A question that never grows old for me is, How are schools today encouraging students to create digital portfolios of their K-12 work? It’s a question that came up at every K-12 school district I worked in. Solutions like bulb didn’t really pop up until after I stopped looking for a digital portfolio solution. One of the big challenges for these types of solutions, like bulb, is per user cost. Still, that doesn’t take away from the need for a digital portfolio solution.

News from Wakelet

Wakelet, a curation platform, has acquired bulb, a digital portfolio solution:

Education systems are responding to this, by going further than ever to prepare their students for life beyond the classroom - empowering them with digital portfolios. Together with Bulb, we’ll be able to offer even more value to schools and districts looking to maximize student outcomes inside and outside the classroom.” Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Lafayette, CO, bulb is the leading digital portfolio provider for districts, schools, and higher education institutions. It is used by 8 of the largest 25 school districts in the USA and 7 out of the largest 10 districts in Texas. bulb has users in all 50 states of the USA and 153 countries worldwide. source

Memories

Back in 2015-2016, or maybe a little after that, I remember meeting with a bulb representative. We sat down at Salsalitos Mexican Restaurant in San Antonio, Tx at a back table in the dimly lit space and chatted about bulb. I remember being a little nervous about the meeting, and nothing came of it.

It’s hard to believe we’re now in 2024, and bulb’s reach has grown to its current size. At the time, I remember thinking about Dr. Helen Barrett’s work regarding electronic portfolios from WAY back when. It’s amazing how far digital portfolios have come, and how easy it is to use a wide variety of solution providers or self-hosted, open source tools to host portfolios.

Partnered with the Wakelet team, I’m sure more amazing things will happen with bulb.

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