Virginia Tech launches first international journal dedicated to ePortfolios
The inaugural issue of the International Journal of ePortfolio (IJeP), a publication of Virginia Tech’s Center for Instructional Development and Educational Research (CIDER) in the Division of Undergraduate Education, debuted in August.
A double-blind, peer-reviewed, open access journal freely available online, IJeP’s mission is to encourage the study of practices and pedagogies associated with ePortfolio in educational settings. The release of the journal is of great significance to the ePortfolio world, notes Eddie Watson, associate director for CIDER. “While there have been occasional book chapter opportunities, uniquely missing from the scholarly landscape has been a journal broadly addressing topics specifically associated with ePortfolios.”
Last year, a team of university faculty and staff from CIDER, ePortfolio Initiatives, the Office of Academic Assessment, University Libraries, and university faculty met to explore the idea of developing a journal to address the needs of researchers as well as practitioners.
“Given the interest in ePortfolios, we wanted to approach the development of this journal in an inclusive and international fashion,” said Pete Doolittle, director of CIDER. “This is an incredible opportunity to meet a need that has clear global implications. Collaboration will be the key to the journal’s broad adoption as a publication venue and as a source for scholarship.”
Serving as IJeP’s executive editors, Watson and Doolittle embraced this vision as they developed the journal and invited colleagues and leaders in the international ePortfolio world to serve on the journal’s editorial and manuscript review boards. This inclusive approach has been key to ensuring the journal meets the myriad scholarly needs of those engaged in ePortfolio practice and research worldwide. IJeP’s launch was much anticipated as evidenced by the download of 680 articles during the first 24 hours of its online publication.
“The IJeP is a welcome and much needed addition to the world of journals,” states Terry Rhodes, vice president and director of the VALUE Initiative for the Association of American Colleges and Universities and IJeP editorial board member. “ePorfolios are rapidly becoming a valued medium for students and higher education to capture and to present the broad range of learning required of students in our global context. The IJeP provides a key and centralized forum for faculty, scholars, and ePortfolio professionals to discuss and exchange knowledge and information about this exciting and evolving assessment and learning tool.”
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
