College & Career Readiness Archives | bulb

bulb vs. Xello: The Clear Choice for Digital Portfolios

james8ade50903c — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 18:33:46 +0000

bulb vs. Xello: The Clear Choice for Digital Portfolios

Classroom Tips, College & Career Readiness, Student Portfolios

Published March 3, 2025

Equip your students with the most professional, flexible, and lasting digital portfolio solution: bulb.

As digital portfolios gain recognition for their role in curating, reflecting, and showcasing learning, education leaders must ask: Which platform truly delivers the best portfolio experience for students?

In the evolving landscape of educational technology, while Xello is known for career exploration and academic planning, bulb emerges as the superior choice for digital portfolios for all students. bulb’s comprehensive approach to showcasing learning and achievements offers clear advantages for both students and educators.

Why Choose bulb?

1. A Dedicated Digital Portfolio Solution

Unlike Xello, which prioritizes career readiness management tools, bulb is built specifically for creating, showcasing, and sharing portfolios. It empowers students to organize their work creatively, integrate multimedia, and maintain ownership of their content for life. bulb’s robust features support all subjects and learning styles, making it the clear choice for lifelong portfolios.

2. Affordable Professional Portfolio for All Learning Experiences

Districts often change curriculum and technology platforms year-to-year, seeking the best balance of quality and affordability. With bulb, students’ portfolios remain consistent and independent of shifting solutions. bulb empowers students to document their learning and achievements—from academic projects to career readiness activities—ensuring they continuously build a professional digital presence. As a standalone portfolio solution, bulb supports any curriculum or platform, providing students with a cohesive, lasting showcase of their growth and success.

3. Career Ready Bundles

Through partnerships with providers like Certiport and GMetrix, bulb becomes the ultimate portfolio companion. Students can document their learning, practice skills, and showcase certifications—creating a comprehensive, career-ready profile. Contact Certriport (certiportlearning@pearson.com) to learn more about their bundle offerings.

The Bottom Line

When choosing a digital portfolio platform, bulb stands out as the clear and compelling choice. With its superior design, professional features, and lifelong accessibility, bulb empowers students to own their learning journeys—both in school and beyond.

The post bulb vs. Xello: The Clear Choice for Digital Portfolios appeared first on bulb.

Making the Most of Your Free Classroom Pilot with bulb Portfolios

james8ade50903c — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 20:08:22 +0000

Making the Most of Your Free Classroom Pilot with bulb Portfolios

Classroom Tips, College & Career Readiness, Student Portfolios

Published February 12, 2025

Welcome to your free classroom pilot with bulb portfolios! This guide will help you maximize the experience and ensure both you and your students get the most value from this powerful digital tool.

bulb is your ultimate digital showcase- a dynamic portfolio and resume platform tailored for students and educators to show your value and land new opportunities. Here, you can effortlessly exhibit your best work, highlight your certifications and skills, and share your invaluable experiences throughout your journey.

1. Get Started with Confidence

Set Up Student Accounts

If using GMetrix, add bulb access for students through the GMetrix platform. (Instructions)
Not using GMetrix? Follow the sign-up instructions provided by your bulb Customer Success Team.
Questions? Email help@bulbapp.com

Use a Starter Template (Recommended)

Have students copy a starter template to guide their portfolio journey.
Templates can be customized or removed as needed.
Curious about the student templates? View them here.

Answer the Question: Why Do I Need a Portfolio?

Partner Activity: Have students brainstorm reasons why portfolios matter.
A digital portfolio helps students showcase their skills, making them stand out for college admissions, internships, and careers.
Explore Real Examples: Inspire students by reviewing High School CTE Portfolios & Resumes

2. Engage Students with Meaningful Activities

Personalize the Portfolio

Students should complete one of the two “About Me” page templates to practice using the platform and introduce themselves.

Create an “About Me” Page (Essential!)

Showcase your best curriculum work. Include examples that demonstrate innovative teaching strategies, differentiation techniques, and integration of technology.

