Universities from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom are taking part in the WebCT Portfolio EAP. US institutions, including UMassOnline, Drexel University, Ramapo College of New Jersey, North Carolina State University and Stanford University School of Medicine, will be able to test drive the portfolio system, start training faculty and evaluate the product overall before committing to implement it for the September 2006 academic year. UK and Canadian institutions taking part are University of Nottingham, University of Sheffield, University of Strathclyde, University of Birmingham and University of British Columbia.

"The WebCT Portfolio was built with our campus needs in mind along with the needs of other partner institutions," said EAP member Lou Harrison, director of information technology, learning technologies, North Carolina State University. "Students will now have a way to collect, organize, contemplate, and showcase their work for deeper learning, more comprehensive assessment, and a significant advantage as they start their careers."

The WebCT Portfolio is a learner-centered portfolio solution that facilitates personal development planning for university students. The new product will give students at universities deploying WebCT technology from Blackboard a personal online space where they can collect course materials, present academic achievements and reflect on those achievements over time.

The WebCT Portfolio efficiently updates the practice of maintaining paper-based portfolios and expands their use well beyond the arts, according to Michael Chasen, Blackboard President and Chief Executive Officer. "As with so much else, the portfolio has gone digital, and the Internet has dramatically expanded the potential benefits across all disciplines and potentially over lifetimes," he said. "We look forward to seeing immediate results for students and institutions with WebCT technology, and are excited that all Blackboard clients will have access to the benefits of ePortfolios."