Thanks to John Hendron for his comprehensive and thoughtful post about portfolios, which was, I believe, a response to my earlier post. I hope you’ve all taken the time to read what John wrote and picked up some ideas, especially about the ethos of blogging.
Shortly after reading John’s post, I came across this article about bBPortfolios written by a group of folks led by a professor at Seattle Pacific University. It reports results from a study of the use of ePortfolios in a teacher education program. But, it also expresses much of what I believe about the power of a digital portfolio as a space for reflection.
The following characteristics of bPortfolios enhance critical reflection:
- Social interaction – Students share their learning reflections in an open format.
- Developmental – The reverse chronological order of posts shows learning growth.
- Organization – Categories and tags allow students to classify their reflections.
- Autonomy – Students have ownership of their personal content management system.
- Reflective – Students consider which standards are being addressed and what key words best describe the post.
- Digital citizenship – Students practice using social media to enhance digital reputations (Chaplin, 2011).
Yeah, that’s about right.
Also, at the end of the article, you’ll find links to great resources including sample student portfolios. There are some good models there. You may also notice that they used WordPress as their platform as well. So, those examples should be particularly useful.
Happy WordPressing, y’all.
