Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Teacher Web Portfolios
Academic literature today is still lacking in a grounded definition of the
electronic portfolio as an information product across disciplines. Disciplines
such as education have defined the electronic within their own contexts. They
have done this successfully partly based on the fact that discipline is has
implemented standards that help guide content. This content is specific to the
field and therefore, fits around the standards implemented within pedagogy and
practice. The electronic portfolio in education is regarded as an electronic
teaching portfolio. The teaching portfolio is one variety of electronic portfolios.
Kilbane and Milman (2003) describe the teaching portfolio as “a special type
of presentation portfolio that demonstrates the professional competence of
anyone who engages in the active teaching at any academic level” (p. 6).
Kilbane and Milman also reference the fact that the electronic portfolios,
especially those on the Web are becoming more and more popular with college
instructors. As well, the teaching portfolio is not a tool specifically for
instructional work but, is geared towards displaying evidence of professional
competence. However in the future, the responsive environment provided by
Internet Web applications will allow more interaction and ultimately enhance
the value of the Web portfolio as not only a display platform but also a tool for
the educator, inside and outside of the classroom.
An educator can use the Web portfolio to present student work, provide a
forum for credentials and accomplishments, and to establish a lifelong learning
project that will be dynamic throughout their career. This becomes important
to the educator when approaching tenure and promotion. The Web portfolio
can present many items including a vita, syllabi, student work, lesson plans, and
educational philosophy statements. A longer list of artifacts used on the teacher
Web portfolio will be listed later in the text.
Web Portfolios for Business
For a business, the Web portfolio demonstrates the company's ability to
succeed in providing project results and deliverables. A business Web portfolio
may contain sample work, product profiles, client case studies, process
samples, or testimonials. In the business Web portfolio, the content is adjusted
to fit the marketing communication goals of the business. Most importantly,
