International perspectives on ePortfolios in Higher Education: case studies from Asia, North America and Europe

Abstract

The authors of this paper explore case studies from three different universities: Harvard University, Sookmyung Women's University, and Villanueva-Complutense University of Madrid. Although each case is in a different country on three different continents, what they have in common is that they all implemented ePortfolios at the course level within a Master of Education Program. ePortfolios are dynamic tools that can be used for many functions, which can be sorted into three categories: learning, evaluation, and career development. This paper analyzes the success factors of the three ePortfolio use cases as well as the challenges that can be considered generalizable and others that are more culturally specific. The exploration of different perspectives can help to develop a common understanding of the uses, benefits, and potential of ePortfolios in higher education.