Concurrent Session #12 
Wednesday  |  July 2nd  |  12noon-1pm  |  Location: 615
A Place Called Home: Design/Host a Teacher Portfolio Server

Abstract: Imagine if all your teachers had their own professional web sites featuring information about their teaching philosophies, information for visitors about how they approach the integration of technology in the classroom, how they address issues such as state and national professional/student learning standards, diversity in their approach to curriculum, the accommodation of different learning styles, and their own presentation of curriculum resources such as unit plans and lesson activities.
      Imagine yourself browsing a school district or college of education web site as a parent, student, colleague, administrator, professor, etc. and being able to browse through teachers' sites, each containing this rich array of information.
      It takes about 1-year to deploy and evolve the beginnings of a rich and engaging web-portfolio culture for teachers. Implementing the vision requires developing a dedicated, on-site web server. The idea of maintaining your own on-site server will be demystified and presented in relation to the audience's own experiences with setting up and maintaining their own personal computers. The co-presenters will broadly cover all the elements for taking the framework from vision to praxis: 1) an introductory overview of the professional teaching portfolio concept and its history; 2) the concept framework for transitioning the paper-based professional portfolio approach to a digital approach, 3) budgeting, ordering, and setting up a portfolio server, 4) the conceptualization of portfolio standards and the development of template portfolio directories/sites to help teachers begin the process, 5) the building of a professional, digital portfolio learning culture, and 6) fostering teachers' continued digital authoring and professional growth.
      The co-presenters are both program coordinators in instructional technology at two different university schools of education with 3-years of experience in developing and maintaining teacher portfolio servers. This presentation is designed to help anyone who would like to initiate the establishment of a professional teacher web portfolio culture in either a college of education or a school district.

Modules:

1. This Old House
   Traditionally, students have been assessed via a variety of artifacts: tests, projects, writing samples, etc. In order to demonstrate growth, these artifacts were sometimes assembled into a yearly portfolio. Initially paper-based, these collections evolved into CD storage formats, and most recently have moved to Web-based configurations. This module reviews the traditional methods of collection and sets the stage for newer models.
2. New Blueprints
   Blueprints for a new portfolio server home require 3 major planning considerations: 1) the computer box and accessories which give the server home its physical form; 2) the server software which gives the server home its virtual form; and 3) the server backup software and accessories which gives the server home the ability to regenerate itself.
3. Moving-In
   While the technology supporting portfolios is critical, it should be transparent to the creater and the reviewer. What is truly of utmost importance is substantive content. This module reviews various ways to organize content and suggests how schools might develop a portfolio approach for both students and teachers which demonstrates growth. Assessment of portfolios is also covered.
4. Growth & Decay
   As with physical houses, virtual houses also undergo a cycle of growth and decay requiring 3 types of upkeep: 1) maintain a second server home as the demo reflection of the active server for testing/redundancy; 2) schedule renovation touch-ups to the server home 3-4 times each academic year coinciding with semester/marking periods; and 3) switch to/replace both the active and demo server homes every 3-years of occupancy.