Enhancing professionalism through electronic portfolios: a pre-service teacher education initiative

Technology must be used to reflect the most current thinking about education and its use should be as a common language for linking people and projects into the future. The development and implementation of electronic portfolios in the tertiary sector has the potential to meet such a challenge. The study involved three consecutive stages over a period of one year. The initial phase aimed to empower students to map and demonstrate their developing professional skills, knowledge and values through the use of electronic portfolios. Data were collected through a questionnaire, observations, interviews and personal student journals. The sample involved 30 first year students in a Bachelor of Education course in Western Australia. Phase two involved a sub-sample of (N=13) the initial group. These students reviewed their original portfolios and modified them to reflect and align with the University's overarching outcomes for graduating students. Phase three of the research followed with the same subsample (N=13) and these students applied the process they were involved in to create their portfolio with a small group of primary school students in a Western Australian metropolitan school. The findings revealed that the majority of students believed that it was possible to construct a personal portfolio electronically and that it should reflect personal works achieved over time. The students in the subsample also found that the opportunity to revisit their earlier portfolio-proved to be an invaluable experience, allowing them to reflect upon their personal and professional development over time. The key outcomes of this study indicate that the process of building electronic portfolios is a highly valuable exercise in terms of professional development.