Electronic Portfolios
Portfolios also allow the individuality of the student to appear through different types of work that they include in their portfolios. One of the greatest ways that technology can help us meet our educational goals is by helping us improve the way we assess student progress across the curriculum. Portfolios are already a great way to show what a student has achieved. It is not one piece of information but various samples of student work gathered over time. If a student has a particular gift for writing and self-expression or art, that does not appear on a worksheet, but a portfolio can display that creativity.
Advantages of the Portfolio Portfolios are a collection of student work showing where the student started, the progress the student has made and a sense of the student's capabilities. Portfolios are used by so many elementary school teachers because, by including selected and appropriate work samples, they show much more of what the student can do than a paper and pencil assessment.
Portfolios allow the students to self-assess and get a feel for their own strengths and weaknesses

Portfolios can include such things as:

  • My Goals for the Year
  • A favorite Piece of Writing
  • The Hardest Math Problem I Can Solve
  • My Neatest Work
  • The Most Challenging Project I Have Completed
Software Tips Many teachers think that, to create electronic portfolios for (or with) their students, they must purchase an expensive piece of software that is only useful for the portfolios. However, there is popular multi-purpose software, possibly already on your computer, that can be used for portfolios. Many teachers have created great student portfolios with Kid Pix and HyperStudio. Many teachers have charged their students with the creations of their own portfolios with these programs. This reduces the work load on the teacher and gives more freedom, responsibility and control over their own portfolios.

HyperStudio Portfolio

Recommended for Grades 3-5

 HyperStudio is an excellent piece of software to use in portfolio creation. HyperStudio allows you to import text and pictures, to include sound and to make additions and changes easily. HyperStudio also makes it easy to include video clips and Quick Time movies.

Give students guidelines about the components of their portfolios. Use a menu at the beginning to allow parents or teachers to navigate through goals, work samples, anecdotal notes and student projects. Give students some creative freedom, but try to manage the important ingredients of the portfolios.
Portfolios and Parent Conferences Try to have the students complete their portfolios by parent-teacher conferences. Invite the students to share their portfolios with their parents and to explain what they learned from the process.
Student Created Portfolios Objective: To engage students in a project that shows how he or she has progressed from the beginning to the end of the school year.

Materials: Kid Pix 2 or HyperStudio, a folder or shoe box in which to organize work, a digital camera (optional), a scanner (optional), A PLAN!
Plan Early Before you begin the year, plan what you want your portfolio to do and what components you need to include for this. Revisit what is important in student achievements. Look at the process of helping students become better thinkers and helping them to recognize their own achievements and decide what you want included in the student portfolio.
Kid Pix Portfolio

Recommended for grades K-5

 Students collect samples of their work in the categories of your choice. These are organized in a file folder or show box.

Throughout the year, students create slides to go in their Portfolio Slide Shows. These slides contain information about experiences they have in the classroom and their personal goals. They can also create slides in reaction to a unit or to their performance on a test or project. It is important to keep up with this portion of the project from the first day to the last day of the school year.
End of the Year Slide Shows At the end of the year, students create slide shows containing the slides they created throughout the year as well as new slides that explain their reactions to and feelings about their portfolio and why they selected the work they did. Digital pictures and scanned images can be included in the slide show or provided in hard copy so that the teacher or parent can have them handy during the slide show.
Louisiana INTECH, a Project of the Louisiana Center for Educational Technology
http://www.lcet.doe.state.la.us/laintech