Portfolios take different forms and are used for different purposes. Whether to document, diagnose or simply celebrate learning, digital portfolios have the power to transform learning and enhance academic achievement.
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Drawing on Hally Clark ‘s work, below are three main types of digital portfolio to explain to you what each one of these types mean. I have also included links to pages where you can access web tools and iPad apps that you can use with your students to create digital portfolios.
1- The Process Portfolio
Process portfolio highlights is all about highlighting processes involved in a particular activity. Process portfolio enables students to document the learning process and reflect on how their learning progresses over a given period of time. For instance, students can use tools such as Google Docs to compose their writings and each time they add an edit they can check the history feature to track the changes they added and how their writing styles develops.
2- Showcase Portfolio
The Showcase portfolio, unlike process portfolio, focuses on displaying the learning product. Students can use it to showcase their learning in the form of images, posters, videos, PDFs, etc. There are a wide variety of tools students can use to showcase their learning and empower their voice. However, the strength of the showcase portfolio is that it boosts students self-esteem and confidence and motivates them to keep learning.
3- Hybrid or growth portfolio
A hybrid portfolio is a combination of process and showcase portfolios. It enables students to feature both the process and outcome of their learning. In this way, students will be able to both reflect on their learning as it takes place as well as highlight and share the best pieces of their work that have value to them as learners. In a hybrid portfolio, students can work on longitudinal projects spanning extended periods of time. They can for instance take a project from the previous year and expand more on it over the following years.
