e-Portfolios

by Ken Kozar

I've been thinking a lot about documentation over the last few days.....hence the creation of this blog, and got to thinking about ways our students should be putting together a collection of their own creations.  We just recently moved to Moodle 2.0 which gives students the ability to move their collection of work in Moodle directly into third party applications such as Google Docs, Box.net, and Mahara. 

Currently, I am kicking around a few ideas on how my biology students can present 21st century e-portfolios.



Portfolio categories (per semester):

• Best example of you using experimental evidence to arrive at a new understanding of something.
• Best example of you designing an experiment to test a hypothesis.
• A lab investigation that did not work well.  Include thoughts on how it could have been improved.
• A sudden insight.  A time during the year when "a light bulb went on" and you suddenly understood something that you previously did not.
• Two things that you studied but did not fully understand (2 reflections).
• Choose two labs/activities/lessons/topics from different parts of the semester (not the same unit).  How were the biology topics in these two things connected/related?
• A lesson/assignment/topic/class discussion that reveals the impact of biology on society.
• A lab/activity/topic/discussion that reveals the impact of biology on society.
• A topic you most enjoyed learning about.

For each of the categories listed above, the students will (a) choose an artifact and (b) an oral, text, or video reflection explaining how and/or why their artifact represents that particular category.

Right now I am learning toward Google Sites as a place for them to upload their artifacts and reflections.  What are your thoughts regarding e-portfolios and where do you think we should have our students upload their artifacts to share with the world??