Europe Online Portfolio

Short abstract EOP

The institute CNA in Amsterdam developed together with the design company Gerrows an educative ict-application called “OnlinePortfolio”. Its is a web based application where students can upload all their proven results of their competences.

It seems that especially a lot pre-vocational students suffer of a negative self-esteem partly due to a lot of negative approaches from parents, teachers and other life circumstances. Compliments are rare and focussing on things they still do not perform well is generally accepted as an improvement of their learning. In exams we mark mainly their faults and rarely all the achieved points.
We correct the work often in the “punishment” colour “red” and not in green or orange. We often know what students have to improve but less what they already achieved in the past years. If you ask a student what he already achieved in competences he might remember the facts of the last months but has a bit forgotten what he gained the last years.

To emphasize the efforts the student made and to reflect on all the competences he earned and to see his own development and points to improve, “OnlinePortfolio” was created. This application is owned by the student. It is the student himself who is responsible for the use, the content. The teacher is his coach and the one who takes care of the facilities. The student decides to whom he wants to show his Portfolio.

The OnlinePortfolio is in that matter not a report, no “control device” neither an item to generate points or certificates for the wellbeing of teachers; It's a personal “safe with a controlled window” where students can put proudly all their products achieved during their study. Where old certificates, papers, reports end in the “grey archive” (wastepaper basket) the OnlinePortfolio travels with the student if possible as long as they study and will be filled more and more, year by year.

The content of the OnlinePortfolio concerns the following parts:

ID-card
Curriculum Vitae
Competences
Professional skills
To-do points
Professional image
Products
Feedback
Life development graphic

Among many other schools, the Osb started last year the OnlinePortfolio with almost 300 pre-vocational students and it is integrated step-by-step.

We feel strongly that this application can be used in other countries whether to exchange each others findings with other students and/or to be used as an application in the native language. For that reason we started the project "Europe Online Portfolio" supported by Comenius. This site is to inform all people who might be intrested to participate.

Please mind that it is recommended to contact your local Comenius office for a grant. You can contact us about the needed formats. In September 2005 we will start our first prepatory meeting in Arteixo, A Coruña in Galicia, Spain.
If you need any information please do not hesitate to send us an e-mail.

The EOP-team