U Wisconsin and OrgSync Develop and Launch E-Portfolio

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 02/07/11

Five universities in the University of Wisconsin System have participated in the release of a new e-portfolio product. The Eau Claire, Green Bay, Oshkosh, River Falls, and Stout campuses worked with OrgSync to create the application, which provides students with a way to document, reflect on, and share their college experiences. The project was funded in part by a U Wisconsin System grant of $41,700.

The Web-based application allows users to organize and ruminate on school involvement, academic programs, and employment and lets students share recommendations and upload samples of their work. The program also provides for social networking. The student controls privacy options to manage access to the portfolio contents and can download a PDF of his or her entire portfolio.

The schools are already using OrgSync's Web-based campus community platform. This product provides tools for student organizations to manage their activities, finances, and communications. It includes a calendar system, events planning, online forms, news feeds, a Web site builder, membership management, and reporting. The e-portfolio will be an add-on application.

"We are so excited to pilot the e-portfolio on our campus this semester," said Angie Bong, coordinator for Student Leadership and Organizations at the Eau Claire campus. "The e-portfolio is such a great addition to an already great product, and the ability to provide our students with a tool to track and reflect on their experiences is invaluable."

The OrgSync initiative isn't the only e-portfolio project in the Wisconsin system. Another long-term project is using ePortfolio from Desire2Learn.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

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