Ownership - the One who takes the Risk
So in the midst of all the #socialdistancing, my graduate school classes continue. Actually, it has been a welcome break to have something to focus on.
This week's discussion board topic - ownership of an e-Portfolio.
When I became a Google Trainer, someone I met said to create any training materials in my personal Google account, not my school (work) account. When I asked why, she said that when created under district accounts and with district property, that the materials technically belong to the district and if I leave, the materials can not necessarily follow. It definitely gave me pause.. but I fully admit I still create mostly in my school account, since it is part of my job to support district staff.
But it has me thinking... does this idea applies to the idea of student e-portfolios as well? If students spend all this time creating something about their school learning, and using a school domain and possibly school time and school devices - does the portfolio belong to the school district? Especially if it can only be accessed by those within the school district? So if the e-portfolio can't follow the student, then is there a point to using it with students?
Audrey Watters (2014) wrote "The Domain of One’s Own initiative prompts us to not just own our own domain — our own space on the Web – but to consider how we might need to reclaim bits and pieces that have already been extracted from us. It prompts us think critically about what our digital identity looks like, who controls it, who owns our data, who tracks it, who’s making money from it. It equips us to ask questions — technical questions and philosophical questions and economic questions and political questions about and for ourselves, our communities, our practices — knowing that we have a stake as actors and not just as objects of technology, as actors and not just objects of education technology."
This quote really stuck with me, because this is what e-Portfolios should do - they should allow us to be in control of our digital footprint, and equip us to ask questions and reflect on what we learning at that moment and over time. If we are restricting these things due to the issue of ownership, then can the e-Portfolio be used to its full potential? Should it even be used at all?
As I was reading other discussion board thoughts and even responses to my post, it got me thinking about why we create e-Portfolios. They are many reasons why I have my own e-Portfolio and domain, and one of those reasons is because I want to some control over what is out there about me. It is also why my Facebook profile doesn't come up in a Google search, but Twitter does. I want what is out there related to my professional life, not my personal one.
In further discussions with my classmates, copyright and creative commons was discussed, and how we should teach students to properly cite and/or link to resources they include in their e-Portfolio, which is something that is relevant even beyond school. In addition, it was shared repeatedly that putting yourself out there for the world to see is a little scary. People can be mean behind a keyboard or a mobile device - we have all seen examples. But I think that is the only way to get better, to be better, is to put yourself out there. I have been blogging here, intermittently, for a long time, and it is scary to have your thoughts out there on the internet. But you never know who could help with your story, your struggle.
So I think ultimately that the e-Portfolio belongs to the one who creates it (the student) rather than the one who assigns it or grades it (teacher). The creator is the one taking the risk, building the site, the one reviewing and reflecting to make it better and more applicable to their end goal.
Resource:
Watters, A. (2014, April 25) Beneath the Cobblestones... A Domain of One's Own. Retrieved From http://hackeducation.com/2014/04/25/domain-of-ones-own-incubator-emory
When I became a Google Trainer, someone I met said to create any training materials in my personal Google account, not my school (work) account. When I asked why, she said that when created under district accounts and with district property, that the materials technically belong to the district and if I leave, the materials can not necessarily follow. It definitely gave me pause.. but I fully admit I still create mostly in my school account, since it is part of my job to support district staff.
But it has me thinking... does this idea applies to the idea of student e-portfolios as well? If students spend all this time creating something about their school learning, and using a school domain and possibly school time and school devices - does the portfolio belong to the school district? Especially if it can only be accessed by those within the school district? So if the e-portfolio can't follow the student, then is there a point to using it with students?
Audrey Watters (2014) wrote "The Domain of One’s Own initiative prompts us to not just own our own domain — our own space on the Web – but to consider how we might need to reclaim bits and pieces that have already been extracted from us. It prompts us think critically about what our digital identity looks like, who controls it, who owns our data, who tracks it, who’s making money from it. It equips us to ask questions — technical questions and philosophical questions and economic questions and political questions about and for ourselves, our communities, our practices — knowing that we have a stake as actors and not just as objects of technology, as actors and not just objects of education technology."
This quote really stuck with me, because this is what e-Portfolios should do - they should allow us to be in control of our digital footprint, and equip us to ask questions and reflect on what we learning at that moment and over time. If we are restricting these things due to the issue of ownership, then can the e-Portfolio be used to its full potential? Should it even be used at all?
As I was reading other discussion board thoughts and even responses to my post, it got me thinking about why we create e-Portfolios. They are many reasons why I have my own e-Portfolio and domain, and one of those reasons is because I want to some control over what is out there about me. It is also why my Facebook profile doesn't come up in a Google search, but Twitter does. I want what is out there related to my professional life, not my personal one.
In further discussions with my classmates, copyright and creative commons was discussed, and how we should teach students to properly cite and/or link to resources they include in their e-Portfolio, which is something that is relevant even beyond school. In addition, it was shared repeatedly that putting yourself out there for the world to see is a little scary. People can be mean behind a keyboard or a mobile device - we have all seen examples. But I think that is the only way to get better, to be better, is to put yourself out there. I have been blogging here, intermittently, for a long time, and it is scary to have your thoughts out there on the internet. But you never know who could help with your story, your struggle.
So I think ultimately that the e-Portfolio belongs to the one who creates it (the student) rather than the one who assigns it or grades it (teacher). The creator is the one taking the risk, building the site, the one reviewing and reflecting to make it better and more applicable to their end goal.
Resource:
Watters, A. (2014, April 25) Beneath the Cobblestones... A Domain of One's Own. Retrieved From http://hackeducation.com/2014/04/25/domain-of-ones-own-incubator-emory
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