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Alternative modes of expression & means to demonstrate learning

Development of 21st Century Skills

Track and demonstrate growth over time

Improve home-school communication

Can be used as a digital resume

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This is my original portfolio assessment I created but I deleted the ineffective requirements and am going to edit it give students more options and accomplishments. I plan to introduce it next week since we are going to be starting the 4th marking period. It is my hope to have students use it to show their accomplishments from the second half of the semester. I wish I could have had it for the whole semester but if it works well I will use it for next year

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ASCD. (n.d.). Chapter 1. Defining Digital Portfolios. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/117005/chapters/Defining-Digital-Portfolios.aspx

Digital Portfolios - The Whole Child, The Whole Story. (2017, May 20). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/uUsy2ORFqII

Alabama ASCD. (2016, February 29). Digital Portfolios: Guiding Students Toward Accomplishment. Retrieved from https://alabamaascd.org/2016/02/29/digital-portfolios-guiding-students-toward-accomplishment/

Swallow, E. (2017, December 07). The New High School Essentials: LinkedIn, a Resumé, and a Digital Portfolio. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/erica-swallow/the-new-high-school-essen_b_8106544.html

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This article from the Huffington post was given to my students as a way to promote the idea of creating a social media identity that was positive prior to going to college. I had my students think about and complete a fake LinkedIn profile but what I didn't do was look at the idea of a college admissions counselors accepting digital portfolios as a part of the application process. I know that many employers are looking for well-rounded employees which is what make liberal arts schools often look more prestigious than state schools. This article discusses the importance of a digital portfolio as a way to offer an inside look on a student that is much more informative than an SAT/ACT score or GPA could ever be as to how a student might perform.

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In a world where more than a third of college admissions officers visit applicants' social media pages and 93% of job recruiters review candidates' social profiles before making hiring decisions, a digital presence is now an essential for hopeful college admits, entry-level apprentices, and future employees alike.

A decade ago, high school students were sent home with supply lists that included a backpack, binders, notebooks, and pens. Today, it is becoming increasingly important for a high schooler to come prepared with his or her digital records of achievement, including a LinkedIn profile, a resumé, and a digital portfolio. These tools increase a student's odds of success landing college admittance, job offers, and scholarships, interviewees told me.

Recent Alma High School graduate Anna Albers
has had a LinkedIn profile for years.

Anna Albers, an incoming freshman at the University of Arkansas has had a resumé since she was a freshman at Alma High School. For her, it's a tool for building credibility. She says what began as a homework assignment, grew into a useful resource for her career progression. It started as a place to list her extensive volunteering experience with organizations such as the Muscular Dystrophy Association and Ronald McDonald House, but now also showcases her academic achievements and work experiences. Her resumé, too, is highlighted on her LinkedIn profile, which she also launched as part of her course work at Alma, through a career-focused, co-curricular student club called DECA, which aims to "prepare emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe."

"My resumé has been incredibly useful," Albers says. "It helped me in the process of being elected and serving as a state officer for DECA. It also helped me get a job [as a life guard manager at a local state park], receive college scholarships, and push along my college applications." Albers says the hiring manager at Lake Fort Smith State Park, where she works, was surprised she even had a resumé. "It helped me gain the managerial position. Most high school and college students don't have a resumé," she says. "When I spoke with other applicants applying for one of the scholarships I ended up receiving, too, no one else had submitted a resumé and many didn't even know what a resumé is. The resumé, though, created the backbone for the interview and provided talking points for my interviewer."

Albers assessment of her interview seems accurate, according to Chad Brown, president of the Harvard Club of Arkansas and director of research at hedge fund Circumference Group. Brown and fellow Harvard alumni conduct interviews with Harvard College applicants from Arkansas. He says he receives minimal information about an applicant leading up to an interview, including the interviewee's name, high school, and contact information. He typically requests a resumé during his first call with an applicant and later searches for the candidate on Facebook and Google to "see if there's anything of note," he says.

"An applicant may be nervous or not know what Harvard is interested in knowing about them," Brown says. "Some students don't realize that what they're doing is different from their peers. When I find those details online, and they're not mentioned in the interview, I try to bring them up." Brown adds that students seem to be getting better at hiding their social presences. Which begs the question, why aren't more students aiming to showcase their digital goods?

It may be because most colleges don't proactively ask for online resources yet. "For undergraduate admissions, we don't utilized LinkedIn or online portfolios to make admissions decisions," says Tyler Bittle, admissions counselor at University of Central Arkansas, noting that it's not part of the college's admissions rubric. "We look at transcripts and ACT scores. Supplemental materials become important when students apply to specific, more competitive academic programs, such as our Honors College," he adds. Bittle says even then, online resources aren't directly part of the application process, but they can come in handy for recommendation writers, who may use such resources to better articulate a student's accomplishments."

Secondary educators, though, are stepping up to meet growing demand for online media. New York-based high school counselor Steve Brown forecasts, "In the next 10 years, you'll probably see more college admissions counselors accepting digital portfolios as a part of the application process to feel out what kind of a student body they want to bring together. Smaller private schools will likely start that trend, because a lot of them have already moved away from SAT and ACT score submissions. In the end, colleges want a well-rounded student body. Digital portfolios tell a student's story, beyond his or her traditional academic records."

