Portfolium is approved for academic use and is integrated with LMS.

What is Portfolium?

Portfolium is an electronic portfolio tool integrated with Canvas that allows users to showcase academic and work accomplishments, and connect to peers, instructors, other professionals, and potential employers.

What is the purpose of Portfolium?

  • Can be used as part of a course assessment.
  • Can be used in a degree program for evidence of meeting competencies and learning outcomes.
  • Can be used by students independently to support career planning and/or a job search.

Why use Portfolium?

The primary value of Portfolium is: 

  • as ongoing presentation of learning, competency development, showcasing intellectual and professional growth. 
  • as a summative assessment tool, or for evidence of meeting program level competencies or outcomes.
  • as an artifact, as students retain access to their folio materials after they are done a course, their program or degree.

Learning Technology Ecosystem (LTE) Principles

Portfolium most directly address these LTE goals:

Designed for reflection and growth - Learning is refined and extended through prompted and supported opportunities to focus on understanding and next steps.  

Designed for students who are remixing or creating - Learning is most effective when systems are designed to help learners find, create, and/or repurpose significant content for the value of themselves and others.

 

Best Practices

DO

DON'T

 Use to support learner reflection, for students to document their process of learning 

 Not recommended to use for student interactions or activities such as peer review or peer evaluation as the commenting feature is limited .

 Use to have students feature acquired skills and competencies 

 Use as a summative assessment option.

 

 Share the video directed at students: What is Portfolium?

 

Review these blog posts by DEU: USask's New ePortfolio Tool and Basic ePortfolio Activities and Tools

 

Support for Portfolium

Technical Support

(Why isn't this working?)

Vendor Supported

Self-supported

Training Support

(How do I learn to use this tool?)

Self-supported

 Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning Supported

Teaching Support

(How do I teach with this tool?) 

 Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning Supported

Tool Evaluation

Technologies are evaluated based on their alignment with the Learning Technologies Ecosystem Principles.  Click to see explanations of each principle and a justification of the rating. You can also view a complete blank rubric to see more details or read about the assessment process.

Learning must be found easily at any time, and all learners and teachers have equitable access, regardless of culture, language, ability etc. 
More Information

Rating: Works well

  • Accessibility standards:
    • As per Canvas accessibility standard.
  • Cost of use for USask students:
    • No cost for use.
  • Platform/device:
    • Accessed through Canvas.
    • Mobile access through a URL, no app available.
  • Offline Access:
    • No offline access.

Learning is a process of meaning-making, constructed through learning with others, and as a part of an intentional, deliberate system within a course and across experiences.
More Information

Rating: Moderate concerns

  • Sharing:
    • Possible for students to share portfolios and support each other’s development and use of the platform.

Learning is refined and extended through prompted and supported opportunities to focus on understanding and next steps.
More Information

Rating: Works well

  • Reflection and revision:
    • Excellent tool to develop reflection and demonstrate growth through revision.

Learning is most effective when systems are designed to help learners find, create, and/or repurpose significant content for the value of themselves and others.
More Information

Rating: Works well

  • Creating:
    • Students can create a portfolio to support and showcase learning, to meet assessment and program requirements, for professional networking and skill showcasing to support job applications and interviews. 

  • File format:
    • Allows uploads of Word documents, PDFs, spreadsheets, external web links, links to videos, and more, including assignments from other Canvas courses.

Learners create and control spaces for learning, understanding and retaining ownership, and purposefully choosing how and when they share.
More Information

Rating: Moderate Concerns

  • Archiving, saving, and exporting data:
    • Users retain access to the URL.
    • Students can export a PDF version of their profile or download their data as a .zip folder (24 hour turnaround) to preserve their work.
  • Data privacy and ownership:
    • Users retain ownership of their data; each project has a copyright statement and adjustable privacy settings.
  • Sign Up/Sign In:
    • Not applicable as accessed through Canvas or custom URL.

  • Customization:
    • Customized by uses of Skills and/or Reflection annotation.
    • Badging is not currently enabled at USask.

Learners need to work in a system that is fluid and requires a minimum number of steps in systems that are intuitive and integrated.
More Information

Rating: Works well

  • Interface:
    • Accessed through Canvas (User Account>Folio).
    • Intuitive to social media users.
    • Users would benefit from a guided orientation or video particular to program/course requirements if this tool is used for assessment or competency requirements.
  • Functionality:
    • Content from multiple sources is easily added.
    • Submitted assignments can be pulled from Canvas (although direct uploads are more efficient).

Learners exist in accessible networks, and connect to the experiences, concepts, people, and ideas that they need.
More Information

Rating: Works well

  • Scale: 
    • All students have access to their own folio via their Canvas account.
  • Flexibility of Media:
    • Allows users to share and showcase through different media (audio, visual, text).

  • Engagement:
    • Instructors can provide opportunities for students to connect with other people via this platform (for example, use in a virtual poster presentation day).

Learning and feedback are iterative, and assessment comes from multiple sources, including self, peers, teachers, and outside experts.
More Information

Rating: Works well

  • Feedback:
    • Ability to give access through sharing of URL allows for feedback through comments from multiple sources.
  • Engagement:
    • Level is dependent on intended use.