Session 3: e-portfolio and 80/20 principle

Portfolio, in educational and personal perspective, are collections of documents and other objects that can be shown as evidence to support claims a person makes about what they know, what they have achieved, and what they can do (Stefani, Manson & Pegler; 2007). As for e-portfolios, they are simply electronic versions of physical portfolios that contain digital objects instead of physical objects.

E-portfolios can be created by a number of online tools and software, which includes the following:

1. Blogs.

2. Wikis.

3. Webliographies.

4. Podcasting (for example, mobile phones, mp3 players).

What online tool I have chosen for my e-portfolio:

I have choose blogs for my e-portfolio as it is free, very easy to use, and it is globally accessible.

80/20 principle was discovered by Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto in 1897. His discovery has called many names, including the Pareto Principle, the Pareto Law, the 80/20 rule, and the principle of Imbalance (Koch, 2007).

The 80/20 principle pointed out that there is an inbuilt imbalance between causes and results, effort and reward, and inputs and outputs. A typical pattern will show that 80 percent of consequences flow from 20 percent of causes, or that 80 percent of results come from 20 percent of efforts.

In the business perspective, 20 percent of products or customers usually accounts for 80 percent of organisation's profits. In a teaching/learning perspective, 20 percent of direct teaching accounts for 80 percent of interactive learning.


References:

Koch, R. (2007). The 80/20 principle : The secret of achieving more with less. London, England: Nicholas Brealey.

Stefani, L., Manson, R., & Pegler, C. (2007). The educational potential of e-portfolios : Supporting personal development and reflective learning. New York, NY: Routledge.