40+ ePortfolio Resources
e-Portfolios empower students to be reflective about their learning. Sifting through their work, they find artifacts that best represents their deep understanding academically, personally, and professionally. There are different uses for e-Portfolios:
- Demonstrate learning targets from a unit.
- Reflectively monitor their academic growth in a course or regarding skill-sets.
- Archive quality experiences and work products to showcase themselves for entrance into a post-secondary school or job.
In each case, student involvement in what is included becomes imperative. Empowering students to be reflective about what they select to include, and to make changes to what’s added, builds for them confidence in themselves, and strengthens retention of learning.
In this age of cloud computing and social media, e-portfolios are more powerful in it’s ability to be shared for constructive feedback, learning assessment, and professional review. Provide are resources to support and guide you toward establishing powerful student voice through their e-portfolios. Please share via comments or @jmccarthyeds on Twitter other e-Portfolio resources that could be added to this bounty.
e-Portfolio References & Resources
The first steps for developing a system is to develop the vision and purpose. Why does the e-Portfolio exist? How will is serve students? What role will students and teachers have in developing and using the e-Portfolio? Here is an initial planning form: docx/pdf. These references can help you craft the initial design.
- Cornell University on e-Portfolios
- Educause on e-Portfolios (pdf)
- e-Portfolios with Google Apps
- Balancing the Two Faces of e-Portfolios (Here’s a pdf version)
- Follow my Pinterest board about e-Portfolios
- Free e-Portfolio Website Providers
- Prince George County Public Schools
- Guidelines by WVA Health Science Center (See 2nd half of page)
Articles
When designing an e-Portfolio it’s helpful to explore how others have done it. Why reinvent the wheel if others have created a map of their own navigation? With that said, it’s also important to know what others have done so that you can test new waters for your own innovations for students using e-Portfolios.
- Student Portfolios as an Assessment Tool
- Picturing Performance with Digital Portfolios
- Portfolio Assessment in the Classroom
- Five Ways to Use Online Portfolios in the Classroom
- Using E-Portfolios in the Classroom
- Portfolio Assessment
- Using Technology: Electronic Portfolios in the K-12 Classroom
e-Platforms
Once you have the vision, purpose, and guidance by others for what your e-Portfolio will do, it’s time to decide on the platform. You may use a combination of several tools as listed below. Also review some of the resources in the other sections as several authors share their approaches. These are many possibilities depending on how public or private you want the e-Portfolios to be.
- Blogs: Blogger, WordPress (starter guide), Weebly, and EduBlogs
- Wikis: PBWorks and Wikispaces
- Social Networks: Pinterest and Instagram
- Google Apps: Drive, Site Builder, and Google+ Communities
- Livebinder, Pathbrite , Portfolium, DoYouBuzz, Flavors Me, Shown’d, OPResume
Examples of Student Portfolios
- Four Student Portfolio Examples to Showcase School Projects
- K-12 Portfolio sample collection
- One classroom teacher’s use of elementary portfolios
- UofWaterloo example (Youtube)
- HS Digital Portfolio presentation example (Youtube)
- McFarland High School sample portfolio
- Mercy High School portfolios
- Primary Digital Portfolios – explained (Youtube)
- Minnesota State University Social Studies Program Students
- Goldendale High School portfolio template
- Heritage High School portfolio templates
Assessment Strategies & Exploration
Here lies the key to a successful portfolio. Assessments should be multifaceted and done by the students and the teachers. Reflections, journaling, and dialog help to clarify meaning and purpose behind the artifacts that are included in the portfolio. Guidelines, checklists, and rubrics help structure the reflective process of the portfolio being used to collect assessments and to be assessed.
- KWL strategy on Learning Portfolio Assessments by teachingfutureteachers
- Prince George County Public Schools
- Authentic Assessment Toolbox
- Kathy Schrock’s Guide (Portfolio tools are down the page)
Example Assessment Tools
- WASC Portfolio Rubric
- San Lorenzo Valley High School – Senior Exit Portfolio
- University of Rhode Island Electrical and Computer Engineering
- University of Wisconsin – Stout
- Google Images of Portfolio Assessment tools (Click pictures to check the website)
- Google Images of Rubrics for Portfolio Assessment (Click pictures to check the website)
- Portfolio Assessment and High Technology (Go halfway to find rubrics)
- Sample Rubric for Student Portfolios by Drs. Cavanaugh
e-Portfoliios are valuable because, one of the most important things a teacher can do, is create the conditions for students to reflect on what they have learned. A student who reflects remembers. This student has truly learned.
Thanks for sharing. Setting conditions for reflections is so important. Appreciate the words of wisdom.