As recent high school graduate Albers puts it, "These digital resources are most valuable for high school students. A resumé is your foundation. It's what gets you started thinking about your passion and what you're doing in life. It's so helpful to have those conversations early on."
High school senior Jadon Barnes has a film reel that rivals other much more established professionals in his field.
One of the key tenants of storytelling is to show, rather than tell. Digital portfolios enable students to do just that by sharing their stories in engaging, visual ways.

At education non-profit Noble Impact, where I serve as vice president of product, we expose students to 21st-Century tools that empower them to build their credibility through storytelling. Among other activities, each student is challenged to build his or her online presence to showcase his or her story, values, passions, and related projects.

Senior Jadon Barnes, for example, showcases his work via his professional-grade website and film reel, which showcases his love for and talent in videography. While still in high school, Barnes has already been a showcased filmmaker at the Little Rock Film Festival. It's easy to see why, when viewing his online footprint. Barnes' Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram profiles are also in line with his professional image -- something most adults can't say themselves!

Professional videographer Lukas Deem, owner of Retrocat Media, commented on Barnes' portfolio, "His digital game is on point. Jadon's site showcases that he collaborates with other people and organizes his own projects. It shows that he's doing something outside of school hours -- which means that he's a driven individual."

High school junior Bethanie Gourley, also a filmmaker, tells her story through a frequently updated YouTube channel and a digital portfolio. In fact, Gourley wrote a blog post last month about how her digital portfolio enabled her to connect with her favorite filmmaker, director and producer Casey Neistat, last year. "Through Twitter, I had tweeted him many times in the past," she writes. "But this time, he actually read what I had to say through my digital portfolio. The fact that Casey complimented my work showed me I had potential, even though I was just a sophomore in high school."

The possibilities are endless as to how high school students can use their online presences to create and seize opportunities.

Bethanie Gourley used her digital portfolio to connect with her favorite filmmaker, Casey Neistat, during her sophomore year in high school.

An informative social media and digital presence is increasingly the make or break for college admits and job applicants. It's certainly a must-have in some circles.

"We know applicants through their online presence weeks before we even talk to them," says Retrocat Media Creative Director Joe Lusby, who is currently on the search for a high school apprentice. He adds, "Everybody has social profiles these days, so we look for anything that stands out. Furthermore, if you don't have an online presence, we're not going to find you. Our business operates entirely online. That's how we network."

High school counselor Steve Brown says he focuses his students' efforts on building digital tools that enable them to be better prepared for life decisions after high school. Based in Lake Shore Central School District in upstate New York, Brown has been helping students build digital portfolios for three years now. Using a tool called CollegeOnTrack, his students are guided through tutorials on building a resumé, creating a digital portfolio, choosing a career path, and researching college options.

"From what I've found," says Brown, "Digital portfolios are a chance to highlight and tell a story about a student's growth and the things they do outside of school. I had a student who was very much into racing cars on the weekends. I had no idea, until he uploaded videos to his portfolio. He's now a student of engineering and diesel mechanics. I had another student who was a figure skater -- I learned through her portfolio that she volunteers for the Skating Association for the Blind and Handicapped, an organization that teaches blind children and adults how to skate on ice. As a counselor, it's helpful to see what the students do, and it's important for students to showcase these stories on college and job applications."

Across the country in Michigan at similarly named Lake Shore High School, students -- such as Sean Neal, Jessica Old, and Caitlin Beirne -- use online site creator Weebly to create in-depth academic and professional track records of their work, including uploads of resumés, reference letters, academic awards, blog posts, and even work samples. For example, in her spare time, Beirne is a cake decorator and baker, and her work samples look delicious enough to prove it!

These resources are just the type of content that recruiters and admissions officers cite as make-or-break assets. A video goes a long way in showing what a student has done and can do. Show me a picture of a delicious cake, and I'm ready to hire you for my next party!

A digital presence is no longer a nice-to-have for high school students. Competition is high, and schools across the nation -- and world -- are preparing their scholars for a 21st Century workforce.

To students and the parents and educators who support them, I challenge: Is your digital presence ready for life after high school? These tools are the new high school essentials for those hoping to jump into a college program or the workforce. If you haven't considered building a resumé, LinkedIn profile, and/or digital portfolio to showcase your experiences, what's holding you back?
Header image courtesy of Noble Impact

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The New High School Essentials: LinkedIn, a Resumé, and a Digital Portfolio

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In a world where more than a third of college admissions officers visit applicants' social media pages and 93% of job recruiters review candidates' social profiles before making hiring decisions, a digital presence is now an essential for hopeful college admits, entry-level apprentices, and future employees alike.

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An article for the Alabama chapter of ASCD that discusses the Madison City schools initiative on digital portfolios. The article discusses the need for students not to achieve but accomplish. The students need to show what they have accomplished in class and reflect upon it. Even if it isn't successful work it is still an accomplishment and by reflecting upon the work the student will show growth. Ultimately, that growth will become mastery.

