Electronic Portfolios

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Electronic Portfolios

• Discussion for EDCI 649December 3, 2003
• Christian Mattix
• E-Portfolio Coordinator, Purdue School of
  Education
• cmattix_at_purdue.edu

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Topics to Discuss

• What is a portfolio?
• What is its contents?
• How is a portfolio developed?
• How is it used?
• What are some examples of portfolios?

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What is a portfolio?

• The Northwest Evaluation Association, a group
  of educators in the Pacific Northwest, defines a
  portfolio as follows
• A portfolio is a purposeful collection of student
  work that exhibits the student's efforts,
  progress and achievements in one or more areas.
  The collection must include student participation
  in selecting contents, the criteria for
  selection the criteria for judging merit, and
  evidence of student self-reflection. (Barett)

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Selecting Contents

• What is the purpose of the portfolio?
• There are typically 3 types of portfolios
• Learning (Formative) Portfolios
• Usually occurs on an ongoing basis supporting
  professional development
• Assessment (Summative) Portfolios
• Usually occurs within the context of formal
  evaluation processes
• Employment (Marketing) Portfolios
• Used to seek employment

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Selecting Contents

• The type of content is different for each goal
• Learning Portfolios
• Usually the most inclusive. They are intended to
  show the learners progress over time.
• Assessment Portfolios
• These are the most restrictive. Evidence is
  selected to meet the requirements of a particular
  task.
• Employment Portfolios
• The artifacts in these are selected to highlight
  particular strengths.

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How is a Portfolio Developed?

• Dr. Helen Barrett identifies 5 steps in
  Electronic Portfolio Development
• Defining the Portfolio Context Goals
• The Working Portfolio
• The Reflective Portfolio
• The Connected Portfolio
• The Presentation Portfolio

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Defining the Portfolio Context Goals

• In this stage the creator identifies the
  assessment context, the goals of the portfolio,
  the audience, and the resources available to
  create it.
• For example, a job candidate may decide to create
  a portfolio for the hiring manager with which she
  is interviewing. She knows the manager is
  computer savvy so she decides to do it on CD-ROM

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The Working Portfolio

• This is the stage that takes the most time.
• This is where the creator gathers the artifacts
  that they want to have in the portfolio.
• The organizational structure of the portfolio is
  also created in this stage
• The types of artifacts is limited only to the
  tools available to the creator.

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The Reflective Portfolio

• This stage the creator looks at the artifacts
  that they have gathered and asks (Barrett)
• What?
• So what?
• Now what?

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The Reflective Portfolio

• To use these questions the student would
• First summarize the artifact that documents the
  experience, in order to answer the question
  What?
• Second, the student would reflect on what he or
  she learned and how this leads to meeting the
  standard, which answers the question So what?
• And third, the student would address implications
  for future learning needed and set forth
  refinements or adaptations, in order to answer
  Now what?

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The Connected Portfolio

• This is a feature primarily of electronic
  portfolios.
• In this phase the creator establishes links
  between various artifacts in order to create a
  thread of continuity.
• Common things done here are to create hyperlinks
  to the assessment standards, the project goals,
  or other meta-information

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The Presentation Portfolio

• This is the final stage where the target audience
  is presented with the portfolio.
• The final product if polished and then published.
  Most common formats for electronic portfolio
  productions are either Web Pages, or CD-ROMs with
  the portfolio on it.

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Examples of Portfolios

• Three-Ring binders
• PowerPoint presentations
• Web-Pages on career accounts
• The Purdue Electronic Portfolio
• Alverno Colleges Diagnostic Digital Portfolio
• TaskStream, commercial educational portfolio
  service

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For More Information

• Purdue School of Education P3T3 project
• http//p3t3.soe.purdue.edu
• Dr. Helen Baretts Electronic Portfolio Page
• http//electronicportfolios.org
• Indiana Beginning Teacher Assessment Portfolio
  Information
• http//www.in.gov/psb/beginningteachers/handbooks/
  index.html

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References

• Much information was gleaned from the Purdue P3T3
  website at http//p3t3.soe.purdue.edu
• Barrett, Helen. A Chapter in Educational
  Technology An Encyclopedia to be published by
  ABC-CLIO, 2001. http//electronicportfolios.com/po
  rtfolios/encyclopediaentry.htm

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Purdue Electronic Portfolio Walk-Through

• Instructor View
• Student View
• Guest

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Questions?