Abstract

Electronic portfolios, aka e-Portfolios have been adopted in first and second language classrooms for nearly two decades. In the first decade (2000-2010), e-Portfolios were mainly used as a pedagogical tool. In the second decade (2011-present), they have been proven to be effective in improving motivation, autonomy, self-regulated learning, and internal/external assessment scores as a digital learning platform (cf. Barrot, 2016, 2021; Beckers et al., 2016; Zheng & Barrot, 2022). Despite this positive evidence, scholars remain unclear about whether e-Portfolios could be used as a valid cum reliable assessment tool, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. This pre-conference workshop intends to fill this much-needed gap by addressing the following aspects of e-Portfolio assessment.

To begin with, the workshop describes the attributes and processes of e-Portfolios to keep participants in the picture. Then, it unpacks the conceptual rationale for e-Portfolios, namely socio-constructivist (online collaborative learning), assessment for learning (interactive pedagogies), and metacognition (digital reflective practices). Next, the workshop discusses the major differences between e-Portfolio pedagogy and e-Portfolio assessment when e-Portfolios are used as alternative assessment in second language classrooms. Afterward, it shares some actionable strategies with participants on how to use e-Portfolios to fulfill formative and summative purposes separately and concurrently. At last, the workshop provides several research-informed principles in case teacher participants plan to try out e-Portfolios in their work contexts.

Keywords: electronic portfolios; alternative assessment; formative assessment; summative assessment; pandemic

Bionote

Ricky Lam is Associate Professor and Associate Department Head in the Department of Education Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China. He is the Past President of Hong Kong Association for Applied Linguistics (HAAL), 2018-2020. Ricky is currently Associate Editor of Frontiers in Psychology and has served in several international editorial boards, such as Assessing Writing, RELC Journal, Journal of Asia TEFL, etc. He has been mentoring eight doctoral students. His research interests include L2 writing assessment, digital portfolios, and language assessment literacy. His publications have appeared in Assessing Writing, System, Language Testing, TESOL Quarterly, TESOL Journal, ELT Journal, and other SSCI- and SCOPUS-indexed journals. Ricky is also the author of Portfolio Assessment for the Teaching and Learning of Writing (Springer, 2018), Using Portfolios in Language Teaching (New Portfolio Series 4, SEAMEO Regional Language Centre, 2019), and Using Digital Portfolios to Develop Students’ Writing: A Practical Guide for Language Teachers (with Benjamin Luke Moorhouse, Routledge, 2023).