Who owns an ePortfolio?

This topic was a discussion topic in my ePortfolio class at Lamar University. The instructor did a great job of directing us to a variety of references that discussed different information about an ePortfolio. I've spent quite a bit of time reflecting on this topic recently and while I suspect my research will continue and my thoughts will evolve, here are my current thoughts on the matter.

In short, I own my ePortfolio. The ideas on the ePortfolio are mine. I decide what is discussed and displayed on the ePortfolio. Yes, my ePortfolio was created for my graduate program at Lamar University so there are many "assignments" that are posted on the ePortfolio so one might argue that I don't always get to choose what is placed on it. However, I do get to choose how I put the information on the ePortfolio. Rikard (2015) discussed this matter and I believe summed it up quite nicely with this quote:

I’m not arguing against putting class assignments online, but the assignments must be framed by a conversation about audience and the way the ‘domain’ represents the author to that audience.

I believe the trick to making my ePortfolio relevant in my life, and helpful enough for me to maintain after graduation, is being able to place my assignments on it in a way that my audience will relate to.

This will be my fifth college degree, the third graduate degree, and I am struggling with how to own my assignments. I think the way my current graduate program is created is going to benefit me because it requires me to create things that I will use now and not just be an assignment. It has led to some mindset struggles as I adjust to this different type of program. All of my other college degrees were set up in a way that I had assignments to do and I did them and submitted them. I never looked at them again. I couldn't even tell you what most of them were. However, this program requires me to push outside of my comfort zone and dig deep inside to work with this new way of learning.

I have enjoyed being able to have some choice in my assignments. In my current class, we are spending the entire course designing our ePortfolio. Some of the requirements involve blogging at least twice a week. At first, I struggled with it because I thought that no one would want to hear about what I need to blog about for this class. But, once I made it my own, I realized I can blog about many things. I have a blog post about being a presenter at TCEA, another one that discussed new equipment for my office at work, and even one where I blogged about my first work blog post! I have found it interesting to use the blog posts as a reflection and an example of my change and growth. It did not take me long to realize that if I stop thinking "inside the box" like I did for traditional classroom assignments, I could come up with topics that were relevant to me and my audience.

I feel as though I have a lot to learn yet about ePortfolios and I am interested in continuing the research. I look forward to completing this graduate program and looking back to see how I have grown and looking forward to how I can continue to use it after graduation.

References

Rikard, A. (2015, August). Do I Own My Domain If You Grade It? (EdSurge News). https://www.edsurge.com/news/2015-08-10-do-i-own-my-domain-if-you-grade-it