What is an electronic portfolio?

According to seventh-grade teacher Jay D'Ambrosio, this is a question his colleagues at Seneca Valley Middle school have often asked when looking for ways to help pupils display their accomplishments in the classroom.

So D'Ambrosio began researching ways to help answer their questions -- and ended up with the idea for a book.

Titled "E-teaching: Creating Web Sites and Student Web Portfolios using Microsoft PowerPoint," D'Ambrosio's recently published book helps teachers and pupils glide easily through the process of putting student work into computers and displaying it in electronic "slide shows."

"This book lays out a framework for teachers and students to follow in the creation of Web sites and electronic portfolios that allows them to say, 'This is what an electronic portfolio should look like,' " D'Ambrosio said. "It gives students the freedom to be creative and choose different files, backgrounds, colors and animation, and even use audio and video clips."

Another selling point: "It's very appealing to visual learners."

"Eight out of every 10 students are visual learners," said D'Ambrosio, pointing out that lectures are not the most effective teaching tool for most pupils. "They don't retain as much information ... but when they see it and are able to create a part in doing something, retention levels are much higher."

Becoming a published author was a longtime dream for D'Ambrosio, a world history teacher. When one of his Web sites was named a Best Bet in Education by USA Today in 2001, he decided to pursue that dream.

He sent proposals to a number of educational publishers, and was offered a contract by Linworth Publishing Inc., of Grand Junction, Colo.

It all happened with little fanfare at the school.

"He had the book [finished] before anybody really knew about it," said Assistant Superintendent Denise Chappell. "Jay is the embodiment of still waters running deep. His true efforts are about improving the instructional program for students and not about personal gain."

"The book was a challenge to write," D'Ambrosio said. "But I learned a lot, and I'd like to eventually write another one."

D'Ambrosio, along with colleague Greg Hayward, a social studies teacher, mans a Web site to provide teachers with more information on electronic portfolios. The two have also created user-friendly PowerPoint templates, which they hope to market.

"Jay has given teachers a valuable tool," Hayward said. "He's taken a complex process and broken it down into such detailed parts that it's very easy to understand."

The book's publication last month thrilled D'Ambrosio, who has watched his work being sold around the world. "It's available on Amazon.com," he said. "A university in Finland just bought a copy."

"Jay's not only a teacher of students, he's a teacher of other teachers," Chappell said. "I think his book will let people know about the creativity and role that technology is already playing [in the classroom]."