What is dotFOLIO?
The goal of the dotFOLIO project is to develop an open source e-portfolio application for the purpose of supporting personal learning and development. dotFOLIO can be used to construct a thoughtful collection of work and experience that leads to a desired outcome or educational goal. dotFOLIO will provide the functionality for this, as well as allow learners to preserve more knowledge over time and to forge richer connections between their academic and work endeavours.
dotFOLIO differs to other ePortfolio applications in that each ePortfolio owner is issued a 'subsite' to use as their own personal Web space. This translates to a flexible environment for the creation and presentation of e-portfolios. The advantage of a personal Web space is to give the e-portfolio owner the freedom to think differently, and to give them control over how they present themselves and their ideas to others.
dotFOLIO in Higher Education
Higher education institutions are made up of communities of 'learners' that include undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as academics involved in professional development.
dotFOLIO aims to provide Higher Education users with the following features:
- Personal web space: learners can store and showcase their university or college learning experiences. dotFOLIO offers a simple interface for students to manage different types of content ('artifacts' such as presentations, blogs, etc).
- Reflective writing tools: that help learners reflect on those artifacts (blogging tools for freestyle writing or form-based tools for more structured writing)
- Access Management: allows the ePortfolio owner to invite people to view private presentations for the purpose of a job interview, or publish a presentation that is viewable by the public.
- Certified assessments: provide verifiable evidence for skills and competencies.
- Graduate attribute matrix: used to convey learning experiences at the university level.
- Web service capabilities: for integration into an existing Learning Management System (i.e. WebCT, Blackboard and dotLRN).
dotFOLIO in Primary and Secondary Schools
Features include all of those mentioned above plus:
- Story telling for teaching and learning: dotFOLIO will allow students to tell us - and their peers - their personal stories and reflect on them.
- Report Cards: where students' parents can log-in to review and sign-off their children's report cards.
dotFOLIO in Corporations
- Can be used to develop employee skills and competencies, and manage their development within the company.
- Can be used to assess candidates for graduate positions or general recuitment.
- Uses LDAP and PAM based authentication methods.
- Includes Web service capabilities for integration with existing HR systems.