I am also interested in it for enhancing my own résumé. The one page résumé is something that has been ingrained in my head. I recognize that schools and employers want to give quick looks over applicants and need one page of well-presented information to quickly sort. However, I feel that as a teacher, my job description and a photo or two of me teaching cannot come close to capturing my experience and skills. Despite e-everything being the direction of the world, I feel that if I walk into a job interview tomorrow (for a preschool teaching job or directorship) with an interactive, multimedia portfolio presentation, my application may not be taken seriously. I am pretty sure that that this will quickly change to be the norm and very soon, anyone walking in with a résumé on paper will be the one who is not taken seriously.
In my browsings, here are a few links to articles and information about e-portfolios. I hope you find some of the information useful. The links are from a variety of sources from K-12 and college but the base of information seems to be good. The information gathered can be developed into a proposal for your school to implement.
If YOU have any links to share please do! Thanks in advance!
REAL* ePortfolio Academy for K-12 teachers to be facilitated by Dr. Helen Barrett
http://electronicportfolios.org/academy/
The Association for Authentic, Experiential and Evidence-Based Learning
http://aaeebl.org/
Use ePortfolio to achieve your goals
http://www.eportfolio.org/
WELCOME to the MCC ePortfolio Project
http://eportfolio.middlesexcc.edu/control.cfm
ePortfolios in K-12 and in Teacher Education
Hi Tara C.,
ReplyDeleteI think your ideas are awesome. It would be beneficial for parents to see their child's work digitally online. With that, they can store it longer without it being stuck in a box upstairs in the attic for years and years. If they wanted to see the puzzle or display it, they can print out a copy.
The part I really wanted to talk about more is in reference to your own personal digital portfolio. First of all, most people have to apply to jobs via the internet now. Therefore, I feel strongly that someone can include a link to their personal work to showcase what they do. I was interviewing for teaching jobs three years ago. At that time, I just put all my materials on a DVD-R and submitted it in a folder to all the people who interviewed me. It would've been so much cleaner just to say, "here's a link to my digital portfolio" on my resume. Excellent idea.
Tara J.
Using an ePortfolio as a resume is a fantastic idea on multiple levels. First, it allows you to include many different aspects and allows the interviewers to focus on what they find most important/relevant without having to sift through lots of papers and other information. For example, if they emphasis writer’s workshop in their school, they can easily tab right to an example of this type of lesson.
ReplyDeleteAnother great aspect of the ePortfolio is that it can allow you to differentiate yourself from the many others that a school will be interviewing. When everyone else is turning in online applications and simple paper resumes, the person who turns in an ePortfolio will stand out in their mind.
The final, and perhaps most important factor is that it shows interest, competence, and eagerness to utilize technology. Since the use of technology in the classroom is becoming more and more important, showing that you are comfortable using it is an important distinction.
To sum up, I have to agree that I am onboard with ePortfolios!
Hi Everyone,
ReplyDeleteI don’t know if you know this but I am currently taking the “24hur requirements” for my certificate if eligibility to teach K-5 and we have to set up an ePortfolio for interviewing purposes. My only concern and hesitation is most schools use an on-line application process and you up load your documents which doesn’t include lessons. They sometimes ask for you to bring copies.
I’m trying to find this cute lesson a preschool teacher did to start an ePortfolio with her students and to share with parents! I think even having the students do a little video that highlights their personal thoughts about the year or using Animoto and doing a slide presentation of their uploaded work with their our commentary. The possibilities are endless!
GREAT POST!!!!
Melissa
On a further note, I love the background and font style/color of your blog!
ReplyDeleteCheshta
Your comments and concerns about the use of e-portfolio are alive and well in academia. It is becoming a must for tenure in higher education. You can decide whether you utilize your own web page, a flash drive, or a box stuffed full of memorabilia, but you must have something that makes you stand out from the other candidate who is equally qualified on paper. Think of the portfolio as your personal marketing campaign. Research has shown that the use of interviews is too subjective and many people are hired for the wrong reasons and eventually end up being not a good fit. Getting the students started thinking in this way is a great way to both empower them and build confidence and self-esteem. You can also use it to teach students how to reflect on their accomplishments and how to handle criticism. And, what a wonderful gift for the parents at the end of the year.
ReplyDelete