From DU Portfolio to Digication: How We Got Here
By Megan Haskins, Previous Faculty Developer of Integrative Learning and High Impact Practices, and Dr. Leslie Cramblet Alvarez, Director of the OTL
What is an ePortfolio?
ePortfolios are personal websites that provide students with a space to reflect on their curricular and co-curricular experiences, curate evidence of skills and learning, and display their knowledge through a variety of mediums, including presentations, documents, videos, images, and more. In 2016, AAC&U named ePortfolios as a high-impact practice because of their student success metrics (). In addition to being a space for students to reflect on their learning, ePortfolios are a rich source of course and programmatic assessment.
Interested in learning more about ePortfolios for student learning? Visit our .
What about DU Portfolio?
DU Portfolio is a homegrown system that was created by the Office of Teaching and Learning in 2003. For nearly twenty years, this system housed a plethora of projects for the DU community. In September 2021, Provost Mary Clark announced that the system was no longer manageable within the current infrastructure, and a project team, led by Rohini Ananthakrishnan and Leslie Alvarez, was assembled to identify its replacements.
- Summer 2021 - Project Sponsors begin planning, develop goals, and initiate campus-wide strategy conversations. Executive Sponsors, Steering Committee, and Project Team identified, representing programs across campus.
- Fall 2021 - Provost announced plan to decommission DU Portfolio. User feedback collected from 86 respondents to campus-wide survey.
- Winter 2022 - Focus groups conducted for identified use cases with more than 200 participants. RFP developed by the Project Team and reviewed by the Steering Committee and sent to six vendors.
- Spring 2022 - Project Sponsors begin planning, develop goals, and initiate campus-wide strategy conversations. Executive Sponsors, Steering Committee, and Project Team identified, representing programs across campus.
- Winter-Spring 2023 - Access to Digication opens. IT support provided for other use cases’ adoption of existing and new solutions. OTL developing training opportunities and materials.
- Summer 2024 - DU Portfolio decommissioned
Who was involved in this decision?
- Executive Sponsors: Provost Mary Clark and IT VC/CIO Russ Carluto co-sponsored this project.
- Steering Committee: The Steering Committee provided project oversight and departmental perspectives to the initiative. For a full list of members, visit the DU Portfolio Decommission Page.
- Project Team: The Project Team, made up of representatives from IT and the OTL, coordinated the completion of workflow for this project. For a full list of members, visit the DU Portfolio Decommission Page.
- Community Input: The DU Community was provided critical feedback and direction to the project at every step. Some key moments include:
- Initial Survey of DU Portfolio Users, September-November 2021
- Focus Groups for Use Cases, November 2021- January 2022
- Platform Finalist Vendor Demos, April 2022
What’s next?
We are excited to announce adoption of Digication!
Logging in to Digication Ìý
If you would like to begin working within Digication, go to the homepage, click the Login button in the upper right, then use your DU email address and password to access the platform. If you experience any login issues or need additional help with creating your portfolio in Digication, please contact IT at support@du.edu. Ìý
Migrating Content & Preserving Your Artifacts Ìý
If you are currently using DU Portfolio to display your work, you will no longer be able to access it following the decommission. If you have artifacts you would like to remove from this platform, it will remain available until June 2024. Ìý
Migration options can be found at 91¶ÌÊÓƵ IT page on DU Portfolio. Ìý
Using Reflective ePortfolios in Teaching Ìý
The OTL and 4D have been collaborating on a vision for ePortfolio use across the arc of the student experience at DU. For now, you can find support related to the pedagogical uses of ePortfolios on our .  The OTL anticipates announcing faculty development opportunities over the summer and fall 2023 terms.ÌýÌý
Show and Tell InformationÌý
We will be conducting a series of show and tell sessions for faculty and staff to demo the robust features within Digication. Look for these sessions to be announced via OTL newsletters and on our soon.