2. Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................. 2
ePortfolios .................................................................................................................................................... 2
Types of ePortfolios ................................................................................................................................ 3
Getting Started ............................................................................................................................................. 6
The Role of the ePortfolio in Your Course ............................................................................................ 6
Revising Your Syllabus .......................................................................................................................... 7
Working within the ePortfolio Platform – Digication ............................................................................ 8
Digication vs. Blackboard ...................................................................................................................... 9
Resources for Faculty............................................................................................................................. 9
Reflective Writing ........................................................................................................................................ 9
Checking Assignments and Grades ........................................................................................................ 11
Student Privacy ......................................................................................................................................... 11
Digication Technical Guide ....................................................................................................................... 13
Logging In .............................................................................................................................................. 13
Building Your Course ePortfolio .......................................................................................................... 13
Basic Information ................................................................................................................................................14
ePortfolio Templates ............................................................................................................................. 15
Creating an ePortfolio from Scratch .................................................................................................... 16
Customizing Your Theme ..................................................................................................................... 16
Permissions and Tagging ..................................................................................................................... 19
Editing Your ePortfolio ......................................................................................................................... 20
Adding Sections..................................................................................................................................................20
Adding Pages .....................................................................................................................................................22
Adding Modules ..................................................................................................................................................23
Adding Text ........................................................................................................................................................24
Additional Resources ................................................................................................................................ 25
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3. Introduction
Congratulations on joining the ePortfolio community at the School of Professional Studies. This guide will
help you to incorporate ePortfolios into your courses and/or programs. While we hope this will provide you
with the tools you need to get started, the ePortfolio Team at SPS is eager and available to assist you with
any questions or concerns. Please reach out to us at eportfolios@sps.cuny.edu.
ePortfolios
The purpose of ePortfolios is to provide students with a tool to collect, organize, reflect upon and display
their academic work. ePortfolios allow students to take ownership of the learning process by encouraging
them to think about their learning experiences in a broad context of family, career, and community
responsibilities. They provide a record of where a student has been, where a student is, and where a
student would like to go. Helping students to engage in this process, summed up by the phrase “collect,
select, reflect, connect,” is where faculty play a key role.
The types of ePortfolios defined below are not mutually exclusive, and faculty should feel free to suggest
new and innovative ways to use ePortfolio.
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4. Types of ePortfolios
Course ePortfolios
A course ePortfolio provides an opportunity for an instructor to revise or rethink a particularly challenging
assignment in ways that facilitate scaffolding and incorporate multimedia. For example, an instructor may
decide to move the steps of a research paper (finding and evaluating sources, creating a bibliography,
developing an outline, drafting, revision, and reflection) to a single ePortfolio with tabs for each part of the
assignment. ePortfolios also enable multimedia integration, allowing students to incorporate images,
databases, PowerPoint presentations, audio, and video into projects. Instead of thinking of ePortfolios as
“another thing to do,” think of ePortfolios as a convenient digital venue for an existing assignment.
All templates allow for creativity. Faculty
can develop simple course ePortfolio
templates with minimal instructions
where students can add sections and
pages as they need.
In this course ePortfolio template,
students are given 4 sections to
complete. Instructions are minimal as
students include an introduction to the
course, an “About Me,” a reflection,
their first assignment, and their final
essay.
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5. Some course ePorfolios are
more structured, including
course requirements and
assignments.
Instructions are provided
within each page/section and
students delete/replace the
instructions with their own
work.
Capstone Course ePortfolios allow
students to create a collection of their
work as they complete their degree,
drawing connections between courses
and disciplines as well as their personal
and professional selves.
Reflection is an important part of a
student’s personal and professional
progress.
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6. Academic ePortfolios
In academic ePortfolios, also called learning ePortfolios, students can collect representative assignments
from all of their courses, creating a space in which to reflect upon their academic growth and make
connections between courses. A learning ePortfolio is where reflection and documentation combine with
collaboration or conversations about learning.
The capstone ePortfolio is similar
to an Academic ePortfolio in that it
collects evidence or “artifacts” and
reflections from multiple
courses/semesters.
Since the Digication platform
allows students to create multiple
ePortfolios, it is easy for a student
to hyperlink a course ePortfolio to
his or her academic ePortfolio.
