Tag: Portfolio

Bookmarked Digital Portfolios . . . Making the Learning Visible (Teaching and Learning With Heart)

As promised, here is my second post about Making Learning Visible and Digital Portfolios . . . Forgive me for any technical problems, or the lack of digital craftsmanship; I am still learning.

Kelli Vogstad share how here school uses Freshgrade to support pedagogical documentation. She shares the four types of documentation that she uses:

  • Two of the Same
  • Showing the Knowing
  • Celebrating the Learning
  • Communicating the How and Whys

Although Vogstad focuses on Freshgrade, I think that much of this could be completed using a range of applications and platforms. It is also a great example of ongoing reporting.

Replied to Should I Use Seesaw Or A WordPress Blog In The Classroom? Pros And Cons Of Digital Portfolio Tools (kathleenamorris.com)

This post will help you evaluate whether Seesaw is something that’s worth using in your classroom. Or, if blogging with WordPress is a better option to replace or complement Seesaw.

Thank you Kathleen for breaking down the differences and similarities between Seesaw and Edublogs (and blogs). Reading your discussion of ‘dumping’ evidence verses crafting a presence, made me think of my own practice of collecting posts (such as this) versus crafting longer responses.

Some of the further thoughts I had about the differences were around:

  • Parental Engagement: Once set up, Seesaw is easy to engage with either via desktop or mobile. It often feels as if blogs involve more effort.
  • Platform verses Process: I wonder if a focus on Seesaw versus Edublogs overlooks the question of process? I know you touch upon digital presence This was something I tried to grapple with recently in a presentation on using GSuite to support ongoing reporting.
  • Transfer-ability: The one thing that I love about WordPress and Edublogs is that I can easily take my data and load it somewhere else. I am yet to work out what I would do with all the artefacts I collect in Seesaw.

In the end I think that the biggest question that people need to consider is what is trying to be achieved and which tool will help this.

Bookmarked ePortfolios: Competing Concepts by Tom Woodward (Bionic Teaching)

I talked to some VCU people about ePortofolios1. It’s a conversation I’ve had any number of times over the years. I think that experience is leading to a better understanding of what’s going on structurally and the space we have to navigate competing interests. I’m also in a better position to show how certain technologies might help people find a middle way. However, I’m still trying to be honest about the complexities involved in an environment with shrinking resources and expanding expectations. That’s a rough line to sell when vendors have no compunction about pitching simple answers that aren’t exposed until after contracts are signed. For the record, I didn’t start with this peppy intro when I spoke.

Tom Woodward addresses a number of considerations associated with ePortfolios:

  • Strategy: trophy case vs. progress/reflective.
  • Audience: internal vs. external.
  • Ownership: institution vs. student
  • Privacy: password protected vs. public searchable

Woodward provides a lot of nuance throughout his discussion and provides a number of examples to support this. It is a worthy addition to the discussion of ways to blog.

Bookmarked When A Student Blogger Enters The World (The Edublogger)

This is the inspiring story of college student, Myles Zhang. Myles was introduced to blogging as a high school student and since then his online portfolio has grown and flourished.

Myles Zhang shares his experience of maintaining a digital portfolio:

There’s something equally powerful (and I feel democratic) about a simple web-link that opens up a world of information to anyone in the world. I feel that the world is becoming increasingly digital. Building and managing my website (several, in fact) has hopefully helped prepare me to more actively contribute to this digital world.

Although he touches on the what associated with an authentic audience and the how linked to blogging, the most powerful message in this post is the why. What Zhang highlights is the personal nature of such a project. Although we may want to dictate to everyone to do a particular thing, the individual interests much not be forgotten.