Webquest on Electronic Portfolios for GMST 511

The parts of the webquest:

Introduction

Welcome to a webquest about electronic portfolios. By completing this webquest, you will learn about

• The parts of an electronic portfolio,
• The uses and purposes for electronic portfolios, and
• The tools for making and delivering an electronic portfolio.

In addition, you will start the design phase of building your electronic portfolio and get familiar with the structure of a typical webquest.

Notes about this webquest:

• Rather than spread this information out over five different web pages (more typical of a webquest), I chose to keep it on one longer page. This will require more scrolling, but less navigation within the webquest itself. To help you navigate this page, there are links at the top to each section in the document; at the end of each section there is a "return to top" link.
• The links below (under resources) will open in a new window. This means that you cannot hit "Back" to return to the webquest; you simply close the new window down, or multitask (using ALT + TAB) to return to the browser window with the webquest.
• You probably should read through this entire page first, in order to familiarize yourself with the entire process so that you can keep the end-product in mind as you work.

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Task

Your tasks are simple, but require some thought, creativity, and discussion. Not all of these tasks will be completed on the computer. Also, the first three can be done in pairs, rather than alone, since there are not enough computers for everyone to work alone. The final task must be completed on your own; however, you may freely discuss it with others.

1. Examine the resources available to you. Several have links that you could follow, so be careful not to get too lost on the information superhighway. You may want to jot down or type notes (multi-task from one program that is open to another with ALT + TAB) as you go.
2. Write down your own definitions of the following terms: portfolio, electronic teaching portfolio, and student portfolio.
3. Discuss your definitions with other students, briefly. After this, write/type a short paragraph describing the uses of electronic portfolios in education.
4. Complete the first seven portfolio design activities (on paper) in Peter Pappas' guide "Design Your Web Site from the Bottom Up" (see handout listing these; you will probably want to work this part on paper). Details for this can be found in the "Guides" section of the fifth resource listed below. For step 1, some of the topics that you must include are also listed in the handout. This list is not meant to be all-inclusive; it is only to get you started. When you get to steps 6 and 7, be creative.

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Resources

One definition and description of e-portfolios: "Creating and Using Portfolios on the Alphabet Superhighway" by the Alphabet Superhighway Construction Team at the University of Delaware. http://www.members.shaw.ca/technology/assignments/phase%201/lscriptpauline.htm 

Another definition and description of e-portfolios, with a superb "theme" from the College of Education at Wichita State University. http://education.wichita.edu/teportfolio/index.htm

A broader view of e-portfolios, with lots of links: "Electronic Portfolios: Students, Teachers, and Life Long Learners" by Annette Lamb. http://www.eduscapes.com/tap/topic82.htm

Peter Pappas' tips on Web Site design for teachers, containing design principles, examples, and tutorials on using the software to create web sites. http://www.edteck.com/eddesign/index.htm

Dr. Green's tips on web site design, available as a boring PowerPoint presentation.

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Evaluation

At this point, you should be well on your way to completing the tasks above. When you are done with the portfolio, email Dr. Green a link to it, and he will evaluate it based on a total of 50 points. The criteria for evaluation are focused on (a) content and (b) design, as described below. Your portfolio should have the following components (content):

The design portion of the grade is going to be based on how interesting the portfolio is, how appealing it is visually, how well the design supports your purpose and content, and how free from errors the portfolio is. Remember, since this may be the first way future students, administrators or parents encounter you, you want to set up a professional, competent image of yourself as an educator.

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Conclusion

We'll spend the last part of class learning the basics of creating websites with Microsoft's current applications. If you have questions for Dr. Green, make a list, and we'll try to get to them in class. 

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This webquest was designed by Dr. Kris Green, St. John Fisher College, as the introduction to Project Three in the fall 2002 section of GMST 511: Integrating Instructional Technology into Learning. At the completion of the project, students will have created a web site with several different Internet tools (navigation design, hyperlinks to other sites, hyperlinks to files, and graphics for example). The purpose of this is for the students to simultaneously create an electronic teaching portfolio and to learn how to create web sites so that they can utilize, design, and implement Internet activities in the classroom.