Some instructors may choose to develop “signature assignments” that provide evidence of students’
achievement of specific course learning objectives and ask students to place these assignments in their
ePortfolios. This differs from the course ePortfolio in that a single assignment is being placed into a larger
ePortfolio, rather than the ePortfolio being the assignment itself.
Program ePortfolios
Program ePortfolios are similar to Academic ePortfolios, except that they are specific to an academic
program, such as Communication and Culture or Applied Theatre. The program ePortfolio should include a
competency or learning outcomes matrix, listing the program learning objectives. Students then link
assignments from each required program course to a competency, making visible the program
requirements and how those requirements were satisfied. Program ePortfolios also provide useful
evidence for program-level assessment.
Showcase/Resume ePortfolios
Showcase ePortfolios are organized to present accomplishments to graduate schools or to potential
employers. Showcase ePortfolios might include a resume, references, samples of work, and information
about extra-curricular or co-curricular activities. This type of ePortfolio should encourage the individuality
and creativity of each student. In addition to working with the ePortfolio team, students will also work with
Career Services to optimize their ePortfolio for showcasing purposes.
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7. Getting Started
The Role of the ePortfolio in Your Course
One of the first things academic directors or instructors may want to know is how much their
program/course will need to change in order to accommodate ePortfolios. Typically, very little. ePortfolios
are a way to visibly display the good work that you and your students are already doing. However,
determining the purpose ePortfolios will serve within your class or program means that planning is
essential.
General Questions
General questions to consider for both Program and Course ePortfolios are:
What broader discipline-based skills and knowledge can an ePortfolio strengthen or elicit?
What choices will you make about learning objectives using ePortfolios?
How can a student best use ePortfolios to create and reflect upon meaningful learning experiences in
your discipline?
Course ePortfolios
Individual faculty using ePortfolios will need to determine the following:
What is the best fit between your discipline and a course-based ePortfolio strategy?
Will assignments be done in students’ ePortfolios or will students move finished, graded work to their
ePortfolio?
How will you incorporate reflective writing into your coursework? (See section below on Reflective
Writing for more information.)
Some other things to think about:
Check in with your students to see if any of them already have ePortfolios. If so, you might want to
ask them to help you convey the concept and their experiences to your other students.
Think about when you’ll introduce ePortfolio to students during the term. Have a plan. We’ve found
that it helps when faculty introduce the concept early on in the semester, and then structure time to
have students deposit one or more assignments later on.
Thinking About Assignments:
Developing a strong ePortfolio component to your course.
ePortfolios can take a larger or smaller role within your course. Some students will already have ePortfolios
from previous classes and others will eventually be creating a specific ePortfolio in the future such as a
Capstone, Senior Project, or Professional ePortfolio. Whatever type of ePortfolio you choose for your
course it will provide a valuable experience you and your students.
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8. Tips for creating a successful ePortfolio project:
Assign a “Signature Assignment” that addresses a major course learning outcome. These signature
assignments can replace or be in addition to the coursework you normally expect of your students.
Instead of having students introduce themselves on the Discussion Board during the first week of class
(for online courses), ask them to create an “about me” tab in their ePortfolio and share the links with
their classmates, who can make comments.
Use ePortfolio to document and reflect upon field experiences or internships.
Include video clips of performances or demonstration of applied skills.
Assign team projects where students use ePortfolios to present their work.
Use ePortfolios to document the research process.
Have students write about their solution to a realistic Math problem. What was the process they used to
solve the problem? What is the relevance of the problem, and/or the application of the problem solving
skill to other issues or areas of life?
Use ePortfolios for a final reflection of the course. Have students upload their semester’s assignments
and include a reflection tab where they will reflect upon their progress throughout the semester: how
they felt about the subject at the beginning of the course and how they feel after taking the course.
If you want to look at other templates and course-based ePortfolios throughout CUNY please visit the
following wiki page on the CUNY Academic Commons:
http://commons.gc.cuny.edu/wiki/index.php/Templates_and_Course-Based_ePortfolios.
Revising Your Syllabus
Once you determine how ePortfolios will be used for your course, it is important that the expectations are
explained in your course syllabus. Describe your assignment(s) in the syllabus and make it clear if/when
they are due in the ePortfolio.
