Electronic Portfolios as Digital Stories of Deep Learning

My entire academic career from First Grade to the Present has, in my perspective, focused on proving to my teachers what I have learned. The perspective has been the Assessment of Learning rather than aiding in my learning and synthesizing knowledge. Portfolios have the potential to provide Assessment for Learning. This is a new perspective for me. Being a task oriented person; I am very conscientious in completing the course assignments. As an assignment is completed it is checked off the To Do list and never given a second thought.

Assessment for Learning, which is learner centered and controlled, is a more productive approach, I believe. This is the first app I have encountered that I have been excited about for my own learning. The other apps I have encountered I evaluated them in how they would aid in my delivery of course content to my students. But this, the portfolio, is exciting for its potential to aid me in my learning. Having one place to collect examples of my learning along with my reflections on my learning and my plans for future learning is very liberating for me. I am in charge of my own learning and assessment! Portfolios have a great potential to aid in learning if it is learner controlled and learner centered. Creating and developing my ePortfolio has already energized me to think about “The Story” of my learning. Before reading the articles associated with this unit, I saw creating the ePortfolio as just another assignment to check off the list. Now, I am excited to have all my work in one area so I can truly reflect on what each activity meant individually and what they all mean collectively. This will an excellent tool to integrate and clarify my learning and the impact of my learning on my intellectual development and maturity.