This week’s blog post is a reflection of my understanding of “folio thinking.” A blogger’s test of the appropriate tools lead to playtesting Wikis, websites, and proprietary tools, discussed first. Wikis are a website that everyone can edit who has access. The problem I see is that anyone can add, change, and delete the content on the page. There are several pbwiki.com, wetpaint.com, and wikispacers.com, and you can also create wikis in Blackboard – youtube.com/watch?v=i8yQBNfS6kl. Next, websites – some sites are free, others you may pay for hosting. In my real estate business, I have used Superlative, and GoDaddy both have their pros and cons, lower hosting costs but not easy to add content to the website. Google websites offer a classic and new version. Both offer user pros. The ability to create a functional portfolio for the novice can be challenging, so proprietary tools, a vendor sold software, are the solution. On Mashable.com, I found twenty tools demonstrating the best showcase of e-portfolios.
Graduate coursework offers learners a thinking interaction. Eportfolios gives the graduate student a platform to demonstrate their progression of educational technology learning by reflecting on in-depth questions of the professor. This format of learning instructs us how to teach the students we have to be open thinkers and apply knowledge. A student ‘s ability for practical application of their course work as opposed to a multiple-choice question answering is what e-portfolios design enhances.
My learning preference and what is relevant in this field are a built-in relationship formulating coursework simulating discussion and taking thought-provoking answers to think out of the box.
We can identify the technological affordance’s physical and electronic portfolios through how they created. A physical collection would be suitable for an artist, architect, or designer if a visual display asks for it. What if they submit a digital display of their work? Let’s render the artist brush strokes to examine technique or make a 3D model of the architect’s bridge design.
What tools would my students use in the classroom? The idea of students reflecting on learning, thinking through the process to become aware of their learning potential is exciting. Indeed eportfolios would be the pinnacle, but other tools like Wikis to incorporate collaborative group project learning. G Suite for Education is another collaborative tool, and it includes Google Classroom, integrates with Chrome technology, and no cost for schools.
Students desire a challenge in the classroom; they do not want to read pages out of a textbook and answer questions at the end of the chapter. How can we use eportfolio tools to enhance instruction? The 7th grade English class is reading “The Giver.” The level is assigned to read each chapter and write a 200 word summary over each section. Add the option that students can listen to the novel through an audiobook – (Substitution) or as the instructor read to your students in an audio file pointing out relevancy – (Augmentation). Ask students questions, ” What genre are we reading? In what person is the story told? What theme is developing? Discuss the rising action, the conflict, and the resolution?” Have your students incorporate their answers into their eportfolios – (Modification) and ask them how or can they relate to the events in the story into today’s society. Still working in their eportfolios, groups of students will work together to change the ending of the story and develop a virtual storyboard on how their group’s conclusion would change the theme of the novel – (Redefinition). Viewing this lesson through the TPACK model as a teacher, we need to have content knowledge of applying “The Giver” to the English Teks to be taught. Pedagogical knowledge (PK) – how do the students learn best, individual reading, popcorn reading, or audio reading. Using the digital tools available to me like eportfolios will be the vehicle to the learning outcomes.
Educational Technology 