Digital Portfolios: Informing Your Teaching Practice

What is a digital portfolio? A learning hub, providing a space for a collection of your work and related experiences that are stored as artifacts so you can make connections between courses and field experiences and your prior experiences.

What is an artifact? An object that tells a story. Digital artifacts can take the form of websites, videos, audiofiles, animations, PPTs, or other multimodal texts that can be accessed electronically, to provide evidence of your professional learning

What is the purpose of a dPortfolio? To enable you to reflect on your learning and your experiences in the program, and across your life as you develop, shape and reshape your teacher identity. The digital aspect allows reflection to become reflexive (reflection in action). It also enables you to address certification standards/competencies that allow you to enter into the teaching profession.

What does a dPortfolio value?  It values both your individual personal experiences as well as your academic ones as it encourages you to develop your own theories on learning as you develop teacher knowledge in an authentic manner.

Why is it important to create and maintain a dPortfolio? Teacher knowledge is critical in the enhancement of your learning. You must understand your own knowledge development in order to share it with future colleagues and employers. dPortfolios create space for you to study your own teacher development, through reflection on your artifacts, as you shape your own learning.

What is the value of a dPortfolio to you as a professional? You become more self-confident about your practice as you collect, select, organize and reflect on your artifact choices. You develop the ability to critically reflect on and articulate your understanding of teaching and your practice to yourself and others. You think more deeply, meaningfully and holistically about teaching and content, become more conscious of theories and assumptions that guide your practice, and develop a greater desire to engage in collaborative dialogues about your teaching.

Where else can you use it/Who is the potential audience? In program exit interviews (peers, instructors, teachers, administrators), employment applications (HR personnel, administrators), employment interviews (HR personnel, administrators), professional networks and communities (colleagues, administrators), and throughout your career to facilitate lifelong learning and ongoing reflection (self).

How does it connect to First Peoples Pedagogy? The Digital ePortfolio resonates with the Indigenous Lil’wat Principles of Teaching and Learning of Celhcelh and A7xekcal (taking responsibility for one’s own learning), and draws on Kamucwkalha (engaging with each other respectfully, sharing personal insights on theory and practice, and reforming ideas on learning). It also resonates with the First Peoples Principle of Learning that learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational (focused on connectedness, on reciprocal relationships, and a sense of place).

Do you have a video that explains what a digital portfolio is? Yes, we do. Click here to view this video shared by Michelle Cunningham.

Reflection

• What are artifacts that you can include, and reflect upon, that represent your learning as you enter the program? What artifacts can you include that show your growing awareness and understanding – of equity/inequity, inclusion/exclusion, diverse/changing views and values about yourself, education, your students, community…

• What can you include that reflects new knowledge and understandings that you are developing?

• What can you include that reflects learning as you connect theories of learning/pedagogy discussed in courses and begin to apply these to field experiences?

• What can you include that illustrates your abilities to be reflexive (reflection in action) as it relates to your personal and professional preparation?

• What can you include that demonstrates your ability to engage with others in a sharing of thoughts and ideas and philosophies around teaching?

• How can you use your dPortfolio to explore how you can enact what you believe about teaching?

• How can you demonstrate your growth in all the competencies expected in the program?