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Assessing Student Progress Using Blog-Based Porfolios

Assessing Student Progress Using Blog-Based Porfolios
Editor’s note: Kathy Cassidy is the author of a new book from Powerful Learning Press, Connected from the Start: Global Learning in the Primary Grades. During a recent webinar (free archive here), Kathy shared many ideas from Chapter 5 of the book, “Using Blogs as Digital Portfolios.” The webinar was rich in content and full of great discussion — so much so that there simply wasn’t time for Kathy to share her thoughts, in depth, about where formative and summative assessments might fit into this digital blog/portfolio model. So we’ve asked her to write this article. A Great Tool to Continuously Assess Progress by Kathy Cassidy In my classroom, each of my grade one and grade two students has their own blog. The children have these online portfolios for many reasons, including an authentic audience, parental engagement, and the opportunity to create an online community. Formative Assessment I am continually doing formative assessment in my classroom — that is, assessment for learning.

ePortfolio Initiative » Why Use ePortfolios? Flexible in both their content and their form, ePortfolios are currently used in a wide variety of disciplines for a number of reasons such as: Enhancing student learning through selection of artifacts and reflection upon them Tracing the individual learning path of the ePortfolio owner Documenting learner achievement of specific learning outcomes within a course or programme Documenting learning achievements for employment/graduate school applications It has been argued that portfolio practice, as an educational process, is rewarding and engaging and fits the times:

5 Ways To Support Teachers Skeptical Of Technology For some, the technology rich classroom is easy to justify. Once you have made the transition and seen the benefits, it is easy to weigh them against the potential risks and worries about the problems resulting from having a room full of devices. For these “dive right in” types, the process makes a lot of sense. Give it a try and see what happens! However, the teachers to whom they will be presenting may not be so easily convinced that this change will be entirely positive. As more schools move to a 1:1 or BYOD format, it becomes increasingly important to support teachers – all teachers – effectively make that transition and to support them in that process. 1. For many teachers the greatest fear that looming changes hold is the loss of effectiveness. 2. When teachers are struggling to implement technology or any other initiative in their classroom often what they need is a chance to talk about what they want to accomplish, and have an instructor guide them to possible solutions. 3. 4.

MOOC to explore digital badges’ role in online learning, professional credentials e-Learning Feeds is ranking and scoring hundreds of Top e-Learning blogs, while helping e-Learning oriented readers to answer the question "What’s happening in the e-Learning industry" on a daily basis based on the Top e-Learning Blogs. Would you like to share your Top e-Learning Blog Posts with a thriving community of more than 100,000 e-learning readers? Well... then Submit your e-Learning blog’s RSS feed at e-Learning Feeds. Submit your Top e-Learning Blog’s RSS Feed and increase your Top e-Learning Blog’s traffic! The story of e-Learning Feeds There is a tremendous amount of information available in the web relating to the e-Learning Industry. For most of us, there is so little time to search, value the information, and acquire the knowledge. Being passionate about e-Learning, I visit e-Learning blogs and sites, while I also interact with e-Learning professionals on a daily basis. The Purpose of e-Learning Feeds e-Learning Feeds supports the following Top e-Learning categories:

Creativity on the Run: 18 Apps that Support the Creative Process "The intuitive mind is a sacred gift, the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift." - Albert Einstein We do not need to teach creativity, but rather inspire its daily practice. Somewhere along the way, we simply forgot to honor this innate gift and how to access its power. Our role as educators is to encourage learning experiences that increase the ability to recognize and listen to our inner voice. Let us begin by shifting emphasis from finding the right answer to creating school cultures that encourage risk-taking and embrace ambiguity. The Idea Catcher We can start by using note-taking apps to encourage observation and reflection. Useful apps are those that encourage the recording of our thought flow and merge text with features such as voice recording, video, sketching and photography. Recommended apps: Tricking the Muse A strategy often used to help generate ideas is brainstorming. Brainstorming Let's Get Visual

Understanding the Evolution of E-Portfolio Practice: Where Do We Go from Here? According to ECAR’s annual study of undergraduate students and IT, seven times as many students reported using e-portfolios in 2012 to facilitate their academic success as compared to 2010 (52% versus 7%). To better understand this marked growth, researchers have employed both quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate how e-portfolio practice by institutions, faculty, and students is evolving in higher education. This webinar will highlight emerging findings from several sources including the annual membership survey of the Association for Authentic, Experiential, and Evidence-Based Learning (AAEEBL) and LaGuardia Community College’s Connect to Learning project. Understanding the Evolution of E-Portfolio Practice: Where Do We Go from Here?

3 Ways To Kickstart Your PLN This Summer It’s summertime! This is when educators, free from the daily schedule of a classroom, can focus on professional development. More specifically, summer is a great time to network and to build your personal learning network (PLN). If you’re unfamiliar with a PLN, it’s a network of individuals you foster specifically to learn from and cultivate your professional skills. They are especially important in the world of education where classrooms can easily isolate you from your colleagues and peers. Starting a PLN and cultivating it is surprisingly easy and doesn’t take a lot of time. Free from internet filters on many campuses, take some time this summer to fire up your social media tools ( Facebook , Twitter , Ning , Pinterest , LinkedIn ). Here are three great tools and techniques you can use to build your online PLN: Find Folks On Facebook Most of us have a Facebook account. Embrace The Power Of Twitter Twitter is by far the most prolific of Social Media tools used by educators.

5 Reasons Your Portfolio Should Be A Blog Earlier this year, I wrote five reasons why your portfolio should be online. As I do more work and sharing with portfolios, I think it is important to actually going one step further and talk about the benefits of why a “blog” specifically is beneficial as a portfolio. If you are interested in doing this, I created a video years ago that simply breaks down the process. If you know how to blog, it is just a matter of reimagining the space, not tearing down something you might have already done. Blogging for me has been hugely beneficial for my learning, because of the power to not only think of an audience (making me think deeper about what I write), but also about connecting with the audience. As more areas look to do portfolios at either the school, district, or state/provincial level, it would be easy to look to services that make the portfolio for you, where you just drag and drop your information. 1.

Education in the Age of Globalization » World Class Learners Home » World Class Learners More about the book: Why did I write the book and what is it about?Table of ContentsAdvance Praises How to order: Corwin PressAmazonBarnes and NobleDownload Flyer and Order Form (PDF) Prepare your students for the globalized world! In the new global economy, the jobs that exist now might not exist by the time today’s students enter the workplace. Understand the entrepreneurial spirit and harness itFoster student autonomy and leadershipChampion inventive learners with necessary resourcesDevelop global partners and resources With the liberty to make meaningful decisions and explore nontraditional learning opportunities, today’s students will develop into tomorrow’s global entrepreneurs.

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