Planning to use Digital Portfolios in your classroom?

Think about these essential planning questions first:

• What is the purpose of the Digital Portfolios?

• What learning goals will I give students?

• What kind of Portfolio will I use in my classroom? Product? Process? Hybrid?

• What kind of tasks do I want to be able to do as a teacher within the portfolio? What kind of tasks do I want students to do?

• Do I want to be able to use template activities? Do I want the ability to create my own? Do I want to be able to assign outcomes to student work? How do I want students to show their learning?

• Do I want students to see each others work? Do I want students to be able to give each other feedback? Do I want families to be able to see their own child's work?

• How will I assess portfolio work?

Assessment

When choosing a Digital Portfolio Platform think about including the following:

• Grading assignments within the portfolio so the teacher has context for the student’s work

• Easy movement between and within student portfolios (a big time-saver)

• Use multiple criteria or standards to grade student work

• How will I and others give feedback within the digital Portfolio?

• Teachers need a powerful and easy-to-use mechanism for giving students good feedback

• Students need to easily provide an explanation to teachers when submitting work, so the students can explain any questions, challenges, etc.

• Teachers need some control in regards to the content students can post publicly in their portfolio

• Students need an easy way to share their achievements with teachers and parents through their portfolio

Remember to Begin with Your End in Mind!