ePortfolios in Higher Education: Catalysts for Programmatic Design and Lifelong Learning

ePortfolios have benefits for deep learning (Watson et al., 2018) and holistic student development such as integrative learning, identity development and wellbeing. However, to be effective and return high impact, ePortfolios require strategic approaches at the subject/course, program and institutional level. As such, ePortfolios present a unique use case in requiring programmatic design and assessment to facilitate a quality ePortfolio approach, but they can also be a catalyst for programmatic design and assessment approaches, which themselves have other benefits for the student experience and in future-proofing Higher Education in light of AI and other challenges. This paper builds on existing work in relation to ePortfolio implementation and sustainable and programmatic assessment design. It offers ideas for programmatic design for ePortfolio using UX design techniques such as journey mapping to support such approaches. We offer a sample journey map relevant to ePortfolios across a program for others to consider in relation to both ePortfolio design across a program and as part of program design/redesign more broadly.