E-Portfolios OR Why I Wish I Was a School Student Again!

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!