Electronic Portfolio Assessments In U. S. Educational and Instructional Technology Programs: Are They Supporting Teacher Education?

In recent years portfolios have served increasingly as a vehicle for individual and program evaluation, as well as for career purposes in many fields including education (Galloway, 2001). Nationwide, teacher development programs are being asked to include their students' artifacts in some form of teaching portfolio that will ultimately be used as an assessment vehicle for students as well as program evaluation tools for NCATE accreditation (U.S.D.E., 1997; Shannon, & Boll, 1996). The electronic version of the portfolio in which all artifacts are digitized is coming into more common use, and is quickly becoming the standard for this type of evaluation strategy in teacher education. This study describes a survey of educational technology/ instructional technology (ET/IT) departments in colleges and universities nationwide to identify which ones use electronic portfolio graduation requirements, and uses the results of that survey to speculate about the degree to which these programs can therefore assist teacher development programs through technical assistance, or demonstration by example. Furthermore, the evaluation criteria for electronic portfolios and artifacts, including standards for their development, were explored to determine the extent to which these assessments were valid and reliable. It was also determined which departments posted examples of electronic portfolios that could serve as a guide or (loosely) as an evaluation support mechanism. (Contains 1 table.)