The Value of Digital Portfolios

Once upon a time, portfolios were used mainly by individuals in the world of visual arts and design. These individuals were required to keep a collection of work samples to show potential clients and employers. In recent years, fields outside of the arts have seen the value in building personal portfolios, including education.

There are many types of portfolios; some are used to house a collection of artifacts, much like a scrapbook, that represent an individual. A student’s portfolio may contain examples of their writing, artwork, video-recorded presentations, and photographs. Portfolios, as educational archives, are lovely and, if collected over an extended amount of time, allow the child to see how they have progressed from year to year through the quality of the products they have created.

But a good digital portfolio, or ePortfolio, must be more than just a collection of products. A valuable ePortfolio must be about the process of those products and a reflection that links the product to acquired skills and knowledge. Not only is it a good thing to see how something we produce, such as a short story, improves from year to year, it is also necessary to track our thinking about the story’s development and how we implement writing strategies in more sophisticated ways as we mature.

Not only can ePortfolios allow us to reflect on the learning process, they can help students record their own learner portraits. At the Middle School, students undergo a number of metacognitive exercises and strengths-based assessments. Student ePortfolios are broken down into three pages: My Learning, My Leading, My Serving. Students are encouraged to upload the results of these assessments into their, “My Learning” page in order that they may begin to connect their strengths with their learning and success.

Students not only reflect on their academic endeavours, they reflect on their participation in service opportunities and leadership opportunities so that their ePortfolios reflect the whole child. In years to come, ePortfolios at SMUS may also house learner pathways which is a structured and supported process undertaken by an individual to [not only] reflect on their own learning performance, and/or achievement [but] to plan [and make choices about] their personal and educational development” (Jackson, 2001).

To learn more about digital portfolios, here is a recent article by Edutopia that’s worth the read.  

 

My Favourite Educational Tool of the Year

If you haven't heard of BreakoutEDU yet, let me be the first to tell you, this educational tool is like no other. BreakoutEDU is a platform for immersive learning games. According to the website, "[the] games teach critical thinking, teamwork, complex problem solving, and can be used in all content areas. It is the brainchild of James Sanders. I first met James at a GAFE Summit, held at Oak Bay High School, in Victoria, BC. I signed up for his breakout session and had no clue what to expect.

I entered a classroom with about a dozen other teachers. James welcomed us and informed us that we had about an hour to break into a box. Easy enough, right? The box sat at the front of the room and was sealed with four different types of locks. He let us know that clues and codes were placed around the room and we would need to work together to crack the codes to "breakout".

People were slow to get started, a little uneasy with what we were doing and insecure about getting it wrong. But eventually, a brave soul noticed a smaller box with a padlock and suggested that we'd need to get into the smaller box in order to get into the box with the four locks. Then, another noticed a sign with hieroglyphics that seemed to be out of place. One by one, each person began to get up, move around, ask questions, and attempt to crack codes. We broke into the box with only seconds to spare.

It was one of the most interactive, effective professional development activities I've ever been a part of it and I ordered a kit to use in my classroom. I have used it on several occasions, most often as an entry event to prime students for a new unit of study. But more often than not, I use it before any collaborative project.

It's a great way to put your students through a challenging simulation and see what qualities each student demonstrates while under "pressure". After numerous breakouts, there are always a few students who take over, some who quietly observe, others who work alone, and of course, those who spend their time distracting others or giving up from frustration. It lends itself to great debrief conversations with reflective questions such as, "So, who were you in that exercise and how does that compare to how you normally behave in a group? What worked well and what was tricky?"

I recommend the BreakoutEDU kits to any teacher who is searching for an effective, engaging, challenging way to teach collaboration.