Incorporate Multimedia

Encourage students to use text, images, videos, and links to enhance their portfolios.

3. Make the Portfolio Impactful

Use Templates to Save Time

Students can use templates from their Academic Collection for projects, reflections, and work examples. Teachers can also create and share templates for specific assignments.

Showcase an Important Project or Skill

Have students add one significant project from this semester/year. Encourage them to provide details such as; What was the project about? What obstacles did they overcome? What did they learn? This helps them take ownership of their portfolio while building a strong digital footprint.

4. Build a Dynamic Resume

Create a Digital Resume

Have students enter key information from their resumes into bulb.

Attach Supporting Evidence

Students can link portfolio pages (projects, certifications, reflections) to sections of their resume for added credibility.

Participate in the Upcoming bulb Resume Challenge (Get Recognized!)

Encourage students to showcase their resumes by participating in the bulb Resume Challenge for a chance to be featured and receive valuable feedback.

Expand Connections

Encourage students to share their portfolios with educators, mentors, and potential employers.

5. Keep Your Portfolio Beyond School

Your work. Your Portfolio

Continue making the most of your bulb classroom and empower your students to showcase their learning! To keep the momentum going and continue your great work with bulb next year you can purchase the bulbEd plan which offers you unlimited storage, unlimited shared pages, share resume, templates, assignments and more. Find out more here.
Students can keep their bulb portfolio even after they graduate from your school. To ensure continued access, add a personal email under Settings before the school email expires.

6. Access Helpful Resources

Connect with Other Educators

Join bulbHeads to exchange ideas and best practices with fellow teachers.

Invite Your Colleagues (Every student benefits from a portfolio!)

Share the free pilot with other educators and encourage them to integrate bulb into their classrooms.
Activate via GMetrix or complete this form to get started.

Join a Free Webinar or Schedule a Demo

Prefer learning live? Participate in a free webinar or request a personalized walkthrough.
Join a Webinar
Schedule a Demo

Explore Our Getting Started Resources

Start Here – A collection of essential guides for teachers.
Resource Center Library – Find templates, examples, and inspiration for showcasing work and supporting students.

Have questions or need support?

The expert bulb team is here to help you succeed! Reach out to us at help@bulbapp.com, and we’ll be happy to assist you.

The post Making the Most of Your Free Classroom Pilot with bulb Portfolios appeared first on bulb.

Interview: Chad Wilson from Brownsboro High School

Kaitlyn Chasarik — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 15:28:00 +0000

Interview: Chad Wilson from Brownsboro High School

College & Career Readiness

Published October 27, 2021

How Chad Wilson, award winning journalist and educator, uses bulb Digital Portfolios in his classroom.

As bulb Digital Portfolios continues to add new features, like bulb Digital Resumé, educators and students are using their portfolios in more ways than ever before. Chad Wilson, an educator at Brownsboro High School, started using bulb in his classroom when Brownsboro’s CTE director identified the platform as a great match for their portfolio needs.

Sitting down with bulb for an interview, Chad shared his insights about his and his classroom’s journey with the platform.

Q. Tell us about yourself! What drove you to became a teacher and what’s your teaching philosophy?

A. As a high school student I had no direction for my future. I took a design class my senior year and liked it enough to try graphic design in college. It was fun, but I went to ministry school instead. Out of ministry school I landed a part time job in journalism at a local newspaper. Fast forward 13 years and I held various positions at media companies including editor of a daily newspaper. I found a lot of success in journalism, but something was missing.

I wanted to teach the next generation or journalists and through CTE opportunities was able to become a graphic design and commercial photography teacher at the same school I graduated from.

Q. How are you using bulb in your classroom right now?

A. We use it as a digital portfolio where the student includes a bio collection, a personal interest collection and a collection for the class. We will add resumes and items later to develop it fully for college applications, workforce applications and more.

Q. What changes have you noticed in your students’ learning experiences since you implemented digital portfolios?

A. When students share their projects with others, or the world, they want to share their best. Having a portfolio encourages students to do their best, instead of just “good enough” for a grade.

