I’ve just come from a most enlighttening morning of workshops with Helen Barrett (pictured here with “Buzz”!). Helen’s speciality is in the areas of Electronic Portfolios and Digitial Storytelling .
Something that I found really useful was Helen’s empahsis on the role of reflection, and her comment that “portfolios without reflection are simply a digital scrapbook.” Further, Helen distinguishes between the creation of a digital archive, and drawing from that archive to create portfolios for different purposes (eg. to document a learning journey, to provide evidence for assessment, or to support a job application.)
The other thing Helen does so capably is weave the practice of digital storytelling into the preparation of electronic portfolios – linking this in both practical and theoretical ways. The power of some of her digital stories had the group at our workshop really engrossed.
A key issue that arose in our workshop was the observation that there is an increased interest in portfolios for assessment, and that they are being used in ways that are not consistent with the ‘learner-owned’ models of self-review and self-reflection being promoted in Helen’s workshop. We discussed the tension between those who are wanting to use portfolios in a “positivist” way, where they have really been developed from within a “constructivist” paradigm.
I’ve added more of my reflections/notes from her presentation in my extended entry.
Continue reading “ePortfolios and Helen Barrett”
