Navigating Challenges: Barriers to ePortfolio Implementation and Strategies for Sustainable ePortfolio Use
There have been numerous challenges identified regarding the successful implementation of ePortfolios, such as time, digital literacy, and institutional support. Works presented in this section identify key obstacles and how institutions and educators responded during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting practical approaches and innovations that enhanced resilience.
Three chapters address these issues by providing creative solutions to the effective and efficient use of ePortfolios. The chapter on ‘Challenges and Solutions: Addressing Obstacles to the Effective Use of ePortfolios’ directly addresses the challenges associated with ePortfolios and proposes solutions through the use of Sen’s Capability Approach and Capability Sets. The Capability Approach (CA) explores the constructs of capabilities, functionings, and conversion, emphasizing human development in relationship to the use of an ePortfolio process.
The next chapter, ‘Teachers’ Challenges Integrating ePortfolios for Learners with Barriers to Learning in Rural Schools During the Post-Covid-19 Era: Support Interventions,’ examines the specific ePortfolio challenges encountered in rural and remote contexts. The authors discovered that teachers in rural settings found it difficult to adapt to digital methods. The study recommended initiating collaboration among nearby schools for resource sharing as well as initiating partnerships with the government and other related stakeholders to improve affordable internet access. Also, initiating professional support development for teachers in implementing ePortfolios within the rural context is a key factor for success.
And the final chapter in this section, ‘The Missing Link: Navigating the Educational Journey During the Pandemic in the Absence of a Learning Management System and ePortfolios,’ documents the important role that learning management systems can play in supporting an ePortfolio process. The chapter highlight the need for digital infrastructures such as a learning management system (LMS) to ensure continuity in education during unforeseen disruptions. An LMS coupled with ePortfolios will not only support individualised learning but also foster resilience, enabling both learners and educators to adapt to sudden change
