| Welcome to the Cooperstown Crier |
|
||||||||||||
|
|
|
1-31-2008 By MICHELLE MILLER Staff Writer Michelle Hitchcock, high school media specialist, said she had talked about starting electronic portfolios at the school for a few years, and when 10th grade English teacher Terry Bliss said she thought it was a good idea and decided to come on board to help Hitchcock create the portfolios, the idea became a reality. "The electronic portfolios provide the students with a way to organize their work and showcase their best work," said Hitchcock. During a presentation to the school board January 9, Hitchcock and Bliss said students can include writing, art work, audio, video, websites, presentations and any other work that can be captured in a data format in their electronic portfolios. They also said classes use the electronic portfolio storage space to put projects on, and teachers use the electronic portfolios to post the curriculum, homework assignments and documents. "It's great because students can see what major projects are coming up ahead of time," said Hitchcock. Last year, the kids used their individual electronic portfolios as an opportunity to be very creative, and not just as a list of basic work like a resume, said Bliss. She said students added things such as photographs of sporting events, trips and even special interests such as four wheeling. Hitchcock said students can also make their electronic portfolio more creative by using special fonts and backgrounds. "Even the ones that didn't like it at first got into it and really made it their own," said Hitchcock. Hitchcock said last year was used as a trial and run period to see how the electronic portfolios would work. The biggest change from last year to this year, according to Hitchcock, is the kids can now access their electronic portfolios from any internet connection. She said because students can upload files from any location, they no longer can use the excuse that they forgot their homework or did not know what their assignments were. Hitchcock also says the electronic portfolios are good because if a student looses a handout, they can go online and print it again. It can lighten the load of the backpack as well, said Bliss. "I see this as a great tool for juniors preparing for Regents," said Bliss, who said the students can go to their electronic portfolios to review past work. Hitchcock said this year's sophomore class got a late start creating their electronic portfolios. She said they did not start until December. However, the new year has brought on a new challenge. The school has upgraded its Word document software used to type and save files. The 2007 version of Word is now used, and it is causing glitches, said Hitchcock. Hitchcock said many students do not have the 2007 version of Word at home, but there are ways of saving documents so they do not have to have the newest version to add documents to their electronic portfolios. She said it is something she, Bliss and the students are learning about together, and the good news is the software should not change that often, so it shouldn't be a continuous problem. "The good comes with the bad with change," Hitchcock said. Hitchcock said the sophomores are the primary ones utilizing the electronic portfolios for now, but she hopes to get more students and classes involved over time. When students leave CCS, they will be provided with the files in their electronic portfolios in whatever format needed. |
Copyright 2007, Cooperstown Crier, Cooperstown, NY All rights reserved