Digital portfolios – the place for all of your eduawesomeness
Updated: Nov 3, 2022
Teachers, administrators, and other education stakeholders want to see what you have been learning, sharing, and doing in the classroom. One way to showcase all your edu-awesomeness is by creating a digital portfolio.
Want to get serious about your digital portfolio? The time is now! Check out this self-paced, online course, and create your digital portfolio from scratch! Get started today!
Check out www.sfecich.com/20 for a checklist and additional sprinkles of edumagic to add to your digital portfolio!
Cue infomercial music here. Are you tired of lugging around a three-ring binder of notes, resources, lesson plans, folders, and worksheets? Is your binder full of ideas, but you don’t have anywhere to store them or organize them? Do you love your edu-collection of awesomeness but have no idea where anything is? Fear not! Start your digital portfolio and start it now! A digital portfolio is an online repository and centralized place to show off your edumagic!
Start your digital portfolio and start it now!
The critical thing to remember about a digital portfolio is that it is never complete – you can always keep learning, growing, and building. A digital portfolio has many magical powers and upgrades (Kappa Delta Pi, 2016):
It provides a future employer with a visual representation of you. It highlights who you are, what you are all about, and why you want to teach...a one-stop spot for future employers that they can refer to at a later date and time at their convenience.
It showcases your skills, strengths, field experiences, student teaching work, and work outside the classroom.
It demonstrates your technical savvy – just by creating one.
There are many accessible technology tools available to create a digital portfolio. When searching for a technology tool, find something that is
Easy to use
Professional appeal
It can be personalized to fit your unique self and is free
You may want to try Google Sites, Weebly, or Wix to create your digital portfolio.
Remember how I said the digital portfolio is always growing, as it is a process and not a product?
According to a webinar by Kappa Delta Pi (2016), pre-service teachers include some foundational components in their digital portfolios: welcome, about me, contact, current resume, teaching philosophy, work samples, and more.
The welcome page is the landing page for your site. It welcomes viewers to your page and describes the purpose of the digital portfolio. It is a guide directing the viewer to what is found here.
The about me page lets you get more personal with your content. Describe yourself as a person and as a teacher. Most pre-service teachers put their background, major and rationale for choosing it, graduation year, career goals, what they like doing in their spare time, interests, strengths, and other information. Consider adding fun facts about yourself to show some personality (this is where you can put in your secret talent that you play the ukulele)!
Your professional resume should include several categories (Snyder, 2018), such as contact information, education, student teaching, field experiences, work history, and teaching-related experiences. Some additional (optional) categories include concise and clear objectives, honors and awards, volunteer experience, professional memberships, and extracurricular activities. Snyder (2018) states that you must justify everything on your resume – it must be there for a reason. Be picky about what you showcase on your resume, as it should only be one page.
The contact page is self-explanatory. Be sure to include your professional email, embed or provide a link to your professional Twitter and Pinterest feed, and link to a LinkedIn profile if you have one. Please don’t include your address or phone number– there are creepers.
One of the essential features of a digital portfolio is your work samples! Who doesn’t love a good sample? You want to include all the edu-awesome things you are doing and learning in and out of the classroom! Be like a picky eater and only choose those materials you are proud of and those that make you shine!
Remember how I said the digital portfolio is constantly growing, as it is a process, not a product? During your courses, as you complete assignments, consider adding them to your digital portfolio to showcase your learning – your future self will thank you.
Let's hear what these teachers have to say...
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