E-Portfolios

Kick It Up A Notch:
Taking professional portfolios from Black-and-White to 3-D Color

When the newly minted teacher sat down for a job interview in her school district, she flipped open her laptop computer and began her presentation. Here, she said, was a statement of her teaching philosophy - and an iMovie clip of her applying that philosophy to a lesson plan. Click. Here was a description of a state teaching and technology standard - and a hotlink to a website that her students developed as a class project. Click. And here too was a diary entry, telling of her student residency in a rural village, and a letter she'd sent non-English-speaking parents, asking them to join a classroom celebration of multicultural diversity.

The wrap-around effect was effective. So effective, in fact, that the school principal hired her on the spot.

The principal is not the only one impressed by electronic portfolios. They are the new generation of the old 3-ring binder that was full of flat, black-and-white documents. With funding from the U.S. Department of Education's PT3 grant program, electronic portfolios are being integrated into the curriculum at schools of education across the country. Hundreds of students from Portland. Ore., to Portland, Maine, are building electronic portfolios that demonstrate their competencies in dynamic new ways. At the University of Alaska at Anchorage (UAA), all 25 members of last year's class of student teachers were hired immediately after graduation. Many say their e-portfolios set them apart by showing "proof" of their knowledge, experience, and abilities, as well as their command of technology in the classroom.

Type of Electronic Portfolios

Electronic portfolios are much more than innovative resumes or scrapbooks, says Dr. Helen C. Barrett, an assistant professor of educational technology at UAA. A national expert, Barrett also cautions that e-portfolios are "not a scrapbook." Neither of those can show reflection, evolution of thought, and professional development, she says. "A solid portfolio not only shows that you have met the teaching standards. It demonstrates, with powerful evidence, how you have come to know it."

According to Barrett, e-portfolios can be used to present any manner of material or purpose. She has identified three main types:

1. Formative portfolios, which occur on an ongoing basis to support professional development
2. Summative portfolios, which occur within the context of a formal evaluation process
3. Marketing portfolios, which are used to seek employment

Whatever the type, these portfolios typically include "hard copy" writings such as:

• Statement of teaching philosophy
• Reflections and refinements of that philosophy
• Statement of teaching standards and personal goals for meeting them
• Resume
• Lesson plans
• Subject writings - for example, an English teacher may include his own review of children's literature

These documents are supported and made dramatic by "artifacts" such as:

• Excel spreadsheet that demonstrates how artifacts meet different standards
• Video movie or images of the student in the classroom
• Digital photographs
• Hyperlinks to the student's own website
• A Power Point presentation from a recent lecture
• Voiceover or music

The key is that students present their learnings and reflections over time Over the course of the program, they are continuously deciding how to best represent themselves to their instructors, peers and potential employers.

January 2002