3. Firstly...... What are digital portfolios? A digital portfolio is a purposeful collection of learning over time that documents personal, academic and professional development. It is a visual guide that maps where you have been, where you are going and how you plan to get there. In this context, a digital portfolio is a tool to communicate what you know and can do. Debbie Kember, Advice for schools on the latest ICT research for education , Qld Government, Department of Education, Training and The Arts,
13. Graphic Organiser 6 2 9 6 6 6 6 9 4 3 Criteria Digital Traditional empowerment: the shift of ownership of learning from faculty to student (2) 2 x 3 2 x 1 collaboration: the ability to allow students to engage in ongoing discussions about content with both peers and teachers (3) 3 x 3 3 x 2 integration: the ability to make connections between theory and practice (3) 3 x 2 3 x 2 authenticity: the portfolio provides direct links between artefacts included and classroom practice (2) 2 x 3 2 x 2 critical thinking: provided by the opportunity to reflect on change and growth over a period of time. (3) 3 x 3 3 x 1 TOTALS 36 21
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Hinweis der Redaktion
Welcome to my presentation in digital portfolios
The question on my mind when I think of digital portfolios as an tool for assessing and reporting is Are digital portfolios an effective tool for assessment and reporting or are the traditional methods more effective
First we must establish what a digital portfolio is Kember gives the defination which was the cost clear to me... A digital portfolio is a purposeful collection of learning over time that documents personal, academic and professional development. It is a visual guide that maps where you have been, where you are going and how you plan to get there. In this context, a digital portfolio is a tool to communicate what you know and can do.
I approached 10 teachers to survey about digital portfolios. Only 7 of these teachers actually returned their survey and of those 7, one teacher did not want her survey to be included in the assessment, so the original research is based on the detailed feedback of 6 teachers.
As you can see these are the results from the survey carried out by the teachers. The first set of bars is how many of those 6 teachers use digital portfolios in their classrooms now. The middle set of bars is weather or not digital portfolios have helped teachers in the classroom to assess and report on students learning and the last set of bars in measured in years and that is how long they have been using digital portfolios.
The graph showed that 2 of the 6 participating teachers use digital portfolios in their classrooms. Of those 2 teachers 1 said it was helpful and the other said they had difficulties creating effective portfolios but could see the benefits of it. Both teachers fall into the category of using them in the classroom for 1-2 years, one of these teachers has been using them for personal reasons since university which was 6-10 years ago.
Some of the positives that teachers mentioned on the survey was Students can see their own work in a different way They can see the comments made by the teacher, they seem to be more in-depth than the comments made in their workbooks Students love them Easy access when needed Work in one place (in the end it will be anyway) Students are enjoying creating work for the portfolios parents are taking more interest and taking the time to go though each students pages with them. Students are working out simple problems in small groups, they are working collaboratively to discover solutions and sharing these with the class, a new learning journey for all involved.
The disadvantages for using digit portfolios in the classroom was not as long and the reason given by the teachers were They can be very time consuming, this in fact was mention twice Students ask to see them at inappropriate times Very fiddly work – scanning work samples ect Until you know how to do everything quickly and effectively it can be frustrating for both teacher and student. We have lost one students work and had to start over
The teachers that do not use digital portfolios had some other ideas for assessing and reporting for students in their classroom. The first teachers said she uses observations and note taking during the day, both summative and formative assessment. The use of folders for each student that there work is put into, this work is sectioned into units of work, numeracy, literacy and so on. The next teacher recommended using scrapbooks that have their unit of work, there daily writing books and several other books that get marked often. Samples of work are kept and displayed in a display folder at the front of the classroom. The students work is then photocopied and placed into the folders. The third teacher says they use a similar idea to the digital portfolio but in a paper version, the teacher collects work samples, tests, assignments, conversation notes and feedback both teacher, self and peer. The last teacher that did not use digital portfolios in the classroom also used scrapbooks and display books she comments on the work as it marked and these books can be accessed again when needed. She is the only teacher that has mentioned the use of a communication book that goes back and forwards from the school to the parents.
This graph is fairly self explanatory it shows how many teachers would consider digital portfolios if training was provided.
For this I have used the decision making graphic organiser. This is the process of generating and applying criteria to select from among seemingly equal alternatives. First I had to find the scores for each criteria, they were given a number from 1-3 from not very important to very important. The next set of numbers you can see is the possession score, this is also a score from 1-3, 1 being not very evident and 3 being very evident. Now lets look at the organiser.
The graph was fairly self explanatory it shows that half the teachers that do not use digital portfolios already were willing to give it a go if training was to be provided while the other half said that maybe they might if adequate training was provided. Ok so I don't think the odds are to badly stacked against digital portfolios, but lets see what else I found out.
I have chosen five main criteria 1.empowerment: the shift of ownership of learning from faculty to student 2. Collaboration: the ability to allow students to engage in ongoing discussions about content with both peers and teachers 3. integration: the ability to make connections between theory and practice 4. authenticity: the portfolio provides direct links between artefacts included and classroom practice 5. critical thinking: provided by the opportunity to reflect on change and growth over a period of time The numbers in red indicate the importance and the numbers in green indicate the possession score. These are then multiplied given the total which is in pink. The pink score are then added together to give an overall total which can be seen at the bottom in orange. The traditional scored 21 out of a possible 45 and the digital portfolios scored a whopping 36.
Brady and Kennedy noted that conferencing between teacher and students are valuable for identifying areas of need, monitoring progress, and developing insight into students. This can be done with both Digital Portfolios and traditional methods. Given that the Digital Portfolios take a little extra time to scan and upload onto student page this gives more time for student conferencing. Students can tell you more information about what they have completed and the reasons for there, writing methods, what they wrote and why, spelling errors can be explained to the teacher, choices for colours for pictures, explanations for decisions. This is more information than you would be able to get just from collecting the work and marking it. Some ideas for conferencing with students are – Establish empathy without assuming the dominating role. – Preserve neutrality when feelings are being assesses. – Adopt care in forming questions. Virtually all students should be able to discuss whether the language, intention and context of the interview are appropriate.
Portfolios no longer have to consist of the one-dimensional paper or print format. With the growing trend of ICT integration into the curriculum, teachers and students can now create vivid and dynamic portfolios that best reflect their development, vision and purpose. Kember states “Digital portfolios have been used for the past decade as a holistic approach to presenting and communicating an individual’s progress and achievements. Used effectively, digital portfolios enable intellectual activity that was not practically possible without the access to ICT.”
I am going to just pop out of the PowerPoint presentation so we can have a closer look at what a digital portfolio can look like. The portfolio we will see if from a year 8 student. I have chosen a higher year level so you can see how effective a tool it can be. Unfortunately I found that when it can to actually looking at the work it has been stopped but you will still get a clear understanding.
