Our K-12 Electronic Portfolio Solution: What, Why, and How?

Christopher SmithDirector of Educational Technology and

Communication Services

What is an Electronic Portfolio?

An electronic portfolio is a meaningful collection of work, experiences, and thoughts that has been created in an electronic format, and can published online.

Electronic Portfolios can have multiple purposes:

• as assessment tools to document the attainment of standards (a positivist model--the assessment portfolio )

• as digital stories of deep learning (a constructivist model--the learning portfolio)

• as digital resumes to highlight competence (a showcase model-- the marketing/employment portfolio)

What do types of information do Electronic Portfolios typically contain?

• Artifacts – graphics, photos, writing samples, audio, and/or video, of the student's choosing, that represent student learning experiences and/or assignments

• Learning – a brief written summary of information learned during a particular unit of instruction

• Reflection – a more detailed statement explaining how the student personally grew and developed through the learning process

Why incorporate electronic portfolios into the learning process?

1) An electronic portfolio meets the needs of visual learners.Ramlee Mustapha, relates in his online piece, Diverse Learners in Vocational and Technical Education: Strategies for Success, that close to eight out of every ten students today are primarily visual learners. Electronic portfolios are extremely visual in nature, incorporating graphics, color, animation, and video.  We cannot afford to neglect the learning strengths of 8 out of every ten of the students in our classrooms!

2) The development of electronic portfolios encourages students to take a more active role in their own learning. An electronic portfolio focuses an individual student’s interests, and goals. Educators who have implemented electronic portfolios into their curriculum have found that student motivation tends to increase. In fact, studies have demonstrated that students are motivated by activities that they consider “interactive, personally meaningful, and fun.” meaningful (McCombs, 1991, 117-127; 1993, 287-313; 1994, 49-69).

3) Electronic portfolios address the needs of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners, through the use of images, video, sound, music, and the manipulation of graphics.

Why incorporate electronic portfolios into the learning process? (cont.)

4) Electronic portfolios allow educators to easily assess the level to which learning outcomes and national, state, and /or district standards have been achieved.

5) The examination of student electronic portfolios provides educators with a valuable opportunity for self-reflection.

6) Electronic portfolios are accessible. Parents, students, educators, and administrators can easily access an electronic portfolio, that has been uploaded to a Web server, from any computer that has an Internet connection. We as educators understand how crucial parental involvement is to education. An electronic portfolio serves to further engage parents in the learning process by acting as a point of discussion concerning student progress.

7) Electronic portfolios are easy for students to maintain and update. As a student learns and processes new information throughout the school year, he may wish to include additional showcase items, or “artifacts” (i.e. test scores, essays, digital photos of projects, etc.). An electronic portfolio is a work in progress that changes as a student learns and grows.

8) Electronic portfolios are very easy to store and transport. They can be stored on a CD, DVD, computer hard drive, or a Web server, avoiding the need to take up valuable classroom space with traditional paper portfolios.

NCLB Mandates Loom

On January 8, 2002, President Bush signed the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. This law officially reauthorizes the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education (ESEA) Act. One of the programs within the ESEA, known as Enhancing Education Through Technology (Ed Tech), has the primary goal of improving student academic performance through the use of technology in school. 

Guidance on the Enhancing Education Through Technology (Ed Tech or EETT)

According to the U.S. Department of Education the goal of this program is “to improve student academic achievement through the use of technology in elementary and secondary schools.  This law is also designed to promote technology literacy among all students by the end of eighth grade – regardless of race, ethnicity, income, geographical location, or disability, and to encourage the effective integration of technology resources and systems with professional development and curriculum development to promote research-based instructional methods that can be widely replicated."

How can electronic portfolios help our district meet NCLB mandates?

1) improving student academic achievement through the use of technology,

2) assisting students in becoming technologically literate by the time they finish eighth grade, and

3) ensuring that teachers can integrate technology into the curriculum.

How Did We Make It Happen?

• Title IID (EETT) Grant Award• Vision – Custom Developed Solution• Found the Right Partner – Internet

Solutions

Sample – Student Student1o Public View

Username: pstudent1 Password: ps1beta

o Student View Username: Student Student1 Password: ss1beta

o Teacher View

Bath CSD Student Portfolio System

Parental Feedback

I am really excited to see the electronic portfolio up and running. We check the site weekly to see what you have added and the whole family looks forward to seeing the next addition. We have shared it with many of our relatives and friends and they love it as much as we do! Thank you for taking on such a project.

Awesome idea! How exciting! What a great way to keep parents and teachers in touch with the student’s progress at everyone’s convenience.

I had trouble getting into the site but I went through Google and then I could get in. Super idea…thanks so much!!

Hi!!! I loved it. Its so cute. You really did a wonderful job on it and I am looking forward to looking at it for years to come.

Parental Feedback

I have been showing the portfolio to all of my co-workers…they are very impressed.

The biggest plus in my opinion is knowing that you are capturing my child at the start of her school career and that this will continue until she graduates. I can’t wait to have a compilation of her work for her 13 years of school when she graduates (not that I am rushing it).

How do you decide what goes into the electronic portfolio because at this point it is all awesome!!! I wouldn’t change a thing.

You really captured my son as he really is, it makes me smile every time I look at it. Thanks.

I loved watching our Evelynn read

Parental Feedback

What a neat idea…now I won’t have to sort through container after container trying to find grades from one year to the next. Thank you for being one of the teachers that was willing to pilot this…I can that there is a lot of work that goes into it.

Oh my gosh. That’s so awesome! I am a bit computer illiterate but I did finally get it and it’s cool. Keep the neat stuff coming.

Thanks for the directions on how to look at everything in the portfolio. I am not very good with a computer but your directions were easy to follow and I could see everything on the site. The portfolio is really nice!!

Parental Feedback

Hey, I have a question about all this portfolio stuff…if this is the pilot that you are involved in, when does it become not a pilot, but something that all teachers are required to do? The reason I am asking is because next year when we go to choose possible teachers for Courtney am I also going to have to consider the fact that only some of the teachers are going to be doing the portfolio, because I think it is just the best thing…next to Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups of course…& I would like to get a teacher next year that is doing the portfolio. (Wow, was that a run on sentence or what…did you understand that?)

Electronic Portfolio Resources

• http://www.electronicportfolios.org Developed by Dr. Helen Barrett

• http://www.ideasconsulting.com/ Dr. David Niguidila

Questions?

Bath Central School District25 Ellas AvenueBath, NY 14810www.bathcsd.org

Internet Solutions570 WillowBrook Office Park

Fairport, NY 14450585-389-0950

www.ismaxx.com