Are student digital portfolios a realistic alternative to standardized tests?

[Sudha Konnanath]

Are student digital portfolios a realistic alternative to standardized tests?

‘Learning and Leading with Technology’s popular Point/Counterpoint section is looking for 500-word arguments on both sides of the question,

"Are student digital portfolios a realistic alternative to standardized tests?"

Please contact L&L Managing Editor Davis N. Smith ([e-mail] ) if you are interested in advocating either side of this issue. Point/Counterpoint articles are relatively informal. If you are selected, they will need a high-quality photo and a short (35-word) bio in addition to your 500-word essay.

Let us initiate this discussion here, and then one of us can write this 500 word essay and submit it on behalf of this ning.

[Julie Lindsay]

Good comments Lauralynn. You knwo at QA we will have a perfect world sooner than you think as we are going to become a 1:1 laptop/mobile conmputing school Therefore some of the concerns you raised will disappear. So, for now, as we wait to see whta our 1:1 program will look like we can work on teacher PD and raise awareness of what the possibilities are. Many students already have laptops at school everyday. I suggest you take advantage of this and encourage participation in online publishing and digital portfolio work.

[Lauralynn Stefureak]

We are "test-oriented" and digital portfolios require a new flexibility as educators. Standardized testing is fact-based. A portfolio created and designed by the student themself demonstrates not only factual knowledge, but applications knowledge as well. Dare I say, it also allows the student to share something of themselves while also sharing their knowledge? While I am open to the idea, I see issues such as hardware / lack of teacher knowledge being a factor as to whether or not I could take the leap forward (and I am convinced that it is a leap forward!) right now.
My classroom, unlike an IT classroom, lacks the hardware to make digital portfolios "easy". It would require many trips to multi-media labs that are often overbooked and difficult to access. My own unfamiliarity with the technology required not only to produce the portfolios...but to grade them in a like manner is another issue. In a perfect world each student would have their own laptop, and I would have easy access to the resources necessary to "make it happen".
Or is managing a digital portfolio easier than I think?

[Julie Lindsay]

and with the URL...

http://digitalportfolios.qataracademy.wikispaces.net/

[Julie Lindsay]

Great idea Sudha!

Is anyone else doing digital portfolios in the school??

All Grade 8s this year are creating wiki portfolios. Here is the wiki index page. So far only Grade 8A and 8C from last semseter (most of them) are hyperlinked. You can see they are of varying qualities. I look forward to sharing the work from this semester in a few weeks as there are some real high flyers in Grades 8B and 8D.