My ePortfolio Journey – where to next?
Since 2000 I have been dabbling in the use of digital portfolios with my primary school aged students. Back in 2000, the teachers at my school experimented with dubbing school events, such as excursions and special days, onto video tapes. Wow, was that an effort! Video recorders, banked on top of each other in order to save time. Argh!
We then started to redefine the purpose of the digital portfolios and develop some thinking about how to implement them. We wanted them to be a vehicle to not only showcase student digital work, but a place for students to reflect on their new understandings and challenges.
These were some of the important considerations. We wanted them to be -
- personalised
- student-created
- reflective
- focused on learning process not just product
- digital (not scanned worksheets)
- negotiated
- fluid
- complementing paper portfolios (not replicating)
- used during 3 Way Conferences
- part of the assessment schedule
- celebration of milestones
- authentic and purposeful
With my class we had five main headings -
- Investigative Me
- Organised Me
- Creative Me
- Social Me
- About Me
These headings were loosely associated with the Whole Brain Model by Hermann.
With each of these headings we brainstormed some of the possibilities for adding to the digital portfolio. What I found really interesting, and so did the students, was that the same topic/activity could be grouped under different headings. For example, a claymation about ‘Acid Rain’ could be added to the Creative Me, Organised Me or Investigative Me. Therefore, the students needed to justify why they were adding it to a particular section. Now that was powerful! Students would say things like -
‘Well, I had look up the information and find out things.” Investigative Me
“I had to make sure I was organised and on time.” Organised Me
The digital portfolios were are big part of the ongoing learning for the students, and built into the weekly planning by teachers. The students took great pride in their portfolios and were burned to CD for them to take home.
I wonder now how the Web 2.0 will impact on the purpose and implementation of the digital or e-portfolio?
- Greater audience? Global?
- Collaborative?
- Accessible? Anytime, anywhere?
- Ongoing?
- Greater networking?
Interesting times ahead I think.
7 comments August 4th, 2008
