Why Enterprise-Wide ePortfolios Often Underperform
- Tess
- Dec 4
- 8 min read
The Promise Versus the Reality of Institution-Wide ePortfolios
ePortfolios were widely heralded as a potentially transformative technology for higher education. By the mid-2010s, approximately 78% of UK universities had adopted some form of ePortfolio system[1], influenced by growing emphasis on Personal Development Planning, employability, and lifelong learning. In principle, a single enterprise-wide portfolio platform would enable students to curate evidence of their learning, demonstrate competencies, and support reflective practice, all while satisfying a diverse set of institutional requirements. University IT directors and CTOs were drawn to the appeal of an “all-in-one” solution capable of serving every discipline.
However, in most cases, the reality did not match the ambition. In practice, usage rates and impact frequently fell well below expectations. Many large-scale ePortfolio initiatives struggled to attract sustained engagement beyond a small number of motivated early adopters. Indeed, institutional enthusiasm appeared to decline by the early 2020s, despite widespread deployment, as familiar challenges emerged — misalignment with pedagogical practice, technical friction, and obstacles related to quality assurance[1]. The aspiration of campus-wide, discipline-agnostic adoption ultimately gave way to a more sobering insight: a single, uniform solution often proved to meet the needs of no particular school, facility, or group especially well.
Limitations of the One-Size-Fits-All Approach
For university CTOs and IT leaders, the factors underpinning these struggles are likely familiar. Enterprise ePortfolio platforms, often incorporated within virtual learning environments (VLEs) or procured as institution-wide software, face inherent tensions between generic design and localised educational needs.
Limited academic engagement
Top-down directives are rarely sufficient to secure genuine adoption. Lecturers, clinical supervisors, and other academic staff often perceive generic ePortfolios as imposing additional work without commensurate pedagogic benefit. Studies indicate that even when staff express initial interest, as few as 40% subsequently implement the tool within their teaching; others “somehow disappear”, frequently due to lack of time or resistance to altering entrenched practices[2]. Without academic ownership, ePortfolios remain underused.
Functionality that is too generic to be effective
Enterprise systems attempt to accommodate a wide range of purposes, reflection, assessment submission, showcase portfolios, professional development records, and more. Yet by seeking to serve all possible functions and disciplines, they often fail to serve any of them exceptionally well. Support teams are subsequently required to create bespoke templates or labour-intensive workarounds for different subjects. One administrator described the workload as involving extensive one-to-one consultations and manual construction of customised workbooks[3]. This level of support is resource-intensive and difficult to scale, while staff who expected a ready-made solution may become frustrated with its limitations.
Insufficient integration with discipline-specific workflows
Perhaps the most significant barrier arises in professional and vocational programmes, such as medicine, nursing, or teacher education, where workplace-based assessment (WBA) is central. Generic ePortfolios commonly expect students to upload artefacts or reflective text, which aligns poorly with assessment in clinical or practice-based environments. WBA requires structured forms, competency sign-offs, and feedback from busy field-based practitioners. If an assessor must log into a complex online system, often with limited connectivity on placement sites, usage quickly declines. It is unsurprising that several institutions abandoned VLE-native or generic ePortfolios in favour of purpose-built alternatives once the limitations became apparent[4].
Perception as bureaucratic or burdensome
When ePortfolios are “bolted on” rather than pedagogically embedded, students frequently treat them as compliance tasks rather than meaningful learning tools. Stakeholders may “condemn the bureaucracy” of such systems when they appear imposed rather than beneficial[5]. Consequently, engagement becomes minimal, and the potential for genuine reflective learning is lost.
Consequences: Low Adoption and Poor Return on Investment
These issues collectively result in limited adoption, inconsistent use, and diminished value for money. It is not uncommon for institutions to invest heavily in an enterprise ePortfolio, only to find that a few departments use it meaningfully. Some universities have discontinued their ePortfolio initiatives entirely, citing their labour-intensive maintenance relative to minimal uptake[6]. Research also suggests that students often abandon their ePortfolios once a module or programme concludes, perceiving little long-term value[6]. In effect, the one-size-fits-all ePortfolio frequently becomes expensive shelfware: institutionally available yet rarely embraced.
