Reflecting on Portfolios

This past spring I took a class in portfolio assessment where we learned all about how a working portfolio is a great way for teachers and students to track how a student is progressing in the classroom. Teachers provide rubrics with guidelines for students to follow, students can work with the teacher to make achievable learning goals, and students can claim ownership in the learning process. On the whole, I have a good opinion of portfolios. After reading what chapter 4 says about portfolios, I found that there are many ways to digitize a portfolio and thus make it easier to work with. A digital portfolio has many advantages: it's easy to store and transport, it can hold images and media,its easily accessible to a larger audience, and it can store more data. Though any type of portfolio takes time to compile, in the long run, the information gathered on student's progress or a teacher's teaching strategies, can prove beneficial for showing to future employers, new teachers, school administrators, the parents of students, and the students themselves. A portfolio, whether used as an alternative form of assessment, as a collection of student work, or as a record of student progress is a great way to keep things organized, and if it can be digitized--even better!