Why Eportfolios Should be Used in Our Schools
This is a video explaining why I believe Eportfolios should be an important part of our schools educational program.
My Innovation Proposal Outline
How Will I Make It Happen
When considering an eportfolio, I believe the first question we have to ask ourselves is why? Why is this important? What are the benefits and will it help our students? Eportfolios can help students develop a deeper learning which in turn will result in higher grades. An eportfolio will also help students develop character and build self-esteem. It will also give them their own unique voice. Students will have the freedom, creativity and flexibility to will represent themselves and show who they really are. More importantly, the ultimate benefit of an eportfolio is that it will allow students to showcase their achievement and progress with friends, family, educational leaders, mentors and career officials.
Of course I am very excited about launching this idea with my school and district so I had to ask myself how will I get this started. With every great idea, there has to be a great plan. I have created a four step plan to get the ball rolling.
Step 1: Sip and See! Meet and Greet!
This step would roll out in August during the first month of school.
I would host an event that would allow my staff and administration to view my eportfolio as well as others while enjoying light refreshments. I would use four staff members as examples. I would approach four staff members in the English department on my campus that are already familiar with eportfolios and have one already created. Their eportfolio would be displayed on a table in the library and they would stand beside it. The idea/concept would be that they would not talk and staff members would walk around and view their eportfolios and get to know them as an individual. This will allow staff members to see the benefit of the eportfolio. Not only would they get to know the individual, they would get to see their accomplishments as well. This event will last no more than one hour.
Step 2: Getting Started! Let’s Roll!
This step would roll out in September.
The four staff members from the English department would serve as eportfolio mentors and they would partner with teachers from other teams/departments to help them to create their own eportfolio. My belief is that you should be passionate about what you teach. You should also have a clear understanding about what you teach as well. How would the teachers be able to introduce a new idea or concept to students if they have no idea about what they are doing. I would want the teachers to be comfortable with eportfolios before introducing it to students. This step should last no more than four weeks. The remaining two weeks left in that six week period would give the mentors time to evaluate the teacher’s eportfolio to make sure that they have understood the concept and purpose.
Step 3: Party Time! Getting into the Nitty Gritty!
This step would roll out during month three and should be completed before fall break.
After the mentors and teachers feel that they are 100 percent ready, an eportfolio party will take place. The students will be introduced to the concept by their teachers. The students will partner in groups of 4 and create an eportfolio. I know you are probably wondering why I am partnering them up with groups. I am starting small. When introducing a new concept to students you have to start small and gradually increase the idea. My students are 5th and 6th grade so I have to think as they do. I have to consider how much information they can process at one time. Once the students pick their groups, they will come up with a group name and a group goal and build their eportfolio form there. This step should take the students no more than an entire six week period.
Step 4: This is it! The Big Event! It’ Time to Showcase!
This step should be completed prior to the end of the first semester.
I would conduct an event that would give students an opportunity to showcase their eportfolios other students. The idea is to build partnership and networking skills. My hope is that allowing them to work together in groups with their eportfolio, it would build relationship and confidence so that the students will then be able to build and creating their own personal eportfolio in the next six weeks. For additional motivation, students will be graded as a group on their eportfolio as well as individual when they create their own. I decided to do his because it is very hard to get students especially in the 5th and 6th grade to create something or do an assignment that is not be graded. My hope is that students will feel comfortable and confident enough to build their own eportfolio after the group showcase is over.
My Innovation Proposal
Dear Dr. Burns,
As the campus Librarian of your great school, I am very concerned with the student’s academic success as well as their overall quality of life. I have a proposal idea that I would like to possibly implement at our school. My hope is that it will be effective and efficient as well as have a positive influence on the students in and out of the classroom. If all goes well, I believe this program could be implemented district wide.
My proposal idea is an Educational Portfolio that will have a main purpose of building on the future one self-esteem at a time. I believe that it is very important to instill self-esteem in our students and to teach them to believe in themselves no matter what others may say.
I believe that in doing this, students will have a way to track their success and it will also build them up as an individual as well. I find that a lot of students lack self-esteem and confidence. Unfortunately, it is often because they do not have the right mindset, it has a horrible effect on their performance.
Portfolios that are used well in the classroom have several advantages that will be very beneficial to the student. It can also be used as tangible evidence to show their academic achievements as well as their participation in any extracurricular activities. This will be very beneficial to students when the time comes to build a resume as they start thinking about their career path.
When it comes to ePortfolios, I believe that the main focus is on the relationship between the students, their teachers/advisors and their parents. I want to address and focus on the benefits of having students create an ePortfolio in kindergarten through their senior year of high school.
According to myefolio.com/k12, there are eight main benefits of using ePortfolios in kindergarten through twelfth grade. The first of those eight benefits is that an ePortfolio promotes student ownership and responsibility. It also creates lifelong learners and uses technology in a meaningful context. An ePortfolio also shows learning overtime and promotes reflection and a positive self-image. Most importantly, an ePortfolio invites parent and teacher feedback, supports a learning assessment and reporting in a more positive and accepting way.
In my concluding thoughts, an ePortfolio provides a new channel for the education system to view a student’s progress and success. It will also allow them to see a student’s struggle without jeopardizing the student’s self-esteem. The teacher will be able to help the student more efficiently without putting him or her on the spot and embarrassing him or her in front of their peers.
It does not matter what the student ends up doing with themselves creating and having an ePorfolio will give them a sense of being and accomplishment.
I hope you will take my idea in to consideration. I do believe that this could be the start of something great on our campus and potentially our entire district.
Respectfully,
Shunitra L. Bonner
Campus Librarian
My Literature Review
Bridging the Gap Between Academic Success and Self-Esteem
Eportfolios, at the most basic level, are simply a storage and display strategy for students to have throughout their K-12 education. Overall, eportfolios effortlessly integrate college and career readiness curricula into classrooms as students develop their individual voices. It is very important that we allow the students to keep their voice and allow them to express themselves in their own unique and individual way. The truth is, eportfolios can benefits all students no matter what grade they are in. If implemented correctly the benefit and end result can be priceless.
I have included the link to my literature review that will hopefully provide some insight to why I believe eportfolios are important for our students today.