ISO/IEC 20013:2020

INTERNATIONAL ISO/IEC
STANDARD 20013
First edition
2020-10
Information technology for learning,
education and training — Reference
framework of e-Portfolio information
Technologies de l'information pour l'apprentissage, l'éducation et la
formation — Cadre de référence pour l'information des e-Portfolios
Reference number
©
ISO/IEC 2020
© ISO/IEC 2020
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ii © ISO/IEC 2020 – All rights reserved

Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Abbreviated terms . 4
5 e-Portfolios and e-learning . 4
5.1 Role of e-Portfolios . 4
5.2 Classifying e-Portfolios . 5
5.3 Benefits of e-Portfolios . 6
6 Reference framework of e-Portfolio information . 7
6.1 Overview . 7
6.2 Content and functional components of an e-Portfolio . 7
6.3 Common categories found in e-Portfolios . 8
6.4 Content component structure .10
6.4.1 General.10
6.4.2 Identification category . .11
6.4.3 Overview category . . .12
6.4.4 Education category .12
6.4.5 Career category .12
6.4.6 Outcome category .12
6.4.7 Capability category .13
6.4.8 Experience category .13
6.4.9 Relationships between categories, elements and items .13
6.5 Functional component of e-Portfolio systems .14
Annex A (informative) Use cases of e-Portfolio .16
Annex B (informative) Use cases of e-Portfolio .34
Bibliography .37
© ISO/IEC 2020 – All rights reserved iii

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.
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) or the IEC
list of patent declarations received (see https:// patents .iec .ch).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and
expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the
World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www .iso .org/
iso/ foreword .html.
This document was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology,
Subcommittee SC 36, Information technology for learning, education and training.
This first edition cancels and replaces ISO/IEC TS 20013:2015, which has been technically revised.
The main changes compared to ISO/IEC TS 20013:2015 are as follows:
— notes to entry have been added to terms 3.3 and 3.8 providing examples of the use of artefacts;
— acknowledgement is given that the term artefact may be used more broadly in some areas of the
world when referring to e-Portfolio components;
— minor editorial changes have been made throughout the document.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
complete listing of these bodies can be found at www .iso .org/ members .html.
iv © ISO/IEC 2020 – All rights reserved

Introduction
e-Portfolios have been deployed in many contexts that span educational, employment, artistic and social
contexts. Individuals have new opportunities to accumulate, manage and share their credentials digitally
(using badges, micro-credentials, etc.). These digital items can be included in and shared by individuals
using e-Portfolios. A key characteristic of these digital artefacts can be verification of the credential
by a third party. In learning, education and training (LET), e-Portfolios 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 document was developed to support the creation and use of e-Portfolios in LET. It can be used
to develop more responsive, flexible and modular systems and services and is intended to support
learners, instructors, trainers, e-learning service providers and other stakeholders. In addition, it is
intended to support a wide range of activities related to e-Portfolio creation and use across various
information technology for learning, education and training (ITLET) contexts (such as K-12 education,
higher education, training, career planning and professional development). With ongoing developments
in information and communications technology (ICT), learners have access to an increasing diversity of
LET opportunities. As a consequence, production of educational content and services extends the scope
of opportunities for learning; providing potential for learners to experience personalized and adaptive
opportunities that can also 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 the 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
used for e-Portfolios can provide instructors, trainers, administrators and employers with an efficient
means of appraisal, management and decision-making. 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. This key characteristic also benefits learners through providing
opportunities to reflect on their own learning and career development.
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, such functionality can also be provided by unbundled
applications and services and e-Portfolio system components 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 LET, supporting peer and self-assessment as well as
professional development in the workplace. Consideration of how e-Portfolios can 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 document 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.
© ISO/IEC 2020 – All rights reserved v

This document includes six clauses and two annexes. The first clause provides the scope, exclusions, and
aspects not currently addressed. The second clause includes the normative reference. The third clause
provides terms and definitions, while the fourth clause provides background information regarding
e-Portfolios. The fifth clause describes various types of e-Portfolios used in LET contexts and provides
an approach to classifying them. The sixth clause provides details regarding the e-Portfolio reference
framework.
The annexes include use case information that has been submitted by national bodies (Annex A) and
study cases of e-Portfolio interoperability (Annex B).
This document 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, programme, institutional, or other).
It is anticipated that some or all of these requirements will be addressed in future editions or in
companion International Standards or Technical Reports.
vi © ISO/IEC 2020 – All rights reserved

INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO/IEC 20013:2020(E)
Information technology for learning, education and
training — Reference framework of e-Portfolio information
1 Scope
This document specifies 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 personal development.
The reference framework identifies content and functional components that support e-Portfolio
systems. It addresses interoperability issues required for data exchange between these components
and among the various categories.
This document:
— provides an e-Portfolio reference framework;
— provides descriptions of e-Portfolios in terms of components (content or functional), categories,
elements and items;
— identifies commonalities of current implementations of e-Portfolios; and,
— represents the needs of stakeholders (learners, instructors, etc.).
This document 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.
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https:// www .iso .org/ obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at http:// www .electropedia .org/
© ISO/IEC 2020 – All rights reserved 1

3.1
component
set of constituent parts that comprises an e-Portfolio (3.4)
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 categories for e-Portfolio information: identification, overview, education, career,
outcome, capability and experience.
Note 3 to entry: A functional component is used to identify and support interoperability and may include "layers"
of entities.
EXAMPLE Business requirements and processes, technical services, data sources.
[SOURCE: ISO 16175-2:2011, 3.7, modified — in the definition, “a digital record” has been replaced with
“an e-Portfolio”; the three Notes to the entry have been added.]
3.2
e-learning
learning (3.9) facilitated by information and communications technology
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 24751-1:2008, 2.18]
3.3
element
unit of data for which the definition, identification, representation and permissible values are specified
by means of a set of attributes
Note 1 to entry: There can be one or more elements in each category within a component.
Note 2 to entry: An element is the label assigned to indicate this layer of the e-Portfolio reference framework.
Note 3 to entry: The term artefact (or digital artefact) is sometimes used as the general term to refer broadly to
the digital representation of elements, (awards and certificates, photographs, etc.) found in several categories,
(overview, education and experience). Artefacts may also be assigned unique identifiers to support various
e-Portfolio processes (e.g. management and verification).
EXAMPLE 1 A photograph that is selected and uploaded by an individual to their e-Portfolio for identification
purposes could be referred to as an artefact that is a user information element within the identification category.
EXAMPLE 2 An artefact may be associated with an element from the capability category (such as a skills
element linked to a skills framework).
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 6523-1:1998, 3.3, modified — in the term, "data element" has been replaced with
"element"; in the definition, the three Notes to entry have been added.]
3.4
e-Portfolio
collection of digital items aggregated within an IT system (3.7) used for a diversity of purposes to
support LET and professional development activities such as assessment, educational or career
guidance.
EXAMPLE An e-Portfolio is in digital form, and can be used a) to store personal or professional digital
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 ongoing 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.
2 © ISO/IEC 2020 – All rights reserved

3.5
reference framework
structure for understanding significant relationships among the entities of some
environment, and for the development of consistent standards or specifications supporting that
environment
Note 1 to entry: A reference framework 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.
3.6
e-Portfolio system
IT system (3.7) designed and implemented specifically to support the creation, use and management of
coupled (sets of) IT applications and services.
3.7
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]
3.8
item
unit of discrete data that comprises an element (3.3)
Note 1 to entry: There can be one or more items in an element.
EXAMPLE 1 A file or a link to a website.
Note 2 to entry: An item is the label assigned to indicate this layer of the e-Portfolio reference framework.
Note 3 to entry: The term artefact (or digital artefact) is sometimes used as the general term to refer broadly to
the digital representation of items within elements, (e.g. past projects, awards, certificates). Artefacts may also
be assigned unique identifiers to support various e-Portfolio processes (e.g. management and verification).
EXAMPLE 2 An item that is selected by an individual can be associated with a digital representation of a
certification, (e.g. digital badge).
3.9
learning
acquisition of knowledge, skills or attitudes
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 2382-36:2019, 3.1.1]
3.10
learning management system
LMS
software system designed for the purpose of performing administrative and technical support
processes associated with e-learning (3.2)
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 2382-36:2019, 3.3.1]
3.11
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.
© ISO/IEC 2020 – All rights reserved 3

