E-Portfolios & Google Sites THE POWER OF

Ed Charlwood

GoogleCertifiedInnovator

NationalLeadPractitioner(D&T),Oasis CommunityLearning

A portfolio is a com exemplify skills, qua training, and experi into the owner's pe traditional portfolio large paper format curated images, wo photos, and is still w and design as well a

It may be your expe chunks of valuable up with the administration of cutting out printed work and sticking it into a book that, in the worst-case scenario, gets lost - gone forever! Paper-based work, such as worksheets, exercise books, and folders, also has a habit of getting misplaced or tucked away on a shelf never to be looked at again, while digital work can be endlessly added to, creating a secure, rich, multi-year, searchable resource.

An e-portfolio (the term "e-portfolio" can be used interchangeably with "digital workbook," "efolio," or "digital portfolio") is a compilation of assets curated by students, but in a digital format It can include digitised versions of "analog" work, such as a photo in .jpg format of a hand-drawn image, or entirely digital work, such as CAD models, audio files, or videos.

E-portfolios are a blank canvas for creation; they can be as structured or unstructured as you see fit. Deciding the degree to which you insist on certain styles or formats may depend on how they are used. There are two main ways to think about an e-portfolio: a collection of finished assets exemplifying a student's best work at a point in time. For example, photos of a finished practical outcome. Showcase items can be augmented using digital tools like Thinklink - Product Deconstruction: Digital Watch (www thinglink com/scene/67026227 5851943938).

A "showcase": curated items showing the process of a piece of work For example, a series of photos. E-portfolios allow for the addition of explanatory text and reflections. How It's Made: Lost Wax Casting Part 1Carving (www coreyegan com/blogs/blog/ how-its-made-lost-wax-casting-part-1carving).

A "workspace": uploadedorembeddedinthee-portfolio, andexplanatorytextcanbeaddedasa textboxcaption.

Whether you choose to create showcases, workspaces, or a blend of both, Google Sites is an easy-to-use and versatile tool for portfolio creation.

Before you begin, there are a variety of factors you may need to consider:

Resources: What hardware do you have available, for example, built-in cameras.

Video Artefacts

When you upload a video artefact to your Google Site e-portfolio, you are actually taking the video file itself and uploading it to your own Google Drive, then giving others access to it.

Restrictions:

The limitations you have as an organisation for publishing work publicly.

Access:

If you wish the e-portfolio to be viewed by people outside of your organisation.

When you embed an artefact, you are hosting the asset at another location and simply linking to it. It does not matter that the video is hosted somewhere else, like YouTube This artefact is, in effect, "live." If the artefact is updated, it will update in your e-portfolio.

If you want the ability to transfer ownership of this e-portfolio once the student leaves your school, perhaps using a Google Takeout

Simplicity:

Data export: Can students create and curate the content they want intuitively, without special coding skills?

Depending on your approach, you could either:

Createassetsandartefactsdirectlyin youre-portfolio Thesemightbetext boxes,hyperlinkedtext,buttons,or maps.

Uploadorembedthemfromelsewhere, likeaphoto,asoundfile,oralinkto YouTube

Useacombinationofboth.Forexample, ifyourstudenthascreatedatechnical drawinginCAD,youcanexportitasa .jpgor.pdf.Thisartefactcanbe

By way of an example, you may have shown your class a great YouTube video that you would like them to keep a record of or be able to watch again In this case, you could email them the link and ask them to embed the video in their portfolio or distribute it via Google Classroom with instructions on what they should do. The same process applies if you have a Google Slide you want them to include, or a diagram, or a photograph

Many online resources have "embed code" that can be captured and inserted into digital portfolios using copy & paste

"Embed code" is a block of HTML that is embedded in the page-source and creates an object in doing so.

Image Artefacts

Adding images depends on a number of factors, namely the type of device you are capturing the image with. Many students will have access to a mobile phone or tablet with a high-quality camera, which will allow them to take a photo or scan a document. A photo will normally be in a .JPEG format, which will work universally on any type of website used Photographs are at for capturing andwritten notes, showing threedimensional work, products made, or as evidence of expertise in a ocess or skill headings to start creating a rubric:

DescriptiveText ReflectiveCommentary Usability&VisualDesign UseofTechnicalVocabulary

YoucouldevenembedaGoogleFormto createafeedbackloopwiththeteachers, peers,orforself-assessment

Getting Started

So, how do you start? Perhaps take something students have already done digitally, for example, an annotated Google Drawing, and create a single-page eportfolio where the asset is uploaded. Ask students to write a reflection below it. You could encourage the students to express themselves through the theme and layout and have them highlight key technical terms and create a number of hyperlinks to relevant external sources

When trying something new, it is always a good idea to try it yourself first. When introducing it to a class, it's best to start small and keep the consequences low. Then, evaluate how it went and the value that the e-portfolio added. It's important to note that, like with anything new, the first time will be the slowest.

Assessing

When considering how to assess an eportfolio, it is important to differentiate a few factors. Firstly, the e-portfolio is a container of assets that you should assess as as you normally would. Secondly, the eportfolio itself can be assessed as an asset

A rubric set via Google Classroom can be a useful tool for assessing the e-portfolio holistically Here are some suggested

Schools have achieved great success by making the e-portfolio the focus of parent evenings. To facilitate this, they assign a homework task for students to showcase their e-portfolio to their parents and discuss completed examples of work they are proud of (the "showcase"). They also share records of the process of work where the outcomes were more ephemeral (the "workspaces"). The discussions with parents revolve around the work itself and how students can improve their processes and outcomes, or both

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