E-Portfolios as a tool to enhance student learning experience and entrepreneurial skills

Abstract

Increasing digitisation has put pressure on institutions of higher learning around the globe to find effective solutions to better prepare their students for the 21st century world of work. The article presents the findings of a qualitative inquiry into the attitudes, feelings, and experiences of entrepreneurship students in a selected private institution of higher learning on the use of eportfolios as a tool to enhance the learning experience. Data was collected using a combination of focus groups and semi-structured interviews. A thematic analysis conducted for this study revealed five (5) emergent themes on the contributions of e-portfolios in enhancing the learning experiences of the modern-day scholar. The resourcefulness, flexibility, engagement, entrepreneurial skills improvement and collaboration emerged as the outstanding contributions of e-portfolios towards enhancing learning. The emergent themes are in line with the entrepreneurial behaviour, imperative for every 21st century world of work. The value the findings of this study lies in its exploratory utility in exposing the lived-experiences, attitudes, and feelings of modern day students on the role of e-portfolios as a tool to enhance their learning experience and cultivate entrepreneurial behaviour in the modern world of work. Recommendations to explore the technological advantage presented by e-portfolios are presented.