Educational Progressions: Electronic Portfolios in a Virtual Classroom.

The need to improve student assessment, the desire to advance teacher training, and the increased popularity and accessibility of the Internet has led to a natural conclusion: an online inservice course. The Internet, coupled with a thoroughly developed Web site and support scaffolding is the perfect vessel to develop an online in-service training course on portfolio assessment. The authors have created an Electronic Teaching Portfolio Web Site (ETPWS), which has been developed to facilitate teacher development alone or in conjunction with an accompanying traditional in-service training course. By itself, the ETPWS is designed to be a self-directed exploration on the topic of portfolio assessment. Although the Web site can be utilized alone, it is being supported by a district-wide in-service training course in a classroom. The classroom course will require only minimal time commitment of two evening classes totaling five hours. The first class will introduce the Web site and will provide teachers with directions and expectations. The second class will meet as a forum for teachers to share their work and exchange ideas. The ETPWS and supporting inservice course is a great instrument, which supports Bridgewater's mission to continually improve the level of instruction in the district. Gaining widespread popularity in education, portfolio assessment has tremendous advantages over traditional one-time, objective-based test assessment. Objective-based test assessment only focuses on the product and limits the learner's ability to demonstrate the learning process. It does not allow learners to focus on specific developmental issues that are important to them, instead forcing them to focus on what the teacher deems important. Traditional assessment is a "moment in time glimpse" of a learner's ability to perform a task or set of tasks. It does not account for any external forces that may be affecting learners' ability to demonstrate their skills Portfolio assessment allows learners the ability to demonstrate their skills over a period of time, as they will for future employers. A portfolio will allow learners to chart the progression and highlight their individual achievements. In addition, portfolio assessment allows learners to demonstrate the knowledge they felt was crucial to their learning experience. Through properly constructed and thoroughly documented portfolios, learners can chronicle the moments of discovery that they underwent during their learning journey. It was from this research that we drew our inspiration to develop the ETPWS. Because the research clearly demonstrates that the benefits of portfolio assessment are so substantial, many school districts are implementing policies to incorporate it into their educational curriculum. This action has forced teachers to begin to utilize an assessment criterion that is foreign and often overwhelming to them. In an effort to support and train educators, school districts are issuing guidelines to aid teachers. However, it does not provide them with a clear concept of or a thorough understanding from which to teach. Often teachers become frustrated with the process of teaching and assessing students with concepts they have not experienced themselves. It is on this assumption that we based the development of our online in-service Internet course. We believe that that through the ETPWS, educators will be provided with a self-directed learning experience that will provide them with a thorough knowledge base. This knowledge base will prepare them with the necessary means to properly implement and effectively use portfolio assessment in their classroom. Our Web site will guide teachers through an active individual learning experience of developing a personal electronic teaching / professional portfolio. Designing the System The ETPWS is designed to educate all education professionals, but is being developed specifically for Bridgewater Faculty. …