4 Characteristics of a Quality ePortfolio
1) Easy to Use – We launched our first version of a student eportfolio using Google sites two years ago. It was the result of a collaborative summer grant with a team representing Preschool, Lower, Middle, and Upper School. The product was visually appealing and featured two major sections: Collection and Showcase. The Collection was for everything. Finished, unfinished, polished, and imperfect. The Showcase was reserved for only the finest works. All of the learning demonstrations and reflections were curated by the 6 MV Mindsets (Collaborator, Communicator, Solution Seeker, Ethical Decision Maker, Creative Thinker, and Innovator).
While I’m still a fan of this first prototype and many of its features, it struggled to catch on with students (and teachers) across the entire School. Even in Middle School, where we made it a major focus, our team discovered that the Sites platform was difficult to upload, challenging to access and share, and there was a lack of student ownership. After two years, and as the result of a second XLR8 summer grant, we are pivoting to a second iteration ePortfolio platform with Digication.
2) Customizable – The obstacle of student ownership is not one to be ignored. Not only is the new platform more intuitive and easier to use, but it allows a much greater degree of user customization. The students can change the look and layout to suite their style, thus helping to make it feel more like “their” ePortfolio rather than “the School’s.” We will continue to explore other ways to expand student choice as we go.
3) Storytelling – Perhaps the most important (and currently untapped) power of ePortfolios is “the why.” Why should students (or anyone for that matter) create, curate, and maintain an ePortfolio? Many reasons come to mind including…
- Measure student learning (qualitative, thinking made visible)
- Use as a tool for college admissions or job interview
- Reflection and record keeping
These are all compelling reasons, however, I’m starting to think the most powerful reason to create an ePortfolio is for storytelling. Each entry should tell a story. Each learning demonstration has its own story arc and together, all of the cumulative entries build their own story arc. The story is about your life. It’s about your impact on the world. It’s about your learning journey. What could be more important or significant to share with others?
4) Blend of Showcase and “Work in Progress” (WIP) – One final, key ingredient is what I believe was inherent in the design of our first version, but that I continue to hear discussions and debates about among our team. It is often communicated as an “either or” paradigm. I believe it should be both. A quality ePortfolio contains both pristine, perfect showcase works AND messy, dirty samples of failure and or halfway learning – what I call “work in progress.” I have modeled my own blog after this approach – often posting half thoughts and snapshots of ideas that I may or may not come back to in the future. This allows freedom to capture ideas before they escape without having to make sure they are perfect before shipping.
What other characteristics do you think are important for quality ePortfolios?