“Having a portfolio encourages students to do their best, instead of just “good enough” for a grade.” – Chad Wilson

Q. What kinds of reactions did your students have when you first introduced them to digital portfolios?

A. Many of them find it difficult to navigate the site and land the concept. Some do it with ease due to social media. Those who desire a career in design or photography tend to really love digital portfolios as a place to share their work with others.

Q. What words of wisdom do you have for teachers implementing bulb digital portfolios in their classrooms?

A. Give students a clear direction of items needed. It can be overwhelming to navigate the platform at first, but encourage students to explore. Those who understand the importance of digital portfolios can really take advantage of all the tools available.

One of Chad’s star students, Emily Pope, used bulb to showcase her graphic design portfolio and then used it to apply for, and land, a graphic design internship. Now a blossoming professional, Emily’s bulb portfolio is a great place to get inspired and also see Chad’s classroom in action through the work of his students. You can view her portfolio here.

The post Interview: Chad Wilson from Brownsboro High School appeared first on bulb.

PTECH | HVPA: Preparing Students to be Workforce Ready After Graduation

rosilynnyoon — Fri, 21 Aug 2020 15:01:34 +0000

PTECH | HVPA: Preparing Students to be Workforce Ready After Graduation

College & Career Readiness, CTE, Equity & Access, Jobs & Employment, User Stories

Published August 21, 2020

Preparing Students to be Workforce Ready After Graduation

PTECH: Hudson Valley Pathways Academy prepares students with workforce readiness skills after graduation with specialized curricula and bulb Digital Portfolios.

Pathways and Technology Early College High School (PTECH): Hudson Valley Pathways Academy (HVPA) provides students with incredible opportunities to be workforce ready after graduation. Students are invited to apply to attend HVPA. Once accepted into the program, they start a 6-year learning journey; 4 years of High School and 2 years of College. Upon completion, they leave with a high school diploma and an associate degree without cost to themselves or their family.

PTECH: HVPA is located in New York’s Hudson Valley, one mile away from the Hudson River. It’s a small town. Some students have dreams of moving away after graduation, and others want to stay and continue their legacy at home. PTECH is mindful about these feelings and adjusts their curricula to prepare students for any path they decide to take.

The young people who live in this geographic region are at risk for being in low-pay, high-turnover positions. They lack access to CTE courses or advance college opportunities, and often do not graduate from high school. HVPA provides them with the education to learn skills for middle income career opportunities to create a more fulfilling life within the comforts of their hometown, and beyond. Their curricula is heavily career focused. Students must display their work to show employers and recruiters the skills they learned. This is why they started using bulb school-wide. Students showcase their projects, certifications, and real-life learnings within their digital portfolios.

About PTECH: HVPA

The Kingston City School District received a grant to found HVPA 7 years ago. They worked alongside Ulster Community College and the Council of Industry of the Greater Hudson Valley to establish a triad partnership. Together, their goal was to understand and establish the skills students need to be employable after graduation.

Part of their regular process is working with industry partners to identify job opportunities. Then, they create curricula to teach the students the skills they need to meet those job requirements. Throughout the school year, HVPA continues to work with local partners, organizations, and the community college to move their students along one of three pathways: Manufacturing, Network Administration, Health Informatics

Principal Peter Harris

HPVA’s current Principal is Peter Harris. Peter has 26 years of experience in education; 15 years as an English teacher and 11 years in administration. In his current role, he creates programs for young people who live in the region and do not normally have access to CTE courses or advance college opportunities. He initiated a digital portfolio program. His students needed a way to document their work for a few reasons:

To track progress and celebrate growth
To demonstrate to potential employers their skills
To give educators and industry professionals a way to provide students with direct feedback
To create and fortify the school’s industry partnerships, giving more opportunities for students to have real work experience and opportunities for employment
To encourage continual learning for each student

bulb was the answer.

Hands-on learning

Students learn workforce ready skills at HVPA through skills-based and project-based learning. They learn how to accomplish work and workflow in a tactical way.

