David Hopkins used the time waiting for his iOS5 update more productively than I did (my nails are red). He read (and thankfully wrote) about an academic paper on public bPortfolios (blogging portfolios). Dubbed in the abstract as a “holistic alternative portfolio assessment system”, bPortfolios provide a way to reflect on academic (and professional) work in a socially interactive environment well beyond the walls of a college (or organization). So, yeah as I said, blogging. David goes on to talk about the efficient, inexpensive, scalable thing that WordPress is and wonders if bPortfolios will kick ePortfolios, which never really got much traction, to the curb or just  muck up the ongoing discussion about engagement. What I liked about the paper is the mention of metacognition (in this case critical reflection) applied to professional practice. While this is an academic study, the idea behind it applies just as much to corporate L&D – it’s important to document your learning not just what you learned. And (as they note) it’s better when the public can see it. The whole idea is to make the process of critical reflection as simple as possible.

Link: ‘ePortfolios are out, ‘bPortfolios’ are in (apparently), David Hopkins, 10/25/11