In AY16/17, the English Department offered 248 sections of the general education ‘C’ courses (ENGL 110C, 211C, 221C, and 231C) required of undergraduate students in all disciplines. For ODU’s 2016-2017 published curriculum, while nearly 60% of undergraduate disciplines suggest a writing-intensive disciplinary ‘W’ course within two years (one-to-four semesters) of taking their required ‘C’ courses, upwards of 40% suggest potentially taking writing-intensive courses in as many as five semesters after a student’s initial first-year composition (FYC) courses (“Curriculum Sheets for the 2016-2017 ODU Catalog”, 2016).
| Distance (in semesters) | Percentage |
| 5 or more | 40.04% |
| 4 | 18.18% |
| 3 | 31.31% |
| 2 | 8.08% |
| 1 | 2.02% |
Table 1: Distance in Semesters (between FYC and next suggested ‘W’ Course) and Percentage of Undergraduate Programs (2016 – 2017)
We sought to use ePortfolio as vehicle to bridge this “writing gap.” Targeting the developing community of practice around the use of ePortfolios in the classroom, we collaborated with instructors new to and currently using ePortfolio technology in their courses, developed best practices for using those technologies within the scope of bridging lower and upper-level courses within English studies and beyond, and continued to drive for process-driven student work that enables metacognition and supports reflection through a combination of writing and digital literacy projects.
In order to prepare students for the interim period between their ‘C’ and ‘W’ courses, we designed WordPress templates in alignment with the six IDW SLOs so students could develop the digital literacies associated with composing ePortfolios while also showcasing and reflecting on the evolution of their writing skills. During the academic “gap” in which writing is often not a specific focus of an enrolled course, students may even continue to draw on these related skills sets and behaviors in other co-curricular and extracurricular contexts as other programs such as Leadership and Student Involvement (LSI) and Career Development Services (CDS) begin to encourage their own use of ePortfolios.
ePortfolio use in higher education has increased gradually over the years (Coffey & Ashford-Rowe, 2014; Galatis, Leeson, Mason, Miller, & O’Neil, 2009; Ring & Ramirez, 2012). As an instructional strategy, ePortfolios are changing the way students learn by prompting students to reify their knowledge using various digital formats as evidence of competency (Ayala, 2006). In “Enhancing Inquiry, Evidence-Based Reflection, and Integrative Learning with the Lifelong ePortfolio Process: The Implementation of Integrative ePortfolios at Stony Brook University”, Wozniak (2013) defines the “Lifelong ePortfolio Process” as five steps: Collecting, Selecting, Reflecting, Connecting, and Projecting (p. 213). This approach values process over technology, stressing longevity of the curation and reflection process, and neatly aligns with a bridging effort invested in instilling sustainable habits of mind like archiving and digital composition skills early in a student’s college experience as a skill set they can draw on throughout their undergraduate experience. Wozniak claims the five steps of the lifelong ePortfolio process ”provides an organized digital thumbprint and timeline of knowing, doing, knowing how you know, and proceeding to the next level of inquiry. It allows the owner to synthesize learning, build knowledge, demonstrate learning connections, and project evidence of professional skills and abilities over a lifetime” (p. 213).
REFERENCES
Ayala, J.(2006) ePortfolios for Whom? EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 29(1), 12-13. Retrieved from http://www.educause.edu/
Coffey, U., & Ashford-Rowe, K. (2014). The changing landscape of ePortfolios: A case study in one Australian university. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology. 30(3), 284-294. Retrieved from http://ajet.org.au/
“Curriculum Sheets for the 2016-2017 ODU Catalog.” (2016) Retrieved from: https://www.odu.edu/academics/programs/curriculum-sheets/2016-2017
Galatis, H., Leeson, J., Mason, J., Miller, A., & O’Neill, O. (2009). The VET ePortfolio roadmap: A strategic roadmap for ePortfolios to support lifelong learning. Australian Flexible Learning Network. Brisbane: Australia. Retrieved from http://theijep.com/
Ring, G., & Ramirez, B. (2012). Implementing ePortfolios for the assessment of general education competencies. International Journal of ePortfolio, 2(1), 87-95. Retrieved from http://www.theijep.com/
Wozniak, N. M. (2013). Enhancing inquiry, evidence-based reflection, and integrative learning with the Lifelong ePortfolio Process: The implementation of integrative eportfolios at Stony Brook University. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 41(3), 209-230.