E-portfolios are the authentic assessment tool of the 21st
century student. They allow students to digitally showcase their learning and
have a long-lasting product that shows how their learning has grown throughout
the process, whether that be the duration of a course, a school career, or a
lifetime. There is a wide range of tool through which students may demonstrate
their accomplishments. They can work across classes and content. It allows for
continuous improvement.
There are many different Web
2.0 tools that may be used to create e-portfolios. These include Blogger, Elgg, Live Journal, Think Free, Wikispaces, Word Press (to improve your
online site), Zoho. Students
can create videos online using Jumpcut, or
may use other movie maker programs and link their movies online. They can
create audio podcasts at Podomatic.
To ensure that students are adhering to fair use, there
are many sites that they may be directed to for drawing video, audio, and visual
resources. Some sites for audio files are Archive, ccMixter, SoundSnap
(educators accounts are necessary for unlimited access). A really fun site for making
your own music is JamStudio. Video files may be
used from Open Video, Sandbox . There are many
resources to find images. These include Anatomy- Medical/Pathology Images, Edupic, FreeStockPhotos, 4FreePhotos, Flickr , MorgueFile, PicFindr ( an excellent search engine of multiple
sites), Public
Health Images, StockXchange.
Two sites with links to multiple Media Types are Cogdogroo, Wikimedia.
Content management systems include Drupal, EdMoto, Moodle, Plone. We use Moodle at my
school. It is very easy to navigate and has a multitude of features. It allows
the linking of files and other resources into topic areas. It also allows for
online submission of student work and taking (and grading!) online quizzes.
Students may communicate with one another through an IM feature, and in a blog
type style for more formal interaction. EdMoto is very similar to Facebook, a
tool with which nearly all older students are familiar. It offers many of the
same features as Moodle, but in a format that is probably more familiar to
students (and to many teachers as well).
E-portfolios are a great way to meet many of the new literacy
and writing subject area common core standards for students in Alabama.
(See appendices C and D for Science and Technical Subjects). Publishing
e-portfolios will make students write and read more critically, especially if
other students, parents or communities will be reading the material they
present in their portfolios.
This video clip showcases Somerville High School’s pilot
program for the use of e-portfolios.
We have Moodle at our school and use Edmodo. I like the look of Edmodo (looks like Facebook). It has a message feature for students to have texts sent to them about assignments. It groups all of the student's classes onto one calendar for them as well. I think that these portfolios are useful in certain subjects and will continue to be used. The ePorfolios will increase in popularity.
ReplyDeleteI agree that their popularity will increase as teachers step into the digital age. It definitely makes the work more meaningful to the students and makes them perform at a higher level if they know that they are sharing the product with others.
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