Week 3 Reflection - Applying Educational Technology

The concept of an ePortfolio has been around for several years, and it is something that I have always thought sounded great in theory, but ultimately seemed hard to accomplish - especially in a K-12 setting. The reason it has always felt unattainable is that there are so many factors to consider, and our students and teachers live in a world that revolves around standardized tests. Shifting the digital portfolio from compliance to ownership would be challenging. In reading Rikard's thoughts on the subject, the one line that stood out to me was "Gaining ownership over the data is vital—but until students see this domain as a space that rewards rigor and experimentation, it will not promote student agency" (Rikard, 2015). I, myself, have struggled with this exact concept as a student. It is difficult for me to see my ePortfolio as truly "mine" while it houses my assignments for my courses. I don't want to showcase my blog while it contains only pieces I have written to meet expectations for my course. There are definitely parts to my ePortfolio that I am proud of and want to showcase, but the components within it that I am not proud of, but must keep there, for now, are keeping me from utilizing it at this time. As teachers, this causes a lot of confusion and frustration when trying a new and innovative concept that digital portfolios. Rikard poses a great question in his last line, "The question bigger than data ownership is how to take ownership over ideas happen" (Rikard, 2015). This makes me wonder what it will take to get K-12 institutions moving in a direction that fosters student agency and ownership of digital portfolios. I know that there is a lot of work to be done, but I am anxious to learn all that I can to move forward with an idea like this in my own district. 

Rikard, A. (2015, August 10). Do I Own My Domain If You Grade It? Retrieved December 4, 2020, from EdSurge website: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2015-08-10-do-i-own-my-domain-if-you-grade-it

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