I believe having a portfolio should be essential for all professional adults and young adults seeking employment or applying to college. An e-portfolio is where you can show your accomplishments, strengths, and skills to help potential employers take notice of not just the employee you will be but a more holistic view of who you are as a person.
In preparation for the new school year, I am inspired to ask my students to create more buy-in and authentic motivation to ask “why.” I am teaching practicum students (all seniors) this year. I realize these students are at a pivotal moment in their lives, and understanding their “why” will help guide and prepare them to be highly influential members of society. Helping my students identify their “why” will help them start to understand the reason behind anything they are doing. I have to ask them hard but crucial questions like, is their “why” to secure robust experiences that will allow them to find a fulfilling career? Or does their why stem from making a parent or loved one proud? Whether the student is internally motivated or externally motivated, reflecting on this idea will help concrete their commitment to success. This can be very helpful to students/learners of any age because a student's reason for “why” can be lost or forgotten in the day-to-day school environment.
In today's society and job market, cooperating and working with a team is one of the most valuable skills students/learners can possess. In countless professional development sessions and other trainings, one of the main things graduating students lack is “soft skills.” Simon Sinek argues that these skills should be called “human skills.” Stop saying SOFT skills talk with Simon Sinek. This being said, I believe that incorporating more collaboration and “human skills” will also benefit the idea of having an e-portfolios. By saying this, I mean that having classmates or colleagues look over and help develop each other's e-portfolios will only help build their e-portfolios. For example, we have all heard it and learned that having someone look over anything you write will help you catch spelling errors and make you understand your audience better from having an outside perspective. This same idea can be applied to an e-portfolio. So therefore, having a group that is intent on helping everyone develop and curate their own e-portfolio will help you have the best portfolio representing your skills, abilities, strengths, and accomplishments.
In my current position of teaching seniors, I believe that helping my students develop and create an e-portfolio is necessary to prepare them for life outside of school. Moreover, I believe that having an e-portfolio is beneficial to anyone and everyone in school or a career. I have learned this firsthand. When I got married in 2022, I moved from Garland, TX to Fort Worth, TX, to be with my wife. In searching for a new job in this new area I went to many interviews and was able to give my potential employers a link in my initial email to my portfolio that allowed them to get an idea of who I am even before the interview. I was even able to pull up my e-portfolio in a few interviews and highlight some of the experiences I have had. There is no doubt in my mind that having an e-portfolio helped me in many situations.
References
Centre for Teaching and Learning (2013, Nov. 25) ePortfolio student perspective
[Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47VcInL0oT8
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