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"We've got to begin shifting our thinking in schools from achievement...to accomplishment." -Marc Prensky, author of Teaching Digital Natives

What does accomplishment look like in this new era? How do we record it? More importantly, how do we inspire it? As we focus on creating school experiences for our youth that will lead them to connect, partner, create, share, solve problems, and become better citizens, we have to supply them with the proper vehicles to reach these new heights.

In Madison City Schools, we have found one critical area of focus that we believe is a giant leap forward: digital portfolios. Many districts have begun the process of experimenting with or implementing digital portfolios in their schools, but our research in Madison brought us back to the drawing board. We knew that we wanted to create an experience that our students could carry with them into adulthood-something they owned. We wanted to help our students develop a positive digital footprint that would continue to evolve even after their time with us. To meet those needs, we turned to free web tools that anyone on earth with a device and an internet connection could use. We haven't looked back.

We have developed detailed plans for all students K-12 to tackle digital portfolios. Every student in Madison-regardless of age-has the same mantra: Show then Reflect . By distilling the complex idea of digital portfolios into its simplest form, we have been able to create a thematic through line to reduce confusion, focus time and energy, and create a culture of reflection. While a kindergarten student may be using an app like Seesaw to show and reflect between himself, his parents, and his teacher, a high school senior may be developing her own compelling website using Wix to market her skills and experience to the world. Meanwhile, a seventh-grade student at one of our middle schools is beginning to experiment with Weebly to explore web design, self-reflection, and digital citizenship.

While digital portfolios can take many forms, our end goal is to produce deep thinking and reflective students who are accomplished in a variety of fields and can show the world what they are able to do. We have seen high school students receive scholarships and internships from their compelling digital portfolios; we have seen middle school students begin to consider their digital footprint and purpose in life; and we have seen previously disengaged elementary students become activated into reflecting on their own learning and their own brand of self. Open-world digital portfolios that are real, not just relevant, motivate students to explore their passions. This exploration and constant connection to self drives learning into a new realm. For all age groups, setting their own expectations and telling their own stories to the world has guided those students into a greater sense of oneness between their lives and their learning.

And we are just at the beginning.

So now you know why we are doing this, and you know what our students are doing. The critical question becomes The key to this process is partnership. Digital portfolios are not going to happen if a classroom is an island unto itself. Partnerships are born through professional conversations and connections when teachers collaborate with media specialists, coaches, and central office instructional staff for the greatest impact. The process of organizing one's selfhood into a website is a very challenging endeavor, and it takes partnership at all levels to make this process a productive one. The more mentors we can provide for a group of students, the better the results will be. And what better way to involve parents! By maximizing the adult-to-student ratio during the planning phases, we are working to ensure that each child gets the attention he or she needs to plan properly, but then the deeply personal endeavor of creating begins. We know that six or seven adults cannot be dispatched at all times, but we strive for that goal. We have found that, if we make it a priority, we can typically approach this ideal.

Digital portfolios are unexplored territory for many educators, so teachers are cautious and hesitant to dive into this endeavor without substantial support. For this very reason, the partnership approach guides the teachers through the full coaching cycle of implementing the digital portfolios. The cycle starts with preplanning and moves forward with planning, modeling, side-by-side practice, teacher practice, reflection, and debriefing for each phase of the process. Through partnering, teachers become comfortable and ready for gradual release to continue working with digital portfolios independently. Through partnering, capacity is built among all involved, and each member of the team becomes equipped to engage the cycle with future partners.

There is so much to this story, and there is just not enough space in this forum to demystify it completely for educators, students, or parents. At the outset, Madison City Schools decided that we would solve this complex problem for ourselves, but that we would then share resource we had developed with the larger education community...for free. We also pledged at the outset to create an informative and entertaining documentary about our work, and we are currently in the process of fulfilling that pledge.

We look forward to publishing our documentary and all our resources to make this exciting new area of education a reality for all schools systems. Stay tuned for a public release of everything this summer! It is about to become very difficult to remain in the dark about digital portfolios.

To see just a couple of student portfolios from our year-one pilot, click below:

Jared Wilson, James Clemens High School graduate: http://jaredmichaelwilson.wix.com/onlineportfolio

Maggie Moore, Bob Jones High School junior: http://maggieomoore.weebly.com

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Digital Portfolios: Guiding Students Toward Accomplishment

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"We've got to begin shifting our thinking in schools from achievement...to accomplishment." -Marc Prensky, author of Teaching Digital Natives What does accomplishment look like in this new era? How do we record it? More importantly, how do we inspire it? As we focus on creating school experiences for our youth that will lead them to...

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Amazing video from Madison City Schools in Alabama. The schools have an entire initiative on using digital portfolios in the classroom. The video goes into detail but there is more they share a google drive file full of resources for you to use in creating a culture in your school of using portfolios to show growth over years.

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Digital Portfolios - The Whole Child, The Whole Story

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Diagram from Matt Renwick's book

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Digital Portfolios in the Classroom

by Matt Renwick

ASCD posted an excerpt of the book, chapter 1 to be exact and I found it to be of great interest as I read the idea in the chapter were on point with what we have been discussing in class.  The idea of what is assessment is it formative or summative and how do we measure each.  The approach that the teacher and the students should work as partners in the evaluation.  Having students understand clearly what is being asked of them so that they can be successful.  This definitely an area where I need improvement when I evaluate my past portfolio assignments given.

