TOP PICKS | 17 TOOLS

Student Portfolio Apps and Websites

Portfolios are a time-tested and teacher-trusted method for assessing student learning. But what happens when students ditch notebooks and folders for laptops and tablets? These tech tools are here to help, offering students virtual binders, folders, webpages, and galleries for collecting everything from text to video. They also give teachers the ability to easily browse through their students' work and assess remotely.

Interested in seeing how two of the best student portfolio apps compare? Check out our EdTech Showdown featuring Seesaw and FreshGrade.

Top Picks

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Artsonia Kids Art Museum

Online art museum empowers students to exhibit, explain their work

Bottom line: A well-loved digital art museum that allows students to share work and reflect on their artistic process while helping teachers assess student understanding of artistic concepts.

Grades: Pre-K–12 Price: Free

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Sesame

Portfolio and communication tool makes formative assessment a snap

Bottom line: A useful way for teachers, students, and parents to monitor progress and demonstrate holistic evidence of learning.

Grades: Pre-K–12 Price: Free, Paid The Lite version is free for up to five classes. The Pro version is $120/year and includes more analytical, feedback, and customization options. The School version is $1,000/year for every 10 teachers and includes year-over-year data, single student profiles, and Google Apps and SIS integration.

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Dreamdo Schools

Sleek project-based learning platform encourages global connections

Bottom line: An excellent tool for project-based learning; plan, create, and share learning around the world.

Grades: K–12 Price: Free

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Seesaw: The Learning Journal

Versatile digital portfolio appeals to teachers, students, and parents

Bottom line: A powerful multimedia learning and communication tool that demonstrates student progress over time.

Grades: K–12 Price: Free, Paid Seesaw Plus is $120 per year, and gives teachers more privacy options and other features. Seesaw for Schools, which includes school-wide reporting, is priced per student.

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WeLearnedIt

Digital portfolio and management tool for project-based classrooms

Bottom line: Impressive tool for individualized learning and managing projects is best for 1-to-1 iPad classrooms.

Grades: K–12 Price: Free, Paid Some features require a subscription, with prices ranging from $10 per month for a classroom to $995 per year for a school.

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FreshGrade

A fresh way to capture, document, and share student learning

Bottom line: Multimedia documentation tools help communicate learning and expand assessment, and the addition of a gradebook sets this tool apart; still, student experience could use some polish.

Grades: 3–9 Price: Free Free for teachers, district pricing is available.

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Edmodo

Manage classes, content, and communication with social LMS platform

Bottom line: This free platform allows for teacher-monitored classroom communication but lacks excitement.

Grades: 4–12 Price: Free This website is free to use for all features, but it does contain advertisements on the teacher side.

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eBackpack

Easy system to submit, review, and store digital assignments

Bottom line: This is a great way to create a paperless classroom, but its potential for enhancing learning depends completely on how teachers use it.

Grades: 6–12 Price: Free, Paid

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Evernote

Organize digital content with full-featured web clipper and notebook

Bottom line: Students and teachers can learn to better manage their digital lives via this comprehensive organizational tool.

Grades: 6–12 Price: Free, Free to try, Paid Basic, Plus, and Premium plans available. Basic plans are free, and come with 60MB of uploads per month and access on two devices. Additional plans and in-app purchases are available for differing prices levels, ranging from $2.99-$7.99 per month. Yearly pricing is also available. The Plus plan gives users up to 1GB of uploads per month and synching on an unlimited number of devices. The Premium plan adds even more features, including a presentation mode and the ability to annotate PDFs.

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LiveBinders

Cool organization and eportfolio tool; watch out for privacy features

Bottom line: A good tool for its organizational, storage, and digital publishing features.

Grades: 6–12 Price: Free, Paid A Free account offers 100 MB of file storage with a file size limit of 5 MB. For individual educators and student accounts, the Basic Plan is $4 per month, or $25 per year with 1 GB of storage and a file size limit of 50 MB. A Pro account is $10 per month, or $100 per year for 50 GB of storage and a file size limit of 75 MB.

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Microsoft OneNote

Note-taking giant built for flexible, collaborative work

Bottom line: A powerful (and free) tool for thinking and organization that's making smart strides in the education space.

Grades: 6–12 Price: Free

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Pathbrite

Create, organize, assess sleek digital portfolios

Bottom line: A simple PBL tool that promotes digital literacy and lets kids create flexible, accessible digital portfolios.

Grades: 6–12 Price: Free

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Project Foundry

Helpful, yet complex, management tool for project-based learning

Bottom line: A powerful, though sometimes complex, tool for providing inquiry-based, student-centered learning.

Grades: 6–12 Price: Paid Quotes available upon request.

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Bulb

Slick portfolio tool has cool features, limited feedback options

Bottom line: A neat tool for publishing online, possibly better suited to teacher content creation than student publishing.

Grades: 7–12 Price: Free, Paid The basic version is free. For $9 per user per year, teachers can get more space and added features. Schools can contact the developer for district pricing.

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