FAQ

You are not expected to help build the digital site. This will be done at school with the help and guidance of teachers. If you have input about how the portfolio should look or what it should include, have this discussion with your student and her or his teacher.

Students will typically add to their portfolio at school, but if the student is logged in at home, he or she can add elements to the portfolio if desired. For example, if during a Track Out STEM camp a student, "Tamika," produces a robot and has video of it, it would be possible for her to update her portfolio site with a link to that video.

No, you do not. Your student will be able to access her or his portfolio site through his/her Salem Elementary login to Google.

If students stay in Wake County, they will not have to recreate their portfolio - all students in all schools can access the WCPSS Google. But even if a student moves out of a WCPSS school, the 'ownership' of the site can be transferred to a regular Google account.

No. Students will be directed to set viewing permissions so that only they can edit it, and only certain people, such as teachers, can see the site. Parents who wish to see it should contact their child's teacher and/or the Salem Portfolio team members to learn more.

No - portfolios will not be "graded" in a traditional sense. While there are guidelines and standards used to help students create the work, the portfolio will not receive a grade or pass/fail mark. Portfolios may be compared in terms of "great ideas" or "best practices," but there will not be competition or judgment about whose portfolio is "best."

The information on this site comes from the teachers on the Salem Elementary School Digital Portfolio team (Ms. Adcock, Mrs. Laug, and Ms. Ferraro), members of the school's Media & Technology Advisory Council (MTAC), the principal, Mr. Evans, and Assistant Principal, Mrs. Miller, and the Wake County Public Schools website. This site was designed and is maintained (pro bono) by Ross Perkins, who serves as a parent representative on the MTAC. Dr. Perkins, the father of children who attend Salem Elementary, is an associate professor of educational technology at Boise State University.