I've been part of the e-portfolio initiative since the summer and for the last month I've been doing a lot of work with students, particularly freshmen, helping them to get up and running with their academic portfolio. Here are some of my initial observations.
Generally speaking, students are not familiar with blogs or portfolios. I'm speaking both about the technology, I'd say 95% of them have never created either a blog or portfolio, and the concept, a lot of students did not know many of the sites they frequently visit are indeed blogs. I suspect this trend will change somewhat in the coming years as more high schools and grade schools incorporate e-portfolios into the curriculum. But for the next incoming class or two we do need approach the topic at the entry level.
However, students are taking to the initiative with ease. I'm happy to say they find the platform easy to use. Even better, they like all they can do with it. The big selling point is talking about how e-portfolios are much greater than a class assignment. Students like the idea of having a space to capture their entire academic career, including the extracurricular stuff.
The other aspect the like is the social piece. The students like that they can incorporate their e-portfolio along other applications such as Facebook and YouTube. They really like the idea of using multimedia as part of their e-portfolio for conversation as well as demonstrations of learning.
Switching to the other side of the equation, faculty are very surprised when I talk to them about why e-portfolios are relevant for them and their career. At the moment, they see portfolios as something good for the students and are unaware of their potential for themselves. To raise awareness we've been doing more faculty outreach on the benefits of e-portfolios and later this fall we'll be piloting a workshop designed to help faculty and staff begin using e-portfolios.
Generally speaking, students are not familiar with blogs or portfolios. I'm speaking both about the technology, I'd say 95% of them have never created either a blog or portfolio, and the concept, a lot of students did not know many of the sites they frequently visit are indeed blogs. I suspect this trend will change somewhat in the coming years as more high schools and grade schools incorporate e-portfolios into the curriculum. But for the next incoming class or two we do need approach the topic at the entry level.
However, students are taking to the initiative with ease. I'm happy to say they find the platform easy to use. Even better, they like all they can do with it. The big selling point is talking about how e-portfolios are much greater than a class assignment. Students like the idea of having a space to capture their entire academic career, including the extracurricular stuff.
The other aspect the like is the social piece. The students like that they can incorporate their e-portfolio along other applications such as Facebook and YouTube. They really like the idea of using multimedia as part of their e-portfolio for conversation as well as demonstrations of learning.
Switching to the other side of the equation, faculty are very surprised when I talk to them about why e-portfolios are relevant for them and their career. At the moment, they see portfolios as something good for the students and are unaware of their potential for themselves. To raise awareness we've been doing more faculty outreach on the benefits of e-portfolios and later this fall we'll be piloting a workshop designed to help faculty and staff begin using e-portfolios.
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