Google is probably the leading provider of mashup services and software for the creation of e-portfolios. The search giant isn't yet offering an e-portfolio product, per se, but in 2007 it began publishing a step-by-step process for combining its Google Apps software into e-portfolio mashups. On its "Google Apps E-Portfolios Mashup" web page, the company has published a series of documents describing how to mash up such applications as Google Docs, Gmail, Google Notebook, Blogger, and the iGoogle portal to, essentially, create an e-portfolio.
Google is also providing guidance specifically aimed at K-12 education. The company has published descriptions of three levels of K-12 e-portfolios: e-portfolio as storage; e-portfolio as workspace; and e-portfolio as showcase.
Lowendahl [Garner Group] is pleased to see Google getting into the e-portfolio business. He says interest from companies of such stature is necessary to secure the application's future.I agree, it would be nice if Google was getting into the e-portfolio business, but they aren't. What the author is referencing is MY website. Here is the comment that I added to the article:
This article provides interesting information about e-portfolios, although some of it is inaccurate and incomplete. It is true that most of the research and implementation of electronic portfolios has been in higher education. My reading of the Gartner Hype Cycle for Education, 2009, noted that ePortfolios were listed in the stage of "Sliding Into the Trough" (...of Disillusionment). To move to the next stage of the cycle (Climbing the Slope... of Enlightenment) we will need to have more research on the most appropriate strategies and "best practices" to support student learning, especially at the K-12 level.
Your reference to Google's support of ePortfolios was actually posted on MY website (http://electronicportfolios.org/google/ ). I wrote the K-12 support materials for both GoogleApps (and WordPress), linked from my web page (http://electronicportfolios.org/ and published using Google Sites). I developed the three-level model, based on my collaboration with both Washington State University and several school districts in California and Texas:
1. portfolio as storage (collection of artifacts)
2. portfolio as workspace (collection plus reflection/metacognition)
3. portfolio as showcase (selection, summative reflection and presentation)
It is also important to recognize that reflection is the "heart and soul" of a portfolio... not the technology or collection of artifacts. The real value of an e-portfolio is in the reflection and learning that is documented therein, not just the collection of work.My note to the author: To whom at Google do I send the bill for all my development work over the last two years? ;-)
UPDATE: After having a nice conversation with the author, the online article was corrected to read:
Google is probably the leading provider of mashup services and software for the creation of e-portfolios. The search giant isn't yet offering an e-portfolio product, per se, but in 2007 educator Helen Barrett, who has been researching strategies and technologies for e-portfolios since 1991, began publishing a step-by-step process for combining Google Apps software into e-portfolio mashups. On her "Google Apps E-Portfolios Mashup" web page, she describes how to join such applications as Google Docs, Gmail, Google Notebook, Blogger, and the iGoogle portal to create an e-portfolio.
Barrett also provides guidance specifically aimed at K-12 education. She has published descriptions of three levels of K-12 e-portfolios: e-portfolio as storage; e-portfolio as workspace; and e-portfolio as showcase.
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3 comments:
Good points, Helen. I think most of the ePortfolio community is doing research and sharing because we believe. What you are doing is part of a bigger picture. Long live altruism. Let me know if Google ponies up!
Helen, great commentary...please keep enlightening us. At my school (k-7) we use powerpoint as the "delivery vehicle" for the efolio (electronic portfolio) as the showcase part of our efolio cycle, with hyperlinks to work samples and reflective commentary from students. This is incredibly difficult for the junior primary teachers to manage. Can you suggest a vehicle which will be easier for the younger students to self manage?
I never make definitive recommendations, because there are too many variables. In my opinion, the use of PowerPoint for e-portfolios has seen its day, and reinforces the paradigm of "portfolio as presentation/showcase" rather than "portfolio as conversation/workspace." The choice of tools is predicated on some existing factors: what kind of Internet access do you have? If you have slow access, then you need to continue to use a desktop application, but could look at the new version of HyperStudio or Tech4learning's MediaBlender. But if you have good Internet access, then you could consider a variety of Web 2.0 tools (blogs, wikis, GoogleApps). But the challenge is the interface for primary students (but should be easier than an adult tool like PowerPoint).
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