ISO/IEC TS 20013:2015

TECHNICAL ISO/IEC TS
SPECIFICATION 20013
First edition
2015-07-15
Information technology for learning,
education and training — A reference
framework of e-Portfolio information
Techonologies de l’information pour l’apprentissage, l’éducation et la
formation — Un cadre de référence pour l’information des e-Portfolios
Reference number
ISO/IEC TS 20013:2015(E)
©
ISO/IEC 2015

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ISO/IEC TS 20013:2015(E)

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ISO/IEC TS 20013:2015(E)

Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Terms and definitions . 2
3 Symbols and abbreviated terms . 4
4 e-Portfolios and e-learning . 4
4.1 Role of e-Portfolios . 4
4.2 Classifying e-Portfolios . 5
4.3 Benefits of e-Portfolios . 6
5 Reference Framework of e-Portfolio Information . 7
5.1 Introduction . 7
5.2 Conceptual representation of e-Portfolio information . 7
5.3 Common categories found in e-Portfolio Use cases . 8
5.4 Content component structure .10
5.4.1 Identification category . .11
5.4.2 Overview category . . .12
5.4.3 Education category .12
5.4.4 Career category .12
5.4.5 Outcomes category.12
5.4.6 Capability category .13
5.4.7 Experience category .13
5.5 Functional Component of e-Portfolio systems .14
Annex A (informative) Use cases of e-Portfolio .17
Annex B (informative) Study cases of e-Portfolio interoperability .35
Bibliography .38
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ISO/IEC TS 20013:2015(E)

Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are
members of ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical
committees established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical
activity. ISO and IEC technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international
organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the
work. In the field of information technology, ISO and IEC have established a joint technical committee,
ISO/IEC JTC 1.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular the different approval criteria needed for
the different types of document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
Details of any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction
and/or on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation on the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity
assessment, as well as information about ISO’s adherence to the WTO principles in the Technical Barriers
to Trade (TBT) see the following URL: Foreword - Supplementary information
The committee responsible for this document is ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology, Subcommittee SC
36, Information technology for learning, education and training.
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ISO/IEC TS 20013:2015(E)

Introduction
e-Portfolios have been deployed in many contexts that span educational, employment, artistic, and social
contexts. In education, they have demonstrated their potential to enhance the development of learners
and to support the work of educators, administrators, and others, through streamlining information
management processes, developing learner autonomy and metacognition, and fostering the personal
and professional development of individuals. However, this broad implementation has also brought with
it issues related to interoperability, accessibility, and usability of both systems and content.
This Technical Specification has been developed to support the creation and use of e-Portfolios to
support learning, education and training. It can be used to develop more responsive, flexible and modular
systems and services that will support learners, instructors, e-learning service providers and other
stakeholders in their activities related to e-Portfolio creation and use across various ITLET contexts
(such as K-12 education, higher education training, career planning and professional development). With
on-going developments in ICT learners have access to an increasing diversity of learning, education,
and training opportunities. Production of educational content and services as a consequence of
developments in ICT extends the scope of opportunities for learning, providing potential for learners to
experience personalized and adaptive opportunities that also may enhance their learning and improve
their abilities. Content and services are delivered to or accessed by learners – as well as produced and
managed by them. ITLET systems therefore need to be designed to accommodate this. For example, a
common feature of most e-Portfolio systems is that their owners not only author the content but also
control selection and presentation of it. In some jurisdictions this key function is seen as integral to
personal development planning (PDP).
A key characteristic of e-Portfolio systems for ITLET stakeholders is the data or information that is
utilized for e-Portfolios can provide instructors, trainers, administrators, and employers with an
efficient means of appraisal, management, and decision making. This key characteristic also benefits
learners through providing opportunities to reflect on their own learning and career development.
e-Portfolios thus provide an opportunity to monitor the development of an individual’s achievements,
skills and competencies within and beyond formal education and training contexts.
One means of delivering such functionality is via a management system, such as an integrated Learning
Management system (LMS) or Human Resource management System (HRMS) that can be used to monitor
and organize learners’ learning; however, unbundled applications and services can also provide such
functionality and components of e-Portfolio system functionality can exist in a highly distributed manner.
For these reasons, implementing e-Portfolios has the potential to be an efficient method for tracking
learning history, documenting activities within learning, education, and training, supporting peer and self-
assessment as well as professional development in the workplace. Consideration of how e-Portfolios may
be used within teaching and learning environments has therefore been central to shaping this document.
