Development and Sustainability of ePortfolios in Counselor Education: An Applied Retrospective

This article chronicles the evolution of an ePortfolio as a practicum/internship capstone project used to assess skill development in graduate level counselor education at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The authors describe the successes and challenges encountered from the implementation of an internally designed and maintained ePortfolio in 2000, with revisions in 2003 and 2010, to the transition to a commercially purchased portfolio product in 2014. Experience demonstrates that an effective ePortfolio implementation requires continuous refinement. Ongoing department reflection is necessary to assure the effective implementation of the ePortfolio for multiple program requirements, while meeting the changing needs of students, faculty, and external accreditors. The process of alignment with changing standards, enhanced reflection and feedback elements, and technical design and support are detailed. This applied retrospective describes the application of the literature over time within the platform designs and evolving teaching practices throughout a decade of ePortfolio implementation.