One of the first projects incoming freshmen complete is LEAN manufacturing training—creating an efficient workflow by streamlining and organizing each step of a process. Students are challenged to build a clock. Through a series of iterative feedback, they reach the most efficient workflow possible, usually by the 4th simulation. This process shifts the students’ thinking and creates a solid foundation of understanding on how to execute projects throughout their career.

The portfolio difference

One of the biggest challenges for Principal Harris was finding a quality way to highlight the achievements of his students to HVPA’s industry partners. Along with finding a platform where students document each step of their projects and present their work, they wanted their industry partners to be able to give the students direct feedback.

“Feedback from industry partners, people who are capable of critiquing based on product mastery, is essential to what we do,” says Principal Harris. “Our goal is to provide all learners the skills to articulate and curate their work in a clean, clear way to a public audience. bulb allows students to do this.”

bulb met all of Principal Harris’ needs for the type of platform he was looking for. It allows the students to dynamically showcase a project from launch to reflection. Curation, ideation, critique, it’s all done in bulb now so students can:

Access their portfolio from any device, so they can address feedback and make direct edits in their portfolios at any time.
Capture all of their learning from different projects in one place to see their growth. This also helps students identify what concepts make them excited, so they can fulfill a role with the skills they like to learn.

Even during school closures due to COVID-19, bulb enabled the school to keep the learning going. At the end of each year, graduating students give Chapter Presentations where they are given 7 minutes to present their entire learning journey to HVPA faculty. Usually this event is held in person, but this year it was done online with students using their bulb digital portfolios to walk through their learnings.

"bulb is another partnership we can leverage to accentuate the success of our kids. During a professional meeting, I can pull out my phone and in a few clicks show dynamic student work."

Principal Harris

After Introducing bulb

PTECH: HVPA enhanced positive outcomes for each student. With their portfolios, they’re able to prove themselves, to educators, and potential employers that they are workforce ready and have the skills to be successful. Their portfolios show the world that they’re able to take a concept and complete a task; they use creativity; they have multiple technological fluencies; they are self-disciplined; and they are global citizens ready to be led and to lead.

bulb For K-12

bulb For Higher Ed

The post PTECH | HVPA: Preparing Students to be Workforce Ready After Graduation appeared first on bulb.

Using bulb for Language Classes

chelseakasen — Fri, 07 Aug 2020 18:01:00 +0000

Using bulb for Language Classes

See how Melissa uses bulb Digital Portfolios with her English language students, documenting progress over time & showcasing their work.

With bulb, Melissa…

gives her students a platform to organize their work in a digital way, keeping things streamlined & paperless
has her students document their learning in each unit
has a way to show that her students are more than a test score or a grade
provides a way for students to show their skills to potential employers
personalizes work with photos, videos, audio & text
collects artifacts of learning for each of her students throughout the year
gives her students a voice & choice in how they display their writing in their digital portfolio
tracks student growth over time

bulb is the perfect platform for teachers to enhance their langue learning classroom experience.

Using bulb for Language Classes

College & Career Readiness, Digital Storytelling, Student Portfolios, Student Voice, User Stories

Published August 7, 2020

Photo by Mimi Thian on Unsplash.

Using bulb for Language Classes

See how Melissa uses bulb Digital Portfolios with her English language students, documenting progress over time & showcasing their work.

gives her students a platform to organize their work in a digital way, keeping things streamlined & paperless
has her students document their learning in each unit
has a way to show that her students are more than a test score or a grade
provides a way for students to show their skills to potential employers

personalizes work with photos, videos, audio & text
collects artifacts of learning for each of her students throughout the year
gives her students a voice & choice in how they display their writing in their digital portfolio
tracks student growth over time

Want to learn more about how you can use bulb for yourself and for your students?

bulb Home

bulb for K-12

bulb for Higher Ed

Would you to create your own bulb account?

Sign-up

The post Using bulb for Language Classes appeared first on bulb.

