Podcast Reflection #12 K-12 Online: Primary Online Portfolios

Kathy Cassidy introduced us to a way that students can share their work and incorporate technology in the classroom. As a first grade teacher from Canada, she and her students each set up a blog page that allowed them to post their work and share with others like their parents. This is a great way for students to share what they have been learning with their families. Ms. Cassidy had 4 students discuss their portfolios. Two of the students were present students and two of them were former students. Carson, Sabrina, Braeden, and Dalton each told us things they like about their blog. Carson explained to us that it is nice to use a Blog or digital portfolio because it shows your improvement, especially in writing. He also pointed out that you can use videos, pictures, writing, and many more things on your portfolio. His favorite project was his clay project that he made and he likes that it can be accessible at anytime. Dalton and Carson told us about three different resources they used in the classroom for their digital portfolios:

• StoryBird
• Sketchcast
• Vocaroo

Each of these websites do something different but they used these on their blogs by recording their voices, writing and designing a story, and by videotaping themselves doing an art project or just drawing. I think it is great to use all the resources possible in the classroom especially if they are FREE! They students seemed really excited about using the digital portfolios and the other resources listed above. Sabrina and Braeden said they liked using the digital portfolio to post their four patters project. They could show their parents what they had designed and learned. The students explained that you have to stay safe online so there are two things to make sure NOT to do: 1) Do not use your last name 2) Do not use a personal photo of yourself. When you become an adult it is then your own choice whether to change those or not. Sabrina and Braeden also told us how to know if people have viewed your portfolio or not. They said every time someone views it it will tell you that ______ reads and it will have comments as well if someone left a comment. Sabrina said she has 128 reads! The students were allowed to choose what they put on the portfolio and all four students said it was better using the portfolios than using paper. They all agreed that more people could see your work and progress if it was online.

I thought this was a great video to watch and it is something that I think any classroom teacher could use as long as the technology was available. I think it is amazing that FIRST GRADERS were doing this. It just shows how well students learn and how technologically advanced this generation is. Students would love to do this and I think the parents would enjoy it and support it so they could monitor their child's progress.
Ms. Cassidy has shared her Wiki on primary portfolios:
http://primaryportfolios.wikispaces.com/