Long-Term Use of ePortfolios in Craft Education among Elementary School Students: Reflecting the Level and Type of Craft Learning Activities

Abstract

This paper analyses the longitudinal use of electronic portfolios (hereafter ePortfolios) in craft studies across six years (2013-18). Eight comprehensive school students participated in the study, tracing their craft process activities via photos, narratives, and tapings from the third to the ninth grade. The data involved self-assessment by the learners; peers and teachers were included in the textual content. The data also contained interviews, which were carried out in late spring 2019. The interview focused on students’ conceptions of the ePortfolio method and the central elements in constructing it and, finally, improvements of the ePortfolio method. The ePortfolio data was analysed by applying Anderson and Krathwohl’s taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing. The results revealed that students’ knowledge types transformed throughout those years, from versatile to more limited area and students’ cognitive process levels, from concrete to more abstract. The interview data supported these interpretations. The interviewees described the changes in their focus when tracing their learning processes; they considered visual and textual content, communication, and metacognitive knowledge as essential elements of ePortfolios. Suggested improvements of the ePortfolio addressed technical issues, platform demands, and practical functionalities.