Getting The Most Out of Capstone Projects with bulb Digital Portfolios at Turner Tech HS

rosilynnyoon — Tue, 04 Aug 2020 19:53:18 +0000

Getting The Most Out of Capstone Projects with bulb Digital Portfolios at Turner Tech HS

Assessment, College & Career Readiness, Student Portfolios, User Stories

Published August 4, 2020

Getting The Most Out of Capstone Projects with bulb Digital Portfolios at Turner Tech HS. Capstone Projects with bulb.

Photo by aurora.kreativ on Unsplash.

Principal Frazier of William H. Turner Tech High School empowers students through innovation and highlights the inspiring outcomes.

William H. Turner Technical Arts High School, located in the inner city of Miami, FL, is part of the Miami-Dade Public School System. M-DCPS is the 4th largest school district in the U.S. with 392 schools, and 133 of them on the U.S News & World Report list of 2020 Best High Schools.

Principal Uwezo Frazier of Turner Tech has over 24 years of experience in education. Fueled by giving back, sharing knowledge, and permeating it throughout the community, his plan continues to be to revolutionize education with innovation. One way he’s done this is through revamping the Senior Capstone Project.

"We're able to do all of this despite where we're located."

Principal Frazier

What is the Turner Tech Senior Capstone Project?

Turner is a total academy school with several nationally distinguished programs. All programs require a capstone project. Each senior works on their project and documents their progress in their bulb digital portfolio. Throughout the year, as students collect awards, demonstrate talents, and discover new passions and experiences they include them in their portfolios. While every grade level completes a capstone project, the emphasis is placed on the senior’s portfolios so they can be used to apply to colleges, internships, and jobs.

Before seniors graduate, they present their portfolios in front of the community. Creating a space for seniors to show who they are and what they know enables them to share with others that the challenges many of them experienced, growing up in inner-city Miami, does not define them.

Senior Capstone Projects has not always been so streamlined and empowering for seniors.

History of the Turner Tech Capstone Project

Before Principal Frazier, capstone projects were large stacks of papers passed back and forth between teachers, school leaders, and mentors. This paper-based system made it difficult for students to keep track of their work, and for teachers, leaders, and mentors to give meaningful feedback.

Concerned that students might exploit gray areas in the process and poke holes in a flawed system, Principal Frazier set out to find a new way. What would be a more streamlined way to document a student’s high school career? And what would be a more motivating system for the students to try their best?

Finding A Better Way

Motivated to find a more efficient process for everyone’s time and resources, Principal Frazier began challenging the status quo. His goal was to create an environment where students could thrive. He knew the capstone project could be life changing for all students, but first he would need to empower them.

He was approached by Dr. Lupe Diaz, Executive Director of CTE for the Miami-Dade County Public Schools, about using bulb Digital Portfolios as the paperless, efficient solution for the Senior Capstone Project. After thoroughly reviewing what it would take to implement the digital solution across the school, he decided to give bulb a try. William H. Turner Tech became the first Miami-Dade School to implement bulb on their campus.

Implementing the Digital Process

Making this drastic change to a deeply embedded process was going to be challenging. Using his 24 years of experience, Principal Frazier knew his first step towards implementing bulb across the school was to inspire the educators. In a May 2020 bulb Webinar, Principal Frazier went into detail about how he did this, and offered the following advice to administrators for implementing new EdTech tools school-wide:

As the Principal, it starts with YOU. The entire building adopts the tone of the principal. Teachers, students and admin will gravitate to your personality and how you handle things.
Speak passionately about the new tool. If you’re not passionate about it, your staff won’t be. See the first bullet point for more.
Your words are important. Using the phrase, “We are doing this,” shows you’re in this new process with them. They’ll follow your lead.
Do not underestimate the role the entire leadership team plays in the implementation process. These initiatives require a lot of admin support to ensure things run smoothly after implementing changes.

In addition to inspiring his staff, Principal Frazier regularly checks in with teachers and students to gain a pulse on how everyone’s doing. Some of his methods include:

“Inspect for success.” Walking the building and seeing for himself how the tool is being used. When school became remote, he joined the virtual classes to see how the work was coming along.
Celebrating success, big or small.
Controlling the narrative. If he hears negativity, he listens and stops it. Negativity will set a school back.
Making sure the students are able to articulate the new technology to their teachers, peers and parents.
Finding meaningful rewards for teachers and students when they adopt the new technology.

