From Bedford/St. Martin's . . .
Teaching Central. This is from our catalog page. From here you can request for free an exam copy of any professional resource book or use any professional resource web site we provide. For example, we offer the following titles which touch on directly, or have sections on, using portfolios and/or e-portfolios:
- Assessing Writing: A Critical Sourcebook
- Portfolio Teaching: A Guide for Instructors
- Portfolio Keeping: A Guide for Students
- The Elements of Teaching Writing
In addition to the above titles, there are books on teaching writing to students with disabilities, ESL, assessing writing and more. Please add what you need to your personal professional resource library (pprl). If you don't have a pprl, start one today.
Using What You Have
As you search for an e-portfolio platform, ala Task Stream or another vendor, remember that you do not have to wait until you get a vendor or service lined up to start using e-portfolios. You can go a long way with what you have and with free Web technologies such as Google Docs and Blogger, PBWorks, Ning, and other sites and services. These are not eportfolio tools per se, but they do allow learners to place selected work and reflections on that work in a place from which they can then share it (connect it) with others. For example, Penn State uses blogs to have students create and share e-portfolios: http://portfolio.psu.edu/.
At this community college in Hawai'i, they use Google sites: https://sites.google.com/a/hawaiitokai.edu/eportfolio/. You can get an overview of the steps Hawaii Tokai International College used to implement the Google Sites eportfolio here: http://edutechnologyrevolution.blogspot.com/2009/03/google-eportfolio.html
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Resources from Around the Web
The Online Learning Record by Peg Syverson. Peg's work seeks richer insights into student learning than can be gotten from standardized tests and most traditional uses of portfolios. See for example Peg's description of the five -- and a sixth she adds -- dimensions of learning: http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~Syverson/olr/dimensions.html.
Principles and Practices in Electronic Portfolios: A CCCC Position Statement
Published in 2007 by CCCC Taskforce on Best Practices in Electronic Portfolios, this statement outlines suggestions for best practices in e-portfolios in composition courses, but much can be gleaned for using e-portfolios in any course. The site/statement offers extensive links to institutions that offer good e-portfolio models as well as bibliography (with links as well).
LaGuardia Community College e-Portfolio Bibliography: http://www.eportfolio.lagcc.cuny.edu/bibliography.html
LAGCC's Center for Teaching and Learning Delcious Bookmarks: http://delicious.com/lagcc_ctl
ePortfolio Resources -- AAEEBL
The Association for Authentic, Experiential and Evidenced-Based Learning, founded by Trent Batson, an e-portfolio pioneer, offers links to international e-portfolio resources. Trent also works with Electronic Portfolio Action and Communication (EPAC), which keeps an evolving list of e-portfolio tools: http://epac.pbworks.com/Evolving+List%C2%A0of%C2%A0ePortfolio-related%C2%A0Tools.
EduTools E-Portfolio Comparison Site
http://eportfolio.edutools.info/item_list.jsp?pj=16
A little out of date, but still useful for a starting snapshot of alternatives.
