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Resources for Learning About Digital Portfolios

  • "Picturing Performance with Digital Portfolios," by David Niguidula. Educational Leadership, November 1997, pp. 26-29.
  • "The Digital Portfolio: A Richer Picture of Student Performance" by David Niguidula. (Providence, RI: Coalition of Essential Schools, Studies on Exhibitions, No. 13, 1993). This paper outlines the original conception of the digital portfolio and its intent.
  • "Creating a New Tool for Change," by David Niguidula. Electronic Learning, January/February 1996, pp. 22-23.
  • Redesigning School, by Joseph McDonald. Jossey-Bass, 1996. This book describes the research efforts on Exhibitions from the Coalition of Essential Schools that spawned the Digital Portfolio project.
  • "Technology in the Essential School: Making Change in the Information Age," Horace, January 1994. Available from the Coalition of Essential Schools, Box 1969, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912.
  • The Digital Portfolio project was also one of eleven educational technology projects presented at the 1996 National Education Summit of governors and business leaders held at IBM's Palisades, New York facility in March 1996. For more information on the summit, see the summit's web site -- http://www.summit96.ibm.com.

Related publications include:

  • Barrett, Helen C., "Technology-Supported Assessment Portfolios," The Computing Teacher, March 1994, pp. 9-12. Helen Barrett also maintains a web site about constructing digital portfolios -- see it at http://transition.alaska.edu/www/portfolios.html
  • Revenaugh, Mickey, "Assessment: Machine-Gauged," America's Agenda, Fall 1993, pp.32-34.
  • Solomon, Gwen, "Electronic Portfolios," Electronic Learning, February 1991.
  • Wiedmer, Terry L., "Digital Portfolios: Capturing and Demonstrating Skills and Levels of Performance," Phi Delta Kappan, April 1998, pp. 586-589.

Resources for Building Digital Portfolios

Schools interested in working with digital portfolios can choose from a number of software products. These fall into two broad categories: software specifically designed for work with portfolios, and general hypermedia software tools.

Please note that this listing of software by no means constitutes an endorsement of these products.

Software specifically for portfolios:
These tools are specifically designed for collecting information about student work. The particular features vary, and thus you should carefully consider what you want from your portfolio system, and how each tool might help. You may want to consider using Microsoft PowerPoint.

To purchase any of these tools, you may want to contact the company directly, or go through an educational software mail order firm, such as Learning Services (800-877-3278, east, or 800-877-9378, west) or Educational Resources (800-860-9008, or 847-888-8300 in Illinois).

Hypermedia software:
A number of schools are using hypermedia tools to build portfolios from scratch. In a typical project, students are given some guidelines (include five pieces of work, including the assignment and an assessment; on a front page, include buttons to link for work in writing or that show problem solving), and some instruction on how to use the particular software tool. These tools allow for greater flexibility than those listed in the previous section, but they require at least a little more time to learn and use.

In addition to the hypermedia software products listed below, some schools are considering how to create digital portfolios using web-based tools. The assumption is that student work will be available on a school's local intranet, rather than to the entire Internet. You may want to consider HTML and web page editors and organizers for your development.

  • Digital Chisel, Pierian Spring Software, Portland, OR, 503-222-2044. (Digital Chisel's current release contains a template for creating digital portfolios.)
  • Director, Macromedia, San Francisco, CA, 800-470-7211
  • HyperStudio, Roger Wagner Publishing, El Cajon, CA, 619-442-0522
  • HyperCard, Apple, Cupertino, CA, 800-538-9696
  • Multimedia Toolbook, Asymetrix, Bellevue, WA, 800-448-6543
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Last Updated: August 2004

Original material: © 1997 by David Niguidula

The Digital Portfolio: A Richer Picture of Student Performance
Coalition of Essential Schools
Annenberg Institute for School Reform

  
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©2004