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by Matt Renwick

"I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better."

-Maya Angelou

Too much assessment in schools today is done to students instead of with students. Even when the assessment reveals more than a score, the student or teacher does not have much say in the process. That said, within the context of the classroom, teachers still have considerable authority over how they can guide their students to improve daily. For example, through thoughtful language choices that are focused on a growth mindset, students can develop agency-the belief that things such as our intelligence and life's outcomes are changeable (Johnston, 2012). These teacher-student conversations bring students to focus on what they are doing instead of just how they are doing. In such a context, numbers and grades no longer direct these discussions.

In this chapter, we explore how digital portfolios can help students and teachers make this shift toward a partnership approach to assessment. A working definition, along with types and examples of digital portfolios, is offered to build a common understanding. We also look at the history of portfolio assessment in education, including why it seemed to disappear-along with reasons for its resurgence. The chapter ends with a framework for thinking about digital portfolio assessment through the lens of good pedagogy. Though technology is here to stay and has brought a lot of good into our world, the tenets of strong instruction are timeless.

Defining Digital Portfolios

Using technology to aid teaching and learning is not a new concept. Interactive whiteboards, the Internet, and wireless access are commonplace in schools. Recent technology, such as learning management systems like Edmodo and Schoology, has provided teachers with the ability to facilitate some classroom activities online. What is new is how technology can and should be leveraged to transform teaching and learning-instead of just enhancing it. This requires a shift in practice. Both teachers and students can improve in their work with the inclusion of digital tools when they are thoughtfully integrated with instruction.

Digital portfolio assessment is one such approach that could build a learning partnership. David Niguidula (2010) coined the term digital student portfolios, defined as "a multimedia collection of student work that provides evidence of a student's skills and knowledge" (p. 154). I've expanded on this definition and consider digital student portfolios to be dynamic, digital collections of information from many sources, in many forms, and with many purposes that better represent a student's understanding and learning experiences.

How we define digital student portfolios, though, is secondary to how we use the related technology in the classroom. Strong instruction with technology embedded as a necessary resource is preferable. For example, implementing a 1:1 program (i.e., one digital device per student) without any type of forethought, research, or planning does not lead to significant learning outcomes. In fact, such an approach could exacerbate achievement gaps for at-risk students who are not familiar with the technology (Toyoma, 2015). The change we want to see in schools-and that we hope technology will help facilitate-requires more than just a financial investment.
Three Types of Portfolios
Let's take a deeper look at the purposes of portfolios and the different types of portfolios that have been used in schools (Figure 1.1). Literacy professors Richard Allington and Patricia Cunningham (2006) offer clear definitions for this assessment tool and process (p. 179):

Figure 1.1. Different Types of Portfolios

Performance portfolios are collections of a student's best work, with the student taking the lead in the selection of the work and providing an explanation as to why they should be included.

Process portfolios contain several versions of a selected work. Such a portfolio might hold early drafts of a paper or poem to show how the piece developed over time.

Progress portfolios are often managed by teachers. They hold collections of work intended to illustrate children's development over time.

Bear in mind that regarding the different types of student portfolios, "few pure examples of any of these types exist" (Allington & Cunningham, 2006, p. 179). The vignette that follows is a good example. A teacher and a student celebrate a piece of published writing (a performance), yet it also serves as a point of instruction (progress). This combination of a showcase portfolio that is student driven and a benchmark portfolio that is teacher directed can be referred to as a "collaborative portfolio" (Jenkins, 1996).

In my experience, I have found it helpful when getting started with digital portfolios to categorize them based on purpose. We can refer to the three types of portfolios in terms of "best work" or "growth." Students, families, and colleagues typically understand this terminology better. Best-work portfolios are student driven and include collections of students' best work. Growth portfolios are teacher directed and represent students' development over time. Regardless of the type of portfolio, opportunities for documenting and sharing student learning can happen at any time. Teachers need to take advantage of these situations and worry about how to categorize them later, if at all.

To provide some context for digital portfolios, the following passage describes a small moment in which a teacher (Janice) is conferencing with a student (Calleigh). Janice video-recorded her writing conference using an application called FreshGrade. This conference was eventually shared with Calleigh's family through the application. Each piece selected by Calleigh throughout the school year is also saved within FreshGrade to show growth over time. Previously, Janice had provided instruction through minilessons on writing strategies. She was already aware of her students' writing abilities through a fall schoolwide writing assessment. The results of that assessment were quantitative (i.e., numerical) and based on one rubric. However, Janice's success in the writing conference was measured through Calleigh's ability to monitor her own growth in writing and take more responsibility for the results.
In the Classroom with Janice and Calleigh
Calleigh, a 2nd grader, sits down with her teacher, Janice Heyroth, to prepare for an assessment. This is a regularly scheduled conference during the middle of the school year; Janice meets with each student six times a year to reflect on a piece of writing in their digital portfolios. At the beginning of the year, students completed a reading and writing survey, which was uploaded and shared with students' families via FreshGrade. The information gleaned from that survey gave Janice information about each student's dispositions toward reading and writing. Questions such as "What types of books does your child enjoy reading on this/her own?" and "Does your child enjoy writing? Why or why not?" gave insights into how students approached literacy in their lives. It also informed her future instruction, such as generating writing ideas and topics students could choose to explore if they needed more support.

