Well... sorry for the blogging break... again... it's been horrendously busy with work for the past month (marking over 150 exam scripts and providing feedback on what seemed like tons of the things) as well as wrapping up other bits and bobs from work before going on leave for 4 weeks (hooray!) and 'enjoying' a re-organisation at work which is currently rating as one of the most confusing experiences of my life.
Anyhoo... in between all that, I managed to get my CMALT porfolio completed and submitted. It felt kinda draft-ish and I know I could have made it more concise but anyway... it passed! Which is great!
Have to say, the process of going through putting together the portfolio was really intense though also a good opportunity for reflection. Kind of makes you realise a) yes, I do generally know what I'm talking about b) yes, I am interested in this field and c) creating an ePortfolio is about far more than dumping a load of examples together and hoping they stay together purely by the magic of ePortfolio-ness. Definitely takes a lot of thinking about and sifting to get it anywhere near coherent. But... a useful process.
Lifelong learning with ePortfolios doesn't tend to make sense to me (for various reasons which I'm sure I've wittered on about before)... but targetted, purposeful use of them? Absolutely. Good stuff!
So, if you're going to do CMALT then be as methodical as you can when you go through it all. Work through each section, think of examples. Get together evidence. Reflect on it. Share it with others to get feedback. Go through another iteration or two. Oh, and work openly if you can. Using Google Sites helped me to be brave enough to expose my evidence to others for feedback and made me really consider what I was writing as I was writing it. Overall, use the experience - it's a handy process to go through. Bit like an MOT for your professional practice.
PS YAY! My portfolio passed! PHEWIE!
PPS If you're wanting to use Google Sites, then you might find my YouTube video on getting hold of my CMALT portfolio template handy.
