E-portfolios

In this day and age, a portfolio is by far the way to go.  This opportunity to showcase your work and continue your learning is one that is not to be missed.  With globalization at the forefront of every employer’s mind, I believe that a fluid portfolio will truly aid in helping to set apart someone not only skilled in a certain degree, but someone who has the ability to perform higher order thinking and employability skills that will keep them a step ahead of the rest.  I believe that quizzes and tests, and these paper/pencil type assessments are beginning to be outdated.  Yes, they can be a quick indicator of something that is learned or not, however, what happens when that grade is turned in and the course is over.  Often, the material that has been learned is forgotten and the student has moved on to the next subject or task.  However, if the learning is shown in a manner where the student actually has to give relevant examples and create meaningful assignments that can be saved and used to compare and learn in future situations, the student isn’t closing one door and opening another in terms of learning.  The student is growing and expanding on their schema and constructive learning will be taking place.

As a graduate student, I definitely think that articulating what I know and have learned about educational technology from my academic, professional and other experiences along with providing evidence of that learning with a collection of artifacts that I have created is going to be the most beneficial route.  That being said, this can be extremely intimidating and nerve-racking for a student.  It is much EASIER to be able to answer a question right or wrong.  It is much more challenging AND it makes much more of an impact to show what you know with a collection of your personal statements/beliefs and works that you have completed.  I believe that along with many forms of assessment in education, that a variety of these assessments would be what I prefer.  I believe that learners do have different strengths/or intelligences and that one form of assessment does not allow the learner to truly showcase their full potential.  In the case of a portfolio, a learner could choose a variety of tools to showcase their potential and grow in areas that will most benefit them.

When considering which type of portfolio to use, I believe that in most cases an e-portfolio is going to be your best bet.  The exception would be an artist showcasing their art and wanting to impress with the details and not merely an image.  E-portfolios are so useful because they can be accessed anywhere there is an Internet connection.  The ability to allow multiple people in multiple locations access to valuable information that you want to share seems to be the forerunning reason for using an e-portfolio.  As far as looking at different avenues for e-portfolios, I believe that I am going to initially go with a Google site.  I know that there are options that might be more flashy (such as Weebly and other web site builders), however for me personally, one of the skills I would like to showcase to my district is my ability to use Google and all of the many technology tools they offer.  Our district is currently doing a big push to find people comfortable with Google drive who are willing to help other teachers begin incorporating more of these easy technologies into their classes.  There were several website builders that looked great (web.com; godaddy.com; webs.com) and I would probably look into one of these in the future.  The aesthetics of these websites just seems to be superior to Wikipedia or even Google sites.  I chose to do a website instead of a wiki because I think that I would like to incorporate lots of pictures and videos along with actual writings.

If I was having my students create e-portfolios, I would have them all use the same tool for the first round.  This way it is easier to have a set rubric with standards that are easy to monitor.  It also would help me to be able to assist them with something I am familiar with, rather than having to learn lots of new sites to meet lots of different needs.  I would want them to have the option to use what they prefer, but for a first go around, I would stick with something simple.  (I also teach elementary students who have many more questions than older students.)  I would also consider the technology that I had available before choosing a site for my students to use.  I believe that this would be a huge indicator in making that decision.  Thinking about using this in class is hard right now because I am not currently a classroom teacher.  However, thinking back to my classroom days, I think I would love to start e-portfolios with my higher reading groups.  I would have them write book reflections on book studies that we were doing and include information like a character analysis, figurative language tracking, summary, and point of view pieces.  If I had them continue this for several books they could then participate in text to text comparison more easily and continue learning from books that they had read even earlier in the year.  I’m not sure that this would be considered an e-portfolio, rather than a blog.  I would love to have group blogs where they could comment and post on each other’s thoughts.  I am interested to see how others in this class would use e-portfolios with students.

Here is the link to:

my FUTURE e-portfolio