For example:
ePortfolio Project: 30%— Your semester project will build on the work you contribute each week to the
Discussion Board and in the Info Lit Blog. The ePortfolio Project will build on all this work by examining a
specific topic, of your own choosing, in greater depth. The final paper will be 5-8 pages in length and will
draw upon research you conduct after you have identified your topic and, if possible, work you have done
already. For example, you may want to build your final paper upon an Info Lit Blog entry, or expand upon
an exchange on the Discussion Board. Similarly, you may discover a topic, and sources to use, while
browsing the web for a weekly assignment. You will be posting your paper and all the background source
work related to it on an online ePortfolio that you will create for the course. A template for the ePortfolio
project has been created that you can use to guide the development of your own ePortfolio. On the
template you will also find the due dates for the different sections of the Final Paper/ePortfolio project.
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9. Program-wide ePortfolios
Academic Program Directors implementing a program-wide ePortfolio strategy will need to answer the
following questions to help to determine how ePortfolios will fit into your structure.
How will the program learning objectives be integrated in course designs and assignments using
ePortfolios?
How will faculty and students learn about ePortfolios and their role in your program
How can a capstone be designed to create a cumulative and integrative learning experience across all
courses in the program?
How will the program ePortfolio connect to graduate school and/or career development?
Working within the ePortfolio Platform – Digication
The platform for ePortfolios at SPS is Digication (http://cunyonline.digication.com). Through Digication
students are able to select templates and utilize modules, thus allowing them to place a greater focus on
content. In addition, this platform permits students to create as many ePortfolios as they wish and make
copies of existing ePortfolios.
Before creating their ePortfolio accounts, students are encouraged to view the "Getting Started" videos
which will walk them through the initial log in process and explains how to select a template ePortfolio. The
video can be accessed at: http://cunyonline.digication.com/studentresource/Getting_Started .
A Digication Technical Guide for faculty starts on page 13 of this handbook.
Student Support:
Students will be emailed their account information. This information will include the Digication website, their
username, and a temporary password, which they will be instructed to change upon their first login.
Students will also be made aware of the support services available to them through ePortfolio Advisors.
This service includes one-on-one support for students via Live Chat or email, video tutorials, workshops,
and ongoing ePortfolio advisement. Students who are interested in using a showcase ePortfolio for
graduate admissions or employment purposes will be connected to the Manager of Career Services,
Shannon Gallo, who can review their electronic resume and provide helpful feedback.
The ePortfolio Student Resource Website can be found at:
http://cunyonline.digication.com/studentresource/.
Should faculty have any questions about the ePortfolio Advisor services please contact Louise Levine at
louise.levine@mail.cuny.edu.
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10. Digication vs. Blackboard
Some students may feel that using ePortfolios duplicates or is an added burden to the work they already
do. For this reason it is important that faculty explain the benefits of putting their work into an ePortfolio.
Here are some points you can make:
ePortfolios are a great way for coursework to live beyond the date on which it was submitted.
ePortfolios allow students to showcase their work in a way that is easily accessible inside and outside
of the school.
ePortfolios are being implemented in higher education across the country.
Students may not have access to their coursework once the term is over, particularly online students
who lose coursework in Blackboard at the end of the semester.
Having a space for reflective writing is akin to keeping a professional journal, except this journal is
portable and accessible wherever a student has an internet connection.
With ePortfolios, students can create and manage their academic and professional online identities.
Resources for Faculty
The ePortfolio Coordinator and Instructional Technology Fellows will work with academic directors and
instructors as they create ePortfolio templates and throughout the semester. Once a faculty member
determines how ePortfolios will be used in a course, ePortfolio Advisors will work to ensure that templates
clearly indicate what is expected of a student. eP Advisors will also work directly with the student to ensure
that he or she has a clear understanding of these expectations. At the start of the semester, students are
provided with a copy of the student handbook and a link to the ePortfolio Resource Website. The resources
website includes sections for both students and faculty.
Faculty also have access to ePortfolio resources through the CUNY Academic Commons, which includes
links, sample ePortfolios and template ideas. Click on the link to the ePortfolio Resources for SPS Faculty
(the CUNY Commons page) or bookmark the link below:
http://commons.gc.cuny.edu/wiki/index.php/EPortfolio_Resources_for_SPS_Faculty
Reflective Writing
“Study without reflection is a waste of time; reflection without study is dangerous.”
