Recently, I was thinking about our ePortfolios journey and what stood out in my head was the concept of story – more specifically ‘strategic conversations of story’. These are conversations that matter, not the stuff that hang on fridge doors and then are relegated to the magic box. Strategic conversations engage participants analytically, creatively and emotionally. It resonates with the individual as something deeply important.
The Communication Core Competency connect in the same manner with its four inter-related facets:
- Connect and engage with others to share and develop ideas to a new level
- Acquire, interpret and present information purposefully to audiences using a variety of means
- Collaborate to plan, act, and review/recreate constructions
- Explain and reflect on experiences and accomplishments
These lend themselves to strategic conversations. The beauty of using a digital environment is the ease in which to connect with self and with others, to share experiences and give meaning. It is both collaborative and individual, a spiral of connectedness weaving thought and trust within its strands. It stretches mindsets, rather than breaks them as reflective language is developmental and progressive. It is inclusive in its ability to invite visual, audio, video and text formats. It is both historic and futuristic in approaches to story.
As we move towards the next iteration of our ePortfolios, we look forward to having more strategic conversations in communicating student learning. If you are interested in sharing this journey of learning with us, please contact us. Or let us know your thoughts by commenting below.