Portfolio: An organized, annotated electronic repository of the owner's work which allows for collection and display of artifacts, such as lesson plans, audio and video clips, sample student work, and other web-based materials that demonstrate professional capabilities and achievements in relation to a defined set of principles or standards.

File Cabinet: Analogous to a traditional filing cabinet, the EP offers a tool for storing and organizing a wide variety of electronic files for later inclusion in a student's portfolio.

Journal: A tool that provides space for recording and storing reflections and thoughts about professional experiences, and allows for conversion of entries to artifacts in order to help demonstrate growth over time.

Message Center: A communications hub from which messages and feedback among members of the portfolio community may be sent and received from one easy-to-use, convenient interface.

Customization: The EP system is customizable in a number of ways, allowing, for instance, a school or program to determine the set of standards that will provide the primary organizational structure for their students' portfolios (INTASC, ATE, ISTE, CEC, etc.). In addition, students can easily input their own sets of local, state, or national standards that may be relevant to their area of expertise.

Both preservice and inservice educators can take advantage of the EP's tools. Take the Tour now to learn more about the EP's features, or visit Next Steps.