Because your work at the Writing Center is so complex, diversified, and individualized, an ePortfolio is particularly valuable for capturing, making manifest, and reflecting on the learning you accomplish every quarter you work at the Writing Center. As you participate in reflective practices to develop your ePortfolio, you will engage in self-assessment and find important connections between your work at the Writing Center and other parts of your life.
🤷 What Is an ePortfolio?
At its core, an ePortfolio is a “digitized collection of artifacts” (Lorenzo & Ittelson, 2005, p. 2). Within the context of higher education, ePortfolios are what the Association for American Colleges & Universities calls a High Impact Practice—“an ideal format for collecting evidence of student learning, especially for those outcomes not amenable…for standardized measurement” (AAC&U). An ePortfolio prioritizes metacognitive (i.e., reflective) practices, which “have been shown to increase the degree to which students transfer their learning to new settings and events” (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000, p. 12).
Reason 1: Reflecting On & Documenting Work is Powerful
By using your ePortfolio to articulate the transferable knowledge, skills, and attitudes you develop at the Writing Center, you will be better able to share with an outside audience, including but not limited to future employers or graduate admissions committees, what you do, what you’ve learned, and what you’ve accomplished. Hughes, Gillespie, and Kail (2010) surveyed peer writing tutor alumni about how their experiences as peer writing tutors transferred to seven key areas of their post-tutoring lives, including “skills, values, and abilities vital in” their relationships and professions and “a deeper understanding of and commitment to collaborative learning” (p. 14).
A successful quarterly check-in ePortfolio will help administrators understand how you are contributing to the Writing Center and reflect on those contributions.
Reason 2: We Support Students Across DePaul in Making ePortfolios
The Writing Center serves as DePaul’s official source for student support in making Digication ePortfolios in courses and programs across DePaul. To effectively help writers develop ePortfolios, all tutors need expertise about 1.) effective design practices and digital representation and 2.) facility using Digication, the software platform DePaul uses for ePortfolios.
To make sure you have this knowledge and expertise, you complete an annual 
Digication Training .
Digication Training .