For the past nine years, DCU Student Support & Development (SS&D) has implemented a 'think online first' strategy in collaboration with university colleagues. This approach has resulted in the creation of sustainable, accessible, and timely DCU-specific transition and support resources, as well as short courses designed to enhance student success. These resources are housed within LOOP, our Moodle Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), enabling students to build digital confidence from the moment they accept their place at DCU. Additionally, it offers a repository of curated and trusted content that academic staff can readily integrate into their courses.

SS&D, with its team of subject matter experts, sought an additional team member possessing an expansive learning design skillset, up-to-date knowledge of emerging sector tools, and a flexible resourcing model to serve as a critical friend. Catalyst IT, recommended for their extensive experience in the Higher Ed sector and proven track record in consulting and supporting similar projects, was the ideal partner.

This paper outlines our co-innovation approach and details how our partnership with Catalyst has delivered robust, scalable, and engaging resources to our students.

ePortfolios are often described as tools that support student reflection, ownership, and the ability to make sense of their learning over time. At their best, they allow learners to bring together evidence, track their progress, and tell their own academic or professional story ((University of Waterloo Centre for Teaching Excellence, 2026). But in practice, the term ‘ePortfolio’ is sometimes applied to tasks that do none of those things.

In this presentation, I reflect on cases where teams describe their assessment as ePortfolio work, but the design gives students little chance to reflect, personalise, or shape their own learning. In some cases, the task involves completing a series of fixed assignments grouped together on a digital platform, but it gives students no real say in how it is put together or what it means. It might tick the submission boxes, but that is not what an ePortfolio is meant to be.

There is real momentum behind using ePortfolios in higher education, and a lot of great work is being done. But there is also a need to pause and ask: do we all mean the same thing when we say ‘ePortfolio’? Does the assessment design align with the purpose of an ePortfolio? If we want students to reflect or take ownership of their learning, the structure has to actually support that. Calling it an ePortfolio does not make it one.

Often, this happens with the best of intentions. Teams want to innovate, meet institutional goals, or engage students in new ways. But without a shared understanding of what an ePortfolio actually is, the result can fall short of what students need (Lewis, 2019).

This presentation is for anyone involved in digital assessment, learning design, or academic development. It is an invitation to take a step back and ask what this tool is for, and whether we are designing in a way that actually supports students to use it well. Because in the end, not everything in a folder is an ePortfolio. And that difference matters.

University of Waterloo Centre for Teaching Excellence. (2026). ePortfolios explained: Theory and practice. Retrieved from https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/catalogs/tip-sheets/eportfolios-explained-theory-and-practice

Lewis, L. (2019). A critical reflection on ePortfolio as a teaching tool. Educational Provocations. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1230237.pdf

In the context of widespread calls for assessment redesign in response to the challenges posed by GenAI tools, universities increasingly recognise ePortfolios as a critical enabler of process-focused and authentic assessment, longitudinal skills development, and graduate employability. However, institution-wide adoption remains challenging due to fragmented practice, limited tool capability, and sustainability concerns. This case study presents the University of Limerick’s (UL) implementation of a centrally supported enterprise ePortfolio service that makes it possible for students to document their personal learning journey across their programme.

Guided by UL’s Teaching, Learning and Assessment Strategy and its Academic Transformation of the Operating Model (ATOM), the initiative addressed the limitations of an unusable native VLE portfolio tool that had resulted in inconsistent local workarounds and increased staff burden. Following institution-wide staff consultation and pilot evaluation, UL implemented Portflow as a secure, assessment-ready ePortfolio, fully integrated with Brightspace and governed through existing VLE structures. The focus was on scalable adoption: standardised templates aligned to graduate attributes and transferable skills were introduced with controlled local flexibility, supported by structured staff development, exemplars, and clear governance.

The paper outlines the strategic, pedagogical, and technical decisions underpinning the transformation, highlighting how treating ePortfolio as core digital infrastructure—rather than an optional add-on—enabled sustainable operation and programme-level coherence. Impact data from the first 18 months of operation demonstrate substantial engagement, with over 4000 active users to date, over 12,000 evidence artefacts, and extensive use of feedback, goal-setting, and controlled sharing for employability and placements.

Key insights include the importance of embedding portfolio activity within assessment design at programme level, the value of centrally governed templates combined with disciplinary autonomy, and the role of early pilots in reducing institutional risk. The case offers a transferable model for institutions seeking to scale ePortfolio practice while aligning assessment, skills development, and employability within long-term curriculum transformation.