5 Digital Portfolio Tools for Alternative Assessments

Career & Technical Education (CTE) teachers often use portfolios to assess their student’s growth throughout the school year. However, paper portfolios are often stored or discarded at the end of the school year, yet digital portfolios remain available and accessible to students, educators and employers.

Digital portfolios can be used as a tool to store students’ academic and professional work in one place for them to use when applying for a future job. By incorporating digital portfolios in their classes, teachers increase student buy-in by allowing students to customize their own portfolios showcasing their interests, achievements and skillsets. Additionally, digital portfolios can be used as a marketing tool for students searching for jobs and for teachers to highlight their students’ achievements and progress.

Online portfolios are becoming a popular tool to use within job applications to show future employers their abilities rather than just tell them what they can do. This blog highlights five digital portfolio tools teachers can use as alternative assessments in their CTE classes.

bulb

bub Digital Portfolios allows students to showcase their academic and professional skillset by adding text and media to blank pages or pre-built templates. iCEV has teamed up with bulb to create over 1,000 templates, which are directly associated with projects within the iCEV platform. Additionally, bulb integrates with learning management systems (LMS) platforms and has built-in sharing permissions to ensure students' safety. Explore iCEV’s Templates, teacher resources and uses of bulb on their website.

Google Sites

Google Sites is a customizable tool that can be used for online portfolios. Using a blank page, students can import text, pictures and videos into their site to customize it to their liking. Google Sites is compatible with all Google services, including Docs, Sheets and Slides, allowing students to import media from their Google Drive.

WordPress

WordPress is a user-friendly solution for teachers who are looking to incorporate digital portfolios in their classes. Through themes and plugins, students can customize a webpage to showcase their work and successes to share with teachers and future employers.

Square Space

 Square Space uses templates and features for students to customize their webpage to impress future employers or their teachers. Students select a template and use imports and features to customize it to fit their personalities and skillsets.

Weebly

Using Weebly, students can build an online portfolio unique to their work and personality. Students select a theme and customize it using text and media to their liking. Weebly is based on a drag-and-drop approach to building a website making it easy for students who don’t have a background in website coding.

While these five online portfolios are similar, each one’s abilities, usages and methods are different. Finding which one works best for your student's abilities and for your classroom's goals is the most important when selecting an online portfolio tool for the classroom. 

Each of these offer online trainings, professional development and tutorials to begin using them within your classroom. To learn more about them, visit their websites to see which is the best fit for your classroom and students.

If your students create outstanding digital portfolios, make sure to share them with Team iCEV. Our team enjoys celebrating all teacher and student successes.