Academic Programs, Portfolio Project

e-Portfolio Project

The use of portfolios by students, faculty, and job seekers is nothing new. Portfolios have been used by students to showcase learning experiences, faculty have used portfolios to help pursue tenure positions, and job seekers have used portfolios to help obtain employment. Initially these portfolios were maintained in "paper" form, as computers became much more ubiquitous portfolios were stored on floppy disks then later CD ROM's and now the Internet. There continues to be great interest on the part of individuals and institutions to develop or obtain an electronic portfolio tool kit.

Minnesota's "e-portfolio project" project will use the Internet as the vehicle for individuals to create, maintain, and display their individual portfolios. What makes Minnesota's effort unique nationally is the scope of the potential audience - every Minnesota student and resident. In addition, this e-portfolio tool must allow individuals to store and maintain information in the form of text, images, documents, or any multi-media file. The owner of the portfolio must also have total control over who and how the information is made available to external users. Finally, the portfolio must be flexible enough to support both career and education planning and related activities.

Background on Minnesota's e-portfolio project can be found at www.portfoliopilot.govoffice.com. The project was launched in the fall of 2001 with statewide operations slotted to begin the summer of 2002. There are three project work groups representing students (both K-12 and higher education), faculty (again both K-12 and higher education), and career/job seekers with members coming from around the state. America's Career Kit Service Center and iSeek Solutions also are supporting this e-portfolio effort. Other organizations and states have approach MnSCU and Avenet (project contractor) to explore licensing opportunities.

Website Information: http://www.portfoliopilot.govoffice.com/

Contacts:
Gary Langer, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Innovations, 651-649-5772, gary.langer@so.mnscu.edu
Paul Wasko, Director of Online Academic Services, 651-649-5956, paul.wasko@iseek.org