e-portfolios for assessment

Alison has been talking about the value of blogs for assessment in her blog, but I would like to touch on a few things that I see as being important.

The whole purpose of a portfolio is for assessment. They are a way for teachers to report to parents and caregivers about the achievement of their children. They generally contain the childs best work and can take a lot of time to organise (which is done by the teacher). Portfolios have been around for the last decade or so, but talking to many teachers they complain that they are basically a burden. A lot of work for not a lot of benefit.

This is where I believe e-portfolios come in. The teacher can set them up, but the children can add work that they want to share with their parents, as well as the set portfolio pieces. This way they truly are the children's work and the parents will see exactly what the child sees as important in their education. The parent can also comment on any work they see fit, as can any one else the child wishes to show it to.

The children can get feedback from a variety of sources. This feedback would be immediate and continuous (as the e-portfolio would be used through out their schooling) and therefore the children would get so much more out of the experience.

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