An interest in e-portfolios has filtered into the K-12 setting. Keep up with the trend. Access this article from Education World and use some of links in the article to find out more. http://www.education-world.com/a_tech/tech/tech111.shtml Teachers on the K-12 need to understand this phenomenon that is sure to impact their teaching in the future. Here is a link to also learn more about how e-ports are being used in Minnesota not just for all residents but also all students K-12: http://www.efoliominnesota.com/ To see samples of college students' eports try this link.Post your comments. What do you see as the value of e-portfolios? To what extent do you think they will catch on in the K-12 environment?
15 comments:
I am very new to the topic of e-portfolios, as I have only heard the term a day or two ago. What strikes me, however, is that in the few places that I have seen the e-portfolio spoken of, it has been in reference to K-12 education. What about the inclusion of e-portfolios for pre-k or special education, in which most cases a portfolio of photographs or samples of active learning are used to show greater accuracy than that of standardized tests or other pencil/paper types of assessments. Has anyone seen them used in these arenas?
We already use paper portfolios in my school that are used for assessment and passed onto the next grade level. I think portfolios are good idea to show student progress without standardized testing. I can see how e portfolio's would be good for upper grade levels who have the technological capabilities to be able to do this. However, I would like to see an example of an e portfolio for K-2 as I believe this would be difficult. Many pieces of work are pictures or use basic writing, kindergarteners struggle in the beginning to recognize letters let alone are able to type.
Looking at it further, I guess much of a lower primary grade e portfolio would consist of photos of work/projects and scanning in documents, maybe assessment data. But then another question would be how much time would it take for the teachers to create these? is it really more beneficial for lower elementary grades?
I agree with what you're saying, Michelle, but I think it isn't necessarily essential for lower grades. However, e-portfolios can store a large amount of infomation in a more organized format,and it would be nice to see progress thought K-12 in an online database. However, it would be making more work for teachers, in terms of scanning and uploading. But in upper grades students could be responsible for this, and their uploads could be how they submit their work.
I never heard the term e-portfolio's until I came to Saint Joe's. I've heard of portfolio's and how it is a collection of student's works that they put in it that represents their best work that they have done. I think using the portfolio system whether it is electronic or not is a great way for students to get involoved with their learning. Now that it has gone electronic though it would be easier and in this day and age students are constantly plugged into computers. This also allows students to have a connection with what they are doing because they are growing up in an age of technology. I feel that using e-portfolio's will create a positive affect on students because they will want to show off their best work and so they may be more involved with their studies and their academic performance. Plus it is better then testing students because it gives a better picture of what each individual student's skills.
E-portfolios are a great way for high school students to practice appropriate communication and prepare for college. I wonder if e-portfolios are used in high schools?
I am new to the concept of e-portfolios. I heard it once before from a friend who finished another school. Recenty, I had to load everything into taskstream. While an interesting idea, I do not see the practicality of the system. My college supervisor could not be bothered using it and asked me to print everything out hard copy. Moreover, the subscription expired before it can do me any good for job hunting. Assuming the technology is sound and safe, it can help teachers avoid hearing the constant excuse, I forgot to bring my homework to school. We need to hear more data on the e-portfolio concept.
Call me old fashioned but I don't like the idea that everything we do is computer driven. I am always wondering what would happen if there is a glitch in the system or a virus. Everyday I keep hearing about the threat of hackers taking over our computers so I would be a little uncomfortable if we put all the work that a particular student has done from kindergarten to high school in an e-portfolio that some computer hacker could gain access to. I don't know, I just don't feel excited when I read something like this.
I agree that too much digital information can leave users of digital technology vulnerable to identity theft or invasion of privacy. If e-portfolios were stored on flash drives, it would preserve some privacy. I also think that for some students the task of keeping their work organized would be a great way for them to generalize those organizational skills across other disciplines in their lives.
michele s
I am new to the term e-portfolios. I have heard of portfolios and I remember when I was little having a portfolio that followed me from first grade to eighth grade. We got to go through our entire portfolio in eighth grade before we started high school and got to see all of our work from all of the school years. I think that portfolios are a great tool to show student growth. It is interesting and a great learning experience for students to see how far they have come in their education. I think that e-portfolios is just taking that concept a step further. Having portfolios become electronic makes sense because it seems the way everything is going. It can be looked at how many patients charts in hospitals are becoming electronic.
Reading this article, I couldn't help but think of Task Stream. Task Stream for those who are not familiar, is an online portfolio that we as education students post specific projects and or assignments according to the course we are taking.
I feel that E-Portfolios for students is a great way to merge both college and grade school together. I can remember as an eighth grade students, receiving a folder full of hand written work from over the years. I can honestly say that it meant nothing to me. I say this because I like the idea of self-reflection. We as future educators, reflect all the time on every assignment we complete. The more practice and repetitive behaviors we encourage our students to have, the better they are to understand what they are learning. If I had the opportunity to reflect on certain assignments in grade school, I can bet I would have understood the meaning behind learning and competing the task given.
In all, I hope that E-Portfolios does come to grade schools so that we can move with the time. Just like handwritting, students are practicing keyboard kills faster than cursive in their classrooms. We need to think of our students' futures!!
I love the idea of portfolios. An E-portfolio just makes it seem even better. I think I'll end up doing a test run in one of my classes with portfolios. The only issue is all of the scanning. I think that could become tedious.
This is a great topic. I think portfolio assessment is a good fit in most high schools. We have been using portfolios for our seniors, but no foreign language has been included.
After reading many of the links, and reading many of the links to the links, I am convinced that I want to include my classes into a senior portfolio...or maybe a foreign language portfolio that can be included in the senior year!
It does not have to be public on the internet. We use a network and allow the students to save it on the network drive, then save it on a flash drive.
I believe it is easier and more private in that manner!
This is very interesting because our school system is begining with e-portfolio next school year. They are having students submit their best work per class. What a great way to showcase thier work. They are talking about the students using it to show to colleges. I just hope this is how it works. But what a great way for students to start thinking about college and understanding the work quality they need to work on and maintain.
A portfolio seems like a great year, especially to give to the students' next year teachers. This way the educators could get a grasp of what the students have learn and what they need additional work on. It would be difficult to accomplish this task if students did not have consistent efficient access to a computer. Currently, in the school I work in there are only student computers located in the computer lab, which has a very competitive sign out process that occurs months in advance by teachers. This would pose an issue with students accessing and creating a e portfolio. However, if students had increased access to technology, this system would be a much more accurate depiction of their skill level than information gained from a standardized text. Furthermore, I think if the teacher were to provide clear expectations as to what the portfolio the students must display, than the students would be able to excel in this activity. Also, students would appreciate a sense of ownership by selecting their best work.
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