The Power of Digital Portfolios

Invite your students to create digital portfolios on Wakelet!

Interested in using digital portfolios with your students or teachers? Have you planned to give your students the opportunity to create their own portfolios, but you’re unsure of the best approach? Are you unsure of a way to integrate a digital citizenship lesson into your content area? Are you concerned about moderating student content from your under 13 learners?

Wakelet has quickly become one of the very best options for students (and their teachers) to easily create a digital portfolio. Digital portfolios are a great solution for showcasing learning by not only showing what students have learned but also how they have applied the learning to their creations. Portfolios can be created by students of any age with any content area. Wakelet is a great platform for teaching students the importance of digital curation and how to best apply curation to a greater purpose. 

Digital portfolios in Wakelet might include a student or teacher utilizing a Wakelet profile much like a website with sections and many different collections or educators might choose to implement student accounts from their Admin Panel and have students create one single collection with portfolio requirements.

Here are 5 powerful benefits of digital portfolios: 

Learner Agency and Ownership

Students are empowered when they are able to choose the best tools for problem-solving, to be autonomous of their own learning, and have a safe space to explore the why behind the learning. As students begin to create their portfolios, they will realize the choices they make about design and content are not exactly the same as their peers and plants the confidence to use and share their unique voices and experiences. 

Reflection

Reflection maximizes the learning process, creates lasting knowledge and a lifelong habit of assessing personal progress. As students begin to organize the pieces they would like to include in their digital portfolios, they will naturally reflect on each piece and see how it adds value or shows progress in their work and creativity. 

Curation

Many students using social media are already curating content when posting photos, stories, or videos. Using a portfolio approach to show mastery is an opportunity to curate work, writings, designs, video reflections, or language practice. Showing students how to put artifacts together as a showcase for parents, their community, or a global audience teaches them how to use tech for good instead of just consumption. 

Collaboration

Peer editing is one of the best ways to introduce the idea of collaboration into your classroom. Students can work together reviewing their digital portfolios using a prompt like this one. If students are unsure about adding specific elements, this is a great opportunity to teach meaningful peer feedback. This process creates a classroom culture of trust among learners and teaches them one of the most important skills they will utilize in their lifetime. 

Real-World Application

Digital portfolios offer an opportunity for both educators and students to curate their niche, talents, expertise, and growth for a real-world, global audience while also teaching authentic online presence. As students begin to apply for jobs or university, they begin to see the power in showing what they can do over just stating what they can do. Digital portfolios become living documents that evolve over time with their creator. 

Here are some examples of student-created portfolios using Wakelet:  Student Examples Here is a student-led podcast where students explain how portfolios are helping and empowering them.