Differential Adoption Across Disciplines
Adoption of ePortfolios has historically been more successful within humanities and teacher education programmes, which often utilise them for showcasing work or evidencing practice. By contrast, usage in STEM and clinical fields has been notably limited[7]. One recent analysis noted that although ePortfolios are common within arts and humanities, they remain “underutilised in STEM fields”[7]. This disparity reflects the mismatch between generic ePortfolio functionality and the highly structured, competency-led assessment typical of scientific and clinical disciplines.
Even where universities advocate for universal adoption, meaningful use tends to concentrate in programmes with external regulatory requirements. For example, departments subject to accreditation by bodies such as the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) or General Medical Council (GMC) may be obliged to use some form of ePortfolio, but they frequently seek external systems when institutional platforms prove inadequate.
WBA: A Particularly Challenging Use Case for Generic Systems
The shortcomings of enterprise ePortfolios are particularly stark in Workplace-Based Assessment contexts. WBA is central to programmes where students acquire competencies in real practice environments. It demands tools that support immediate documentation, assessor sign-off, and timely feedback, often in settings with unreliable connectivity.
A generic ePortfolio that requires assessors to return to a desktop machine, navigate complex menus, and complete unwieldy forms is fundamentally misaligned with clinical or field-based realities. The consequence is predictable: staff revert to paper, informal methods, or alternative solutions that better fit their workflow.
WBA requires functionality that many enterprise systems lack:
Robust mobile and offline capability
Rapid onboarding for external assessors without institutional accounts
Highly structured competency-linked assessment forms
Real-time dashboards enabling programme-level oversight
Institutions attempting to adapt generic ePortfolios for WBA frequently encounter significant friction, leading some to replace them with bespoke or specialist tools[4]. When the technology does not fit the pedagogy, the technology is simply bypassed.
Focused Solutions: Evidence of Higher Adoption and Better Alignment
In contrast to the challenges associated with enterprise-wide platforms, focused, use-case-specific ePortfolio solutions have demonstrated considerably higher adoption and satisfaction. Such tools succeed precisely because they are designed around the specific workflows and regulatory contexts of their users.
Nursing and Midwifery: The Pan London ePAD
A consortium of 14 London universities collaborated to digitise the Pan London Practice Assessment Document using MyProgress[12–15]. The electronic PAD rapidly replaced paper processes across the consortium, demonstrating widespread acceptance. Key enablers included:
offline mobile functionality for use on wards
self-registration for practice staff spanning multiple institutions
consolidated dashboards providing real-time visibility of student progress
Feedback from staff described the dashboard functionality as “invaluable” for monitoring and supporting students[16]. The success of the project reflects the degree to which the tool embedded itself naturally within existing workflows.
MyProgress at National Scale (Nursing)
Over half of UK nursing and midwifery students now use MyProgress as their primary platform for collecting clinical assessments and evidence[17]. Institutions such as Anglia Ruskin University have adopted it at large scale, in ARU’s case, for more than 2,000 nursing students, specifically to support the growing demands of placement-based learning[18].
Medicine and Veterinary Education
Similar patterns are evident in medicine and veterinary science, where specialist WBA tools achieve far greater uptake than generic platforms. The Royal College of General Practitioners mandates a purpose-built ePortfolio for all GP trainees nationally, with features tailored to training maps, progress tracking, and offline use[19]. High adoption is achieved because the portfolio is integral to professional qualification and aligned with authentic practice.
Apprenticeships and Vocational Training
In the apprenticeships sector, dedicated ePortfolio systems (e.g., OneFile, MyProgress) are valued for their efficiency gains, reduction of administrative burden, and enhanced oversight[20][21]. Their success reinforces the central argument: targeted solutions succeed when they demonstrably improve day-to-day practice.
Better Outcomes with Lower Overheads
Contrary to assumptions that multiple specialist systems are inherently less cost-effective than a single enterprise solution, focused ePortfolio tools often provide better value for money:
Licences are used more effectively, as they are allocated to programmes that actively engage with the system.
Training and support requirements are reduced when tools align closely with existing practice.
Development focuses on features that matter, rather than contributing to the feature bloat common in generic platforms.
Institutions avoid costly missteps, such as implementing an ill-suited system that must later be replaced.
The Pan London ePAD exemplifies these efficiencies: co-design with stakeholders reduced training needs, and shared development investment generated economies of scale[22–23].