Elbows on the table, Calleigh props her head on her hands as her teacher spreads out some of her own writing. Because it is the middle of the school year, Calleigh's folder already contains multiple compositions. Janice encourages Calleigh to locate a recently published piece she is proud of. She selects one, and then Janice starts off their assessment with a question: "So, what are some things you are doing well?"

Calleigh doesn't hesitate. She states, "Handwriting." Calleigh pulls an older piece of writing from her folder and compares it with a more recent entry to show the difference. Janice listens and smiles while she writes down Calleigh's response in her conferring notebook.

Janice prompts, "What else?" and then silently waits and allows Calleigh the time she needs to look back at her writing and find other points to highlight. After a few seconds, she responds, "I don't know."

Janice acknowledges Calleigh's honesty and follows up with more specific language. She says, "Well, I have noticed a lot of areas where I think you're doing well in your writing. First, you stayed organized with your writing. Did you notice that?"

Calleigh tentatively nods.

Janice then says, "Do you know what I mean by staying organized in your writing?"

Calleigh hesitates and then smiles as she responds, "No."

"Okay ... did you stay on topic?"

"Yeah"

"What is your topic about?"

"Going to Florida."

"Right. It's all about going to Florida. Did you tell me about what you did first and go all the way through to the end?"

"Yes."

The conversation continues, and while this assessment is taking place, the rest of the students in the classroom are busy independently reading and writing, working on self-guided vocabulary activities, or using computers to listen to narrated digital stories. At one point in the assessment, Janice starts to make a suggestion ("Would it have made sense ... "), stops herself, and then restarts her inquiry: "Why did you start your real narrative in this way?" Calleigh shares that she started her story by describing an important scene during her visit to Florida. This is a strategy for developing a lead that she learned during whole-group writing instruction. Janice makes sure to note this connection between teaching and learning in her notebook.

The assessment closes with Janice asking Calleigh what she would like to continue working on with her writing. This time, she waits 15 seconds for a response.

Finally, Calleigh says, "Spaces."

Janice pauses and then responds, "Actually, your spacing is fine. The same with your spelling and handwriting-everything looks great. Let's take a look at your ending, though. 'Our trip to Florida was fun and exciting.' How could you have spiced things up and made your ending more memorable?"

Calleigh struggles with how to respond. Janice reminds her that endings can often resemble leads. With this information in hand, Janice makes a note to prepare future minilessons that address endings. Janice finishes up her time with Calleigh by showing her how to upload her writing to FreshGrade so her parents can see her work.
Assessment in Context
To understand how digital portfolio assessment can inform teaching and learning, let's unpack the conference scenario between Janice and Calleigh.
Relationships as a Foundation for Learning
Relationships are the cornerstone of all teaching and learning. Consider the initial interaction between Janice and her students. When Calleigh stated "I don't know" to Janice, she was being honest. She was willing to reveal her lack of knowledge about what good writing might resemble. Janice responded professionally, instead of "What do you mean you don't know? We covered this yesterday." She saw this admission as an opportunity for celebration and for instruction. Janice pointed out Calleigh's strengths in organization and how her conventions and presentation made her writing more readable. This opened the door for feedback and growth, especially when they started talking about her ending.

It is hard to learn from someone whom we do not respect or particularly care for. Learners must have trust in their teachers. Making mistakes puts us in a vulnerable position, and when we're forced to admit that we don't know something, we open ourselves up to potential criticism. This can be good situation if a high level of trust and a positive relationship have been developed between student and teacher. Students need to see their teachers as credible and reliable to be able to accept feedback about their performance.

Janice understood this. She maintained her relationship with Calleigh as a way to help her student grow as a writer. This trust was developed through genuine celebration and thoughtful interaction. In addition, it allowed Janice to document this assessment through a digital portfolio tool.
Assessment and Agency
As the writing conference transitioned from celebration to observation and feedback, Janice caught herself about to make a suggestion. This would not have been the end of the world, but it also would not have given Calleigh enough credit for her potential. By rephrasing her suggestion into a question, Janice allowed for Calleigh to take more ownership of her writing. Asking a question that begins, "Would it have made sense ... " is leading and teacher directed. Unfortunately, this is much too typical in classrooms today. The alternative approach ("Why did you start your narrative ... ") casts the student in the position of expert and requires them to justify their decisions. Calleigh was asked to support her own writing decisions, which were the result of strategies previously taught in the classroom. Calleigh was the lead assessor in this situation, and Janice was acting as a coach looking to build independence with her student. Bringing an authentic audience into this conference heightened the importance of Calleigh's work.
Clear Criteria for Success
Near the end of the writing conference, it became clear to Janice that Calleigh lacked the knowledge to develop informed writing goals for the next time they met. At that point, she recognized the need to be more prescriptive in her feedback. Her suggestion was brief and built on prior knowledge (using leads to build endings), yet she didn't spend a lot of time on it. Using this gap in knowledge as information to drive her instruction, Janice began to plan a future minilesson (or two) on endings. Chances are high that if Calleigh, who happened to be one of the stronger 2nd grade writers, needed more instruction in this area, then so did her classmates.

