Search

In this article, the authors describe how and why the use of electronic portfolios is emerging as a way to engage and assess students in both university and high school settings. Here, they offer details of their study of e-portfolios in action. The purpose of the study is to observe the technological advances teacher education candidates make as they use e-portfolios early in their programs of study and compare one high school student's learning using an e-portfolio to discover whether any symmetry exists in the process of acquisition. The study was conducted at a rural university and a high school in the state of Washington. One high school teacher volunteered to pilot test a Web-based electronic portfolio format. One high school student volunteered to use the electronic format of the portfolio. The remaining subjects were 126 teacher candidates taking their first class in the teacher preparation program. Fifty-three candidates used e-portfolios and 73 did not use any portfolios. A technology survey and interview were used to gather information about the e-portfolio system. Here, the authors discuss responses from the survey and interview, and share some closing thoughts on the outcomes. (Contains 3 figures.)