ePortfolios : a technologically-assisted learning platform for the professional musician

Increasingly the ePortfolio is being drawn into the teaching and learning of creative arts. In music, literature has focused on the teacher trainee in music because the platform suits the building of a folio of work and student thinking over a degree program which is aimed at professional accreditation. Yet the ePortfolio can play an active role in the learning of other music students. This paper focuses on the experiences of two music academics working with what the paper will call professional musicians" those aiming for a career in music other than teaching" and the role ePortfolio platforms have played in the learning and teaching of student ensemble performers, sound technologists and composers, and students in a professional practice capstone music subject with a community outcome. The study responds to questions of how and for what purposes technologically-assisted learning via an ePortfolio platform is being used in the two Australian university music programs, and what the is response of students and teachers. Findings focus on six aspects: presentation; learning paths; sharing and collaboration; assessment; the specifics of working with the ePortfolio platform medium; and student identity.