It's hard for students to meet expectations in any discipline if the criteria for success are unclear. Assessment is effective when teachers can provide instruction during the process of learning. The function of the conference was for Calleigh to identify her best writing within the context of current work and the standards of excellence conveyed by Janice. Their conversation was about celebrating success and moving forward as a writer. Calleigh was therefore positioned to consider improvement instead of simply being evaluated. With this in mind, assessments should focus on teachers and students working together with a clear set of criteria to get better. How better to capture this work than through technology?
Students of Our Own Instruction
The video recording of their conference for Calleigh's digital portfolio served as an artifact of reflection, self-assessment, and goal setting. Both the video reflection and image of her writing were combined within FreshGrade and shared with her parents. They were able to watch the conference and read Calleigh's writing on their smartphone, tablet, or computer. In addition, they could leave a simple, supportive comment on the digital artifact, or even go deeper and emulate Janice's language by offering specific feedback and asking thoughtful questions.

Just as important, Janice later watched the footage and evaluated her own practice within FreshGrade. While Calleigh's parents could appreciate her growth by comparing her submitted work online, Janice could critique her own interactions with her student and assess whether her feedback moved Calleigh forward as a learner. Janice saw this footage as essential data to inform her instruction-information just as valuable as any rubric or test might offer. In using digital portfolios in this way, the teacher becomes the learner as much as the student.
Additional Examples of Digital Portfolios
The following vignettes offer more examples of digital portfolios in the context of the classroom. Consider these three scenarios and how they might apply to your grade level and/or discipline.

Scenario #1: Barry, a high school English teacher, finds his students' writing lacking in both skill and voice. He therefore makes the decision to use Google Drive for his students' writing projects throughout the school year. The classroom has access to one cart of Chromebooks. Because of the one-device-per-student ratio in his classroom, every learner has access to his or her digital writing and projects within this web-based software and storage system. Students are taught how to create folders within Google Drive for different writing projects (created with both Google Docs and Slides). At specific times during the school year, students are expected to select a piece of writing that represents their best work and post it to their performance portfolio, hosted on a Google Site. Every student is expected not only to select and publish a piece of writing but also to offer feedback for classmates. In addition, Barry has connected with another classroom in a different state to expand the number of opportunities for his students to communicate with a meaningful audience. The clarity provided by the teacher on how to use Google Drive to organize the process of writing, along with an authentic audience that could facilitate feedback in an online environment, offered relevance and motivation for students to increase their voice and better apply their skills.

Scenario #2: Lori, a middle school math teacher, is not seeing her students transfer their learning to new situations. They are respectful and attentive during class, but when presented with a similar yet novel problem, the students struggle to apply their knowledge and skills.

Lori believes that the missing link between instruction and understanding is the lack of integration of the recommended eight mathematics practices in her curriculum (Common Core State Standards):

1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.

2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively.

3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.

4. Model with mathematics.

5. Use appropriate tools strategically.

6. Attend to precision.

7. Look for and make use of structure.

8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

For students to become more self-aware of how these practices help them in mathematics, Lori decides to have her classes reflect daily about their learning. She signs up for a Kidblog account. Students have their own blogs to write about how they used one or more of the mathematical practices during the lesson. Lori teaches her students how to categorize and tag their posts based on the topic of study and mathematic practices. This math journaling happens at the end of the lesson and serves multiple purposes: to give students the opportunity to reflect on their math work through writing, to reveal their understanding of the day's lesson for Lori to read, and to provide a window for parents who want to better understand how their children are doing in school. As homework, instead of a worksheet, students are often expected to respond to at least two classmates' posts in the comments. This type of work seems more authentic, and it promotes the idea of a community of learners rather than kids competing with one another in learning.

Scenario #3: Cathy, an elementary school teacher, finds her reading conference notebook cumbersome. She wants to be smarter about documenting students' reading goals and taking notes as she talks one on one with students during independent reading time. Cathy learns about CCPensieve, an online conferring notebook application that is connected to the Daily 5 literacy workshop model (Boushey & Moser, 2014). Within this web-based software, teachers can quickly move from student to student and find personalized assessment data that show their growth as readers. Using CCPensieve as a progress portfolio, there's no need to leaf though a thick binder full of papers to find reading goals, lists of books read, or strategy notes for the next student conference. Cathy can quickly see a snapshot of all of her students on the main page of her digital account. In addition, because the information is stored online, she can access this information from any computer or mobile device with an Internet connection.

Another advantage is how CCPensieve allows others to be involved in the process. Students can use the information about their reading lives to gain a better understanding of their accomplishments and next steps. Parents are able to ascertain their child's learning progress because of how the qualitative data is organized and shared out via email. Other teachers can be invited to view and add to a student's progress portfolio. CCPensieve becomes an additional way for colleagues to communicate and collaborate without actually being in the same room. Cathy, her colleagues, and students' family members are all partners in students' journeys toward becoming lifelong readers.