4 Abbreviated terms
ICT information and communications technology
IPTV internet protocol television
ITLET information technology for learning, education and training
LET learning, education and training
RPL recognition of prior learning
QCL qualifications, certifications and licences
VET vocational educational training
WIL work integrated learning
5 e-Portfolios and e-learning
5.1 Role of e-Portfolios
This Clause outlines 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,
enabling 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 determine 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 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 adaptable to individual needs and 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. Reference [34] 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-digital)
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 is difficult (e.g. teaching material);
— maintenance can cost a lot of time and effort;
— effective use in learning and teaching contexts is typically limited to evidence of achievement; and,
4 © ISO/IEC 2020 – All rights reserved

— 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 is 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 their outcomes dynamically related to their
competency 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. Subclause 5.2 outlines the different types of e–Portfolios.
5.2 Classifying e-Portfolios
This reference framework 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
Reference [42]:
— Assessment e-Portfolios: document individual reflections and present outcomes that can be used
to demonstrate capability.
— Presentation e-Portfolios: provide traditional portfolio functions such as enabling users to collate
their artefacts to demonstrate achievement and competence.
— Personal development e-Portfolios: include the collection of data and information to support
employment and professional development planning.
— Learning e-Portfolios: track and identify learning over time.
— Informal learning e-Portfolios: allow for individuals 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 (Reference [34]):
— 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.
— Programme e-Portfolios: are specific to a defined field of academic study and document the learner's
work completed, skills acquired, and outcomes met, possibly as a requirement for graduation.
— Institutional e-Portfolios: permit the sharing and assessment of institutional goals and objectives
and progress, as well as providing information for re-accreditation, if necessary.
© ISO/IEC 2020 – All rights reserved 5

For specific learning and teaching contexts, e-Portfolios can have different functions and purposes,
such as:
— Learning e-Portfolios: have the primary function of supporting the learner but can also be used by
instructors for assessment purposes.
— Teaching e-Portfolios: have two purposes; (1) to document and manage the development of
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.
5.3 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 online or offline; and,
— presenting views of all or parts of their e-Portfolios to potential employers, parents, teachers,
workplace assessors, or for entry into further education with low cost and convenience.
Instructors may benefit by:
— collecting and 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;
— managing learners’ skill development and competencies; and,
— managing their own skill development or professional development as e-Portfolios.
e-Learning providers who make and offer e-learning services may benefit by:
— developing learning content appropriate to learner needs; and,
— operating e-learning services effectively.
Moreover, other stakeholders may benefit as follows:
— school managers might evaluate their instructors;
— parents can monitor the learning status of their child; and,
— employers can review competencies of employees in a broader context.
By understanding the benefits that e-Portfolios can bring to different stakeholders, implementers of
e-Portfolio systems can therefore ensure that sufficient functionality is provided.
6 © ISO/IEC 2020 – All rights reserved

6 Reference framework of e-Portfolio information
6.1 Overview
e-Portfolios and e-Portfolio systems can be represented in a number of different, but equally
meaningful ways. For the purposes of this document a number of diagrams, models, and tables are used
to present key information. For example, Figure 1 presents a high-level conceptual view of e-Portfolios
being an interface between three key stakeholders: the learner/worker; the educational and training
organization; and, the employer. Such a model can be represented from the perspective of each of these
key stakeholders. In this representation, however, the notion that e-Portfolio systems are interoperable
is an ideal situation that is facilitated by standardized approaches in the development of e-Portfolios
and e-Portfolio systems.
Figure 1 — High-level conceptual model of context for e-Portfolio systems interfaces
Figure 1 demonstrates that e-Portfolio systems function as an important interface across different
contexts (personal, organization and workplace) and also as a key platform that enables the creation,
management and presentation of e-Portfolios to different stakeholders over time. For these interfaces
to support individuals through their lifelong learning journey, it is essential that the information can
be migrated easily from one e-Portfolio system to another. For example, an individual may keep a
personal e-Portfolio to support reflection and personal growth, and may wish to share part or all of this
information within an education or work portfolio. Thus, IT systems need to be interoperable and well
designed to support many different contexts in which individuals may participate using e-Portfolios.
6.2 Content and functional components of an e-Portfolio
The reference framework of e-Portfolio information consists of a number of different representations
and perspectives. Figure 2 provides a high-level conceptual abstraction of the domains that e-Portfolio
systems interface with.
© ISO/IEC 2020 – All rights reserved 7

