Democrats Pledge To Open eFolio

To Newtown Government, Residents

By John Voket

The Democratic candidates for first selectman and Board of Selectmen, Gary Fetzer and Joseph Hemingway, pledge in their latest position paper to secure grant funding to provide residents and businesses with a web-based portfolio designed to help them create a living showcase of their educational, career, business, and personal achievements.

“This can be an important tool for students, businesses, governmental employees and individuals who are seeking employment,” the Democrats’ release states. “It is one way that the town can help its residents meet the challenges of this difficult economic climate.”

If elected, Mr Fetzer and Mr Hemingway say they will establish the virtual clearinghouse, which they will dub eFolioNewtown.

“It will be a free resource for everyone in the town,” the release states. “It will be based on software currently being utilized in numerous institutions of higher education throughout the world and currently available to all of the residents of Minnesota.”

Avenet eFolio is a division of Avenet Web Solutions, a provider of content management software tools for a range of public sector markets. Avenet also provides web content management products and services to small business and other customers.

According to Mr Fetzer, the web-based service is used globally and the European Portfolio Initiative Coordinating Committee (EPICC) is chartered to provide access to these educational and learning environments from childhood through ongoing adult learning, to all European citizens by 2010.

“By offering eFolio, Newtown will be a pilot program for municipalities in Connecticut,” the Fetzer/Hemingway paper states. “Web-based portfolios are an integrated collection of digital documentation that can be used to promote the history and the goals of an individual. It is a secure website for entering, saving, organizing, viewing, and selectively sharing their personal, professional, and educational records.”

The Democrats state that eFolioNewtown will be used predominantly for:

*Students, who will be able to develop electronic portfolios, allowing them to create an online showcase of their works, designs, art, and other achievements.

“Educators at all levels are recognizing both the changing skills and experiences of students — many of whom have been using digital technology most of their lives,” the Democrats said. “As a result, teachers are integrating technology in classrooms in new and innovative ways and are changing pedagogic strategies, emphasizing authentic and problem-based learning strategies.”

*Small businesses, who cannot always afford a web site or keep it updated.

“Imagine if a contractor was able to keep pictures of all of his renovations, a business was able to show everything they sold, or a personal trainer could show examples of their successes?” the release asks. “They could only help their business. Updating would be relatively easy and could be done by the business owner.”

*Job hunters, or those who are currently working and seeking other employment, will have a place to store examples of their projects.

“The evolving nature of work and the economy in the 21st Century requires that everyone posses a new set of skills, including critical thinking, innovation, and creativity to be successful,” the Fetzer/Hemingway paper says. “This will allow them to demonstrate those skills when they are interviewing or review it in order to remember those projects.”

*Town employees, who could keep track of various road projects, construction sites, wetlands or proposed developments.

“These files could be accessible by the general public both before and after meetings,” the Democratic position paper concludes. “In addition, various agencies could provide graphic examples of what is, and what is not, allowed.”