The difference between a Learning (B)log and an ePortfolio

For weeks I have had this Educause post about eportfolios in my Bloglines account. I'm in the process of going through some posts now in preparation for the Distance Learning in Higher Education conference at Cardiff University on Thursday, where I am speaking.

I think there is a difference between the aims of a blog as a learning log (which is all I believe it can be in this case) and a polished portfolio. I use the word polished carefully. A portfolio should be a presentation of the best bits of someone's work. A blog is not really the right medium through which to do this. It is, however, a great medium for recording previous work and posing new questions: a learning log. I have talked about Learning (B)logs in my latest research piece, From Learning Logs to Learning (B)logs (which still needs a lot of editing!)

If I were wanting to put together a portfolio to put forward my best work on the net I would use a traditional web page over which I had complete editorial control. It would also be a lot briefer than a blog: the people reading it don't have a lot of time to come to a decision on me. The type of blog that closest ressembles a portfolio that I can think of straightaway is that of techno journalist Ben Hammersley. There are few blog posts and they are nearly always representations of work he has published.

Learning Blogs tend to less on what has happened and more to what might happen if... This is where students can get more out of their learning. Blogs as learning logs push them into thinking about what their learning means for them the next time they're in class.