Portfolio units are created by the students using an uniform information structure. (Example).

• Units are written structures. They are rigorous exercises that turn tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge
• Units coax students to think about the process as well as the product of their learning, offering students a meta-cognitive perspective.
• Units make students owners of a learning process that is tied to their efforts and activities rather than their present skills and abilities.
• Units are automatically converted to Web pages, giving students a published record of their work in the classroom and at home.

Portfolio units are available to teachers whenever they are needed. The uniform information structure makes them easy to review.

• Units are completely under the teacher’s control. The students do the work, not the teachers. The collaboratory creates itself as a byproduct of class activities.
• Units can be created with pencil and paper in class or at home. The Web form is used to make a permanent digital record.
• Units can track individual student performance. Teachers can get to know more about individual students as learners.
• Units provide teachers with feedback on how students are receiving their lessons.
• Units can be used as boundary objects between teachers, students, administrators and parents.
• Units (local and distant) contain references to class resources, activities, projects and subject matter experts. As the collaboratory grows, so does this list of references.
• The StoneSoup teacher’s page can be used as a classroom management tool.