Figure 2 — Content and functional components of an e-Portfolio
As outlined in 5.2 there are different ways of classifying and conceiving of e-Portfolio. Within this
reference framework, two types of components are made explicit – content and functional. The content
component consists of seven (7) categories and their related elements (or items). The functional
component represents an e-Portfolio system that includes (1) business processes; (2) technical services
“genres”; and, (3) data sources.
The representation of content (in Tables 1, 2, and 3 and Figure 3) features three levels of structure:
categories, elements, and items. This structure represents a set of recorded information that an ITLET
system shall recognize as part of an e-Portfolio application or service. Elements and items are specific
to each component category. that are specific to each category. There are 30 elements mapped to
seven categories in Figure 3. Elements can be further broken down into more granular requirements
and referred to as “items”. For example, an “identification” element includes “items” such as name,
and contact information. It should be noted that not all categories or elements will be present in
each e-Portfolio application or service. As well, the reference framework is extendable, so additional
elements may be included as needed.
All representations within this reference framework can be used to inform the design and
implementation of e-Portfolio systems that support e-Portfolios in ITLET contexts. As such, they are
not intended to serve as a strict technical reference framework that might constrain development or
innovation in e-Portfolio systems development.
6.3 Common categories found in e-Portfolios
Analysis of 10 use cases submitted has resulted in the identification of a number of common conceptual
content component categories. The results of this analysis are represented in Table 1 and Table 2.
Identifying such categories is important in the development of an abstract model (in Figure 3). Each
column in Tables 1 and 2 represents a different use case. As noted in the column titles, several countries
that submitted more than one use case for analysis.
8 © ISO/IEC 2020 – All rights reserved

Table 1 — Common conceptual content categories found in e-Portfolio information
based on the use cases
a
Use cases
A.2.2
Category
A.1.1 A.1.2 A.1.3 A.2.1 A.3.1 A.3.2 A.3.3 A.4 A.5.1
Can-
Australia Australia Australia Canada China China China France Korea
ada
learner
personal personal
Identifica- worker/ identifica- stud- identifica- in-
author learner user informa- informa-
tion learner tion ent tion struc-
tion tion
tor
profes-
sional personal goal,
Overview objectives showcase goal
develop- profile interest
ment
vocational
learning records of
training, vocational
Education university enrolment school informa- learning – –
creden- training
tion process
tials, RPL
content,
feedback,
competen-
career competen- career
Career cies/ – – – – –
pathways cies WIL path
learning
standards,
sharing
accredita-
objectives, reflec- tion, ver-
employ- tions, ification
arte-
Outcomes ability skills, assess- – – – – – –
fact
skills, competen- ment arte-
validation cies WIL fact data
transfer
evidence
evidence skills
skills, com- compe-
Capability evidence – – – QCL – – –
petencies, tencies
reflection reflection
WIL
Experience experience experience experience – – – activity – – –
teach-
Exceptions – – – – class – – – –
er
a
A.5.2 Korea provided items only.
Table 2 — Common elements for each category from uses cases
a
Use cases
Category
A.2.1 A.3.1 A.3.2 A.3.3 A.4 A.5.1
Canada China China China France Korea
personal personal
external users,
information, information,
Identifica- address, name, address, name, photograph, personal
posts (stu- teaching info,
tion contact info, contact info identification info
dent), posts address, con-
demographics
(teacher) tact info
demographics,
Overview interest, goal - essays presentation -
interest, goal
a
Some cases did not provide elements or sufficient information.
© ISO/IEC 2020 – All rights reserved 9

