ePortfolio = The New "Demo Tape"

The last time I had to create a portfolio of any kind was when I was finishing up my bachelors degree in broadcast communication at Marquette University. Back then, I had big dreams of becoming a TV news anchorman and my portfolio was essentially a collection of video clips of me anchoring the news on the closed-circuit campus television station. This became an electronic portfolio of sorts in that it was captured on 3/4" video tape then copied to VHS and mailed to TV stations in tiny towns all over the country in hopes of landing that elusive first job. As it turned out, I never made it in front of the camera due primarily to the fact that I have a face made for radio.

Clear to see from this screen shot (circa 1987) why my on-camera TV career was so short-lived

I got much better results from my news writing portfolio which consisted of scripts typed on a manual typewriter. As a result, I spent 10-years in the TV news business behind the camera as a writer and producer.

I haven't thought much about portfolios since those days, but I can certainly see the advantages of creating online portfolios for student, teacher and employee evaluations, job-seekers, professional development and consultants looking to demonstrate their areas of expertise to prospective clients. In my virtual school, where administering a multiple choice exam as a summative assessment is not the best option, having students create an online portfolio seems to be a much better way to evaluate their progress.

One of the pioneers in the development of ePortfolios is Dr. Helen Barrett. She delivered a very interesting Ted Talk on the subject in February 2010.

She has written extensively on the use of ePortfolios in K-12 education on her blog and teaches an online course called REAL ePortfolio Academy for K-12 Teachers if anyone is interested in learning more about how to use ePortfolios with your students. Very interesting stuff!