Assessment for Learning

I’ve had potential employees’ send me links to their ePortfolios as part of their résumés. Some really highlighted their talents and skills, but the ones that stand out in my mind are those that REALLY turned me off a potential employee because of misspellings or grammatical errors. This was when hiring for a position where writing was a key function and requirement for the job.

My husband administers a digital imaging program at one of the DCCCD’s other colleges and I could see where this kind of ePortfolio would be a great opportunity for his students. Right now he uses a club web site to give students to highlight their design work. Student’s look forward to finding pieces for the site. Motivation, that was the potential piece of the ePortfolio and assessment for learning ideal that interested me the most.

Working with developmental writing students, motivation can be a very real challenge. The student’s don’t get college credit for the course, but still have to pay college tuition and it may take them several levels before they can move on to reach their goals. Finding ways to keep them motivated is one of the key reasons I work to mix lectures, assignments and activities and technology is one of the tools we are working into the mix to keep students moving forward. I don’t think that portfolio assessment would work for students at this level.

I think that ePortfolios are much better suited to students who are at a higher level in their learning. For those who aren’t already in a technology field and those who are at a development level, could be easily overwhelmed by the scope of such a large project. I do think that the ePortfolios would be a great tool for use in service-learning projects. Too often in the reflection sessions for service-learning there are those who don’t want to speak out, so the portfolios would give all students the same level of anonymity so that they could speak freely about their experiences.

So far, personally, I really like the potential that the online portfolio offers for putting my learning into practice. In putting this information “out there” on the Web, you have to think clearly and concisely about the image that you will put forward.