E-portfolio can serve various needs, but its core element is that it should be seen as a tool to sustain metacognition, regulation and critical thinking.
As such, we can distinguish between 4 types of e-portfolios:
Learning e-portfolio: storage of most representative samples of the student's learning process, including learning journal, self-assessment checklists. The documents are usually labeled under learning outcomes
Presentation e-portfolio: illustration for different target groups by the student of his competences through selected pieces of work
Assessment e-portfolio: support for summative assessment defined by the learning plan. The aim of this portfolio is to serve as proof of knowledge acquisition and can lead to certification.
Career e-portfolio: organised samples of reflective thinking and significative realisations of a individual that attest of the cursus and professional identity on a lifelong perspective
The way we conceive the e-portfolio at the UNIL is mainly as a mean to sustain a pedagogical approach, namely experiential learning. In this perspective, e-portfolio should be a tool to facilitate students’ reflection on their learning process, leading to more awareness of learning strategies and needs. It is also considered as a tool to collect evidence of abilities and competences, in a demonstrative way and on a lifelong perspective.
At the School of Social Work at the FHNW both the BA and the MA include a portfolio modul, covering the whole study period. The portfolio here is clearly meant to facilitate reflective thinking and raising awareness about the learning process and competences. It's not a "tool" for assessment.
There are some reasons to have just one SIG:
there are as many definitions for e-assessment as for e-portfolio – a feature both concepts share with e-learning (besides the small "e" ;) )
portfolios could be used for assessment (e-portfolio may be one instantiation of e-assessment, i.e., e-assessment would be the subordinate concept)
assessment outcomes could be stored in a portfolio
using a computer (and the web etc.) for portfolios and assessments can simplify administration
e-portfolio tools and e-assessment tools may use the same techniques
But there are also reasons to separate both topics
assessments are meant to assess something, portfolios can be used for more purposes
assessments cover a shorter time period, portfolios can cover several years of studies or even decades in ones professional life – resulting in different requirements concerning storage, access, formats, …
a single element in a portfolio can be used for different purposes (be part of an assessment, be part of the portfolio for a certain period in ones studies, be part of a carreer-portfolio) – a single item (regardless of the actual type (MC-test, essay, entry in a forum, etc.)) of an assessment can be used only once for an assessment, there is no way to hand it in twice.
one feature of e-assessment is the possibility to evaluate automatically, a feature that is clearly not in included in the (e)-portfolio concept
e-portfolio and e-assessement share only some features, they can not be used as synonymes and there is no relationship like hyperonym and hyponym