These three examples have much in common. First, each scenario identifies the specific access necessary for teachers and students to be successful. For example, when a 1:1 student-to-technology ratio is required, only then is it provided. Second, the purpose for the inclusion of technology is prompted by pedagogy. Whether it is the need to facilitate peer feedback, to include students in the process of goal setting and reflection, or to better communicate students' learning progress, the rationale for the inclusion of digital tools is steeped in learning. Third, students' learning becomes visible outside the classroom. In all three examples, families and peers are brought in to the learning process. Because of this audience, the work automatically becomes more authentic and meaningful. These common elements serve to frame technology integration for educators, shared later in this chapter.

Understanding Portfolio Assessment

The previous example of digital portfolios in action (Janice and Calleigh) is a powerful portrait of what's possible with digital portfolio assessment in the classroom. To understand this process, it is helpful to understand the concept of assessment as well as the origins of portfolios in education.
Assessment 101
Assessment is the form, not the function. Teachers assess student learning to discover if their understanding of a concept or ability to demonstrate a skill is at a proficient level, and if not, then to respond accordingly. To understand how portfolio assessment has evolved to the present day, it is helpful to understand assessment in general and how portfolios have attempted to capture the qualitative information in the classroom that can better represent the whole child.

Assessment can be defined as the process and tools used to reveal information about a learner's progress and achievement. As teachers, we assign certain values to levels of development that a student most likely has attained as a reader, writer, and thinker. The more information we can glean regarding a student's ability, the better and broader a picture we have to make instructional and curricular decisions.

Of course, too much information might result in data overload. A certain limit must be determined so we remain focused on teaching and learning rather than on gathering and organizing. A good analogy is a visit to the doctor's office. Your doctor will take your blood pressure, listen to your heart, check your ears and eyes, and so on. However, he or she is not going to take a blood sample if the initial assessments don't warrant it. There are many correlations between the two situations. Age, expected cognitive development, experience, and other outside factors (e.g., background knowledge, parental support) also come into play as we build an understanding of our students' strengths, needs, and interests.

The concept of assessment is often divided into two types: formative and summative. The simplest comparison between formative and summative assessment is that formative is assessment for learning and summative is assessment of learning (Black & Wiliam, 1998). If you break down these words etymologically, inform is related to formative. This information would therefore inform our instruction. An example might be exit cards/tickets, where students respond to a question to check for understanding at the end of the lesson. Their work isn't graded. Exit cards/tickets are used to simply inform the teacher's instruction for the future.

By contrast, summary is closely related to summative, which would imply that data from this type of assessment are collected after the learning has occurred. Your typical unit tests and performance tasks would fall into this category. Figure 1.2 expands on this comparison.

Cris Tovani accompanies this comparison with a helpful analogy (2010). When she speaks with teachers, she often compares formative and summative assessments with athletics. Practice time is an opportunity for coaches to provide explicit feedback based on current performance. At game time, however, very little feedback is given except for the final score. Much more time is devoted to practice, where the goal is to improve. The summative assessments (game time) are more infrequent opportunities to "show me what you know."

These two types of assessments clearly work in concert within the arena of athletics. Yet this connection is often lacking in the classroom. If formative assessments are there to guide instruction for learning, then both student and teacher need to know the learning target(s) they must hit (Moss & Brookhart, 2012). To know the target, a clear understanding of the standard of excellence needs to be developed and conveyed. If the district and state (summative) assessments are aligned with these standards, then the target should hopefully be clear. And with that destination in mind, formative assessments can provide a pathway for learners to achieve strong growth and eventually mastery.
A Brief History of Portfolio Assessment
Portfolios have long been used to document student learning. Portfolios came into prominence during the 1980s and 90s as an authentic assessment tool for writing workshop. This approach was spearheaded by educators such as Donald Graves and Sheila Valencia (Jenkins, 1996). These innovators in literacy instruction believed that reading and writing were too complex to be evaluated through letter grades or single scores. With that in mind, an authentic approach to portfolio assessment sought to "minimize the distance between instruction and assessment" (Valencia & Place, 1994, p. 154). Portfolios in the context of literacy can be a better approach to assessment, as reading and writing rely on qualitative results to gauge growth and achievement.

Around the same time, education was also exploring the use of portfolio assessment for groups of students with specific needs. For example, Moya and O'Malley (1994) reported on some of the benefits of using portfolios for English language learners, including a greater ability to focus on the process of learning (instead of only on outcomes) and the ability to tailor assessment to the needs of each student. In addition, with the emergence of new learning theories, such as multiple intelligences, educators and researchers saw a new pathway for leveraging portfolio assessment to capture, reflect upon, and share student learning artifacts. Educational researchers such as Evangeline Stefanakis (2002) advocated for the use of portfolio assessment to document students' intelligence beyond the core disciplines. Students who demonstrated strength in physical education and music, for instance, were offered new opportunities to convey their understandings through a more authentic approach to assessment. As an example, students could use a video recording from a choir concert to show proficiency in their musical abilities. An assessment such as this, facilitated through technology, is better aligned with the expectations for the discipline.