In order to encourage streamlined management and exchange of participant information and associated
data, such as the evidentiary information contained in an e-Portfolio, a standardized approach is
necessary. Through the standardization of e-Portfolio system components (that is, IT systems and
services that enable e-Portfolios), common underlying structures will provide the potential to share
data across and among different applications, thus improving interoperability.
This Technical Specification provides a reference framework for the use of e-Portfolios within ITLET
contexts where there are requirements for importing, exporting, and aggregating data. The reference
framework has been developed with the aim of supporting interoperability and transfer of information
among ICT systems and services where data interchange is required for e-Portfolio systems. It is intended
to be used by learners, instructors, software developers, implementers, instructional designers, and others
within learning, education, and training environments that are supported by information technology.
This Technical Specification includes six clauses and two annexes. The first clause provides the scope,
exclusions, and aspects not currently addressed. The second and third clauses include the normative
references and terms and definitions respectively. The fourth clause provides background information
regarding e-Portfolios. The fifth clause describes various types of e-Portfolios used in learning, education,
and training contexts and provides an approach to classifying them. The e-Portfolio reference framework
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is then detailed in clause six. The annexes include use case information that has been submitted by
national bodies (Annex A) and study cases of e-Portfolio interoperability (Annex B).
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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION ISO/IEC TS 20013:2015(E)
Information technology for learning, education and
training — A reference framework of e-Portfolio information
1 Scope
This Technical Specification details a reference framework of e-Portfolio implementation that can be
used to inform and support development of ITLET systems that meet the requirements of learners,
instructors, e-learning service providers and others in contexts such as K-12 education, higher education,
training and development.
The reference framework identifies content and functional components that support e-Portfolio systems
and interoperability issues that need to be addressed in data exchange between these components and
interoperability issues that need to be addressed in data exchange between the two component types
(content and functional) and among the various categories.
This Technical Specification:
— provides an e-Portfolio reference framework;
— provides descriptions of e-Portfolios in terms of components, categories, and elements;
— provides descriptions of e-Portfolios in terms of component types (content or functional), categories,
elements, and items;
— identifies commonalities of current implementations of e-Portfolios; and,
— represents the needs of stakeholders (e.g. learners, instructors, etc.).
The scope of this Technical Specification does not include:
— in-depth technical review of issues related to adaptability to culture, language, and human functions;
— security techniques related to the protection of privacy information;
— authentication of the identity of an IT or ITLET system user;
— how e-Portfolios might integrate with ITLET systems; and
— specific requirements of e-Portfolios or e-Portfolio systems to meet jurisdictional domain
requirements.
This Technical Specification currently does not address:
— aspects of accessibility.
— the elements required of learner and instructor;
— best practices of e-portfolio use cases in the fields on K-12 education, higher education and training;
— guides to support the use of e-Portfolios in learning, education, and training environments; and
— detailed technical information regarding specific types of e-portfolios (e.g. learning, teaching,
assessment, presentation, personal development, career, course, program, institutional, or other).
It is anticipated that some or all of these requirements may be addressed in future editions of
ISO/IEC 20013, or in companion International Standards or Technical Reports.
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2 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
2.1
category
types of components (2.2)
2.2
component
set of constituent parts that comprises an e-Portfolio (2.5)
Note 1 to entry: An e-portfolio component may be either a content component or a functional component.
Note 2 to entry: A content component makes learner information explicit so that it can be matched to resources.
The following are content components for e-portfolio information: identification, synopsis, education, career,
outcomes, capability, and experience.
Note 3 to entry: A functional component is used to identify and support interoperability and may include “layers”
of entities such as business requirements and processes, technical services, and data sources.
[SOURCE: ISO 16175-2:2011, 3.7 Modified: in the definition, “a digital record” has been replaced with “an
e-Portfolio”; the 3 Notes to the entry have been added.]
2.3
e-learning
learning (2.9) facilitated by information and communications technology
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 24751-1:2008, 2.18]
2.4
element
unit of data for which the definition, identification, representation and permissible values are specified
by means of a set of attributes
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 6523-1:1998, 3.3]
Note 1 to entry: A component can contain one or more elements.
Note 2 to entry: An element is part of the e-Portfolio framework and a label to indicate a layer within the e-Portfolio
framework. An example is Career Planning, which is an element of the category of Experience.
