There are many types of student portfolios including blogs, self-created Wikipedia’s and videos. Another benefit of online based student portfolio’s is that it enhances a student to be able to incorporate technology with writing. Bloom’s Taxonomy of 21st Century learning objectives is an easy way to use writing apps as a tool for formative assessment strategies.
Building an online portfolio also builds a sense of community. It allows parents, teachers, students to access the best student creations. You can even take it a step further and create a webinar of your student’s project. There are apps in which teachers can upload instructions for other teachers of how to enhance their student’s projects.
An online based portfolio is also practical to help parents in savior memories of their child’s first project in school. When my son was in kindergarten, I had to find ways to keep his project in tact over the years. It became difficult, especially when I had to move and pack away his projects and decide which ones I should keep and which ones I should throw away. Now with online based projects, you don’t have to make such a painful decision.
An online portfolio also allows the student an opportunity to build upon their own progress. They can develop different writing strategies and editing techniques. I even had students redo a project and resubmit it online, because they were not satisfied with their original writing project.
According to an article, these types of portfolios allow a student to be more involved in their own ongoing assessment. They allow the student to be able to see how their writing develops through multiple projects. It also helps students who may not be good test takers to show off their abilities and understanding of an assignment through a different outcome.
Now you may ask how can an online work portfolio be differentiated? Well it’s easy. There are a variety of ways to differentiate online work projects. For example, if you assigned students to read a book, you don’t have to necessarily make them do a boring essay. They can differentiate by creating an illustrated scene of the book. They can also do a group play or skit, video tape it then upload it to their portfolio. They can also write a letter to the character and upload that letter to their portfolio. These are some of the many ways students can express their creativity.
It is important however that a proper rubric is created by the teacher. This will allow students to know how their work is going to be assessed. You should also allow students the choice of which of their projects they wish to showcase online. You may feel that a student’s work is amazing but they are a high achiever, they may not feel that the work you chosen is one of their best creations. Allow them this option. Well I hope that this article has given you further insight on the importance of student online portfolios. Have fun with your students!