Are You Ready To Create A Digital Portfolio?
Here's why digital portfolios are so important for leaders, teachers, and our learners
Hi, I’m George Couros.
I am currently an “Innovative Teaching, Learning, and Leadership Consultant”, speaker, as well as the author of “The Innovator’s Mindset” and “Innovate Inside the Box” and have over 20 years of experience as an educator, in a myriad of roles from K-12.
I believe in the power of students, and that all of the children we can teach can be leaders if we help them find their passion. My parents came from a country that was going through a war and did not have the resources or the same opportunities that we had for education. Although my parents were born in a different time than I was, we have the exact same goal in our lives; we want it better for our kids than it was for us.
By being curious, collaborative, and open to new learning, we can truly inspire our students to not only be prepared for the real world but ensure that they make the world better than it is now. This is the work that drives what I do.
Digital Portfolios and Why They Matter
Benefits of a Digital Portfolio
- Push learning
- Reflection on Growth Over Time
- Develop a Library of Learning
- Create opportunities
- Build a digital footprint
The Why and How of Digital Portfolios
- Why portfolios are beneficial to education.
- What a strong portfolio looks like?
- How do you create a library of learning?
- Creating a cadence of writing.
- Getting your work out to the world.
Course Curriculum
What They Are Saying...
George’s digital portfolio course is a professional paradise for learning, growth, and reflection! He has successfully created a space that is supportive and filled with hidden gems of critical information. This course has made an immediate impact on my personal and professional growth. Going through the powerful process of creating a multimedia digital portfolio will showcase my learning over time and strengthen my practice. This opportunity has proven that there is significant value in sharing this personalized learning experience with colleagues and students! George seamlessly demonstrates how creating digital portfolios empower other educators to elevate their strengths, transform their instructional practices, and provide students with opportunities to reflect on their learning and progress! George’s encouragement has given me the confidence to share my passions and voice with the world and I am just so grateful!
-Lauren Kaufman, Instructional Coach/Mentor Coordinator
What They Are Saying...
"George Couros is through and through an educator. His 'Digital Portfolio Master Course' was the kickstart I have been needing. The course was easy to follow, with step-by-step tutorial-like directions, shadowed always by a clear understanding of purpose. George was extremely accessible and quick to respond to personal e-mail inquiries of support. As teachers, George invites us to a fantastic opportunity to grow as professionals, become more reflective, and broadcast our voices to the wider world. Further, as education is redesigned, I am hopeful authentic and holistic learning will be showcased by students as they follow a similar process and create powerful, lasting, and meaningful digital portfolios. I enthusiastically recommend taking the course. You will be happy you did. Thank you, George!"
-Matt Piercy, Learner, International Educator, Author
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I do this on my own time?
YES! I know how busy educators are and so I wanted to create this course so it is self-paced. No matter when you take the course, or when it is completed, you will receive a certificate for 40 credit hours, but more importantly, you will have created a personal portfolio that will be something that can open up many opportunities in the future, and will really push your learning. As I have said, this is by far the best thing I have done professionally. It is not even close.
What if we are using a different platform from WordPress or Edublogs with students?
If you are pursuing digital portfolios with students on any platform, this course will help clarify your path and help define your purpose of why you are doing portfolios, and give you some ideas that will make what you are doing with students better.
That being said, some of the groups I have worked with started with one platform and then started using Wordpress hosted portfolios after my time with them because they saw all of the possibilities for students and themselves, using something that would go beyond "school."
I have been working on this process for ten years and I share a lot of my learning, mistakes, and growth through this process in this course. As I always say, we cannot skip straight to the "teaching" without doing the "learning."
At a minimum, you will have an incredible space of your own through the process.
How will this help my students?
I discuss the benefits of creating digital portfolios could have for students that go beyond school for hours. In fact, I share many of those reasons in the course, such as creating a library of learning, showing growth over time, exhibiting and creating depth of understanding on different ideas and concepts, while also designing opportunities for different forms of evidence and assessment, and so on.
But here is one I want you to consider at this moment, especially when much of the world has shifted online.
Every student we work with right now will be googled for a job or post-secondary at minimum. Many educators have a fear of putting "kids" online, and I understand that. But consider these two ideas;
1) How can we keep kids safe through sharing online if we don't understand the process ourselves?
2) Are we opening up doors for our students to be successful in the world today, or are we limiting them to the opportunities that we had as students?
Why I created this course is so that educators can see all of the benefits for this type of learning for their students for themselves, but also, so they can safely guide their students from experience and see the value of this process beyond "doing school."
If a student doesn't want a space online, I totally respect that. It should always ultimately be up to the student. But, if they do want to create that space, are we able to guide them in an effective manner, or do we keep that door closed?
What if I have nothing good to share?
This is one comment I hear all of the time and I get it. I have been sharing my learning for ten years and I still get anxiety about the process. But that anxiety actually helps me try to understand different sides of what I share. I also have learned that if I get caught up in sharing things that I think will go "viral," I have lost sight of the process. I share my learning in hopes of helping others.
But back to the idea, "I have nothing good to share." If you had the interview for your dream job (which might be the job you are in right now), and I asked you, "Tell me some of the best things you do in your work," you would never reply with, "I have nothing good to share." You wouldn't brag, but you also wouldn't keep your learning hidden.
One video that I love and has really helped me to understand the value of sharing my contributions to the world is this video by Derek Sivers titled, "Obvious to You, Amazing to Others." Simply stated, Sivers shares "So maybe what's obvious to me, is amazing to someone else."
Your ideas are worth sharing!
Those are just some of the questions that I have been receiving, and as Matt shared, I also have been connecting with participants as they go through the program. This is something I am really passionate about and I love seeing the process unfold in others!
Also, you can check out this video endorsement from Lauren Kaufman, who is creating a wonderful portfolio from her learning.
I look forward to seeing what you create and sharing your learning with others!