Qualitative Analysis of Student Perceptions of E-Portfolios in a Teacher Education Program

Abstract

In the last decade, e-portfolios have moved to the forefront of teacher preparation programs across the United States. With its widespread use, faculty and administrators need to understand teacher candidates’ perspectives to meet their needs. In the present study, the researchers gathered in-depth information from 244 students who were required to create e-portfolios for their academic program. The researchers asked students, using open-ended survey items, about the advantages, disadvantages, and obstacles they faced when creating and disseminating their e-portfolios. Additionally, each student described his or her most significant e-portfolio learning experience and how to make the process more meaningful. Overall, there were seven themes: increased scope, guidance, timing, alignment with standards, reflection and growth, organization of work, and the inaccessibility of the e-portfolio system to persons outside of the university. This article discusses findings as well as practical recommendations for e-portfolio integration and ideas for future research. (Keywords: eportfolios, student perspective, digital portfolios, teacher education, teacher preparation)