e a powerful tool of reflection and learning and should become a major aspe=
ct of our school experience. Therefore, I think this discussion would benef=
it by expanding the scope of the dialogue. Rather than asking what tools wo=
uld work well for maintaining a portfolio, we should be asking about the pr=
ocess and nature of a portfolio and let the answers inform our exploration =
of tools. Here are a few questions to get the ball rolling:
1.
What is the purpose of the portfolio-assessment, growth, showcase, other?
2.
When should we start a portfolio?
3.
How long will the portfolio live?
4.
Who decides what goes in the portfolio and does this change depending on th=
e type of portfolio, culture of the school, etc.?
5.
Who should have access to the portfolio? How does that change over the life=
of the portfolio?
6.
What about portability of the portfolio (from year to year, new schools, wo=
rk, etc.)
7.
Who should be required to maintain a portfolio- students, teachers, staff (=
this is my favorite but I will reserve comment until the discussion takes o=
ff and someone pulls it out of me J)
8.
How do you want to capture the reflective aspects of the portfolio?
9.
Who will be maintaining the portfolio at each stage of the process?
10.
On the more mundane, how important is it that the portfolios synchronize wi=
th existing SIS applications?
11.
Would it be important to be able to support multiple forms of the portfolio=
? This would allow students to create custom portfolios for specific tasks/=
needs. Would faculty also need that capability with the portfolio?
12.
How do you see portfolios being used within your school?
13.
Are portfolios a collection of artifacts or is it much more? If more, then =
what makes a portfolio?
14.
What is our epistemic stance and how does that inform the way our portfolio=
s are produced, structure or used?
15.
How do we educate our parent and board populations about portfolios?
There are many more questions that could be asked but this should lead to a=
powerful discussion. This really gets at the debate between quantitative a=
nd qualitative research. Moreover, at the end of the day, how do you post a=
comparison chart of portfolios in Time magazine=92s 100 best American scho=
ols? Yes, I have a lot to say about that as well but I must get back to my =
writing. I hope this opens the discussion and helps all of us better unders=
tand how we can successfully bring portfolios to our schools for all member=
s of the school community (students, faculty and staff).
Cheers,
Chris Bigenho
Director of Educational Technology
Greenhill School
Addison, TX
bigenhoc@greenhill.org
972-628-5479
________________________________________
From: A forum for independent school educators [ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On=
Behalf Of Maureen Tumenas [maureentumenas@GMAIL.COM]
Sent: Friday, December 05, 2008 6:30 PM
To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Digital Portfolios
Our school is just beginning to talk about doing student portfolios. I have
a million questions about how other schools do these and wondered if you us=
e
online programs or software for portfolios and have any recommendations?
Suggestions? Caveats?
Maureen Tumenas
Berkshire Country Day School
Lenox, MA
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