Thing 34: Digital Portfolios

This is a topic near and dear to my heart.  Now it may seem like I've said that a lot, and well, I have.  But this time I mean it! (Actually I meant it all those other times too.  I'm officially rambling now).

In reading some of the articles, I found quotes hitting home a point that I constantly struggle with: how can we continue to get our scholars to view themselves as growing learners, not as fixed characters with a static set of skills.  I even heard one of my colleagues say this week, "ask me to write and it will never get done, put a math sheet in front of me and I'll do it all day - that's just the way I'm wired."  Perhaps I'm operating from a privileged perspective, but I've never experienced life that way; there are things that I'm comfortable with due to experience, and the only way to challenge that discomfort is through experience and practice.

It's that mindset we want to challenge with our scholars themselves.  As Renwick stated
digital portfolios give a chance to hold a mirror up to students so that they can SEE what they are capable of, and view learning as a process, not just a destination.  "As he saw himself with pencil in hand, she asked him questions such as, “How do you resemble a real writer in this image?” This focus on process, instead of a product alone, helped him build a better self-concept about his abilities and his persona as an authentic writer." 

Ferriter reinforced the shift that digital portfolios can help to happen: "They promote more reflective learners and help our schools to move from a culture of grading to a culture of feedback."  Ferriter went on to describe the difference between learning portfolios (demonstrating evidence of growth and progress over time) and showcase portfolios (showing student's best work).  Personally, I am most interested in exploring learning portfolios, as that challenges the fixed paradigm the most.

I looked predominantly at two tools: Google Sites and Seesaw.

Google Sites was my first click.  We are implementing Student Led Conferences at our school - something I am familiar with from my time at an Expeditionary Learning school.  Our district also utilizes Google Apps for School, so it makes sense to explore this as an option.  It clearly is a resource best used for slightly older students.  

Loves:

• You can insert google documents directly into the webpages.  By having these embedded, you can see the evidence without having to click a link.  
• There are a lot of customization options - image, video, graphics, charts.
• Ease of use.  It acts as a linear stream but you can drag and drop components easily to arrange them in an order that makes sense.  It is also easy to make multiple pages, so you could categorize learning based on learning targets, topics, etc.

Bumps in the Road:

• It is not actually a blog, so if you want to create a chronological stream you have to do it manually.  This means it is not naturally suited for a linear Learning blog.  It's still doable, but will require active maintenance, which can be problematic for students.

I recently heard one of my colleagues talking about the Seesaw app, so seeing it in the list of potential digital tools piqued my interest.  This tool seems more user friendly; much of the management side of things is on the teacher side, meaning there are less concerns about training students.

Loves:

• Can use any media, pictures, .pdf, and it has google integration!  My colleague uses her phone to track student progress and add it to the stream.  This makes it...
• Super easy to use and integrate into the day.  You don't necessarily have to set aside a "portfolio day" to contribute to the learning, whereas Google Sites would require much more formal time.
• Naturally fits a learning portfolio format.  The stream is chronological. Also...
• Family integration tools.  You can invite families to view their scholar's stream so that they can constantly be a part of viewing the scholar's learning progress.
• Activity gallery - you can assign tasks right in the app for students to complete.  For example, filling out a graphic organizer with the most impactful learning activities for the year.  It shows up on their stream, and they are prompted to complete.

Bumps in the Road:

• Some of the super useful tools are behind a pay wall.  The skill tracker in particular would be a great formative tool, but you have to pay $120 for the year in order to utilize it.

Hands down, I believe Seesaw has won the day for my purposes.  I could see a place for both, with the Seesaw app acting as the Learning Portfolio, and the Google Site acting as a Showcase Portfolio for SLCs.