Thoughts on Portfolio

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Alex C. Pan

The Portfolio, especially electronic portfolio has been popular while the Web development tools advanced and became readily available for the general public. In our program, we always encourage students to develop good portfolios for their future careers. Here are some thoughts on portfolio development:

  • The portfolio should not be treated as just an assignment to be completed. It is a tool to reflect one’s ideas of growth, maturity, and success.
  • The portfolio should not be a one-time task. It’s work in progress. Once you started a portfolio, you are going to continue building it. It should show the process, improvements, and growth.
  • The portfolio assignment should not dictate what to be included in the portfolio. Rather, it should provide clear guidelines and great degree of flexibility. The assignment should not confine students by limiting them with rigid layouts or categories. The content of the portfolio should not be the garbage collections. The portfolio owners should pick and choose the pieces that can best represent their candidacy. Thus, the portfolio should be highly selective. Less is more.
  • The portfolio can tell many great stories. One should package one’s portfolio with pieces of evidences and organize the presentations with visuals, writings, or even artifacts. The best way of using the portfolio is to integrate it in the job interview process

I have gathered a few students’ e-portfolio examples from my ACB students as well as Dr. Conte’s students. You can find different styles and presentations. Students can always learn to improve their own portfolios by looking at other people’s portfolios. Hope you’ll enjoy watching them:

http://portfolio.project.tcnj.edu/ACB/2013/

 

About Alex C. Pan

Dr. Alex C. Pan was born in Taiwan and received his master and doctoral degrees from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. He is currently an associate professor at The College of New Jersey, where he teaches a broad spectrum of courses in subjects ranging from future teacher development to the impact of globalization. For over twenty years he has collaborated with public school programs and advised elementary and early childhood student teachers. He has published dozens of articles and given numerous talks and workshops on the topics of globalization, education, and technology-enhanced instruction. Most recently he has focused on teacher’s action research as well as the economic and cultural impact of globalization.
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