide a public audience for the student’s work, thus providing extra motivation to do well
- make it easier for the professor to grade, transport, store and showcase the portfolios
- make it easier for students to build on past projects
- make it possible for the professor to require students to comment on each other’s work, ask critical questions of each other, participate in others’ events, and help each other out
- make it easier for the university to a) assess learning and b) showcase student work to alumni, community partners, potential donors, Board of Trustees members, and the larger community