2.5
e-Portfolio
collection of digital items aggregated within an IT system (2.7) used for a diversity of purposes to
support LET and professional development activities through automated and manual means and is used
for a diversity of purposes
EXAMPLE An e-Portfolio may be used:
a) to store personal or professional electronic artefacts;
b) as a personal or professional journal to support reflective learning;
c) as a collation of evidence of learning, experience, and achievement;
d) to support lifelong learning and on-going transitions between education and workplace environments;
e) to support collation and integration of informal learning into formal settings; and,
f) to present selected views of content to prospective and existing employers and educators.
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2.6
e-Portfolio system
instance of an information technology system (2.7) designed and implemented specifically to support the
creation, use, and management of e-Portfolios (2.5)
Note 1 to entry: An e-Portfolio system may be coupled (sets of) IT applications and services.
2.7
information technology system
IT system
set of one or more computers, associated software, peripherals, terminals, human operations, physical
processes, information transfer means, that form an autonomous whole, capable of performing
information processing and/or information transfer
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 14662:2010, 3.13]
2.8
item
unit of discrete data that comprises an element (2.4)
Note 1 to entry: An element can contain one of more items.
Note 2 to entry: An example is a file or a link to a website.
2.9
learning
acquisition of knowledge, skills or attitudes
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 2382-36:2013, 36.01.01]
2.10
learning management system
LMS
software system designed for the purpose of performing administrative and technical support processes
associated with e-learning (2.3)
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 2382-36:2013, 36.03.01]
2.11
personal development planning
PDP
process that makes explicit the learning or professional development goals of an individual and proposed
strategies for achieving them
Note 1 to entry: e-portfolios may be used in a variety of ways to support personal development planning,
summative assessment, presentation, reflection, and other uses.
2.12
reference model
framework for understanding significant relationships among the entities of some environment, and
for the development of consistent standards or specifications supporting that environment; a reference
model is based on a small number of unifying concepts and may be used as a basis for education and
explaining standards to a non-specialist
[SOURCE: ISO 14721:2012]
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3 Symbols and abbreviated terms
The following symbols and abbreviated terms are defined for use within this Technical Specification.
ABEEK Accreditation Board for Engineering Education of Korea
CBE Calgary Board of Education
ePEARL electronic Portfolio Encouraging Active Reflective Learning
HRMS Human Resource management System
ICT Information and Communications Technology
IEC International Electrotechnical Commission
IMS IMS Global Learning Consortium, Incorporated
IPTV Internet Protocol Television
ISO International Organization for Standardization
IT Information Technology
IT System Information Technology System
ITLET Information Technology for Learning, Education and Training
LET Learning, Education and Training
LMS Learning Management system
LORFOLIO e-Portfolio offered by Lorraine Region
PC Personal Computer
PDP Personal Development Planning
RPL Recognition of Prior Learning
QCL Qualifications, Certifications and Licenses
SDEG Shanghai Distance Education Group
SMEC Shanghai Municipal Education Commission
WIL Work Integrated Learning
4 e-Portfolios and e-learning
4.1 Role of e-Portfolios
The purpose of this Clause is to outline the roles of e-Portfolios, their key characteristics, and their
advantages over traditional portfolios.
In the early development of the e-learning industry the LMS occupied a prominent role as the central
ITLET system. Developments since this time provide new opportunities to monitor human-computer
interactions during learning, such as tools that build on outcomes-based assessment and evaluation
that enable process-centred assessment and evaluation. However, wide adoption of e-learning in
education has also brought new challenges for instructors, such as how to measure the effectiveness
of e-learning and determining what might constitute authentic assessment. Innovations in practice, as
well as technology, have meant that there is an increasing diversity of methods for addressing such
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issues. Importantly, learners who are engaged in e-learning activities typically have the option to study
at their own pace and to access learning materials suitable to their particular situation. To fully support
this flexibility, IT and ICT systems need to be responsive to individual requirements in providing
appropriate e-learning services.
In education and training contexts e-Portfolios have typically been used as contained environments that
stimulate thinking about learning goals, monitor progress toward achieving those goals, and provide an
interactive platform to give and receive advice about learning. These processes are sometimes referred
to as Personal Development Planning (PDP), particularly when the learning or professional development
goals and proposed strategies for achieving them are made explicit. Thus, e-Portfolios typically contain
data sets such as a learner’s learning history, learning goals, educational activities, outcomes, and
related achievements. PDP and learning-based e-Portfolios also typically include evidence of reflection
by the e-Portfolio owner. Millis, in Zubizarreta (2009, p. xx), also suggests that “portfolios are highly
motivating, because portfolios get learners into a rich and deep knowledge base focused on their own
learning experiences. Collaboration with others deepens these individual experiences by allowing
probing questions, socially constructed knowledge, and alternative viewpoints”.
