Members of the Curricular Technology met with faculty in the Education Studies program to discuss their technology needs, particularly those related to student portfolios. Many students in the Education Studies program create electronic portfolios that document their experience as teachers.

The Vermont Department of Education has licensure portfolio specifications for what kinds of “entries” should be included in these portfolios and how these entries should be organized.   Because these portfolios contain descriptions of actual teaching episodes and student case studies, access control is critical.  Critical too, is role-based authorizations that enable Education Studies faculty to collaborate with students in refining portfolios.  Since these portfolios are used by students who are seeking licensure, it is critical that students be able to continue to have access to these portfolios for a number of years after they graduate.

The Education Studies program has used Segue as the platform for creating these portfolios.  This spring, they piloted WordPress as an alternative platform.  Some faculty have also used Google Sites and found that this platform may also have the features necessary for these portfolios.