What exactly is “depositing work”?

Depositing work into the "My Collection" area of the ePortfolio environment is a preparatory step for creating an ePortfolio. "My Collection" serves as a virtual archive from which students can select work in creating their ePortfolios. We encourage faculty to help students become familiar with the process of depositing work into "My Collection" so that they will have material to draw from later.

By helping students understand the value of depositing work into "My Collection," you are contributing to their ability to develop a powerful ePortfolio that can help them demonstrate their progress during their time at LaGuardia.

The process of depositing work is simple. Students log into the ePortfolio work area and then put a document into a folder for your course. The process is similar to adding an attachment to an email.

What are my options for introducing ePortfolio to my students?

Faculty may choose to use ePortfolio in very different ways in their classes. Some faculty will integrate it as a way for students to reflect on their learning as an essential curricular goal; others will focus on the ways that ePortfolio can help students demonstrate progress with a particular skill, such as writing. Some faculty will provide students with a context for using ePortfolio and ask them to deposit one piece of coursework, perhaps with a reflection on the assignment.

Each faculty member, depending on their discipline and course objectives, will decide what type of activity works best for introducing ePortfolio to students.

An ePortfolio introduction activity can consist of:

1. introducing ePortfolio to students (multimedia presentations are available available under Technology Tools)
2. giving students guiding questions for exploring sample ePortfolios
3. discussing ePortfolio(s) student have viewed
4. depositing a piece of writing in the course folder (instructions are online under eP Quick Guide Tutorials)
5. sharing the course folder so faculty can access it later

Even faculty members who do not have a computer lab session with their classes have successfully assigned ePortfolio. If this is your situation, you can adapt the above activity as a homework assignment by introducing ePortfolio with an overview during class. The introductory presentation can be printed from the ePortfolio website if you would like to distribute it as a handout. Once you’ve introduced students to ePortfolio and provided the context for using it, you can assign students to: (1) view the introductory presentation on the ePortfolio website to review what you said in class, and (2) explore a sample student ePortfolio using guiding questions. An inquiry activity for faculty, available under Technology Tools, may be adapted for your particular students and tailored to the learning objectives of your class. Students can then come back to class to discuss their experiences.

Students may deposit an assignment by going to the ePortfolio Studio during open lab hours (see Studio schedule), where assistance is always available from ePortfolio team members or Student Technology Mentors. Provided students have deposited the assignment into the course folder and enabled sharing with the instructor, you will be able to view the document. For instructions on how to access students’ shared folders, see the eP QuickGuide for Faculty “Sharing and Accessing Students’ ePortfolios."

What resources are available?

The ePortfolio team has developed a varied set of resources to support students and faculty. These include this website which contains links to multimedia presentations, instructional handouts on developing an ePortfolio, and activities that can be used to introduce ePortfolio in class as well as interactive tutorials. Also, the ePortfolio Studio, E-273, is a dedicated computer lab space for students to work during open lab hours. The ePortfolio staff can also provide instructional workshops for your classes. Please request workshops prior to the beginning of the semester to ensure availability. You can do so by e-mailing eportfolio@lagcc.cuny.edu.