Reflection supports integration and metacognition as ePortfolio creators are prompted to pause and rethink, reconceptualize, or reapply what they think they know as they construct their ePortfolio. Kathi’s contributions to reflective practice stretch beyond ePortfolios. See, for instance, the Reflection chapter in this collection by Anis Bawarshi [LINK]. However, her influence on reflection within ePortfolio practice is worth noting separately for several reasons. First, reflection is inherently tied to evidence of ePortfolios as a high-impact practice and is essential to realizing promises of integrative, connected learning. Second, reflection is not just produced in the final product of the ePortfolio but rather is a “learned skill” that must be an ongoing part of the ePortfolio creation process, prompting other forms of valuable learning, like self-assessment, critical thinking, and rhetorical awareness (Yancey, 2009). Third, in paper portfolios, reflection took a very specific format: typically a dear reader letter preceding the artifacts that served as a secondary text in conversation with the portfolio; however, in ePortfolios, reflection became more versatile. While reflection can remain an entry point to the electronic site as it did when located on the first page of a paper portfolio, it can also exist alongside every artifact as a way for ePortfolio creators to make connections, guide reader interpretation along the way, and link artifacts to the larger story being told throughout the ePortfolio. For all these reasons, then, it felt necessary for reflection to be a part of this portfolio chapter.

Yancey’s Influence

In her (2019) edited collection, Kathi describes reflection as “the lifeblood of ePortfolios” (p. 237). By leveraging ePortfolios as “site[s] for reflective thinking and synthesis,” students can use “the portfolio as a space to raise questions, make meaning, reflect on the past, connect with multiple experiences and contexts, and plan for the future” (2015, p. 307). However, as many ePortfolio practitioners can attest, helping ePortfolio creators learn to develop strong reflections can be a challenge—after all, reflective practice is something that needs to be practiced. In “Grading ePortfolios: Tracing Two Approaches, Their Advantages, and Their Disadvantages” (2015), Kathi says all students are capable of learning reflection if they are “prompted,” “responded to,” “see examples of reflection,” and “catch themselves reflecting,” but this requires educators to construct curriculum that centers and values reflection instead of seeing reflection as a tool needed at the end solely for ePortfolio evaluation (p. 302).

As mentioned earlier, reflection in paper portfolios began as the creation of a secondary text that the portfolio creator would construct to “guide the reader through the portfolio and assist in its evaluation” (Yancey, 1996, “Portfolio, Electronic, and the links between…”, p. 130), yet as ePortfolios progressed, reflective writing became more scaffolded across the product and the process of ePortfolio creation. Like Kathi’s larger movement of positioning ePortfolios as curriculum instead of a wrapper discussed in the section on trusting the ePortfolio process of this chapter [LINK], her influence on reflection in ePortfolios similarly grounds reflection as something that needs to be integrated and practiced, intentionally moving the field away from the one-time reflective letter that accompanies a portfolio as a secondary text towards a holistic understanding of reflection as ongoing practice across the stages of the creation process and different components of the ePortfolio. To support students in meaningfully reflecting, instructors must be intentional in designing longitudinal ePortfolio curriculum to give space for students to reflect on their experiences, refine that reflection for their ePortfolio’s audience, and even reflect on the design and authorial choices they made in ePortfolio creation.

The ePortfolio Community Speaks

Hear from Tracy Penny Light, Ph.D., President of the Association for Authentic, Experiential, Evidence-Based Learning (AAEEBL) and Dean at Capilano University or read below:

The decades of work by Kathi Yancey to help educators to situate reflective practice in their teaching in writing classrooms and beyond has been instrumental in my own teaching, ePortfolio, research, and even yoga work. Kathi’s (1998) early assertion that not one, but three curricula are always in operation simultaneously (lived, delivered, and experienced) and that these shape students’ abilities to reflect on and document their learning in any given context (Yancey, p. 18) enabled me to design learning experiences that were transformative. My first forays into ePortfolio-enabled teaching encouraged me to think through ways that the three curricula could be harnessed to engage learners deeply in an elective history course, even though most were ostensibly disinterested in pursuing further study of the discipline. Scaffolding the learning of historical thinking in a way that leveraged reflection in the context of all three curricula opened space for every learner to make connections and transfer their learning between and among learning contexts in ways that were personally meaningful for them (Penny Light, Chen & Ittleson, 2012). This individual meaning-making could then be shared with the collective to foster what Eynon and Gambino later identified as the “integrative social pedagogy” of ePortfolio “done well” (p. 181).

Beyond being instrumental in shaping educators’ use of ePortfolio “done well,” Kathi’s work has helped to reinforce that reflection is an essential component of ePortfolio practice, necessary to make a portfolio a portfolio. Her work has also influenced many of us to integrate reflection into all our work. I have used her work in storytelling (Colket, Penny Light, & Carswell, 2021) and even yoga practice, for instance. It is not an exaggeration to say that Kathi’s ongoing commitment and dedication to exploring reflection in ePortfolio practice and research has been transformative for learners and practitioners alike, and we are deeply indebted to her.

The Authors Reflect

As we reflect on reflection (how meta), Kathi has helped us realize and practice reflection as an ongoing anchor in ePortfolio curriculum. She has further, with others in the field, defined and supported ePortfolio creators in identifying characteristics of strong reflection. Looking ahead, we see two future pathways for reflection in the immediate future: first, the ability of reflective thoughts to be expressed multimodally, and, second, reflection's capacity and value in the context of generative AI technologies.

Reflection is not inherently tied to a written modality although it has traditionally been something written in the ePortfolio. As students continue to gain technological familiarity with ubiquitous video and audio recording technologies through smart phones and personal devices, we are excited to see different formats reflection might take and how opening up reflection can help students gain greater access to reflective practice. How can audio and video recordings, especially, help students feel even greater ownership and voice as they create ePortfolios?

As we write this chapter, generative AI technologies are causing educators around the world apprehension in how they use writing to support and evaluate learning. Reflection, particularly within ePortfolios, helps ePortfolio creators tell the stories of their learning and metacognition, which can illustrate students’ learning and writing processes. This is especially relevant in courses where students are leveraging and practicing using AI large language model (LLM) technologies as reflection can help students articulate how they worked with AI tools to hone their writing and digital literacies. However, reflection does not need to be in conflict or competition with AI. Riff, an AI reflective tool, for instance, can support students in practicing their reflective skillset.