How to Create an ePortfolio for Teachers

Teacher portfolios are a snapshot of a teacher's talents, educational beliefs and their work history. ePortfolios allow teachers to expand their portfolios to include full color examples of their work and accomplishments, videos, recordings and links to their work. A teacher can compile his ePortfolio himself or use a service, which allows him to save all his information in one place. An ePortfolio will vary from teacher to teacher. The elements gathered will need to be digitized if they are not readily available online.

Things You'll Need

• Scanner
• Word processor
• CD-R or DVD-R (optional)
• Account with an ePortfolio service (Optional)

Instructions

1. Create a folder on your desktop called "ePortfolio" by right clicking ("Ctrl" click for Mac OS) on the desktop and choose "New" and "Folder." Type the name and press "Enter." Save all your work in this folder.

2. Write a biographical sketch by opening your word processor and typing out your biography. Stick to one or two paragraphs outlining your work and education experience. Save this as "Bio" in your folder.

3. Create a resume in your word processor, which includes a list of skills, education, certificates, work experience and extra-curricular activities. Save this as "Resume" in your folder.

4. Scan in a copy of your teaching documents, licenses, certificates and degrees by using the scanner. Place the page face down on the scanner and close the bed. Open the scanner software on your computer and choose "Preview." Click on scan, name the file and save it in your folder. Save files as PDFs for documents and JPEGs for images.

5. Create a document called "Classes" in your word processor. Include a one to two paragraph description of each of the classes you have taught, including the grade level. Include copies of the school curriculum by copying and pasting them into your Classes file or scanning them in as above.

6. Write a document describing your personal teaching style and your reasons for teaching.

7. Save copies of your lesson plans, photos, activities, student papers and videos of projects and your classes. Scan in any hard copies of these items.

8. Scan or copy into your folder any awards, recognitions, honors, and evaluations.

9. Burn a copy of your ePortfolio to CD or DVD. Insert the disk into your drive and choose to create a data disk. Drag your folder to the disk window and click "Burn."

10. Upload your ePortfolio to a service. Services range from free to fee based. Starting an account requires providing your name and email address. You may have to copy and paste text into predefined templates; however, PDFs and images can be uploaded to the service by following their Website prompts.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep your ePortfolio up to date. Add to your documents on a regular basis as your career progresses.

References

• John Hopkins University: Creating An Electronic Portfolio
• Wiki Spaces: How to use WikiSpaces to create an interactive electronic portfolio
• Education World: e-Portfolio Fever