The ePortfolio
Portfolios: A small exploration into what they are, and how I can use them to help our teachers develop into life-long learners.
“Definition An ePortfolio is a web-based information management system that uses electronic media and services. The learner builds and maintains a digital repository of artefacts, which they can use to demonstrate competence and reflect on their learning. Having access to their records, digital repository, feedback and reflection students can achieve a greater understanding of their individual growth, career planning and CV building. Accreditation for prior or extra-curricular experiences, a sense of control over how they are represented and direction over what is shown makes the ePortfolio a powerful tool.”
I think there are some important keywords or ideas here:
1. The learner builds and maintains a digital repository of artefacts.
2. These artefacts are stored to demonstrate competence and to aid in the reflection process.
Just from reading this simple definition by David Tosh’s pdf report via Ben Werdmuller titled
Competency statements around our training program must be developed. They must be measurable and observable - you can tell when they have been met, and the teacher’s portfolio demonstrates that they have been meet.
The second “lightbulb” that went off for me as I read this definition was that the teacher not the institution, is responsible to build the portfolio and include information, or artefacts to borrow from Tosh, that shows how he/she has met a certain level of competence.
Quick Definition>>A competency: describes the work related skills and behaviour needed to effectively perform in a role. Core competencies are required for all role profiles. Specific competencies are required for some role profiles.
Portfolios must be portable, and must belong to the teacher or student developing it. When teacher/student moves on from present location, he/she should be able to take their portfolio with them as a means of demonstrating what they have learned, and what they are learning.
There is something so important that I am really…wanting to help our teachers realize: A portfolio is a way they can see where they have been, where they are, and where they should be going. I think great teaching spends a great deal of time under the microscope of reflection. I want to encourage passionate and engaged teachers. I think portfolios are a great tool to help accomplish that goal.
Development and maintenance are the key activities in the success of an ePortfolio, enabling a student to actively engage in their learning and progress. By maintaining their own ePortfolio a student reflects on what they are doing and have done and considers why they are doing it and the reasons for understanding of the direction a student wants to pursue.
-Tosh.
Key words from that quote:
Development and Maintenance: I think I need to spend time educating around proper useage of a portfolio: this is a living thing that must be followed up with, or it will just die. It’s like a life cache.
So far, I think many of our teachers have simply not grasped the idea of what a portfolio is, and how useful it can be. The fault is a lack of education around them. Maybe a session around portfolio development would be helpful.
Active engagers: It’s so easy for teachers to just switch into glide mode. To be sucked into the current of their lives, their busy schedules, their commute times, class prep time, family time, fun time, that the whole idea of being “actively engaged” in the teaching/learning process becomes history. Real teachers never cease to learn.
Regular reflectors: I’ve realized many things about how I teach by simply taking some time to…THINK about what just happened in the previous class. Portfolios are great for this, they provide a space to record those thoughts, those questions, those self-explorations that are so vital to development. I think a portfolio could be a launch pad for action research - a place to identify where areas of opportunity exist, and a place to store findings as a result of research, as well as record results of application in the classroom.
If the portfolio were a blog…now that is an interesting thought. The teacher/student could post their reflections, action research, personal mapping (where I was, where I am, where I’m going). The interesting thing here is adding a whole other diminsion to the portfolio: The diminsion of community. The social portfolio, where the owner is not developing in isolation, but inside a community of practice.
Other teachers can read developments, and offer praise, suggestions, advice, feedback etc. to further aid the development process.
My action step, from what I’ve been reading so far: Educate more. I need to continue learning about portfolios and how they can/could/have been deployed. I need to share about portfolios with our teachers, and explain what they can do, how they can enable a teacher, and how they can encourage growth.
