Why use a digital portfolio?

Digital portfolios are super cool. They allow both you and the student to see their growth over time. I have some students with four years of work on their Google Site, and it's amazing looking back at the earliest work and seeing how much they've improved. 

Their digital portfolio is where students write about their work, reflect on their progress, and document planning for future artworks  (Douglas & Jaquith, 2009; Purtee & Sands, 2021). Because of all the different types of work that's documented in their digital portfolio, they are your primary physical assessment tool. While you are constantly assessing as you observe and speak with students about their work, these portfolios are where the students' grades come from. 

Practically speaking, it also keeps track of all the students' work in a cloud storage space. There's always a few students each year whose computers must be wiped to fix some issue. When a digital portfolio is used, they only lose one day's work, if any. 

How do we handle the physical artworks in the studio?

At the beginning of the year, we fold poster-boards in half and create portfolios for individual students to store their work in. There is also space for 3-D work when needed. 

When an artwork is completed, I have students mount the work and turn it in. I then display some of it and store the rest elsewhere. I've found that it's easier to get students to display artworks in the end of year art show if they have more to choose from, and if their completed work is left in their portfolios, it tends to get damaged or go missing. 

If a student asks to take a completed piece home, I explain the reasons above and typically encourage them not to. However, if it's particularly important to them to take it home, I'm not going to stand in their way. It's their work, and they can do what they want with it. 

Google Sites is a simple platform for creating websites. 

How can Google Sites be used as a digital journal and portfolio?

Students can post various media and reflective writing about their work to their site. 

How is Google Sites used in the curriculum?

Students post nearly every assignment to their Google Site. 

First, everyone will need a Google account. If you and your students don't have Google accounts, check out my alternative recommendations. 

Unit 2 has all the information on setting up digital portfolios with Google Sites, but I'll list some key points here.

• The first lesson addresses what a portfolio is and why they're important. 

• The next lesson demonstrates how to set up a Google Site so students can follow along. 

• The last lesson instructs students to make sure they have shared their site with the teacher and fill out a form with a link to their site. When you export the responses from the form into a spreadsheet, you will have a link to every site that can be sorted alphabetically and/or by period.