Google Sites for Portfolio Construction

For my final, I had students construct a portfolio with Google Sites. They had to chose one of the 10 projects we did throughout the semester and decide which one best met each ISTE standard. I had them reflect on how that activity helped them to think about using technology with their future students. Here is a link to one of these technology portfolios.

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Comment by Julie Mueller on January 5, 2010 at 4:53pm: Denise, we are using a Canadian made on-line assessment software, Chalk and Wire, this year for the first time and are having students create e-portfolios that provide evidence for each of our New Teacher Induction Program competencies in Ontario. It looks similar to your google site approach. My problem is supporting all of my students with the technical apsects of putting it together...they get stuck on that and have trouble focusing on the content and pedagogy of the assessment. I take it your students learned google sites in the technology class?

Comment by Denise Lindstrom on January 5, 2010 at 5:44pm: This course was a technology class, and through out the semester I taught all the skills they needed to construct the sites. But after reading their reflection, I realize I need to focus more content and pedagogy. More online discussions, more readings I guess. It's hard to both in a single course. It's got to be integrated through the entire teacher ed program!

Comment by Julie Mueller on January 5, 2010 at 5:54pm: Exactly Denise, this is so hard to do if "content" instructors aren't also able to support the technology. We are wrestling with this in our program--all of our students have laptops with a good deal of software loaded right on them but no one addresses any of the software. I am wondering if the technology instruction could be integrated with our general methods course but again, hard to learn the technology out of context with content.

Comment by Denise Lindstrom on January 5, 2010 at 7:43pm: I had my students construct portfolios for another course I teach on inclusive practices. It had been a couple of years since they had their tech course so I was worried about supporting their tech skills. I put aside two class sessions so students could "workshop". They worked in groups and help each other write reflections and figure out technical stuff. I did give about a fifteen minute overview of how to make a portfolio with Google sites. It work out pretty well. At least I felt I got to focus more on helping with the content of their reflections and they help each other with the technical stuff.

Comment by Julie Mueller on January 5, 2010 at 7:52pm: Thanks Denise, great idea. We have set up a group of volunteer students this year as Tech TEC(TEacher Education Candidates)s who act as "mentors" to each of their classes. It is just getting off the ground so we haven't developed it too much yet, but they came in to school earlier in the summer, got their laptops and "tested" out some of our new technologies for us, then acted as peer support when the rest learned it...worked out pretty well but we are looking to develop it further.