Creative Classroom Online - Tech for Learning

Kathy Schrock's Tech Quest

Servers
If your school computers are networked, there's probably a file server available for storing information. In order to provide enough hard-drive space for the entire school population, there may be a limit to the amount of storage space available to you and your students. If you are planning to create classroom portfolios, ask your network manager for as large an allocation of space on the server as possible for saving the students' portfolios. It would also be helpful to have your network manager create a classroom server account so students can save data in their own area on the server. If there is not enough room on the server's hard drive, consider writing a grant for an additional hard drive. Be sure to ask your school's technology coordinator about the specifications of the hard drive you will need.

External storage drives

An external storage drive is another suitable option for storing large files. There are a variety of these to choose from for both Macs and PCs. I would suggest the 250 megabyte USB Iomega Zip® drive (www.iomega.com/). With this option, students may have their own Zip® disc to store their work. If you consistently use this USB

version, you can easily share the device between classrooms and computer platforms. There are also external, USB hard drives starting at six gigabytes in size. Some companies that manufacture these external hard drives are BUSlink (www.buslink.com/) and Simple Technology (www.simpletech.com/).

CDs

One of the most common methods for storing electronic portfolios is using CD-Record/Record-Write (R/R-W) drives and burnable CDs. These external CD-ROM drives are reasonably priced and the CD-R discs can each hold 600 megabytes of information. And better yet, they are under $1 apiece! If you leave the recording sessions open on the CD-R media, students can continue to add information to the CD as they finish projects. The CDs can also be carried from class to class and used from year to year to document student progress. (Note: CD-RW discs create a few problems since they can only be read in another CD-RW drive, so it is best to use the CD-R media.)

Online
Some of the newest large-file storage solutions are those that are appearing online. Driveway (http://www.driveway.com/) and Freedrive (http://www.freedrive.com/) are two online storage areas that allocate 30 to 50 megabytes of free storage space to each user. You may want to create an account for yourself and a separate account for each student in your class. (Due to the Children's Online Protection Privacy Act [COPPA], it is recommended that you have parents sign up each student or obtain parental permission before registering students.) Consider writing a note to the online storage company, explaining that you are a teacher who is in great need of more space for student projects. You may get some unexpected, gratis results!

Sources: Finding out more information Learn more about electronic portfolios by visiting the following sites.

http://www.ash.udel.edu/ash/teacher/portfolio.html
This site features an overview of how to create and use electronic portfolios in the classroom.

http://www.siue.edu/~jibell/assessment.htm
This site features a rubric on assessing electronic portfolios based on the ISTE standards.

www.essdack.org/port/
Here's a practical look at the techniques involved in creating electronic portfolios.

http://www.mehs.educ.state.ak.us/portfolios/why_digital_portfolios.html
This essay covers the pedagogical reasons for electronic portfolios.

Thoughts: Afterward, reflect on your quest Ask yourself, "What are ways I can use electronic portfolio assessment in my classroom to support teaching and learning?"

Why Electronic Portfolios?
Electronic portfolios, in contrast to traditional portfolios, can

help students learn valuable computer skills.
take up very little physical space.
let children take their original writings and projects home to share with parents, while the digital copy stays at school.
allow students to display their work on the Internet. This motivates them to produce high-quality work and lets them compare their work with that of students from other classes, schools, or years.
be interactive. Students can add links to cross-reference pieces. For example, if they write about a historic event, they can add a link to a picture of the poster they made about the same event.
contain things that do not easily fit into traditional portfolios -- audio clips of students reading or playing music, videotaped presentations or performances, animated stories, artwork, and more.

MEETING THE STANDARDS
This month's TechQuest addresses ISTE standard V.b: Continually evaluate and reflect on professional practice to make informed decisions regarding the use of technology in support of student learning.