Despite these opportunities to assist and enhance learning experiences, traditional (non-electronic)
portfolios can be seen to have a number of weaknesses:
— data are not durable, may be lost or not easily re-discoverable;
— managing overlapping data are difficult, (e.g. teaching material);
— maintenance can require a lot of time, effort and costs;
— effective use in learning and teaching contexts is typically limited to evidence of achievement; and,
— integrating multiple file types, such as video/audio files, images, and others, is not easily managed.
These weaknesses of traditional portfolios can mostly be overcome by using ICT, although the durability
of data are also dependent upon information management practices. e-Portfolios provide a platform
for supporting learners and instructors to increase educational effectiveness. By using e-Portfolios,
instructors/learners can manage teaching and learning resources and processes, monitor activities and
learning status while also enabling feedback for improving learning outcomes.
Three key characteristics of e-Portfolios that overcome limitations of traditional portfolios are:
— flexibility in modification, management, and portability. Users can modify their e-Portfolio
conveniently and easily. Users also can manage their personal information and easily export this
information to other systems and file formats as required.
— multiple data types can be managed. Users can show dynamically their outcomes related to their
competency through using multimedia files such as audio, video, graphics, images, and others. This
capability lends itself to creativity of expression.
— opportunities to integrate with other IT systems and the ability to have access anywhere through
the use of network technologies.
These characteristics of e-Portfolios facilitate their use in many different situations and contexts, not
just in the support of learners. As elaborated below, there are also different types of e–Portfolios.
4.2 Classifying e-Portfolios
This Reference Framework for e-Portfolio Information has been developed to support different types of
e-Portfolios that may be used to support learning, teaching, and other LET activities. One approach, is
for e-Portfolios to be classified into different types, according to purpose, function, and target audience,
as advocated by Stefani, et al. (2007, pp 13-14):
— assessment e-Portfolio: documents individual reflections and presents outcomes that can be used
to demonstrate capability.
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— presentation e-Portfolio: provides traditional portfolio functions such as enabling users to collate
their artefacts to demonstrate achievement and competence.
— personal development e-Portfolio: includes the collection of data and information to support
employment and professional development planning.
— learning e-Portfolio: tracks and identifies learning over time.
— informal learning e-Portfolio: allows for the individual to assemble content, evidence and
reflections related to informal and personal learning activities not necessarily related to any
formal education or training.
e-Portfolios also can be classified depending on the context in which they are applied (Zubizarreta, 2009):
— course e-Portfolios: are specific to a particular course and typically contain information assembled
by the student documenting achievement and reflections on achievement of outcomes. In addition,
course portfolios are often used for course assessments in part or in whole.
— program e-Portfolios: are specific to an entire course of academic study and document the learners’
work completed, skills acquired, and outcomes met possibly as a requirement for graduation.
— institutional e-Portfolios: permits the sharing and assessment of institutional goals and objectives
and progress, as well as providing information for re-accreditation, if necessary.
For specific learning and teaching contexts e-Portfolios can be classified as following:
— learning e-Portfolio: has the primary function of supporting the learner but can also be used by
instructors for assessment purposes.
— teaching e-Portfolio: has two purposes; (1) to manage teaching skills in order to reinforce and
extend the teacher’s competency; and, (2) to evaluate teaching competency.
Finally, regional or industry-specific e-Portfolios are used to support workforce development and
lifelong learning in geographical regions and industry verticals.
4.3 Benefits of e-Portfolios
When e-Portfolios are used effectively a wide range of e-learning stakeholders (such as learners,
instructors, providers, and school managers, parents, employers) stand to benefit:
Learners may benefit by:
— managing their information related to learning such as progression through a course, learning
materials, feedback from instructors, and others;
— receiving advice on learning content from instructors and e-learning systems;
— accessing their portfolio from a variety of digital devices such as PC, Smartphone, and others;
— developing learning plans individually or in collaboration with others; and,
— presenting views of all or parts of their e-Portfolios to potential employers, parents, teachers,
workplace assessors, or for entry into further education.
Instructors may benefit by:
— managing their information related to teaching such as teaching materials, career progression,
evaluation data, etc;
— providing learning contents and other resources to learners;
— tracking learning progress and activities of their students;
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