Week 3 – Blog post 2
Schools today use many forms of assessments including portfolios,
research papers, and tests. While many
believe all can be used for analyzing a student’s knowledge, only a few can be
used to show depth and growth of knowledge throughout a large amount of time.
Traditionally, each year a new group of students appear
on a teacher’s role. The teacher reviews
previous standardized data from state testing groups to determine a child’s
weakness and to curtail a general focus in their teaching. Schools then use daily quizzes, tests, and
six-week benchmarks to analyze more date and determine if those weak skills are
improving or if a skill needs to be retaught.
While this method is useful for data collecting, it does not help the
student in overall growth based on a serious of years. Yes, STAAR data can be collected from when a
child is 8 to 16; however, it does not consider the year that their teacher was
on maternity leave, nor the year when the student lost their home from Hurricane
Harvey. Student’s scores are affected by
much more than just classroom skills and knowledge, which is why the use of a
portfolio is necessary for a student to maximize their growth. The idea of a portfolio, allowing the student
to collect their own papers, and reflecting on whether or not they reached a
certain objective, allows them to be hands-on with their learning. This approach is much more appealing to a
self-motivated student, one that can give honest feedback and understand the need
to acknowledge where their weaknesses are in order to grow in a specific area.
Stating what you have learned about a subject (ex. Technology)
and providing examples through creating artifacts, creates the most relevant
and meaningful learning to academic or professional goals. For example, in undergraduate classes, many
classes are prerequisites required by all students. Taking Geology 101 as a science credit and answering
questions that professors have identified with important things to know (identifying
layers in a rock), and being graded based on the answer’s logic, accuracy,
breadth, and precision (using a multiple-choice assessment), only gives one a
concrete grade. Yes, one may know that
information (as proven by the test score), but does it transfer any meaning to an
ultimate degree in English Literature?
No, of course not. Having
someone ask a question, allowing the student to research information, and then
present their knowledge in a concise way, shows the teacher that the student has
a complete grasp on the content. Then
the teacher can take it one step further and have the student share the relevancy
in their content field and application as a teacher. This is the complete process in which a student
not only understands their knowledge but applies it a practical way.
My personal preference is a combination of both types of
assessments: research papers/essays and portfolios. When I was in college, a website called Pick-A-Prof
had just been launched. Every semester,
I would put in professors’ names of the classes I had registered for and would add/drop
them from my schedule based on student reviews on how the professor gave
assessments. I always chose professors
that required papers or essays as test grades, specifically final exams. I am not one that can just memorize material
for a test; I must learn it, and to do so, I find researching and writing creates
more depth in my learning. I feel a
portfolio creates this same feeling but allows a more practical approach at
this point in my life. I can reflect on
what little knowledge in the beginning over technology practices, and literally
see the growth through my collection in an eportfolio.
The purpose in a physical portfolio and eportfolios are
vastly different; while both share with the world created works by the student,
eportfolios allow others to interact and the student to reflect and add to their
story. Physical portfolios can show what a students has created but does not
require a reflection in the learning process.
For example, I could share certain pieces of artwork that are needed for
an Art interview, a sample lesson that I have created, or produce a work that
shows a company’s vision that I am interviewing for. While this provides my understanding
of the job, it does not show the complete depth of my knowledge unless I am
given time to explain what I have brought in and the purpose behind it. An eportfolio allows me to share different types
of knowledge through media. That same photocopied
lesson could have been videotaped and posted in my eportfolio allowing the interview
to become a flipped interview. The interviewer
would have had previous access to my website and could ask follow up questions
to my teaching practices. How was I able
to address the two students that didn’t understand the lesson? What changes did I make in that lesson the
following year to make it more effective?
After reviewing the blogging platform and websites, it
easy to see their similarities and differences.
Both are used as mediums to connect the creator’s ideas with another
group. Bloggers tend to stay in packs;
most people only visit blogging websites that have a specific interest to
them. This is done on a more personal
level. Even though some people have a
blog for their business, it is not the only thing that you find when looking
their business up. For Matilda Jane, a
girl’s clothing company, you would find their website first with a link to their
blog. Blogs as an additional asset to
feel connected on a more personal level with a client, but a website is used to
sell an item or get an overview of a specific brand.
In order to showcase the entire person, a website is the
best tool to use for an eportfolio. Like
blogs, you can connect to outside links, post pictures and videos, and tags to
search by. However, websites allow you to
organize your information based on what you deem to be important and not by
your last entry. Creating a tab for sample
lessons, teaching philosophy, resumes, etc., allows the person interested in
your talents to view everything in an easy to use way; no scrolling through four
months of blog posts to find a key word in necessary.
In a classroom setting, I would use a wiki for my
students eportfolios. There are many
reasons not to have them start with a website, but the main one is ease of
use. Wikis are very easy to manage and
move around in. Most teachers do not
have the luxury of using precious class time to learn a new technology tool and
have the student create and post a product to prove their knowledge and share
their journey. By taking out teaching of
the technology, more focus can be placed on the content and the growth part of
the journey. While websites look more
professional, they are maintained by one person and are a one-way form of
sharing information to someone. Wikis
allow and encourage collaboration, have an easy platform very similar to user-friendly
Microsoft Word (when in the edit field), and are cost effective because most
are free. Not only would classes be
working collaboratively, they could share their information and review their
peers findings with positive critiquing forcing students to answer questions/applications
they may have not thought of. Although using technology is one of the TEKS required
for an English class, it is not the main standard to be met. Producing a paper/ product and show casing it
through the use of a technological platform provides the teacher with content
based knowledge and allows a fluid conversation between those that visit the
site and those that created it.
Eportfolio Link:
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