The ePortfolio Program

Electronic portfolios, or ePortfolios, are a fast-growing dimension of online learning that many colleges are now making available to students and faculty. ePortfolios provide an online space for students to showcase academic work and interests, reflect on the meanings of that work and the connections between those meanings, and present themselves to prospective employers or transfer institutions. An ePortfolio is a space to explore goals and aspirations, and to display accomplishments, to the broadest possible audience, or to targeted, specific audiences. ePortfolios offer many possibilities to users: academic, personal, and professional.

Working with and inspired by LaGuardia Community College’s Making Connections Program, BCC inaugurated an ePortfolio program in the Spring 2009 semester. About 260 students, enrolled in selected classes in the Honors Program, the Education Department, the Digital Arts program, and the Paralegal Studies program, began building portfolios. Instructors in the ePortfolio program participate in an ongoing faculty development seminar, in which they explore ways to integrate e-portfolio activities into their courses. As we pass the two-year mark in January 2011, the program continues to grow. About 1200 students now have ePortfolios.

Here are some places to learn more about ePortfolios at BCC:

• Our all-purpose ePortfolio Resource Site can be found here
• A directory of BCC ePortfolios, organized by most recently updated portfolios, is located here
• A wiki page, housed on the Academic Commons, describes our faculty development program here

Contact Howard Wach or Jordi Getman-Eraso for more information about e-portfolios at BCC.