The recent rise of ePortfolios is a global phenomenon: in Europe, Australia, the USA and Canada, there are now hundreds of thousands of ePortfolio owners and there will be millions by the end 2010. The ePortfolio movement is a movement that goes far beyond the field of initial education: ePortfolios are now becoming essential tools for personal development planning (PDP), managing continuing professional development (CPD), gaining accreditation for prior learning (APL) and career management. ePortfolios are also a central element in some national learning policies, as in Wales, England and The Netherlands, or regional policies, like in Tasmania (Australia), Minnesota (USA) and more recently in France where several regions are building regional ePortfolio platforms.

During the conference we will explore the progress made towards the goal set in 2003 in Poitiers, that by 2010 every citizen should have access to an ePortfolio.

The main themes for ePortfolio 2009 are: 

Track #P1— ePortfolio, innovation and creativity

The objective of this track is to explore how ePortfolios support innovation and creativity. A central issue should be the relevant use of the expressive power of a range of digital media.

• Issues: how do ePortfolios contribute to innovation and creativity? How is it possible to express creativity through ePortfolios? How to develop and exploit 'right brain' ePortfolios? How to convey emotions through an ePortfolio? The place of cultural context in ePortfolios.

• Topics: multiple literacies, multiple intelligences, emotional intelligence, digital literacy, artists' ePortfolios, next generation ePortfolios, cultural identity, intellectual property.

Track #P2 — ePortfolio, accountability and quality

The objective of this track is to explore the role ePortfolio in quality assurance, assessment and accreditation. A central issue should be the link between individual and organisational ePortfolios in quality assurance systems as well as authentic assessment.

• Issues: how do ePortfolios contribute to quality management? What is the impact of accountability on ePortfolio technologies and practice—and conversely? How do ePortfolios contribute to the quality assurance of assessment and accreditation processes?

• Topics: transparency of qualifications, accreditation of prior learning, authentic assessment, accreditation, quality assurance, quality improvement, audit, audit trail.

Track #P3 — ePortfolio, education and personal identity construction

The objective of this track is to explore the role of ePortfolio in the phase of initial education. A central issue should be the relation between ePortfolio practice and the construction of one's identity.

• Issues: what skills and competencies do learners, educators, instructional designers, human resource managers need to develop to harness the real power of the ePortfolios and digital identities? Managing the transition across different episodes and transitions of one’s lifelong learning. The role of the ePortfolio in personal development planning (PDP) and self-directed learning. Education in ePortfolio and digital identity. Managing multiple ePortfolios and identities.  Managing formal and informal learning

• Topics: reflective learning, self-directed learning, lifelong learning, informal learning, personal competencies, story telling, ICT skills, key competencies, self-concept, learning journal.

Track #P4 — ePortfolio, employability and professional identity development

The objective of this track is to explore the role of ePortfolios and digital identity technologies in contributing to lifelong learning and employability. A central issue should be the way ePortfolios and digital identities encourage individuals’ autonomy and responsibility.

• Issues: how do ePortfolios contribute to the development of employability, career management and professional identities? How do ePortfolios contribute to secure and sustainable learning and career paths? How do professional bodies use ePortfolios for managing continuing professional development?  Are human resources management ready? Managing and exploiting formal, informal and non-formal learning opportunities. Recognition vs accreditation of competencies.

• Topics: reflective practice, employability, recruitment, continuing professional development (CPD), key competencies, key skills, employability skills, career portfolio, professional identity, Social reputation, recommendation systems, social integration, mobility, migration, mobility, aging workforce, globalisation 

Track #P5 — ePortfolio, organisational learning and knowledge management

The objective of this track is to explore the contribution of ePortfolios and digital identities to the management of organisational knowledge and learning. A central issue should be the link between individual and organisational learning.

• Issues: how do ePortfolios and digital identities impact the provision of learning management systems?  How does social computing contribute to informal recognition of competencies and talents?  What are the links between individual and organisational ePortfolios?Informal learning in the workplace. Talent and competency management and development. The use of ePortfolio by researchers.

• Topics: informal learning, business transformation, SMEs, communities of practice, professional communities, collaborative learning, organisational ePortfolio, knowledge management, performance support systems, personal learning environments, organisational learning environments, organisational development, research.

Track #P6 — ePortfolio, policies and implementation

The objective of this track is to explore the issues linked to the implementation of ePortfolios. A central issue should be the scalability of the systems and the move from pilot initiatives to full scale sustainable projects.

• Issues: what ePortfolio systems and technology should I chose? How to move from pilot projects to large scale implementation? How to combine the innovation of small projects with the impact of large scale inter-institutional projects? What interaction with other organisational and personal information systems? How to combine the benefit from rapid innovation in technologies with the need for stability of institutional systems? What are the benefits of territorial (local, regional or national) and sectoral ePortfolio deployments?

• Topics:  organisational policies, change management, scalability, maintenance, staff competencies, support services,, learning organisation, learning cities, learning regions, SME ePortfolios.

Track #P7 — ePortfolio, technologies and system architectures

The objective of this track is to explore the impact of ePortfolio and emerging technologies on the design of learning, employment and healthcare services. A central issue should be the exploration of the benefits of seamless interaction between multiple information systems and technologies.

• Issues: building and exploiting ePortfolios in virtual worlds. The benefits and costs of aggregation over integration of informations systems. How do digital identity management framework (Liberty Alliance, OpenID, CardSpace, etc.) impact learning and development system architectures? 

• Topics: eportfolio authoring, ePortfolio management, Web 2.0, social computing, virtual worlds, avatars, personal learning spaces, personal relationship management systems, personal health records, personnal digital safe, user-generated contents, user-generated contexts, blogs, wikis, interoperability, mobile learning, trust, authentication, certificates, federation of identities, federation of services, privacy, ontologies, semantic web, standards, aggregation, integration.