“Why do I have to make an ePortfolio in this 100-level course? Will I ever use it again?”
I get so caught up in the day-to-day stress of the semester that I often don’t realize how much work I am actually accomplishing. EPortfolio allows all of the work I do to be collected into one place, leaving me with something tangible to show for the past four years.”
Mikayla Sargent, Class of 2021
Sometimes students begin their ePortfolio construction without a clear purpose beyond adding required course-related assignments. As they learn more about the possibilities of their site, though, they often find value in the reflective process of building an ePortfolio. After years of development, they take pride in their curated site. Mikayla Sargent, a HuMed major who is currently using her ePortfolio for a 400-level capstone course, feels this way. She reflects, “When I think back to when I first used it in ENG 110, my second semester of college, I remember not really enjoying the platform; I didn’t see its potential yet.” Her understanding of ePortfolio has changed, though. She now recognizes the value her ePortfolio has in creating an awareness of her own learning as she re-examines course work from previous semesters. She observes, “It allows for a richer dialogue between professors and students as professors can help their students make connections between previous and current courses.” Mikayla has used her ePortfolio not only for course work, such as her Annotated Digital Edition English project and her senior capstone work, but also to collect and highlight her research, her medical writing, her participation in inter-professional events, and her semester in Tangier, Morocco.
Developing an ePortfolio been valuable to her own process, but Mikayla has also found value in interacting with the ePortfolios of her classmates. She notes, “EPortfolio sparks great conversations about work that my peers have done in other classes, outside of the course we have in common, that I wouldn’t have seen on a traditional Blackboard site.” She notes that she is also inspired by visiting classmates’ sites as well.
Mikayla’s audience is not limited to her current classmates. She has also begun sharing her ePortfolio site with others, including those writing recommendation letters for medical school.
My ePortfolio has become my favorite thing I have worked on at UNE. It is a great asset that I can use in professional settings to give a more comprehensive outlook of me.”
Mikayla Sargent, Class of 2021
Find Mikayla’s ePortfolio in our UNE student ePortfolio collection, where you may read her full reflection and learn about other UNE students’ ePortfolio experiences.
