Portfolio

The Portfolio tool allows students to document their learning by uploading images, videos, or other files, then including a written or spoken reflection. Students create portfolio evidence using the free Brightspace Portfolio app or in myCourses. Instructors access the student's evidence through the Portfolio tool in their course's navigation bar. Instructors can review the evidence, leave written feedback, and evaluate the evidence using a rubric. Portfolio artifacts can be tagged with categories by the student (instructor chooses categories available). Portfolio artifacts are not able to be tied to a grade item. 

Only the student and any staff roles in a course (instructor, support staff, TA) see the student's Portfolio content. Currently, Portfolios cannot be shared publicly outside of the course or to other students in the course.

Jump to Student Training

Instructor Training

1. Customize the navigation bar to add the Portfolio tool to your course. You can copy your existing navigation bar to keep your currently-used items and just add the new tools you want.
   • Only instructors, Support Staff, and Teaching Assistants will see this navigation item once it is added. Students will not see Portfolio in their navigation bar and will instead access the tool from the My Portfolio link in their account (review Student Training for details).
     
     
2. Configure Portfolio settings and categories (tags) for your class. Click the Portfolio tool in your nav bar, then click Settings.
   • By default, instructors are not notified when students upload evidence. If you want to be notified when students upload evidence, you will need to enable evidence approval. This will require you to approve all evidence before it is added to a student's Portfolio, but it is the only way to generate notifications. Under Evidence Approval, check the boxes for "The Portfolio web tool" and "The Portfolio app in 'My Device' mode". Click Save.
     
     
     

   • RIT has a set of School Categories already set up that can apply to many students' portfolios. The following categories are already available to use by your students. You do not need to do anything to use these categories:

      List of School Categories

     • analytical thinking
     • collaboration
     • creativity
     • critical thinking
     • ethical reasoning
     • global interconnectedness
     • innovative thinking
     • integrative literacies
     • interpersonal relationships
     • leadership
     • presentation skills
     • problem solving
     • project management
     • quantitative reasoning
     • scientific inquiry
     • self-awareness
     • written communication
   • You may wish to add additional categories for student use that are customized to your course. To set up additional Class Categories, under Category Management, type a new category name. Click Save. Repeat this to add more categories.
     
     
     
3. If you plan to evaluate evidence based on a rubric, you need to build the rubric in the Rubric tool (Rubric tool instructions). You will attach the rubric to the individual pieces of evidence after the evidence is uploaded. 
   • If you want students to see the rubric before uploading evidence, post it as a document in the Content tool. 
     
     
4. Provide details to your students on the types of things they need to upload to their Portfolios and when to submit. The Content tool is a good place to share instructions like this (Content tool instructions).
   
   
5. Once students have submitted their evidence, take actions on the student's evidence such as approving the evidence, leaving feedback, and evaluating based on a rubric.
   • Review and Approve Portfolio Items - Instructor (video tutorial)
   • Text instructions for all instructor actions for managing student reflections in Brightspace Portfolio.
   • NOTE: If you have the Evidence Approval setting on, you must approve evidence to a student's portfolio before it is viewable from the Class Portfolios page or the student's individual Portfolio page. If you want to review evidence before you approve it, you must view the evidence from the Approve Evidence list. 

Student Training

1. Decide if you want to use the Brightspace Portfolio mobile app or the Portfolio tool in myCourses from a browser to upload evidence. You can switch between methods at any time. Below is a comparison to help you decide.
   

   Tool	Evidence You Can Upload	What You Can Add to Evidence	How to Access	Review Instructor Feedback
   Brightspace Portfolio mobile app	Photos, Videos	Record an audio reflection Type a written reflection	You must have a personal mobile device and set up the app on your personal device (follow the personal device option in the documentation).	No
   Portfolio tool in myCourses (browser)	All supported evidence types	Upload an audio reflection file (recorded outside the tool) Type a written reflection Assign categories	In the upper right corner of the myCourses screen, click on your name. Click My Portfolio.	Yes, for evidence uploaded through either method.

   
   

2. Collect evidence as needed.
   

   • Collect learning evidence with Brightspace Portfolio App (follow the Personal Device option in the documentation). 
     • If your instructor requires you to tag your evidence with categories, you must go to the Portfolio tool in myCourses (browser) after you upload the evidence to add these categories in the evidence.
   • Collect learning evidence with the Portfolio tool in myCourses (browser).
     
     
3. After your instructor reviews and comments on your evidence, return to myCourses in your browser and open the Portfolio tool from the navigation bar to view instructor feedback. Evidence with instructor feedback has a darkened comment bubble icon.