Electronic Portfolios

Looking over my blog, it is clear to me how much I have learned about digital writing in the last few months. I came into this course knowing very little about wikis, weblogs, vlogs (I had no idea what a vlog was), and using the many applications that we have explored. I now know how to create a video and upload it to Youtube AND link it to my blog. I am much more confident in discussing digital uses with my students and I've already incorporated much of what I've learned into my courses. One thing I have my students do now is to post their writing on their blogs and reflect on it. Having students collect their work in an electronic portfolio where they can reflect on it in a blog is a great way to get students to consider what they've done and how far they've come. I would certainly have students include their major writing assignments, but also pieces of prewriting and drafts of papers--with reflection--would allow(force) students to think about the writing process and how their writing changes not only throughout the year, but also within the context of a single writing piece. Students could also take in-class writing pieces and revise them for inclusion in their portfolios. Then they would be able to reflect on their writing and the feedback that they received on it.