-Confucius
ePortfolio is a vehicle for reflective and integrative thinking, for learners to examine their own development
of knowledge and skills, and to measure their progress and their goals across time and across disciplines.
What are the meanings of the work that they have chosen to display in their ePortfolio? What kind of value
does it have for them? What did they learn from the work they did? What questions did they ask?
What new questions emerged from their learning? How did their previous knowledge or experience affect
what they learned or how they learned?
9
11. Answering these kinds of reflective questions, and including these answers in their ePortfolios, will
strengthen students’ academic skills, their ability to continue their education, and their understanding of
their educational experiences.
Ideally, reflective writing will be an integral part of the assignments and graded as part of that assignment. If
you are uncomfortable grading reflective writing, you don’t have to, but you should probably then assign
some “completion points” for when the student turns in the reflective writing. You may also read and
comment on reflective writing without grading it.
Tips and examples of reflective writing prompts
Tip: Incorporate prompts that solicit a few paragraphs of reflective writing into the assignment(s). The
prompts can be about the assignment process or about what students learned overall in the course.
Tip: Give students a choice of prompts to which they can respond in their reflective writing, and make
your expectations clear.
Example: How does your performance on this assignment demonstrate achievement of--or progress
toward learning outcomes?
Example: How does this assignment (or this course) connect with what you learned in other courses?
Example: What impact did the assignment have on you or your understanding of the topic? What do
you understand about the topic now that you did not understand at the beginning?
Example: What process did you go through to complete the assignment? [This can be particularly
interesting if the assignment involved many steps or collaboration between several students]
Example: What challenges did you face in completing the assignment? How did you address them?
Example: Why did you pick this assignment to put in your ePortfolio? What does it demonstrate about
your learning? [Assumes that instructor has given students a choice of assignments to include in the
ePortfolio]
Example: How did participation in this service-learning partnership (internship, group project, etc.) help
you better understand how the main concepts in this course apply to your life or community?
Example: How do(es) the assignment(s) illustrate the growth/change/progression you have had in this
class?
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12. Checking Assignments and Grades
Checking for Assignments
If you choose to have students submit assignments directly through their ePortfolio, you need to develop a
method of checking for completed work. Here are some suggestions to help make checking for
assignments easier:
The ePortfolio team will create a community on Digication for your class. This will allow both you and
the students to easily browse through each other’s profiles and ePortfolios.
Create a class ePortfolio where you can add links to your students’ ePortfolios. For examples please
visit the following course ePortfolio sites:
https://cunyonline.digication.com/FLM307/Class_ePorfolios
https://bcc-cuny.digication.com/RODASmonsters12fall2011/student_ePortfolios2
Have students email you the URL for the page of their ePortfolio containing the assignment for your
class.
If you subscribe to a student’s ePortfolio in Digication, it will be listed on your “Home” page in addition
to the “Subscriptions” page.
If you teach using Blackboard, create an assignment that requires students to paste the URL for the
page of their ePortfolio containing the assignment for your class into a wiki or discussion board thread.
Pair students up to do some peer review of their assignments and check whether their partner has put
his/her assignment and reflective writing into the ePortfolio. Have each student certify to you that their
partner has done so.
For in-person courses, divide students into small groups and have students “present” their ePortfolios
to each other, including the relevant page for your assignment.
Consider having end-of-semester “ePortfolio Showcase” class presentations.
Note: The ability for students to view each other’s portfolios and for you to view portfolios depends upon
the privacy settings selected and on how your course it set up. For more information go to the permissions
and tagging section on pg. 19. You may also contact the ePortfolio team to further discuss privacy settings.
Grading ePortfolio Assignments
Grades for ePortfolio assignments should not be posted in a student’s ePortfolio. You should grade the
assignment then communicate the grade using the Grade Center or some other private form of
communication that is available.
Student Privacy
Students have the ability to select who can view their ePortfolios and can change their permission settings
at any time. However, when starting their ePortfolios we recommend that students select “Anybody at my
school can view, only I can edit.” With this setting ePortfolios are viewable to anyone in SPS and will
allow students to view and comment on each other’s ePortfolios when they are logged into Digication. If
students feel comfortable sharing their ePortfolio with those who are not logged into Digication they may
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13. opt to make their ePortfolios public. If a student does not feel comfortable sharing their ePortfolio either
publically or within the entire school, they can limit access to the students and instructor of their class.
