E-Portfolios as Formative Assessment

This chapter proposes the use of digital portfolios, an innovative formative assessment practice, in the area of the humanities. An initial discussion on the importance of formative assessment practices that integrate digital tools is followed by a detailed description of the methodological principles of portfolios and how to design them, and how to integrate the digital component in its design. We conclude that assessment as reading, as opposed to the traditional summative assessment of reading, is a promising area of innovation in the pedagogy of the Humanities.

The Use of Digital Portfolios to Enhance English as a Foreign Language Speaking Skills in Higher Education

The purpose of this study is to analyze the use of digital portfolios to enhance EFL (English as a Foreign Language) speaking skills in English-major under-graduate students at Universidad Tecnica Particular de Loja, in southern Ecuador. The participants were 42 students at the A2 level, according to the CEFR (Com-mon European Framework of Reference for Languages). All of them were en-rolled in an English Language Integrated Skills course. A mixed-method ap-proach was used to collect and analyze data in this study. Pre and post-questionnaires, observation sheets, and speaking rubrics were applied as instru-ments. Students used their smartphones to create digital portfolios in Google Drive, which included videos and audios about certain topics considered in the course syllabus. The speaking activities consisted of recording information in dif-ferent locations of the university campus (cafeteria, laboratories, library, chapel, sports ground), and other places of the city. The students worked individually, in pairs or groups to carry out different speaking activities during an academic term of 5 months. Personalized feedback was provided by analyzing the students’ oral performance through the speech artifacts uploaded in each portfolio. The findings show that digital portfolios were effective to enhance students’ pronunciation and fluency. It was also confirmed that the implementation of digital portfolios through Google Drive can increase students’ motivation to practice oral skills in the target language.

Student’s Digital Portfolio for Assessing and Presenting Talents

Student portfolio management is focused not only on use in the educational process, but also on job search. In the labor market, the competitiveness and demand for a university graduate will be determined not only by the knowledge and practical skills acquired, but also by the ability to show the results of their activities in the most favourable light. It is important for the employer to demonstrate a professional level (HardSkills), the ability to think, create and act independently, to solve unaccustomed tasks (SoftSkills). A competently filled digital portfolio of a student will make it possible to present his achievements in the best possible way and will become one of the important ways to attract the attention of employers. This paper covers prospects for the development and use of digital portfolios for training, evaluation and job search.