E-Portfolios in EFL Assessment

In Europe over the past 5 years there has been a lot of debate on e-portfolios substituting conventional exams. Although the Council of Europe has enacted the relevant legislation the EU countries have been reluctant to apply it probably due to the fact that societies aren’t mature enough to embrace such tactics. For more details click here.

The rationale behind this initiative is that when applying for a job, a university course etc you don’t have to sit for a high stakes exam (e.g. IELTS) but instead you present a portfolio of the best work you have produced so far that is representative of your capabilities in the foreign language. The broader the range of writing genres one includes, the more reliable and sufficient the portfolio is.

This practice is on the onset and several decades will have to elapse until we start applying it on a regular basis. 

Transferring portfolio assessment on a virtual environment through Livebinder

There are multiple applications of Livebinder. In this blog entry we will focus on creating one so as to host a student’s e-portfolio.

Initially, you will have to register for the site. Then the following page appears and you click on create a new binder.

Then you will encounter the following page

Since we are talking about e-portfolios, I suggest that the student types the genre of the essay (Agree/disagree essay) under the name, under description write the title of the essay. One can choose to make his e-portfolio visible to the public by clicking on “public”. I chose to keep it private since I have chosen an essay that has been already publish at IELTS buddy.  

The first time you attempt to create a binder you will get a quick 7 step tour that looks like this:

The essay that I uploaded as a doc is here. 

Then I can decide to share this essay from my e-portfolio on my google/facebook/twitter account. There are many more interesting features on Livebinder on how somebody can organize the information in tabs and sub tabs. For more details on this procedure click here. 

Apart from e-portfolios, Livebinder lends itself as a professional profile. One can upload not only his curriculum vitae but also one can display his achievements and experience through videos (e.g of humanistic actions that he has participated, or interviews people have taken from him) or another website that one has created so as to promote and enhance his professional image. Hence, in this digital age, portfolios aren’t restricted to written essays.

If the EU’s initiative ever comes to practice, Livebinder will be a great tool for e-assessment because of the following advantages:

• The potential employer/university/any other institution will have immediate access to it when applying for a job/course and generally will become acquainted with your professional profile if you choose to add additional features to your binder.
•  Your professional image isn’t restricted to a one-to-one interview with the employer/institution. The potential candidates for a job or a course will have all the time they want and a wide array of options to enhance their professional image and prove their eligibility for the course/job.

There can be several limitations by exposing your work online:

• Mischievous individuals may attempt to copy your work. Solution: When you create a binder you have the option to make the binders public or private. If you chose private, you can choose who will see the content of your essay by sending them the access key that you have created. This access key functions as a password that the viewers will have to enter in order to view your content.
•  The marking criteria will become more strict. Since portfolio assessment occurs in a less threatening environment the person assessing it will have very high standards of what your written work should resemble. Hence, you will have to make a better effort to produce a good piece of written work.

    I can assure you that we will reach a point that traditional exam driven societies will have to change and embrace portfolio assessment.

 

Don’t wait for e-portfolios to become a fad so as to apply them in your EFL classroom. Have the courage to be a pioneer even if your surrounding environment refutes this practice.

Go ahead!!! Make the difference!!!