We are often asked to define an e-portfolio.

The problem is that the phrase is used in so many contexts and in so many ways no one definition fills the bill

However the following is an attempt to categorise e-portfolios and hence describe what they are by how they are used. You will almost certainly have another view, please let us have your comments by emailing info@assessmenttomorrow.com

1. A digital history of achievements in work, education and leisure that is used to demonstrate completion of one or more tasks, courses of studies or accomplishments and presented for the objective of recording and promoting an individual’s success.

2. An electronic repository of evidence of competency and skills demonstrated and verified by an impartial assessor

3. A repository of ‘work in progress’ by an individual stored and indexed in order to be used for later presentation.

4. A tool to plan and prepare for improving skills and knowledge of an individual or group of individuals by identifying learning and skills requirements and plotting a roadmap to achieve those.

The terms electronic and digital are interchangeable here and refer to the material being held in a variety of formats from Microsoft Office files to MPEGS, JPEGS, and other file formats. Technologies used can be computers, PDA’s, mobile telephones, voice recorders etc.

The e-portfolio need not refer to an individual but may be a group, team or an organisation.