The CSU ePortfolio Project is a community of members – CSU faculty, staff, administrators – that share a common interest in enhancing the quality of teaching and learning through the use of ePortfolios.
About ePortfolios in the CSU
Why does one have a portfolio? To show off your stuff, right? Or to have a place where you can keep things - a storage chest of sorts - where you can store things and find them later. Sometimes students put together binders so they can turn them in for grades, but really one would want to encourage and to have an ePortfolio for the long term. ePortfolios are being used by a variety of CSU campuses within a variety of schools. ePortfolios are sometimes just a way to put selected information up on a website, and sometimes they are a digital repository, allowing the users to build web-pages (websites) with specific content. ePortfolio vendors usually allow secure and selective access to the websites, and some vendors provide report writing. Goals vary for each CSU case, but one common use is reporting for accreditation purposes, making the report writing a 'must have' for most.
See the Concept Map 
to get an idea of a broad system, and check out the Resources page for more support documentation.
Getting Started
The most important thing to do before you decide on an ePortfolio system is to figure out what your goal is. What do you want the stakeholders to get: Students? Faculty? School? Institutions? (See the Concept Map )
Investigation
If you know you/your school/your institution wants an ePortfolio system then it's time to figure out what the requirements are -- what you want IN an ePortfolios system. Know your user; know your user's needs. Review ePortflios the Getting Started section so you know the theories behind what an ePortfolio system can offer. (See the Concept Map )
Implementation
Once you've decided on the product, you need to make a plan like every other software installation or adoption. If you are hosting the servers yourself you can go right into the adoption planning.
Accreditation
Accreditation agencies have become more outcome driven, requiring examples of student learning as well as an aggregation of assessment data for internal program evaluation. Some vendor products are design to help with accreditation, so choose carefully.
top of pageHere are some direct links to the MERLOT ePortfolio Collection
- Assessment and Rubrics
- Career Oriented ePortfolios
- Institutional ePortfolios
- Learning-centered ePortfolios
- Pedagogies
- Resources
- Selecting and Using Tools
- Support and Training
- Teaching-centered ePortfolios
Contribute to the Collection 
Find out how to add materials to the ePortfolio collection!
Events/Professional Development 2010
June 28 - July 2, 2010 ED-MEDIA Toronto, Canada - Submissions due 12/18/09
July 5 - 7, 2010
EIfEL Learning Forum London, at the Institute of Electrical Engineers, 2 Savoy Place, London, United Kingdom
July 19 - 21, 2010
AAEEBL annual conference,
Boston Conference and Exhibition Center
November 10 -13, 2010 WCET, La Jolla, CA
PAST Event:
ePortfolios West Coast Summit - Day of Dialogue took place at San Francisco State University - Downtown Center Feb. 25, 2009 See the schedule and link to the presentations.
August 5 and 6, 2009 eFolio Summit in Minnesota. Visit the eFolio Summit site for more information.
August 13, 2009 ePortfolio Day of Planning, San Jose, CA - preceding the MIC
August 13 - 16, MERLOT International Conference 2009 in San Jose, California, with "Teaching and Learning in a Networked world."
Important Links
The MERLOT ePortfolio Portal is an educational resource for teaching and learning. Check out events (in Beyond MERLOT) and a fine collection of examples and showcase ePortfolios.
San Francisco State University - stellar ePortfolio site .
EPAC Community of Practice has been a leading resource on electronic portfolios since October 2002.
The Inter/National Coalition for Electronic Portfolio Research advances the body of knowledge about impacts of electronic portfolio use on student learning and educational outcomes. The CSU - specifically San Jose State University and San Francisco State University - was proud to be part of iNCEPR Cohort III.