For faculty, we recommend the following:
When pairing students to share their ePortfolios with each other, allow students with privacy concerns
to opt out of that part of the assignment.
Just as you wouldn’t share a student’s grades with someone else, don’t give out ePortfolio URLs to a
student’s friends, parents, reporters, etc. without the student’s permission. To obtain a student’s
permission please have your student sign the following release form or contact the ePortfolio team at
eportfolios@sps.cuny.edu.
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14. Digication Technical Guide
Logging In
1. Go to Digication.
Type www.cunyonline.digication.com into the address bar of your browser.
2. Log in. Your username is your firstnameinitial.lastname (i.e. Jane Doe = jdoe). Your initial
password will be emailed to you.
3. Change your password. Click on your name in the upper-right-hand corner of the screen, type
your new password twice, then click Save.
Building Your Course ePortfolio
Once you log into your ePortfolio account you are ready to create your Course ePortfolio. You can either
work off of an existing template or you can create your ePortfolio from scratch.
vs.
To view the list of templates in the gallery please visit:
https://cunyonline.digication.com/studentresource/Template_Gallery.
Instructions for creating a new ePortfolio template from scratch begins on page 16.
13
15. Click on the CREATE BUTTON to create a new ePortfolio.
Basic Information
After selecting CREATE, you will be directed to the Portfolio Settings page beginning with the Basic
Information section which will ask you to create a title, web address, contact and email for your
ePortfolio.
ePortfolio Title: Enter your course number + Template + (Your last name)
i.e.- CC 401 Template (Walters)
ePortfolio Web Address: Enter your course number + Template + Your Last Name
i.e.- CC401TemplateWalters
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16. ePortfolio Templates
Using a Template: Templates are designed with a basic outline of the tabs and sections based on what
you might want to include (see sample below). You can also choose to “Create From Scratch,”
Keep in mind; you cannot go back and choose another template. To choose the template, Click on
one of the icons or click “more templates”
To view the list of templates in the gallery please visit:
https://cunyonline.digication.com/studentresource/Template_Gallery.
vs.
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17. Creating an ePortfolio from Scratch
To create your ePortfolio from scratch (the owner chooses his/her own banner, sections, and
pages), click on the green “Create from Scratch” icon before moving on to the “Choose a Theme”
section.
Customizing Your Theme
Through the Theme Setting you will be able to set
your directory icon as well as your banner
(header image) and footer. From the “Choose a
Theme” section, unclick the “Use Selected
template’s theme”
16
18. Now, click on the “Customize”
button to open up the next section
where you can change both the
directory image, Banner and
Footer.
DIRECTORY ICONS AND BANNERS (HEADER IMAGE)
DIRECTORY ICONS
Your icon is the image that will appear with your ePortfolio in the directory.
To upload your directory icon, browse your computer for the
image you would like to use and upload it under Header Image
located under Visual Styles. Your image will automatically be
resized to 100x100 pixels.
CHANGING THE BANNER
All ePortfolios have the SPS
default Banner (Header Image).
To upload your own banner, click the button to “upload new
image,” find the image you need and upload it. Your image will
be resized to 779 pixels wide or less.
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19. BANNERS (HEADER IMAGE) cont’d
This image will appear on the top of every page of your e-Portfolio.
Pre-designed Banners (Header Images) provided by the ePortfolio Team can be downloaded here:
https://cunyonline.digication.com/studentresource/Banners21. You must download the images to your
computer in order to upload them on your visual styles.
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20. FOOTERS
The Footer will appear at the bottom of each page. The footer is text that appears along the bottom of every
page in your e-Portfolio. Many e-Portfolios have a quote here, or copyright information.
To add the footer, type in the text of
choice in the box provided. Footers can
be a quote or copyright information.
Permissions and Tagging
Students and faculty are advised to set their permissions to “Private within CUNY Online” however you
may want to set your template so only your students can see it. In that case, you would use the “Private, to
me” settings and then add “Additional Permissions,” adding your “course” or individual students.
The Directory: You would always want your template available in a searchable directory so students can
find your template.
