I haven't been in education forever; as a matter of fact, I was a late bloomer and was in my thirties before I got a job in education. But looking back, it really didn't take so long for the past to catch up and revolve full circle. When the college was trying to prep us for our jobs, we were pushed to compile a portfolio. Now, this portfolio included all the information that any employer would want to see, supposedly. It even included student work that was done under the supervision of yours truly during student teaching years. It was a lot of work and effort and creativity compiling this huge notebook of reflection, communication, and credentials. It was my one and only book that was all about me...in regards to education. And when I went out searching for a job, I used the book exactly 0 times. Hmmmm....that's a lot of time and effort wasted.
Today we are looking at using e-Portfolios and in some cases, demanding that our students put together their own compilation so that this is available for jobs/colleges to look at in the future. But I am wondering just who is looking at these. Are potential employers taking a peek at these? Are they relevant to the job? If our students create e-portfolios, is there a decent chance that someone will look at them?
It took a long time for me to put together my own notebook, and that was without having to tackle various types of technology. I can't imagine the kid today who puts one of these together and has the time to incorporate all elements that should be there. It is dismaying to think of the time that people expect others to put into empty, useless compilations of something that is never used, never noted. Our world is changing rapidly and time is certainly of the essence. Let's find out if our kids are going to need the e-portfolios...and other types of time-consuming techestry before we demand they stretch themselves to the nth trying to create it, especially when they could be using the time to create something worthwhile, pertinent, and useful.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
You hit on a very important aspect of assessment - we should figure out how metrics are going to be used before we inflict them on our students. I have used portfolios as assessemnt tools and they can be effective, but only if someone is looking at them and only if everyone is clear at the outset what is expected and how the contents of the portfolio will be used. I share your skepticism about the value of compiling an eportfolio in the hope that someone "out there" will put it to good use. However, I think that portfolios (e or otherwise) can be very valuable in helping students to think about how, what and why they are learning. They can also help teachers see a student's growth over time. Digital storage solves a lot of practical problems associated with traditional portfolios, including space constraints and problems with transfer of information year-to-year. But as you point out, it's a lot of wasted effort if the portfolion' purpose, audience, and role in the overall instructional scheme are not clearly defined from the beginning.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both posts- assessment should be relevant and authentic. But what seems to be commonplace in education- ideas and practices are implemented without much thought. Oooh- here's the latest study or trend, let's require all of our teachers to follow it. Then next year, we'll hop on another bandwagon. I think some practices, in order to be effective, simply need time for teachers, students and administration to work out the kinks. 21st century skills and assessments fall into this category.
ReplyDelete