A portfolio is a digital archive that represents student work over time through a broad range of artifacts. A typical student portfolio at ASU might include submitted course papers and projects representing a range of media types, independent research, learning goals, reflections on assignments, works-in-progress, ideas for future scholarship, and links to relevant resources. A digital portfolio can function as an interactive resume to share with prospective employers, a venue for sharing academic work with an instructor, mentor, or family member, as a tool for inviting collaboration and feedback, or as a private record of academic progress.
Traditionally, digital portfolios have been adopted in teaching and learning to provide a space for students to collect their work and reflect on the connections visible to them. At their most basic, students might use a digital portfolio to market their own personal brand but a digital portfolio reaches its potential when used to build complex, detailed reflections on scholarly achievements and goals. This reflection can take place textually, visually, or multimodally.
