Wednesday, November 15, 2006

How good are free e-portfolio solutions in terms of functionality?

The following mapping template used by Richardson and Ward (2005) was applied to evaluate a number of cost free alternative solutions which allow to build an effective E-Portfolio. These included free websites, free email services and Blogs. The emphasis was on functionality. Results show that combining free solutions can technically serve both institution centred and learner centred approaches to e-portfolios.

1 Free email: accessibility/usability settings are limited; browser setting can help with font size but usually not with background colour.
2 Free web: permission setting to read can be achieved by sending the website address or by pass wording access. Editing rights are possible but might not be practical.
3 Free Web: mentor feedback is only possible via added email system or feedback form.
4 Creative Design (Learner can design their own pages/template for inclusion within the portfolio (not just referenced by link): Blog allow choice of templates however free design is limited. Email: very limited design choice.

Reference:

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Try www.foliospaces.com for free eportfolio!

IK said...

Yes, we are using foliospaces.com as well. It is running on Mahara and so far has been great.