“The age-old practice of
displaying a student’s work is alive and well.”
It is no secret that children love to share their
accomplishments with others. Whether you
are a family member, friend, coach or teacher, there is at least one time when you
have been asked to display a child’s masterpiece on the refrigerator, office
desk or classroom pin board. The reason
behind this long standing practice is simple.
Children need continuous feedback to reaffirm that they are valued and
accepted and that their efforts are appreciated. Consequently, the more positive feedback children
can garner from encouraging role models will more than likely ensure the successful
and ongoing development of the child.
Enhancing the Learning Experience with
e-Portfolios
For educators, it is imperative that student success is
celebrated. One method of displaying
student success is the use of e-Portfolios.
E-Portfolios are the ongoing collection of digital evidence and
artifacts for the purpose of demonstrating a student’s ownership and personal
reflection of his/her learning. The
benefits of using e-Portfolios are immense.
In a nutshell, e-Portfolios enhance the student learning experience by greatly
expanding the audience who can not only view the e-Portfolio, but also provide valuable
feedback. By expanding the walls of the
classroom, the learning process becomes more personal and authentic which
encourages students to play a more active role in their own learning, an
important component for future success. The
second key benefit of e-portfolios is the introduction of digital
citizenship. The importance of creating
and managing a positive digital footprint cannot be underestimated as much of
the content we share on-line is often permanent. In this digital age, it is imperative that
students actively engage in representing themselves on the internet in a
positive manner.
Factors to Consider Before
Choosing a Digital Medium
Before suggesting possible web tools for e-Portfolio use, it
is important to consider the following factors:
1. Purpose:
Educators must consider the purpose for implementing e-Portfolios into their
pedagogical practice as the reason(s) may be the determining factor(s) when
selecting the most appropriate web tool for your needs. For example, if the purpose of the
e-Portfolio is to encourage students to reflect upon their learning or to
assess and report student progress, the utilization of a web tool that
incorporates a text editing feature would be necessary. Or, if the goal is to showcase student work,
a web tool with a variety of graphic options would be needed. No matter what the educational goals are, it
is vital to select the right web tool for the task.
2. IT Support and Infrastructure: The main
concern one must investigate is whether or not the selected web tool matches
the technological resources available to you and your students. To minimize technological issues, it is
recommended to select web based tools as they are more likely to be compatible
with multiple operating systems.
Recommended Web Tools
for Displaying Student Work
These are the three web tools I highly recommend for
creating student e-Portfolios.
1. Weebly for Education is a web based tool that allows users to easily create an attractive website - blogging option available as well - by using the simple drag and drop interface. Users have a wide range of multimedia features to choose from such as video, audio, images, etc. The true power of Weebly, however, is demonstrated with its HTML feature as anything with an embed code can be added to the website. Lastly, another key element of the Weebly for Education site is the teacher account feature as teachers are able to create and manage student accounts from a central location.
2. Evernote is a powerful cloud based web tool that works on multiple computing and mobile platforms. Not only can the user create text, photo and audio notes, but your favorite web pages can also be clipped and stored using “Web Clipper” – an Evernote compatible app. Organizing your data is also very easy with Evernote as a search can be conducted by keyword, tag or printed and handwritten text inside images. As well, annotation, shapes and sketches can be added to your data using “Skitch” - another Evernote companion app. By far the best feature of Evernote, however, is the synchronization of data across all devices. For instance, when a photo is taken from your phone and saved in Evernote, it can be accessed within minutes from your computer or for that matter any other device with an Evernote application.
3. Pinterest is an interactive social media web tool which is best described as the present-day version of the scrapbook. Images are ‘pinned’ from the internet or uploaded from the computer and organized in categorized collections, or boards. These boards can also be shared by requesting an invite to someone else’s site. Pinterest is by far the most visually pleasing web tool of the three which definitely makes it a favourable choice for e-Portfolios for the visual arts.
E-Portfolios are a great way for students to take ownership
of their learning. In turn, the
displaying of student work to a global audience has a powerful and motivating
influence wherein positive feedback can have a tremendous impact on continued
student success. It is for these reasons
that e-Portfolios are considered a pedagogical treasure.
This post originally appeared on
The De-tech-tive 4 Teachers.
Symbaloo is a visual, online bookmarking service that allows users to create 'webmixes' or tile-like collections of website links. Symbaloo allows users to create multiple webmixes with each being available for private use or for sharing with others. Another Symbaloo feature users can access is the ready-made webmixes on a wide range of topics from the Symbaloo Gallery. Also, there is an educational version of Symbaloo but it is only free for individual users. At this point, educators are best to stay with the regular version as there is no added features that warrant a purchase. Lastly, another Symbaloo service users can utilize are the iPhone/iPad apps or the companion Android app. 
