uFolio: A conceptual design framework for a learning platform and assessment system

In recent years, using e-portfolios to assess student learning has become more popular. From the perspective of education, portfolios should encourage students to collect, reflect on, and present their own works to enhance learning. Yet, currently available e-portfolios seem to function mainly as repositories of artifacts without connecting to the real learning process. As a result, although e-portfolios create a much more convenient environment through their technology, they are still unable to fulfill the initial purpose of portfolios. This paper presents a conceptual framework for the design of uFolio, an idea for an all-purpose portfolio system that has never been introduced previously. Based on the core value of portfolio and the technologies of a visual object-oriented platform and ubiquitous communications system, the design framework lays out an innovative system that establishes three major components - MyFolio, MyClass and MyLog - and an instant awareness notification tool, uAware, to integrate an e-portfolio, a learning management system (LMS) and a multidimensional assessment system into one. This paper presents the design steps taken so far and indicates the development tasks and related studies that still need to be carried out.