Given these benefits, it still is not surprising that portfolio assessment has fallen out of favor in schools. This more authentic approach to assessment also demands more time and attention; reflection, self-assessment, and goal setting are critical components of the process. With large class sizes, less support, and more resources devoted to standardized assessments, limitations are placed on educators who might want to facilitate portfolio assessment. As veteran literacy educator and author Regie Routman notes, "I remember decades ago when portfolio assessment was all the rage. Then it died a slow death because it was overwhelming for teachers to implement with their students, not to mention all the time it took" (personal communication). Another challenge is the qualitative nature of this approach. For example, student writing is more difficult to assign a grade or score to than, say, a solution to a math problem. The draw of an easier-to-implement assessment system that relied mainly on numbers and symbols gave way instead.

With recent advances in technology, portfolio assessment has experienced a resurgence in popularity. Many technology companies now offer digital portfolio tools to use in the classroom. The biggest reason is the capacity of technology to capture, house, and share artifacts of student learning online. The advent of the Internet, along with a bevy of affordable mobile devices, has caused educators to rethink student work as more than only a physical object or file. In using digital tools to capture student thinking and progress, students' learning journeys start to become alive. We can hear the confidence in their voice when giving a speech and see their enthusiasm when presenting on a research topic in school. In addition, technology has allowed students to become better involved in the assessment process itself. Tablets and laptops put in the hands of learners give them more opportunities to document, reflect upon, and publish their work. This access to share and assess growth and best work is more easily captured with digital portfolios. Finally, these tools inform families about their children's current understandings and future goals. How digital portfolios are integrated into the classroom is an important next step.

A Framework for Digital Portfolios

Digital portfolios, these dynamic repositories of student learning artifacts, stand in contrast with the symbols that have typically represented learning in schools, including grades and test scores. Quantitative assessment results are static and unresponsive. They draw little attention to the overall learning process. Numbers and symbols are not without some worth. Grades on high school transcripts still act as prerequisites for acceptance to higher education. Test scores provide a snapshot of a school's general achievement levels. However, these assessments are instruments that can, at best, make rough estimates about a student's or school's achievement levels. Still, numbers and symbols are much easier to collect, organize, and analyze.

Qualitative assessment results need processes and protocols so teachers and students can more systematically implement them in classrooms. In my previous work (Renwick, 2014, 2015), I offered a basic framework for assessing the effect that technology can have on student learning: access, purpose, and audience. Access is the availability for students to use connected tools, discover new knowledge, and tap into currently unavailable resources. Access can also take into account how technology modifies and accommodates content and tasks for students with specific needs. Purpose is defined as the reason for utilizing technology in the context of learning. It also should offer a rationale for the work in which students engage while at school and in their lives. Audience includes anyone who can view and celebrate students' learning, as well as provide feedback to promote thinking. The three tenets of necessary use of technology are described in Figure 1.3.

Access, purpose, audience: within these three tenets of a digital integration framework, we are more likely to experience success in the classroom. Technology comes and goes. With a strong understanding of portfolio assessment in general, we can better align the digital tools to meet our students' true needs. Technology should support the learning, not the other way around.

Linked Activity: Using a Framework to Reflect on Current Practice

Think about your current learning environment for students, including the discipline(s) you teach, assessment practices used in your classroom, resources available, and schoolwide expectations.

Considering your context, respond to the following questions to help you reflect on your current practice and what's possible for the future.

1. What type of access do your students have to technology in your classroom? Specifically, what is the wireless situation? How many and what types of devices are available? What is your district's current policy on sharing student information in an online space? What needs should be addressed?

2. Given your current teaching assignment, what entry point in your curriculum makes the most sense for integrating digital portfolios? That is, what would be the purpose of incorporating technology within your discipline? How will student learning benefit from this inclusion?

3. If access is strong and a purpose has been identified, who will be the audience that will be celebrating and assessing students' work? Will family members be the main recipients for looking at and commenting on their learning? How might peers be involved in recognizing and offering feedback for what's posted and shared?

John Spencer is a professor of educational technology within the School of Education at George Fox University in Portland, Oregon. Prior to that, he was a middle school social studies and digital journalism teacher in the Phoenix, Arizona area. His school had many Spanish speakers in a state that demanded all school work be read and completed in English. John is also the author of Launch: Using Design Thinking to Boost Creativity and Bring Out the Maker in Every Student (2016).

Questions in each chapter's Learner Profile are adapted from The Action Research Guidebook: A Four-Stage Process for Educators and School Teams (Sagor, 2010, pp. 37-38).

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by Matt Renwick "I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better." -Maya Angelou Too much assessment in schools today is done to students instead of with students. Even when the assessment reveals more than a score, the student or teacher does not have much say in the process.

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As I did my research and read I found that there was a huge trend for portfolios in the 80's and 90's but that they fell out of favor.  It seems they are making a comeback.

From my research I can see a clear perspective to give students some choice in what they curate to truly show growth and/or mastery.  You need to figure out.

I really liked the idea of looking at the student's accomplishments overtime and seeing growth in their work through artifacts. The portfolio can be the instrument to show those accomplishments.  The growth is increased through reflection.

In my own classroom I plan to use the resources to revise my existing portfolio assessments to make them a more effective measurement of growth.