School LMSs (Learning Management Systems) have been a saving grace for many (especially smaller) schools.
With Moodle a local hero and ‘free’ champion in this arena, I feel a real CAD to even mention ‘Blackboard’ or the newly open sourced ‘Instructure Canvas’ – The truth is, it is an entertaining advertisement!
There are plenty of follow-up instructional / overview videos on ‘youtube’ so I will leave you to explore further if interested. For now – enjoy the young lady with the fireworks!
I have a great interest in this area and have been examining a wide range of online facilities that students are able to utilise. Mahara.org certainly seems to have the best scope for our needs (from the ones I have looked at – Moodle ready). I like the idea of a student being able to carry their accomplishments, results and samples with them across their learning years / lives. It ‘feels’ more like going to school to ‘write your life book’.
We talk of the notion of ‘life-long learning’ and this is a true opportunity to capture it all’. I can see many benefits;
Strong sense of ‘audience’/ ‘readership’ through online publication (secured distribution)
Record of ‘progress’
Organisational maintenance of portfolio
Students look for opportunities to capture their achievement
Ongoing access to assessment items that can influence new learning
Functional – students should be able to use their e-portfolio as a project that ‘moves with them’ both from year to year, but also, school to school.
Mum’s LOVE it!
A particularly useful resource for teachers who may want to investigate this further has been produced at http://wiki.rscwmsystems.org.uk/index.php/Eportfolios if you have no intention of visiting the site – no worries – here’s a video!