What’s happened since implementing bulb?

The most impressive benefit of implementing a digital tool all students can use in their own way has been the evolution of quiet students finding their voice. Using the digital platform each student, introverted or extroverted, can decide how to showcase their work, capabilities, and processes in the way they are most comfortable and confident with.

Students at Turner Tech High School have been accepted to Ivy League Schools and HBCUs, and have landed prestigious internships. Principal Frazier attributes the students’ successes to the Senior Capstone Project. While students have always been able to discover and show to the world their passions, dreams, and capabilities, now with bulb Digital Portfolios they can continue this practice for life.

Watch Principal Frazier's full webinar recap here

The post Getting The Most Out of Capstone Projects with bulb Digital Portfolios at Turner Tech HS appeared first on bulb.

The ePortfolio Challenge: bulb x Miami-Dade Schools

rosilynnyoon — Tue, 04 Aug 2020 18:28:01 +0000

The ePortfolio Challenge: bulb x Miami-Dade Schools

College & Career Readiness, CTE, Digital Storytelling, Equity & Access, User Stories

Published August 4, 2020

Photo by Lance Asper on Unsplash.

The ePortfolio Challenge: bulb x Miami-Dade Schools

The 4th largest school district in the U.S, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, excites students and teachers to use ePortfolios by hosting a high energy event around CTE, STEM and STEAM.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) is the 4th largest school district in the U.S. The district holds 392 schools—133 of them have made it to the list of 2020 Best High Schools, according to the U.S News & World Report. In addition, four of their high schools are among the top 100 in the nation, and nine of their high schools are in the top 20 for Florida. Often recognized as a leader in education, the district continues to grow by innovating ways to intrigue students and encourage their learning.

In 2018, the Dade School CTE Program at Turner Tech first started using bulb and then expanded to all NAF students across their network. At first, they used the platform in simple, small ways to achieve short-term goals. Over time, they started applying the digital portfolio for other reasons and expanded its use around the district, eventually encouraging all students to use it. They wondered – what would be the most captivating and exciting way to motivate students to create and maintain their own digital portfolio? Thus, they added a ePortfolio Challenge to their already successful annual Innov@ate Challenge. This challenge, along with Miami-Dade’s use of the digital portfolios over time, has gotten students and teachers excited about the possibilities of using the tool.

Miami-Dade Innov@te Challenge

Miami-Dade Innov@te Challenge is one of the teachers’ and students’ favorite days. The annual competition grows every year with more participants, attendees, educators, mentors, scholarships, guest speakers, and more. The energy is electric at this event. Students can walk around and network, they can participate in any of the STEM and STEAM challenges, and they can get creative in their own way within any category.

At the Innov@te Challenge in December 2019, there were 22 challenges (see here), including the ePortfolio competition. Students were asked to create a bulb digital portfolio to tell their story in front of a panel of judges.

One of the judges for the eportfolio competition was Keynote speaker, Justin Shaifer, also known as Mr. Fascinate. His mission is to inspire under-represented kids to pursue STEM and STEAM careers. Justin’s latest venture is the “Magic Cool Bus”, a mobile STEM exhibit that excites kids in the New York City area. Learn more about this venture here.

ePortfolio Competition

Students who participated in the ePortfolio challenge were asked to build a portfolio to showcase their best work from their high school years. They were encouraged to include extracurricular activities, passion projects, talents and an About Me page. The goal: to create an ePortfolio to share when applying for internships, jobs, and to colleges. After presenting their portfolios, the five judges then presented feedback to the students as if they were potential employers.

The students were judged on three main categories:

Ability to showcase their personality and tell their full story using their digital portfolio.
Organization and appearance. The portfolio needed to be well organized, easily navigable, and visually appealing, all while showcasing the student’s personality.
Quality of the content included in the portfolio. Students were encouraged to use audio, video, embed their work, and use pictures to show what they know and who they are.

