I’ve been interested in portfolio assessment for a while so this session was a natural for me. The presenter, Brian McLaughlin, is a teacher who has been using digital portfolios with his students. He gave some background about digital portfolios, talked about why to use them, and listed some key items to include.

The portfolio assessment guru is Dr. Helen Barrett, and most of Brian’s specific suggestions can be found in her work. A couple key points: include a variety of materials and not just the very best stuff, talk with students about good information design principles, and include examples of drafts and outlines.

I need to read more of Barrett’s work. With our new 1:1 computing initiative, digital portfolios make too much sense to ignore.