Week 2

Week 2 – ePortfolios

This week I learnt about digital portfolios, a.k.a. “ePortfolios”. It is a developing trend in schools to have a digital space that represents a selection of student work. This idea has progressed from the old scrapbook approach and most of the progression is in the process of developing the ePortfolio, I learnt that this process involves four important stages:

1. Collection

2. Selection

3. Reflection

4. Projection

Each of the stages closely involves the student offering them greater opportunity for self-assessment and reflection on their own learning. It is through this process of developing the e-portfolio that students are encouraged to identify their own learning needs and become more responsible for their learning plan. Ultimately they are beginning to establish traits like that of an adult: life-long self-directed learners.

As well as giving the students more responsibly, I can see how ePortfolios also support teaching and assessment by allowing effective 3-way communication between the student, teacher and parents. Greg highlighted how important this shared relationship is as unfortunately too often the student can be shut off, especially come parent-teacher interview time just as the name implies. Using his or her ePortfolio as a tool for discussion seems a far better way to run a parent teacher interview because it promotes an honest network where the student is more involved, after all they are the focus!

During our workshop I found creating our own ePortfolio using MS Publisher so valuable. Powerpoint can also be used but I really liked Publisher. Greg talked to us about how useful our ePortfolio will be when we come to apply for jobs after completing our course. Often in an interview you don’t get the chance to discuss everything you want so a clever way to still get this information across is to print off pages from your ePortfolio. For instance, the interview panel may read the reflections based on your experiences during practicum and hence, gain more insight into you as the teacher. It also shows that you have and recognize the importance of ICT skills.

In the workshop we also used MS Publisher to create a brochure on a holiday destination, I chose to do mine on Paris. It was really fun and at the same time I learn more about Paris. After searching through photos on the Internet and different tourism sites I felt as though I had been on a virtual tour. I can definitely see kids engaged in this creative activity so I will put it in my ICT memory bank, which seems to be growing more and more each week!