When asked about why the students chose to participate in this challenge over the other categories, here’s what a few participants said:

“Making something that’s personal to me is really important because it helps me improve myself when I’m looking at different parts of me.” —Ciara | Miami Sunset Senior High School “Most people I’ve asked about the program say it seems wonderful – and that the portfolio really showcases me as a person.” —Sadre | William H. Turner Tech High School “The main reason I did this competition was to put myself out there and gain experience from it. it wasn’t about winning. I wanted to get feedback on my portfolio, to make it better to get a job or an interview.” —Berniya | William H. Turner Tech High School

The post The ePortfolio Challenge: bulb x Miami-Dade Schools appeared first on bulb.

How Digital Portfolios Help Students Explore Career Paths

rosilynnyoon — Mon, 03 Aug 2020 20:49:39 +0000

How Digital Portfolios Help Students Explore Career Paths

College & Career Readiness, CTE, Jobs & Employment, Student Portfolios

Published August 3, 2020

Student digital portfolios and education.

Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash.

Educators have one of the greatest challenges— to prepare students for success in a future too technical and unpredictable for any one of us to determine. So, how, under these circumstances, do we ensure success for our students?

We give them the right tools.

The most relevant resources in education are the ones that help students discover their passions and design their careers. The right tools inspire students to enjoy learning, try harder, and develop and attain goals. By giving our students the best resources, we’re giving them every opportunity to succeed.

So, what tools do our students need to achieve their dreams?

A digital portfolio is required by the Federal Perkins guidelines for CTE students. However, all students should be encouraged to use a digital portfolio, for it is one of the most accurate representations of a student’s successes and potential for college applications, freelance or career opportunities. It leaves an impression like no other and goes beyond a resume or a test score. Digital student portfolios, in our ever-so-competitive market, are a competitive advantage and perhaps the single deciding factor between your student and others.

But of course, we believe bulb is the best digital portfolio option. Why?

Experience, explore and showcase career interests in a multitude of ways. If your student is a great speaker, writer, illustrator, bulb supports multimedia and the different avenues students perform. For example, Megan Coleman created a collection to document gardening and pre-agriculture work.

Document every step of anything—hobbies, passions, academic achievements, processes, etc. In the midst of it all, see where talents, passions, and strengths collide to better understand career options, and yourself. Rocky Mountain High School student Caroline Schulze kept her engineering designs in bulb. She’s continuing her work at the Oregon Institute of Technology.

Demonstrate an entire lifetime of learning. With unlimited storage on bulb, the possibilities are endless when organizing and creating content. Thus, CTE students have the ability to reflect. refine and realize their capabilities when striving to meet life goals or explore careers.

The best way to confront the unknown future is to feel confident in the journey towards it. And the best way to do that is to give our students bulb digital portfolios. Because as educators, it is one of the most rewarding challenges to help our students thrive.

So, let’s set them up to succeed with bulb.

Explore the Resource Center for more helpful resources. Or contact us to set up a demo.

Don’t have a bulb account?

Want to receive weekly resources like these directly in your inbox?

The post How Digital Portfolios Help Students Explore Career Paths appeared first on bulb.

Students Use Digital Portfolios to Build Career Paths

rosilynnyoon — Mon, 03 Aug 2020 20:34:22 +0000

Students Use Digital Portfolios to Build Career Paths

Classroom Tips, College & Career Readiness, CTE, Student Agency

Published August 3, 2020

Photo by Saulo Mohana on Unsplash.

Explore student portfolio examples.

Students Use Digital Portfolios to Build Career Paths

Digital portfolios are one of the best places for career exploration and execution. It’s no wonder they’re required for all CTE students by the Federal Perkins guidelines. Though digital portfolios should be required for all students in general.

It’s difficult to determine a career path, especially with an increasing amount of occupations. Starting a digital portfolio early in an academic career uncovers passions, talents, skills—and most importantly, direction.

