Features
How It’s Done: Permanent Records
10/3/2010 By:
Linda Dickeson got excited about
electronic portfolios when her district
beta tested Adobe Acrobat 9
Pro, almost two years ago. “Previous
versions of the software let you create
portfolios,” says the distancelearning
coordinator for the Lincoln
(NE ) Public School District, “but they
weren’t going to get us where we
needed to be. With this version, the
lightbulb was turned on for educators
everywhere.”
Instant Illumination
The key, Dickeson says, is that
the program lets you create, in just
a few simple steps, a PDF portfolio
that you can fill with any kind of file:
PowerPoint presentations, scanned
documents, video and audio clips,
and so on. “The software compresses
the files and puts a wrapper around
them so it’s one neat little package,”
she says.
“Students, parents, anyone with a
computer, can open up and interact
with all of a portfolio’s contents,”
Dickeson says. “And it’s easy for students
to continue adding new files
every year.”
Although Lincoln teachers are
just starting to discover PDF portfolios,
they already realize their value.
“Students become responsible and
‘own’ their history and evidence
of their achievement,” says Carol
Andringa, curriculum specialist for
career and technical education. “A
portfolio helps them collect, organize,
and manage important information
for further learning, college
and scholarship applications, and
job interviews. It is always available,
and parents can use it to communicate
about school and student
progress.”
Digital Leaders
Dickeson can identify plenty of
ways teachers can use digital portfolios,
from showcasing classroom
projects to offering evidence of their
own performance. She trains colleagues
in how to build a portfolio to
augment a textbook or for a lesson
that has no textbook attached. The
teachers learn to capture Web pages,
construct study guides, and incorporate
videos. “You can put these into a
curriculum portfolio to use again and
again,” Dickeson says.
Beyond the District
Once their teachers get started,
Andringa and Dickeson know, they’ll
find even more uses for PDF portfolios.
In fact, while Dickeson was
conducting training at the Nebraska
Department of Education earlier this
year, the state director of technology
suggested that she use a PDF portfolio
as a pre-meeting organizer rather
than send many emails containing
many attachments. It probably won’t
be too long before Dickeson turns
that idea into a reality in her district.