Artifacts tell what you know or can do. Reflections tell what you think!

Including reflective pieces add two powerful insights to your e-Portfolio.

First, reflection provides the reader of your e-portfolio with a much better understanding of who you are because you share how you feel about or make sense of the experiences you have been involved in. Reflection allows you to analyze and interpret your artifacts for others.

Second, the reflective process itself, whether you share your e-portfolio with someone else or not, is a constructive way to think about your own growth and development. Reflecting allows you to explore alternatives and consider future plans.

Reflection helps you explore the following questions:

• understanding yourself - what are my positive attributes?
• understanding reflection - what does it mean to be thinking about my experiences?
• reflecting on experiences - what happened? what does this mean to me?
• reflecting on yourself as a learner - what kind of a learner am I?
• using reflection to understand and plan - how can this help form where I am going?
• articulating your understanding and plans - how does this fit into my e-Portfolio?

As you engage in reflective thinking and write these thoughts and save them as a part of your e-portfolio, think about your audience. Who do you want to share your thoughts with? Your audience might be only yourself, a small group, or perhaps anyone interested in who you are!