A digital portfolio is a collection of web pages and "artifacts" (things created with web-based tools, like images, videos, animations, and more). Its purpose is to demonstrate learning, mastery, and/or progress in a subject. Digital portfolios are a powerful tool for learning.
This site is a digital portfolio itself, demonstrating and discussing aspects of digital portfolios in education. How meta! It was created by Josh Bancroft, a learner in the Masters program for Adult Education at Oregon State University.
This site is a digital portfolio itself, demonstrating and discussing aspects of digital portfolios in education. How meta! It was created by Josh Bancroft, a learner in the Masters program for Adult Education at Oregon State University.
By giving learners a canvas upon which to share artifacts of their learning, digital portfolios help learners develop and showcase mastery. "Mastery" doesn't mean "perfection". Think of it instead as a measurement of how well a learner is accomplishing the thing they set out to do. That could mean basic competency, "mastery" of the tools used to create the portfolio site and artifacts themselves, or mastery of another area as expressed through the medium of the digital portfolio. Mastery is a process, and digital portfolios can evolve alongside the learner, providing a journal of their progress and learning over time.
Digital portfolios on the web allow learners to address an authentic audience. Creating in public with a digital portfolio encourages learners to put their best work forward instead of "writing for the teacher". It allows learners to "try on" different roles rather than just study them, to see what it's like to behave like a journalist, filmmaker, educator, or almost any other role (see Larry Rosenstock talk about this at 14:00 in the video Project-Based Learning at High-Tech High).
Digital portfolios can increase the focus on actual learning over specific curricula, rubrics, and tests. It's certainly possible to enforce authoritarian teaching styles and strict grading rubrics with digital portfolios, but it's not optimal. Digital portfolios should be used as part of a more holistic approach to learning. Learners should be encouraged to explore, "tinker", and make connections in a meaningful way through their portfolios. Instead of competing with peers and working in isolation, learners should collaborate and share honest feedback with one another, and challenge each other to do better. Finally, learners should be encouraged to reflect on what they've learned in their portfolios. Like this.
“When human beings acquired language, we learned not just how to listen but how to speak. When we gained literacy, we learned not just how to read but how to write. And as we move into an increasingly digital reality, we must learn not just how to use programs [including web-based tools] but how to make them.” (Douglas Rushkoff, "Program or Be Programmed")
Digital portfolios build digital literacy by helping learners acquire the skills to be a creator on the web, rather than just a consumer. Tools for creating on the web are abundant, accessible, and cheap (usually free). Mastering those tools through creation of a digital portfolio, even at a basic level, enables learners to express themselves and make their voices heard in the digital world.
Digital portfolios build digital literacy by helping learners acquire the skills to be a creator on the web, rather than just a consumer. Tools for creating on the web are abundant, accessible, and cheap (usually free). Mastering those tools through creation of a digital portfolio, even at a basic level, enables learners to express themselves and make their voices heard in the digital world.
Using This Portfolio
This digital portfolio is divided into sections by topic. You can find your way around using the menu at the top of the page. Among the things you'll find are some of my thoughts and artifacts on the different types of digital portfolios, "Web 2.0" tools (and some examples of artifacts I have created with them), project-based learning, collaboration, and assessment, and reflection on how all of these things relate to digital portfolios.
About This Learner
If you have any thoughts or comments on anything you see here, I'd love to hear from you. You can contact me at [email protected], find some other things I've made at my long-time home on the web, tinyscreenfuls.com, or connect with me in the usual places using the fun little social icons at the top of each page (or in the menu if you're on a mobile device). I've been making things on the web for a long time, but the learning I have gained through the process of thoughtfully creating this digital portfolio has been profound and unexpected. I owe thanks to our wonderful instructor, Jonan Donaldson, and my cohort-mates in this program. I hope you have benefited from the ideas and examples shared here.