Take a look at a few bulb digital portfolio examples from CTE students, who successfully differentiate themselves to land a job in some of today’s most competitive industries.

Culinary Arts

Darrell Walker uses his bulb to plan his career. To have the best representation of himself, he’s added:

A personalized voice introduction.
Annotated maps to demonstrate detail and research abilities.
Thoughtful and thorough answers to the frequently asked interview questions.

Arts, Audio/Video Technology & Communication.

This student uses bulb to express their aesthetic and passion for art. You’ll find:

Compilations of art inspiration as a unique way to get to know the student.
Resources in one designated place to access for any project at anytime.
The evolution of their career as a creative.

Marketing & Sales.

Keith McBrayer uses a website and bulb to practice business. His website showcases his products. His bulb showcases his abilities, perhaps to an investor someday. He uses the platform to:

Embed interactive presentations and spreadsheets.
Practice the set up and structure of a business plan.
Demonstrate both his creative and analytical side.

Trebuchet project

No matter the career field, we know the importance of process and outline for outcome. bulb acknowledges that in its design. And teachers are capable of mimicking practical job skills and applications when creating their projects.

Like this trebuchet example⁠—which shows every step of the process from the design to the final report.

But any project can follow the above outline. In fact, we already made the template for you. Get creative; build a project for the upcoming year.

With so many possibilities and opportunities on bulb, how will your students thrive with bulb digital portfolios?

Explore the Resource Library for more helpful resources. Or contact us to set up a demo.

Don’t have a bulb account?

Sign-up

The post Students Use Digital Portfolios to Build Career Paths appeared first on bulb.

Study Group: Giving Students a Competitive Edge in the Graduate Job Market with bulb

rosilynnyoon — Wed, 22 Apr 2020 14:42:53 +0000

Study Group: Giving Students a Competitive Edge in the Graduate Job Market with bulb

College & Career Readiness, CTE, Jobs & Employment, User Stories

Published April 22, 2020

Giving Students a Competitive Edge in the Graduate Job Market with bulb

After a successful 600+ student trial, Study Group partners with bulb to give students across their entire network the advantage in the ever-changing graduate employment market.

The leading provider of international education, Study Group, realized their students need a platform where they can display their employable skills alongside their academic studies, in response to the ever-changing global graduate employment market.

Working in partnership with bulb, Study Group decided to embark on a trial that equipped over 600 students at a UK International Study Centre (ISC) with digital portfolios. After a successful trial period, where the value of digital portfolios was apparent, bulb was deployed across their entire student network.

An all-in-one solution

bulb is a multipurpose tool. Students can use it day-to-day to complete school assignments, take notes, and organize their work in one place. They can also use it to build a dynamic, multimedia resume that not only tells employers about their skills but shows employers what they’re capable of. Study Group knows their students are more than just a number in a grade book, and digital portfolios are the perfect tool for students to evidence their learning journey and extra-curricular achievements.

A tool for reflecting and curating experiences

Students use bulb to document and showcase their interests, skills, passions, and hobbies. bulb keeps their work archived, so they have the ability to see past projects and reflect. Reflection is a key practice for every student. It helps them identify areas to improve on, inspires them to keep learning, and tracks progress over time. It gives students a better understanding of themselves inside and outside of the classroom, revealing how they learn. A consistent effort to document and reflect compounds over time.

"Digital portfolios enable our studnets to record personal reflections and identify their own strength and areas for development."

Study Group

A dynamic competitive advantage

A digital portfolio gives students a competitive advantage because it shows evidence of their work. When applying for a job, it might be difficult for some students to summarize their knowledge or explain their drive. Even during an interview, the opportunity for students to show the employer a project that they’re proud of, their exceptional ability to organize, or their creative potential, is often missed. With a digital portfolio, students have the platform to do that.

Study Group’s students are ambitious and come from diverse academic backgrounds. bulb is customizable to each individual and their story.

“This partnership ensures our ISCs continue to support and develop students’ skills for success, future plans, and meet the demands of the modern workforce.”

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