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Hello All, It's good to be having this conversation in this space. I've certainly observed (and hopefully contributed to) a subtle shift in opinion/conception over the last year and I'd like to offer some of my thoughts here. The first big shift for me was to stop trying to define eportfolio in terms of a system but rather as a thing; a presentation: "An eportfolio is a purposeful aggregation of digital items - ideas, evidence, reflections, feedback, data etc - which 'present' a selected audience with information about the subject of that eportfolio" ~ The subject may be a person and/or persons; ~ The author may be the subject and/or someone involved in their learning or assessment; ~ The audience may be human and/or machine. Note: these digital items need not come from a single repository or system. Though, if distributed a series of access permissions need to enable access rights to cascade from the eportfolio presentation to these assets wherever they are located (pictures on Flickr, info on the MIS, qualifications thro' MIAP?) The information presented in an eportfolio may be for the purposes of: Assessment Accreditation; Application; Advancement; Appraisal; Articulation... and many other purposes (excuse the preoccupation with 'A' - substitute your own favourite words) So, an 'eportfolio' is just a presentation. It is nothing more than an e-collection of stuff. The folio is the bit which suggests that it has been put together for a specific purpose. Once you decide what kind of eportfolio (presentation) you want you can start to think about the kind of tool to use. This will equally be the case if you are in institution looking for an eportfolio tool or an individual choosing which of your many tools to use to present a 'story'. I choose to use my PebblePad for most things but also present some stuff through Flickr, Elgg etc. Last night I presented a bunch of stuff (online files, contextual links), for a particular purpose through an email with hyperlinks. I did that much more easily than I can with most other tools... So, on to tools: A tool designed with the express purpose of collecting, aggregating and presenting a single use/purpose eportfolio might reasonably be described as an ePortfolio System/Tool. ~ this does not mean that the items it uses need be contained within that system. It will probably also contain tools for sharing, managing and getting feedback/verification. A tool designed to plan for, think about, and review learning; to facilitate communication and collaboration; to archive items created or selected by the user; to link to items and data distributed across other systems; AND to allow the creation of multiple eportfolio presentations - for myriad purposes and diverse audiences - might reasonably be called a Personal Learning System (though I much prefer 'space'). So, how is this PLS different to an eportfolio system? I think that the eportfolio system is partly defined by its single use/purpose (evidencing competency to qualify/practice). Most NVQ-type systems would qualify, and do a good job here (OneFile, Learning Assistant, PaperFree). The personal learning system is defined by its focus upon supporting learning, particularly collaborative or social learning. My definition of a personal learning system means that it is not necessary to differentiate between formal and informal; structured or non-structured; directed or self-directed episodes of learning. One might ask what the difference is between a PLS and a VLE. The answer has something to do with ownership; control; user-centricity and personalisability; which is why (I think) some institutions are being very careful in how they position the ePS/PLS relative to the VLE. Putting the former inside the latter will influence how it is perceived kind regards Shane ________________________________ <http://www.pebblepad.co.uk/> Shane Sutherland Pebble Learning