It’s no longer breaking news that digital portfolios are a powerful assessment for measuring competencies and empowering students to tell their whole learning story.
When the portfolio is implemented across general education courses, it illuminates the students work in a new light, demonstrating how students actually do (or do not) progress towards learning outcomes via the assignments they receive across disciplines.
Portfolios offer teachers the bigger picture when it comes to grading, giving them a much more thorough view of what the student actually has learned or accomplished over the course of a program, course, project or unit.
Portfolios document real student work and capture the meaningful application of knowledge and skills. Unlike a multiple choice test or essay, portfolios tell the full story of learning and growth and showcase new skills through the collection of authentic performances. Documenting and building skills for the future is critical for students and a bulb Digital Portfolios helps keep a comprehensive record of work.
Without knowing where a student has come from, it’s impossible to determine how much they have or have not learned. As long-term records of their work, portfolios allow teachers to take into consideration where a particular student started to more effectively evaluate their performance.
Many colleges and universities are moving away from SAT and ACT test scores as a method for admissions, so as not to miss out on top candidates that may not test as well as their peers. Portfolios are a solution several have turned to, as they collect evidence of experience related to outcomes that actually matter to student success at the university level and beyond.
“A portfolio of work is a curated experience. It’s an applicant’s chance to shape the way that I’m viewing his or her approach, methods, process, and best thinking; but oftentimes, a portfolio only contains final pieces, as applicants are overly concerned about presenting perfection. Polish doesn’t communicate process though, and therefore I’m left with only part of the story. Messy problems — and how applicants work through them — can show a great deal more in a portfolio than one finished, airtight solution. It’s then the applicant’s job to curate those into an experience for the portfolio viewer.”
Liz Danzico Chair & Co-Founder, MFA Interaction Design, SVA
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