Assignment #4: The ePortfolio Process

This final assignment provided me with a genuine opportunity to implement an ePortfolio into my Grade 7 class curriculum. It would be ideal for any student to document how they learn, in addition to having a reference point to see how they’ve learned in different academic years. I’ve always wanted to try something of this caliber because I strongly feel that technology and media continue to be a key factor in elementary student learning.  

Two years ago in my Grade 7 classroom, I thought it would be an interesting to see if my students could build a website for their student-led conferences. Because our school runs many G Suite applications and has invested in Chromebooks, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try Google Sites as the platform for these student presentations to their parents.

The feedback from both the students and parents were very positive. Students enjoyed the use of technology and appreciated having their projects available at the click of a track pad.  Parents were keen with how they could have continual access to their child’s projects with a website. Many parents were happy that their child could build a website as well.

Hence, I wondered if an ePortfolio could be created via Google Sites.

With Assignment #4, I learned that Google Sites is very user friendly yet far from perfect. After learning how to somewhat use WordPress, the comment/discussion component was a great tool for questions, comments or opinions. I always thought that commenting was a standard for websites or blogs. I needed a comments section because my ePortfolio project required parent feedback.

The unfortunate reality of Google Sites is that, unless you personally have G Suite and have administrator privileges, you cannot add a comments section to a Google Site. Since I’ve been using my personal Gmail account for this course, I had to find a way to incorporate access to feedback. After spending some time Googling solutions, none were to be found.

I started to look into the G Suite applications and came upon Google Forms. It was here that I could get the feedback. Google Forms allows you to modify, edit or create forms that may be sent via link or email. This ended up being a blessing in disguise because it dawned on me that comments from parents should be discrete. The responses from the Google Form would be emailed privately to the sender of the form.

Creating an ePortfolio was definitely a unique experience. I’ve learned that ideas are only ideas until you put them into play. You learn from the mistakes and have to find a way to make things work.