e-Portfolios enhancing students’ self-directed learning: A systematic review of influencing factors

Abstract

e-Portfolios have become increasingly popular among educators as learning tools. Some research even shows that e-portfolios can be utilised to facilitate the development of skills for self-directed learning. Such skills include self-assessment of performance, formulation of learning goals, and selection of future tasks. However, it is not yet clear under which conditions e-portfolios optimally facilitate the development of these skills. We conducted a systematic review aimed at identifying and understanding influences on the development of self-directed learning with an e-portfolio. Inclusion criteria were used to select recent, high quality studies that focused on e-portfolios and reported an influence on self-directed learning. There were 17 articles that met the inclusion criteria. Institutional factors, curriculum factors, learning process factors, personal factors, and portfolio factors were identified. Portfolios are used most effectively when faculty development aimed at supervising self-directed learning skills development is provided, when the portfolio is integrated into the educational routine, when teachers coach students regularly, when scaffolding is applied to increase motivation, and when the portfolio is designed to facilitate at least goal-setting, task-analysis, plan implementation, and self-evaluation.

Impact of Electronic Portfolios on Prospective Teachers’ Participation, Motivation, and Autonomous Learning

“…A recent, systematic review performed at Maastricht University also shows perception of student autonomy to be one of the factors influenced by the use of e-portfolios (Beckers, Dolmans, & van Merriënboer, 2016). Studies show that e-portfolios can be used to facilitate the development of competencies for self-directed learning.…”

Can an authentic EPortfolio succeed in First Year Medicine?

“…Their review of Higher Education Institutions found top-down support is needed to establish clarity of purpose and course integration. An increased role in providing support for self-directed learning as reported by Beckers (Beckers, Dolmans and van Merrienboer, 2016) may go some way to achieving this goal.…”

Constructing Learning Results as Learning Object Through Open Learning System

“…In detail some studies have also demonstrated the benefits of open learning, have been mentioned in previous studies and have also described the concept of MOOCs and e-portfolios, the differences and similarities between them shown. The presentation of learning objects developed by the students themselves has drawn the benefits of using how to realize the construction of scholarship for students (Beckers et al, 2016;Brennan, 2013;Britten and Mullen, 2003;TOSUN and BARIŞ, 2011;Tubaishat, 2014). Thus, it aims to form the basis for the concept of learning object and explain that the learning object developed by the students themselves can be used in different format and flexible in education.…”

“…In this approach, individual development, learning and learning and the active participation of learners are essentially capable of enhancing contextual thinking (Horvat et al, 2015). Learning objects prioritizing assignments and student studies are one of the principles of the approach (Beckers et al, 2016).…”