Tech Play 2 E-portfolio

 An e-portfolio, also known as an electronic portfolio or digital portfolio, is an online platform that holds a collection of artifacts. The collection may include electronic documents, hyperlinks, and multimedia such as images, audio, and video. The student or owner of the e-portfolio is no longer limited to only what can be put down on paper. An affordance to digital portfolios is accessibility from anywhere with internet access through an electronic device, including a smartphone that never leaves our side. An online portfolio is asynchronous, which is an affordance because multiple people can glance at it at once or at their own time.  

I understand that for specific purposes, assessments such as standardized tests are necessary. However, that is only one perspective that provides data numerically, but an e-portfolio goes into depth that showcases achievements and academic growth based on skills and comprehension of the student.

As a student pursuing a master's degree, creating an e-portfolio will help demonstrate my learning. Though I am planning to continue in education, I am changing careers from classroom teacher to librarian. Without librarian experience, my digital portfolio will serve as proof of my academic learning to show that I am ready for a career change and be hired for a librarian position.  

Electronic portfolios are an excellent and necessary tool through different stages of life. For students, e-portfolios show their academic growth and abilities serving as a learning record. Students can have a purposeful learning experience through reflection and creating goals for themselves. A digital portfolio is a lifelong and lifewide living document. Teachers want their students to be life long learners. Through the e-portfolio, students can exhibit their new learning experiences and achievements.  As the students continue to grow into adulthood, the e-portfolio can grow with them. Artifacts can be archived, while new ones can join the collection depending on the needs and purpose of the e-portfolio.  

Digital portfolios, for adults, are also known as career portfolios. The portfolios might be used when applying to college or applying for jobs. A resume might say what a person's skills and abilities are, but a digital portfolio helps show and prove one's skills, abilities, and personality. 

In the education world, teachers could give out their links to their e-portfolios to their colleagues to share ideas based on inspiring and spectacular things happening in their classrooms. Something that I would like to do is add my students' e-portfolio links to my e-portfolio. Their e-portfolios help me share from my students' perspective. Of course, do to my students' privacy rights, I might only be able to share with school administrators. This is something that I will have to look into before proceeding with it. I would like my students and me to use our e-portfolios to individually reflect on what we have learned and accomplished, where we need to improve, and what goals we should set.  

I explored different websites to begin my e-portfolio, including OneNote, Wix, Weebly, and Google Sites. I like simple, and sometimes less is better. Teaching elementary kids how to create their e-portfolio, I decided to go with Google Sites. My students and I have become very familiar during the past few months with Google Suite. This generation of students does not know how to save anything to their computer's hard drive since they use Chrome books that save everything directly into their Google Drive—making uploading items from Google Drive to Google Sites extremely easy. I recently did a Google Bootcamp with my students that incorporating the process of creating and adding artifacts to their e-portfolio should be manageable. 

TPACK:

There is a project that I have traditionally been doing with my bilingual 5th graders for the past six years. Sometimes I feel like my students do not feel well represented in the curriculum, or only the stereotypical aspects of Hispanic culture are exposed. Based on the comments I have heard from the bilingual students and the general education students, I have concluded that they are looked at and feel like second-class, "the Spanish class." I find myself reminding them that they should be proud of their heritage, and speaking two languages is an asset and not a disadvantage. The project consists of students collaborating in a small group project. Together they decide on one Latin American country they would like to research, create a visual representation of the country, a 3D flag, and a traditional dish. In past years, I have had students use technology only to research based on an outline of information they need to provide and additional facts they would like to include. I would like to have now the students create a project containing the 3D flag and food. However, instead of a trifold poster, I would like the kids to create an electronic presentation that will be added to their e-portfolio on Google Sites. The posters were nicely displayed where other students and staff could see them, but realistically speaking, not many stood there long enough to read the information.  To catch people's attention and bring their presentation to life, students can add traditional music, videos, and images. This student-centered activity creates an opportunity for students to teach students about the history of a Latin American country and its people by displaying their culture, customs, and traditions.  I  am happy that I will not have kids crying and arguing about who is keeping trifold, and it is one less thing that needs to be purchased. I usually always keep the flags to decorate the classroom, and they know that ahead of time. Because the project is done at school over time, parents want to see the final product. Before, I would have to take pictures and send it to them through Class Dojo. Now, the parents will be able to see the presentation from the comfort of their homes. 

If e-portfolios could begin in the lower elementary grades by the time they get to fifth grade, I could see my students' work examples and have a better idea of where they are and what approach to take. Teaching 5th-grade bilingual students to write compositions in English can sometimes be a challenge. Sometimes it seems like some improve immensely, and others seem to transition into English slowly. With students adding their writing artifacts to their e-portfolio, we will see growth throughout the year and previous school years. Students can also reflect on their writing and create goals for themselves. It could be something as simple as a student realizing they continue to misspell the same word over and over that they were not aware. I like to conference with my students about their writing. I do this during the writing process and after they turn in their final draft. Analyzing it together will help us come up with goals. I would have them add their goals to their reflection because I think this will create commitment and awareness for their next writing assignment. 

In conclusion, e-portfolios have multi-usage, and no e-portfolio is ever the same. A numerical grade may be the same for a group of students. However, an e-portfolio shows individuality, achievements, and academic growth with a purposeful learning experience. 

The days of the binder and briefcase are over! And for students, the dog can no longer eat their homework!