Maker Ed, in conjunction with Indiana University’s Creativity Labs and the National Working Group, along with the generous, unwavering support of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, is thrilled to officially release the full Open Portfolio Project Research Brief Series. Since this stage of work began in October 2013, the research, visits, and discussions have uncovered a rich, fascinating set of findings that ultimately re-emphasize the importance of open maker portfolios and the wealth of future possibilities they hold.

The original goal of the project was to develop a common set of practices for portfolio creation, reflection, sharing, assessment, and technology solutions to create an open, decentralized, and distributed lifetime portfolio system for makers. Why? We strongly believe that open maker portfolios serve as an alternative means of assessment that highlight and showcase a youth’s abilities, voice, and interests in ways that few other avenues are capturing.

The entire research brief series, 9 in all, plus Appendices, is available here, including individual ones and the full series. They present data and findings from the full scope of research and work, including but not limited to the maker site survey, field site visits, and National Working Group conversations and meetings.

In addition, feel free to check out recent Educator Innovator webinars, hosted by our very own National Working Group member, Christina Cantrill. Our full blog series is available as well, and to learn more about higher education efforts in making and portfolios, jump over to MakeSchools.

We look forward to continuing our work in future months!