What was it like collecting evidence for your registration in 2016? Was it a struggle? A messy pile of paper? Something you just didn’t get to? Make a resolution for 2017 to collect your evidence the smart way, with SmartEvidence in MyPortfolio.
Collecting evidence and tracking your progress against the Practising Teacher Criteria (PTC) can be a hassle. As a teacher in New Zealand you need to be registered and renew your practising certificate every three years. Why not get smart and make it a New Year’s resolution to collect your teaching evidence the easy way, online?
MyPortfolio is the ideal platform for gathering evidence for PTC because you can keep all material stored and updated in one convenient place. You can also share your registration portfolio with other teachers at school for peer review or just with your assessor. MyPortfolio means no more paper or heavy folders to lug around.
Schools have already been successfully using MyPortfolio for teacher registration for several years. Many provide ready-made templates for teachers to copy their evidence into. Now, with SmartEvidence, MyPortfolio makes it easier than ever by providing visual tracking of teacher progress against the PTC.
SmartEvidence: Align your portfolio to the PTC
New for the 2017 school year, SmartEvidence allows you to align your portfolio with your competency framework and visualise your progress and accomplishments in a matrix. This means that you can easily see where you have provided evidence and which criteria have already been assessed.
The Practising Teacher Criteria are pre-populated when you choose to work with SmartEvidence and include the key indicators for each criterion. Any page that you add to your portfolio collection is automatically added to the evidence matrix, so you can associate it to criteria. You can then annotate a page and link it to criteria that, in turn, enable your assessor to leave feedback for you and make their assessment.
If you do not want to work with the built-in PTC SmartEvidence matrix, your school also has the ability to set up its own framework that the MyPortfolio support team can then upload and make available.
By using MyPortfolio, you can keep your registration information up to date online, as well as use elements of it in other portfolios that you keep, for example, participation in the National Aspiring Principals Programme.
Use your mobile device to complete your registration
With MyPortfolio, you aren’t restricted to collecting evidence just on your computer. The program works just as well on your smartphone and tablet, too – page content simply adapts to the size of your screen.
If you use an Android or iOS device, you can also use the new Mahara Mobile app, and upload learning evidence straight from your phone.
Uploading images and video or writing reflections into your journal has become much easier. See for yourself. Head to Myportfolio.school.nz now and try out SmartEvidence. With MyPortfolio, tracking your progress against the PTC is a resolution you’ll be able to keep.
Kristina Hoeppner is Mahara Project Lead at Catalyst IT.
More on MyPortfolio
MyPortfolio is a nationwide ePortfolio service for schools in New Zealand offered by the Ministry of Education. It’s managed and supported by Catalyst IT and Kineo (Pacific).
myportfolio.school.nz
Did you know?
MyPortfolio is built on the New Zealand developed, open source ePortfolio system Mahara. Meaning ‘think’ or ‘thought’ in Te Reo Ma-ori, the name Mahara reflects the project’s dedication to creating a user-centred life-long learning and development application.
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