Desire2Learn® ePortfolio Feature Overview
Desire2Learn ePortfolio is a powerful user-centric tool for storing, organizing, reflecting on and sharing items that represent the individual learner.
Dashboard and Newsfeeds
The sleek ePortfolio Dashboard gives learners an at-a-glance look inside their ePortfolio. It provides access to manage their content, follow peers within their social learning network, and subscribe to content of interest. The Newsfeed allows them to easily be alerted when new items are shared with them. This can be recent comments left by peers, any new material sent by instructors, and invitations to review others' work. Filters and search options allow for the quick retrieval of any artifact.
Artifact Management and Collections
ePortfolio enables leaners to store personal learning artifacts to showcase their achievements. They can upload files from their computer or locker, create new files, import results from a course, fill out a form, record an audio message, or import a learning objective. Learners can also quickly and easily add links and images as artifacts while browsing the web through the new open-source Chrome browser plug-in, built using the Desire2Learn ePortfolio web services.
Artifacts can be tagged with keywords to make it easy to search for and manage related items, and multiple artifacts can be edited at once to save time and effort.
Reflections
Reflecting throughout the learning process supports the internalization of learning. Reflections add depth to the learning experience while providing a platform for critical thinking. With ePortfolio, learners decide which topics to reflect on and can associate a reflection with any artifact while having the flexibility to choose which reflections are shared and commented on. This personalization of the lifelong learning process is at the heart of ePortfolio.
Presentations
Presentations provide learners with a vehicle to showcase their achievements in a professional web-based format. Learners can compile learning plans, accomplishments, and reflections into their presentations, with the freedom to decide how they look, what to embed, who to share their learning journey with, and what permissions the viewer has. A range of professional and customizable templates provide learners with creative expression in sharing their presentations with others. ePortfolio makes it easy for learners to create and share presentations, so they can focus on learning, and not on the software.
Social Networking Integration
Learners are able to insert Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn identities in their profile, allowing them to leverage their various social networking connections in their educational, personal and professional communities.
The integration of social media tools for externally shared presentations bridges the gap between the educational sharing in ePortfolio with a learner's personal and professional communities. Public presentations can be "liked" on Facebook, "tweeted" on Twitter and recommended on Google +1.
Templates
ePortfolio enables you to create unique templates for your learners, customized for a department, course or even an individual. Templates help learners get started quickly in the development of effective ePortfolios, by defining requirements that are guided by instructors.
Templates can also be pre-populated with forms and rubrics and then shared amongst instructors to simplify ePortfolio creation across an institution, or even multiple institutions.
Efficient and Flexible Administration
Through easy integration with Learning Environment, ePortfolio is incredibly efficient and reduces the need for help desk, IT staff, and user management administrators. The flexibility of the roles and permissions structure enables you to customize ePortfolio to reflect the unique environment of your institution. While ePortfolio is user-centric, administrators are able to implement an institutionally-branded look and feel by locking down specific templates and themes.
Authentic Assessment and Feedback
ePortfolio offers robust assessment capabilities through integration with our industry-leading Competencies tool. Feedback and assessment can be applied at a granular level to individual artifacts, collections, reflections, or entire presentations. Evaluators can review all comments and assessments made by peers to gain a more comprehensive picture into the learning process and make an insightful assessment. Comments or specific evaluation tables can be used for formative assessment on dynamic ePortfolio content as part of a learning process. Additionally, a point-in-time copy, including peer feedback, can be submitted to a folder as part of a formal assessment or review.
Reporting
ePortfolio reporting capabilities are built with our end-users and their institution in mind. Administrators can view logs of anyone who accessed their ePortfolio and see any changes made to items. A wealth of information from ePortfolio is available in the Data Warehouse and reporting tools. You have access to the very detailed information of competency achievements - for example, when they were completed, where, and how they were assessed. That data can be further aggregated and analyzed as required.
Import/Export
Any ePortfolio item or even the entire ePortfolio can be imported or exported using our publishing standard. With the ability to export presentations in html format, learners can now take their showcase material anywhere. This key feature supports learners in their lifelong learning journey beyond their time at a single organization.
Web Services
Clients can extend ePortfolio capabilities through custom integrations using a fully supported Web Services interface. ePortfolio offers significant extensibility through Web Services for uploading materials, creating reflections, tagging, and sharing. Customizations that are built with Web Services will continue to work as the product evolves.
