Their Portfolios, Our Role: Examining a Community College Teacher Education Digital Portfolio Program From the Students' Perspective

Abstract

In the of Fall 2006, our large, urban community college implemented digital portfolio development for all of the preservice early childhood educators registered in the infant-toddler and preschool–early elementary programs. Three years after implementation of the program, we conducted survey research to assess our students' perceptions of their preservice digital portfolio and their experience constructing it. The data suggest several contradictions. Students express that their digital portfolios are valuable in the present and after graduation, yet they do not spend extra time on them. They find their digital portfolios useful as academic reflection tools, but do not seem to take ownership of them. Crucial for program improvement, students wish they had more faculty support and more class time to work on their digital portfolios. These findings and related implications suggest that, although digital portfolios are worth pursuing from the student perspective, the need for faculty involvement may be even more crucial than previously believed in scaffolding beginning digital portfolio development.