Wiki as a Portfolio

From wsuwiki

It generally takes time for different applications of a new technology to be realized -- sometimes a long time -- and wiki seems to be no different.

Regarding electronic portfolios (another new technology), Wikipedia Wikipedia:Electronic_Portfolio is currently focused on a specific approach to e-portfolios that uses large-scale purpose-built software.

However, at CTLT we understand e-portfolios to include that model as well as other tools -- like wiki -- which meet the criteria for 'folio thinking.' E-portfolio tools need to facilitate activities where learners a) create artifacts that evidence their engagment with core concepts, issues and skills, b) reflect on what those artifacts reveal about how their efforts line up with what they're trying to accomplish, and c) present the package to an audience. Depending on the context, that audience could be a group of peers who are supporting one another through the learning process, or experts in the area (faculty, community partners, etc.), or even potential employers and/or other institutions and educational programmes to which the student is applying or considering applying.

Blogs are one such tool, as several have noted (Nils' analysis), and, as this illustrates, wikis are another. The essence of the process is that learners engage in authentic work in a wiki; see for example a course design being tried at Washington State University.

Key elements which make wiki useful for e-portfolios include the "My Contributions" feature, which lets a user easily locate the work they have done, the "diff" listings, which let the user document the change(s) that he/she made in the pre-existing page (and the changes that were made afterwards), and the User page, which offers a place to create a reflection about the diffs.

Locate other articles from Washington State University related to this topic here.