With E portfolios in mind I set about to find something that we could use in our school, as alot of the research into e-portfolios was based in the USA and I wanted to find a beginners guide or something along those lines that I who is technically challenged could use without too much trouble. Through research I found that My Portfolio an e -portfolio software programme was established in 2006 and was formerly known as the Mahara Project. Mahara, meaning 'think' or 'thought' in Te Reo Māori, (My Portfolio, 2010) The Ministry of Education supported the initiative as a means through which an education system that was responsive and flexible could be developed in New Zealand (My Portfolio, 2010).
My Portfolio is student centred in such that students are able to develop a personal learning space in which they have the opportunity to present themselves and their achievements to others. Content and layout can be developed by the students which meet the specific, differing needs of student progressions yearly as well as across school levels. (My Portfolio, 2010)
My Portfolio plays a key role in developing, facilitating and collecting evidence of the five key competencies that form part of the vision of the New Zealand Curriculum. It is a valuable tool for both teachers and student alike as it personalises learning, identifies areas for self improvement and enables reflection across of the learning process. (My Portfolio, 2010)
"Personalising learning involves thinking about knowledge as an active process. Students get to be informed, active participants in their own learning, they contribute to decisions about what learning can work best for them, and they have a much better understanding of how they are progressing." (My Portfolio, 2010)
My Portfolio works as a reflective tool by which students can participate in reflective activities through blog functions and the creation of “Critical incident diaries” in which students have the opportunity to reflect on their learning and achievement throughout a unit of inquiry or over a set period of time. This could be in the form of a two way process whereby a teacher or peer provides feedback to the student on their work or individually whereby the student can reflect on their own learning in relation to processing information and how they felt they learnt and processed the new information (My Portfolio, 2010).
“My Portfolio provides a student centred and personalised space to bring together formal school learning activity and informal learning experiences. It will help students reflect upon: what they have achieved, where their ambitions are, what they need to get there and how learning can help them do that” (My Portfolio, 2010).
My Portfolio takes the hassle out of setting up your own e-portfolios for your students and provdes the framework for use and manipulation to suit your own needs.
My Portfolio can be found by typing in My Porfolio into a Google search and the best thing is that it is free for NZ schools to use.
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