Table 2 (continued)
a
Use cases
Category
A.2.1 A.3.1 A.3.2 A.3.3 A.4 A.5.1
Canada China China China France Korea
course (stu- online learning
curricula
Education enrolments dent), course record, offline learning time -
portfolio
(teacher) learning record
education and
training, compe-
Career - - - - tencies assess- -
ment, competen-
cies assessment
reflections,
artefacts,
Outcomes presentations, transcript - scores - -
collections,
assessment
qualifications,
Capability - - certifications, - - -
licences
Experience - - activity - - -
survey,
counsel,
permission subjects
Exceptions profiles, - - - - portfolio,
comment record
about
counsel
a
Some cases did not provide elements or sufficient information.
6.4 Content component structure
6.4.1 General
According to the use cases, certain structures including categories and associated elements can be
illustrated, as in Figure 3. It should be noted that not all categories or elements will be present in each
e-Portfolio application or service. In addition, the reference framework is extendable, so additional
elements may be included as needed.
Based on these use cases, e-portfolio content information can be organized in a number of ways,
such as by taking a layered approach. These content structures are represented using a hierarchical
approach as: (1) categories, (2) elements and (3) items [or sub-elements if used]. Figure 3 illustrates the
relationships between categories and elements.
10 © ISO/IEC 2020 – All rights reserved

Figure 3 — Abstract model of e-Portfolio representing categories and elements
NOTE Many e-Portfolio systems maintain different types of relationship between e-Portfolio items but the
relationship between categories and elements is stable as represented in Figure 3.
The structural aspects of the content component of an e-Portfolio can be considered from a number
of perspectives relating to teaching and learning. Since e-Portfolios document a set of evidence data
in teaching and learning, a repository function to store, reference or provide links to data must be
available, either within an application or as a service supporting an application. The structure provided
in Figure 3 does not detail low-level requirements (items). For example, the “user information” element
of the “identification” category can also be expressed as lower-level items or sub-elements, such as
e-mail address, name, phone number, etc. Such items are not detailed here because they will vary among
ITLET systems, specific needs and jurisdictions.
The category and element structures of the content component are described in
subclauses 6.4.2 through 6.4.9.
6.4.2 Identification category
The identification category provides information about the e-Portfolio owner (such as learners or
instructors). The role of this category is to make explicit a user’s individual information, which can then
be matched to resources. This includes information that can prove user identification.
This category consists of two elements – user information and contact information.
— User information: identifies a particular individual and may include name, date of birth.
© ISO/IEC 2020 – All rights reserved 11

— Contact information: address details to contact a particular individual (e.g. address, telephone
numbers, email, emergency contact).
6.4.3 Overview category
This category includes summary information of the past, present and future, which can describe the
owner of the e-Portfolio.
This category consists of three elements – interests, goals and plans, and synopsis.
— Interests: details on interests, voluntary commitments, or other activities and pursuits.
— Goals and plans: aims and aspirations of the individual as well as plans and processes to achieve
goals and targets.
— Synopsis: narrative text describing an individual that may include topics such as personal
background, experiences and activities.
6.4.4 Education category
This category consists of information related to schools at all levels that provide regular educational
programmes – kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school, college, university, including
graduate school.
— Kindergarten: pre-school educational programmes offered to young (pre-school) children.
— Elementary school: first stage of formal (often compulsory) education.
— Middle and high school: secondary education characterized by teaching of a number of subject areas.
— College: post-secondary education where students obtain degrees or diplomas in specific areas.
— University: post-secondary education offering degrees (and diplomas) in specific academic areas.
— Training/continuing education: courses taken all along the career which do not necessarily lead to
an academic grade.
— Professional accreditation bodies: oversee professional practice and accreditation, e.g. Australian
Nursing and Midwifery Council (ANMC) as outlined in Annex A.
6.4.5 Career category
This category includes career information related to individual professional activity and consists of
three elements – employment history, career path and awards.
— Employment history: a summary statement of any employment.
— Career path: a direction that a person has followed or is taking in order to fulfil his or her
professional goals.
— Career award: designation given by a learning service provider to a learner, in order to indicate a
level of performance or attainment, or the completion of
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