Required High School Portfolios
Helen Barrett and I are of one mind on this, and I really like the story she tells to illustrate the point: "The students there were required to set up a 3-ring notebook, put in specific sections and assignments. When a group of the students graduated from high school, they built a bonfire and burned their portfolios." The issue is ownership. When students are required to create portfolios, and worse, told how they should be structured and filled, they lose any ownership over the process, and the portfolios become, as Barrett reports, "another example of what Lee Shulman calls 'perversion' of the original concept of the portfolio." Helen Barrett, Electronic Portfolios, June 16, 2006. [Link] [Tags: Schools, E-Portfolios, Gaming] [Previous][Next]Comments
Re: Required High School Portfolios
I could not agree more with all of you on this one. When I heard we would be using "interactive notetaking" in our school as a school wide method of improving student learning, I reacted in a totally different way than the others. When the admin offered to buy the scissors and glue, I asked for headphones and microphones and some forgiveness on the safety filters for my kids to truly interact with the content being taught. I was quick to point out the advantages of interacting with others with no geographical barriers and the necessity of teaching students how to use the "vehicle" of the newest technology (including new media and various open source programs) to facilitate the learning in our school. Students creating the content in the multimedia of their choice and learning how to publish it invites collaboration, feedback and makes the learning a given on more than one level! Lee Baber lbaber@mac.com [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]
Re: Required High School Portfolios
Hi Lee, hear! hear! Your students will know how to navigate on their own. I'll never forget your webcast academy session with guest teachers some weeks ago, where grade 9 students had prepared some interview questions for me, a Danish woman, and then also met a bonus surprise guest - a teacher from Iran! Such events could really change their world view, as it did with mine. Mr. Morteza's benevolent and thoughtful answers to our curious questions about Irannian everyday life were so far from those stereotypic images we get from the media most often. What an eýe opener! yours, Sus Nyrop, another webhead in Denmark [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]
Re: Required High School Portfolios
This story got me thinking about an experience I had a few days ago when I was assisting a Grade 12 student with her career portfolio, specifically her resume. The resume was not done well (I rarely see resumes by high school students done well). She was on a deadline to have it finished for her final mark and didn't want to improve it very much. I respected her wish for a "quick fix up" but began explaining some of the simple things that she could do to make this resume reflect who she is and what she wants as a prospective employee. We worked together for about 30 minutes and as we worked she became more enthused about the transformation of her resume. She wanted a good resume for work purposes but never got past those sample resume templates (yuk) they hand out in career classes. She left my Resource Room very pleased with her resume and ready to start handing out to employers and she had her portfolio project complete. In my mind, ownership was the missing ingredient from this students learning experience. She was willing to create a "fill in the blanks" resume for her teacher, even knowing it was awful, however when she saw how to do a resume that really reflected her talents and interests she felt pride of ownership and with that ownership some personal power. [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]
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Copyright 2008 Stephen Downes
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