Reassessing ePortfolio Strategy: Implications for IT Leaders
For senior IT decision-makers, the evidence suggests it is prudent to reconsider standardisation around a single enterprise ePortfolio platform. A more targeted, evidence-led strategy can yield significantly better outcomes.
Recommended considerations:
Performing a usage audit on your ePortfolio will help evaluate who is using it and to what scale, and does this compare well to the annual costs, internal and external.
Identify high-impact use cases where ePortfolios genuinely enhance learning or meet regulatory needs.
Avoid pressuring disciplines without a clear pedagogical rationale for ePortfolio adoption.
Evaluate specialist platforms, such as MyProgress, that align with specific academic and professional requirements.
Promote organic adoption by showcasing successful use cases and enabling faculty-led knowledge exchange.
Ensure interoperability so that data from specialist platforms integrates with central systems (e.g., via APIs or LTI).
Conclusion
The evolution of ePortfolios in higher education demonstrates the importance of aligning technological solutions with authentic educational practice. Enterprise-wide systems, while well-intentioned, often prioritised breadth over depth, resulting in limited engagement. By contrast, focused, context-specific platforms, particularly in WBA-heavy disciplines, have shown that when technology genuinely supports workflow and assessment needs, adoption follows naturally and sustainably.
For UK university IT directors and CTOs, a strategic shift towards targeted implementations may not only improve educational outcomes but also enhance institutional efficiency and financial sustainability. An unused ePortfolio represents sunk cost; a well-designed, widely adopted platform constitutes a valuable educational asset.
Sources:
Farrell, O. (2020). From Portafoglio to Eportfolio: The Evolution of Portfolio in Higher Education. JIME. (Noting 78% of UK universities had ePortfolios by 2014, but interest waned due to challenges)[1].
Joyes, G. et al. (2012). JISC ePortfolio Implementation Study. (Notes many institutions moved from VLE-integrated ePortfolios to other solutions)[4].
UEA PebblePad Adoption Webinar (2023) – Anderson, R. & Buchan, L. (University of East Anglia). (Provided insights on faculty uptake: only ~40% of interested staff implemented, and the need for significant support and template-building)[2][3].
Research by Gardner & Aleksejuniene (2008) and others summarized in Lewis et al. (2014). (Reports some universities discontinued ePortfolios as too time-consuming, and students often stopped using them after completing a class)[6].
Driessen, E. (2017) via Philip et al. (2019). Personalising medical education: ePortfolios for WPBA. (Warns that stakeholders may “condemn the bureaucracy” of portfolio systems if not well-implemented)[5].
WAC Clearinghouse (2023). ePortfolios Across the Disciplines. (Observes ePortfolios widely used in humanities but underutilized in STEM, indicating uneven adoption)[7].
MyKnowledgeMap (2023). MyProgress for Nursing – Case Study & Webpage. (Indicates over 50% of UK nursing students use MyProgress; Pan-London consortium of 14 universities adopted it to replace paper assessments, citing benefits like offline use, self-service for practice staff, and time-saving dashboards)[17][13][14].
Quote from Justin McDermott, Pan London Practice Learning Group (2021). (On the value of MyProgress dashboards and real-time assessment visibility for nursing faculty and students)[16].
RCGP Trainee Portfolio (FourteenFish platform) – RCGP guidance (2022). (Describes a specialized ePortfolio for GP trainees that covers the whole training program with features like progress tracking and offline app)[19][27].
OneAdvanced (2024). “Getting more for less: The ePortfolio advantage.” (Highlights efficiency gains and cost savings when using ePortfolios in vocational training, relevant to focused implementation)[20][21].
[1] Loading metrics
[2] [3] [8] [9] [10] [11] [24] Sharing institutional eportfolio adoption best practices - PebblePad
[4] JISC eportfolio implmentations study final report
[6] Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of Student Feedback on ePortfolio Learning | Request PDF
[7] ePortfolios Across the Disciplines - The WAC Clearinghouse
[12] [13] [14] [15] [22] [23] [26] MyProgress ePortfolio at Pan London Universities - Nursing Case Study
[16] [17] [18] MyProgress ePortfolio for Nursing
[19] [27] MRCGP trainee portfolio
[20] [21] Getting more for less: The ePortfolio advantage | OneAdvanced
[25] MyProgress ePortfolio | Powered by MyKnowledgeMap
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