The quantified (and qualified) student
I saw this article posted on Twitter and it prompted me to write. I feel so passionately about digital portfolio becuase they are living.
Digital portfolios have been Helen Barrett’s passion and she has campaigned for students to create a space to showcase their talents. Helen has evangelized the importance of showing what you know and more importantly reflecting on the work and the journey. She inspired me to start a digital portfolio initiative when I was teaching in 2005. I put together a professional learning community with other teachers in our school and we began to help students convert binder portfolios into digital portfolios. As part of the process our students presented their portfolios to a panel of judges in their senior year. Our team became the trainers and we had great success.
In the quantified student, the Ryan Craig @ryancraiguv discusses digital portfolios as an important part of what students will need moving forward to apply to universities and go onto work.
“The digital representation of the Quantified Student already exists: It’s called an e-portfolio. Today, e-portfolios ask students to tag their work with relevant skills and educators are assessing and scoring work samples. Tomorrow, in addition, algorithms will pore through student work to ascertain actual skills with an increasing (and surprising) level of accuracy. As employers see millions of Quantified Students represented on these platforms, they will flock to post jobs with the view of attracting strong matches.”
I wholeheartedly agree. #yourstorymatters and e-portfolios are also about showing qualified not just quantified.
Digital portfolios have been an important part of my teaching and learning career. From the first year that I started teaching, I created a portfolio to showcase our work each year. I used these portfolios as a presentation tool in my evaluations at the end of the year. What’s so amazing is the opportunity to reflect on the work you have done and how much you do as a teacher.
When we opened String Theory Schools in the fall of 2013, digital portfolios became an important part of our culture. I created the following mock sample portfolio to help guide 9th grade students through the process of curating their work and evaluating each piece. These new student portfolios will become part of their graduation exercises. Students will present our portfolios and tell the story of their learning journey. These portfolios are not just about quantifying the work but also showcasing qualifications; the skills acquired over the course of a high school career that have prepared you for the future of college or work. It’s a great platform to show what you know. For me professionally, it’s the new CV.
Students must have the opportunity to choose the way in which they design their story. Through teacher and student workshops we can guide the UX (user experience). They can’t just throw some work together and hope that people will look at it. They really have to use the principles of design and refection.
The following are some examples of portfolios that I’ve created over my career. The first is a sample portfolio guide; the second, my teaching portfolio; and third is a showcase of student work when I was in a the classroom teaching math. That in and of itself is a portfolio.
The hardest part….getting started. Choose the way you want to create your portfolio. Is it Google Sites, Weebly, iBooks Author, or even creating an infographic portfolio using are RE.VU or visualize.me.
The value is showcasing talent. Yours in particular.
Helping students design a digital portfolio.
https://sites.google.com/site/ckdmockportfolio/
My work as a teacher shared as part of my evaluations.
https://sites.google.com/site/christinedipaulosportfolio/home
My very first Student Showcase
