Primary

The primary sector views the use of eportfolios as having a similar purpose to that of early childhood education. ePortfolios that are ‘showing their learning instantly with Mum and Dad’ and ‘ when the kids have finished a piece of work they can put it up there and get feedback immediately from whoever and wherever’ (Rate, 2008, p. 36) mirror the purpose expressed in ECE to build partnerships with parents and family. Similarly at Elm Park School, the use eportfolios are documented in the 2009 Community Annual Plan acting as a mechanism for developing a well informed school community. The purpose and use of eportfolios in primary education however is more complex with a range of goals and aims becoming noticeable. Lietze (2010) who teaches in a Year 6 class clearly identifies the purpose of eportfolios in his class, ‘ to help students understand, engage in and own the learning process’. Further to this Lietze clarified this with his students, which in turn allows us to see the multifaceted nature of eportfolios as a place to reflect, share learning, set goals and receiving feedback. “The purpose of your ePortfolio is to help you learn better. It is a digital place on the internet where you share the work you do, write about what you are thinking and learning, set goals, celebrate your achievements, and work with others. Your family and the buddies you choose will be able to see your learning over the year and leave comments that will help you improve what you are doing. Your ePortfolio is owned by you and represents your learning.” This raises a two important points, firstly that the purpose of the eportfolio is co-constructed with the students and secondly that the eportfolio is owned by the student. The negotiated purpose is also discussed by Barrett (2005) where she outlines the key differences between portfolios that support summative or formative assessment. Formative or ‘assessment for learning’ portfolios require that the “purpose of portfolio agreed upon with learner ” (p. 18). Red Beach School have three clear purposes for what they are wanting out of an eportfolio (ministry of Education, 2010):  · Show growth in the key competencies, learning areas and growth in how students reflect on their learning  · As a tool to help students move on with their learning through feedback and feed forward  · Provide parents with a window into the learning process including assessment details and attendance data Perhaps though the biggest purpose and perceived benefit is that of student voice, as dicussed in the Ministry of Education’s ePortfolios Celebrating Learning (2009) publication which describes six ways eportfolios help develop student voice. Included here are student learning goals, evidence of learning and the learning process, reflections and opportunities to feedback and feed forward learning conversation with teachers and, as noted, with parents as well. Student voice is clearly acknowledged as being a benefit of using eportfolios. Added to this is the ability of eportfolios to provide increased opportunity for feedback and feed forward from teachers, parents and peers while also allowing the student to reflect and self-assess. However what really makes the eportfolio effective in this area is how the they are typically web based and able to be accessed at anytime, anywhere and in some situations, from any device. “ The ability to work on and view the ePortfolio from any computer both within school and home would allow greater flexibility for all participants” (Rate, 2008, p. 36). The Ministry of Education (2009) recognised that within the primary sector a range of web technologies are being utilised for eportfolios. The tool or container used is commonly a blog or the eportfolio capability within a Learning Management System. These have the capability to draw in other Web 2.0 artifacts such as images, audio and video and facilitate the interaction and networking of students, teachers and family.