Electronic Student Portfolios

Electronic portfolios are selective, useful collections of student work.     These portfolios are records of learning, growth, and change in addition they  help to focus  student attention on their work. They provide documentation of students' ever changing abilities. Electronic portfolios provide information to students, parents, teachers, and other interested parties about what students have learned. They are a learning history.

Portfolios bring together curriculum, instruction and assessment. Portfolios help teachers and students can develop a shared understanding of what constitutes quality work. Classes become student-centered rather than teacher-centered. Students accept more responsibility and become agents in their own education. Students become active learners and assume ownership and control of their learning. Portfolios help students to set goals for learning, review their goals, and develop responsibility.

Here is a sample of a student portfolio Port1

Here is a sample of an elementary class portfolio Port2

Here is a sample of an Middle School portfolio  Port3

Some Portfolios are strictly subject based for a specific project - Project port

Presentation Portfolio

Using portfolios students will have the opportunity to showcase their work, demonstrate their learning, and reflect on these accomplishments.. The value of the Presentation Portfolio was in the Process of creating it in both paper and digital formats. The educational importance of the portfolio emerges as student or teacher selects work according to set criteria and begins to reflect on their own personal growth and values. After creating and showcasing their portfolios, students come to the realization that many things make them unique. High school student can use their portfolios for planning for careers and college. They can also use their portfolios in the application process for college

Each student should be asked to reflect on “where they have been and where they want to go”. The process of collecting, selecting and reflecting (based on pre determined criteria) becomes the student’s portfolio. They look at their own abilities

Every grade level needs to have specific criteria tailored to each age group for collecting and presenting portfolio items. The tools on the web are creating increasingly creative methods to develop these portfolios.

Let's look at some of these tools and their possible applications.

http://www.wordle.net/

http://screencast-o-matic.com/

http://www.moonk.com/

http://animoto.com/

http://www.toondoo.com/Home.toon

http://classtools.net/

http://thinkature.com/

http://bubbl.us/

http://www.dabbleboard.com/

http://artpad.art.com/gallery/