Tagging: Tags are keywords that can be assigned to the pages of your e-Portfolio. If you or your visitors
tag your pages, it'll be easier to find them in searches. You can turn tagging on or off at any time.
Don't forget to click Create
New e-Portfolio
Congratulations, you just created an ePortfolio!
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21. Editing your ePortfolio
Once you have created your ePortfolio you may want to customize it. You can rename sections and pages,
create new sections and pages, and restructure them as you see fit.
Edit and Viewing modes can be found on the top Tabs.
There are three top tabs Edit, Preview, and Published. In order to add, edit, or delete sections and pages
your ePortfolio must be on Edit mode. Preview will show you what your saved edits will look like once
published prior to publishing. Published will show you what viewers will see while viewing your ePortfolio.
SECTIONS AND PAGES
SECTIONS
Each portfolio has a top and a side menu. The
top menu displays all the sections in your site.
The side menu displays the list of pages in a
section.
PAGES Below are basic instructions on how to add and
edit sections, pages and content.
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22. Adding Sections
To add or edit sections, make sure the ePortfolio Edit tab is highlighted, then click on Add/Edit Sections
and select Add Section.
For each section you want to add, type in the section name and then hit the Save button. Advance
Settings will allow you to Change your Section Address (URL) or hide the section from viewers (making it
private).
You can change the order of the sections by clicking on the
section you wish to move and dragging it to the desired
location.
To change the name of the section or delete it, click on the
pencil icon next to the section. *Deleting a section deletes all
pages under it.
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23. Adding Pages
To add or edit pages click on Add/Edit next to ‘View Pages’ and click Add Page, name it and click the
Save button. You can edit, reorder, and delete your pages using the same directions indicated for editing
sections in the blue box on the previous page.
Advance Settings will give you the following options beyond naming your
page:
Change your Page Address (URL).
Hide your page from viewers (making it private).
Collapse subpages.
Make the page non-clickable by selecting Heading.
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24. Adding Modules
Modules provide areas for you to add
images, movies, text and links to websites
or files within your pages. More than one
module can be added to a page to allow
you to customize the display of your
content.
To add a module, select the section and
page you wish to add a module to. Select
the module that best fits your needs then
click Add This Module.
There are 6 modules to choose from:
Image/Video/Audio - Allows you to display one large media file.
Rich Text - Is the most flexible as it will allow you to incorporate text, video, links and images all on
one document. We recommend using this module for most of your work.
Gallery - Allows you to upload several pieces of media (images, video, etc) with captions.
Contact Form - Allows you to receive emails sent by viewers without having to reveal your email
address.
Twitter - Allows you to display a feed from your Twitter account.
Bookmarks - Allows users to share your page on popular social networking sites.
Note: You should take some time to browse the different Modules, but we recommend using the Rich Text
module for most of your work.
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25. Adding Text
After you’ve created a Rich Text Module, it will appear with sample content. Click the Edit tab to begin
adding your own content.
Once you have added content you will need to Save your changes. Once saved, your changes will not be
published for viewing until you click on the Publish This Page.
Publish Changes
Save Changes
You can also…
Add links to Word/PDF documents and PowerPoint presentations using the Insert File icon.
Add images, using the Insert Media icon.
Add hyperlinks. Type the URL, highlight it, then click the Insert/Edit link icon.
Inset long quotations or other text, using the Indent icon.
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26. Additional Resources
ePortfolio Resources for SPS Faculty:
https://cunyonline.digication.com/studentresource/faculty
ePortfolio Resource Website:
https://cunyonline.digication.com/studentresource/
Digication User Guides:
https://cunyonline.digication.com/studentresource/Tutorials
LaGuardia Community College – Faculty Resources:
http://www.eportfolio.lagcc.cuny.edu/faculty/resources.htm
Bronx Community College – ePortfolio Faculty Development:
https://bcc-cuny.digication.com/ep/ePortfolio_Pedagogy
Pace University’s ePortfolio Assignment Guide:
http://appsrv.pace.edu/ctlt/eportfolioFiles/Faculty%20ePortfolio%20Resources/ePortfolio%
20Assignment%20Guide.pdf
CUNY Academic Commons ePortfolios Wiki:
http://commons.gc.cuny.edu/wiki/index.php/EPortfolios_Committee_WIKI
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