Swimmin’ Lessons

If You Lived Here, You’d Be Home By Now: E-Folios

Here at International School Bangkok we are about to embark on an adventure in learning. O.K., I know that sounds self serving if not reminiscent of Pollyanna. But the truth of the matter is that Chad Bates, Dennis Harter, Jeff Utecht and Kim Cofino (our tech gurus) are quickly developing the capability for us to begin using E-Folios. Someone may be asking, “Just what is an E-Folio?” Well, I can’t think of a better answer than the one offered by The Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning:

“We define a learning portfolio as a purposeful collection of artifacts that characterize learning experiences of the portfolio owner. These artifacts may include items that were created by the student in the context of the learning experience, such as a paper or a drawing, or the artifacts may otherwise represent the student’s learning experience, such as a brochure or photo. Reflection, the process of thinking about something from a new perspective in order to understand that thing more deeply, is an essential part of creating a learning portfolio. The products of this higher-order thinking are also important components to be included in the portfolio. The portfolio owner might be an individual or a group of individuals–teachers, learners, a program or institution. The set of artifacts contained in a portfolio together with reflections, tell a unique story about some aspect of the owner, and can help the owner share his or her story in rich detail” (http://scil.stanford.edu/research/efolios/).

My colleague Dana Watts and I are working on the model that we hope to use in our high school English Department. The English Department blog will connect with individual English teacher blogs which in turn will link with individual student blogs: E-Folios. Our school’s mission statement, in part, reads:

“Today, our vision guides all school improvement efforts and begins with how we want every ISB student to leave us – bearing the transportable gifts of intellectual development and cross-cultural understanding.”

E-Folios are a vehicle and a home. They are the vehicle that will transport each student’s individual learning story. Wherever a student goes, their E-Folio is there already. E-Folios are a home that is always here!