This is the first article in a four-part series on the e-portfolio.
Nothing is easy to the unwilling.
― Nikki Giovanni
The e-portfolio is here to stay at Salt Lake Community College, but issues that students face do not go unheard.
Three main issues students face with e-portfolio
1. “Why are we doing this?”
“A lot of the students who come in [to the lab] are wondering, ‘What is this for?’” said Tricio Salgado, an e-portfolio coordinator at Taylorsville Redwood Campus and a junior in social work at the University of Utah. “Often, the professors don’t explain [the program].”
Salgado recognizes the frustration students feel when they don’t understand the purpose of something. At the college’s e-portfolio labs, Salgado and other staff can help students make sense of why e-portfolio exists and how to create one.
“Once students get why they are doing e-portfolio – one student described it as ‘like putting your car from neutral into drive,’” said Salgado.
2. “This platform is janky.”
Whether students use Digication or SharePoint for their e-portfolio, many experience technical difficulties. Not being able to find their way around the platform and make it do what the student wishes is probably the single most frequent complaint.
SLCC ePortfolio labs are the best place – likely the only place, in fact – to get help with technical problems. Students can try to google their issue with either platform, but the results may dump them into a maze of unrelated responses.
For students who can’t visit a lab at that moment, oftentimes lab specialists can email videos that answer the how-to questions.
3. “Writing is not my thing.”
The e-portfolio is all about writing – and the struggle is real.
“Writing is hard. Writing is supposed to be hard. If it’s easy, you’re not doing it properly,” said writer Eric Weiner in his blog post “Congratulations, You’re a Writer.”
That may well be true – but it doesn’t make it any more straightforward for students to finish that reflection assignment. That is where the Student Reading and Writing Centers come in.
Matthew Schoonover, a second-year political science major who works at the Taylorsville writing and reading center, said the writing tutors are well-trained to aid, “especially with e-portfolio.”
“We’ll make sure they hit all the important points,” he said.
Surviving e-portfolio means getting the help you need, when you need it
Getting help can be crucial to surviving the e-portfolio requirement – and to thriving in SLCC’s general education program.
Outside of the lab, Salgado noted that he has encountered some antagonism toward the e-portfolio among students.
“But, I don’t see that hostility with the students who come into the lab and get the support they need,” he said.
SLCC ePortfolio offers labs on the Taylorsville, Jordan, South City and Herriman campuses. Virtual help is also available. Students can schedule lab time by visiting the e-portfolio card in MySLCC and selecting their preferred campus, or by visiting the e-portfolio team page.
Students are advised to select someone whose take on e-portfolio seems helpful to them.
Ana Belen Gonzalez Sosa, a third-year biochemistry major and an e-portfolio specialist at the Taylorsville campus, hopes students will make the most of their e-portfolio assignments. She believes that taking the assignment seriously is a way of taking yourself seriously.
“You can create them however you want,” she pointed out. “They are a reflection of you – literally.”
Students are advised to schedule e-portfolio appointments early, as the labs can become slammed at the end of semesters.
In regard to course reflections, when writing seems to be the difficulty, a student should first ask their professor for guidance. If the student feels they need more direction, they can schedule an appointment through SLCC ePortfolio or the Student Writing and Reading Center.
The writing centers offer on-campus or virtual appointments, and students can also work on a paper with a tutor through email.
Whether students need help with writing a reflection or with the e-portfolio platform, Salgado hopes they reach out.
“If you are hostile, you will just erase the whole thing from your mind,” she said. “Don’t give up on your grades. Don’t give up on yourself.”
