Feb 06, 2018
Having your students keep portfolios of their academic and creative work are fantastic tools for tutors and parents alike, from monitoring students’ progress to giving them a personalized resource for their own learning self-reflection.
By going digital with students’ portfolios, tutors can further enhance the ways that students can store, reflect on, and share their work. What’s more, students can use their portfolios to highlight their accomplishments ahead of college and award applications.
Here’s a simple guide to the many options online to start building your student’s digital portfolio:
Blogs offer a narrative structure for students to simultaneously store and present their work. Popular blogging tools like Blogger or dedicated educational blogs like EduBlogs or KidBlog offer students an engaging platform that they can personalize, as well as practice their digital web-building skills. Some blogging tools are free, while others offer subscription access for educators.
Google Drive, or a web-building application like Weebly, can be simple repositories for student content. With 15 gigabytes of free storage space (and more available for a price), Google Drive provides ample space for all kinds of content including videos and photos. Students can also draw on stored content to populate their blogs, and use their storage spaces to upload assignments and homework for tutors to access.
A number of dedicated educational platforms exist for students to develop their digital portfolios, like Seesaw and eduClipper. Options range from free to subscription-only premium platforms, offering students not only a place to store their own content, but a way to journal their academic progress and collaborate with other students. For tutors with students studying a specific subject, or from the same schools, a collaborative portfolio space might be the way to go!
Privacy is another major concern across all digital portfolio options. Tutors should keep in mind what students (or their parents) need in terms of blog or platform security when it comes to who can view, comment, or otherwise access students’ digital portfolios.