Digital Portfolios for Students

Hello all,

I am planning on having my students maintain digital portfolios next year for a 9th grade World Studies class. I have used Voicethread quite a bit in the past and that is an option. I have also been playing around with Wix lately and really like the appearance and features. I was planning on giving students class time every 2 / 3 weeks to update / upload content to their portfolios.

Any thoughts on a particular platform you have used in the past to maintain student digital portfolios?

Thanks,

Greg

Tags: portfolio, voicethread, wix

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Permalink Reply by Cynthia Gautreau on July 7, 2010 at 8:59am

Hi Greg, I have asked students to use Google Sites to create eportfolios. Although, last semester I also provided the option of using Wix. Both tools are great, however, Wix provides outstanding templates and flash which provides a professional look to the site.
Cynthia

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Permalink Reply by Marion McDevitt Jacob on July 7, 2010 at 9:49am

Hi Cynthia, at the end of the school year our staff started to discuss creating eportfolios. I'm a newbie in the educational tech world so I was wondring if you could briefly explain how your students created eportfolios using Google Sites. Did each student set up thier own website which contained work examples? What types of samples or information are they including in their eportfolios? There are so many resources, I thought I would stick with Google to keep things organized for my students and myself. Thanks for your time.

Have a great day!
Marion

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Permalink Reply by Gregory Kulowiec on July 9, 2010 at 1:28pm

Marion,

I haven't used google sites with my students, but I do have them create and maintain their own blogs (blogger). They would post all kinds of assignments:
- embed papers (using issuu or embedit.in)
- glogster
- video & podcasts
- timelines & mindmaps (timetoast & glinkr)

I hope this helps.

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Permalink Reply by Cynthia Gautreau on August 10, 2010 at 11:24pm

Hi Marion, Yes, each student created their own site in Google Sites. There are plenty of templates to select from- so there was a wide variety of sites created. I created a mock site--here is the link in case you are interested:
https://sites.google.com/site/preserviceteachereportfolio/
I did not include any content--only the basic template and a format of items to include in an eportfolio.
Thanks,
Cynthia

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Permalink Reply by Gregory Kulowiec on July 9, 2010 at 1:26pm

Our school is going to Google Apps next year, so google sites might be the best option.

Thanks Cynthia.

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Permalink Reply by Cynthia Gautreau on August 10, 2010 at 11:25pm

You're welcome! Really it is just a website, but the students can upload a range of multimedia items to add to their portfolio and showcase what they have learned. The video tutorials are helpful as well. Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Andy Birch on July 7, 2010 at 9:15am

I've been looking into e-portfolios as well. Last year I trialled the Weebly system and was really happy with it, especially that it has a blog component. Basing an e-portfolio around a blog makes the organisation a lot easier as well. I did look at wix but when I tested the interface I found it too slow and also if it runs with flash which doesn't work with all devices and can make it slower depending on connection. Weebly also has an educators account. I've started working on a wider trial for grade 5 and 6 next year and the details can be found here http://hkaeportfolios.weebly.com/. I'm collecting resources and examples to share with our staff, let me know if you find any good examples to share.
Cheers,
Andy

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Permalink Reply by Gregory Kulowiec on July 9, 2010 at 1:25pm

I used weebly this year for one unit and the student enjoyed the experience. Thanks

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Permalink Reply by Jody Maxey on July 9, 2010 at 1:22pm

Have you heard of edu.glogster.com or http://museumbox.e2bn.org/?
We love the glogs. Going to try the museum box this year, but it sounds like it would be a cool thing for your class.

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Permalink Reply by Gregory Kulowiec on July 9, 2010 at 1:26pm

I've used glogster in the past, hadn't thought about it for this project. Thanks

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Permalink Reply by Cynthia Gautreau on August 10, 2010 at 11:28pm

We used glogster too! Loved the features and the flexibility of the software...video, audio, images and more!
You might consider using a blog--depending on the items that you want your students to include in their portfolios. Check out www.curriki.org for examples of open source content and to see what other teachers are using in their classes.
Cynthia