E-portfolios tutorial
Overview
In this tutorial you will:
· learn what an e-portfolio is
· learn about the different things e-portfolios may be used for
· identify some options for creating an e-portfolio
· identify tools you can use to build an e-portfolio.
What is an e-portfolio?
A e-portfolio is a collection of digital files that showcases your efforts, improvements and achievements in your course.
An e-portfolio could be presented on CD, DVD, the internet or your college Intranet.
You may be asked to do one for your assessment, but if you have the chance to get feedback from others, it's also a great learning activity.
http://del.icio.us/prep4elearning/eportfolio-samples - samples of e-portfolios
What’s in it
An e-portfolio is a collection of digital files. These may include:
· images, eg photos of you performing a task
· audio files, eg a recording of you explaining an idea or concept to another person
· videos, eg a recording of you performing a task example
· text files, eg a self-reflection on how you've been going in your course
· presentation files, eg a slideshow of images with an audio track containing your narrative.
For assessment
To assess your competency in part of your course, your facilitator may ask you to put together an e-portfolio.
Your facilitator will give you clear instructions on what tasks you must complete and what must be in your e-portfolio. If you're not sure what's required, or how to do it, it's very important to ask your facilitator for help.
For learning
Building an e-portfolio is a great way to learn about something.
You'll be researching and completing a task, and presenting it in a fun and interesting way. You can regard it as a 'work-in-progress' - present it to your facilitator or to other students for feedback, and add to it over time.
That way you'll see how much you have learned and improved over the semester or the year.
For employment
The e-portfolio that you have built up in your course is very likely to get to the stage where you're pretty proud of it, and feel it could be worth showing to prospective employers.
This is where the feedback and improvements you've made over time will really pay off.
An e-portfolio will tell an employer something about you as well as your skills, and it's much more interesting and eye-catching than a traditional resume by itself.
For applying for recognition
Recognition (or recognition of prior learning) is where you may want to be acknowledged as already being competent in a particular area, but you don't have a nationally recognised qualification.
If you apply for recognition at your College you may be able to use an e-portfolio to showcase your work and achievements and as proof that you are competent.
If you are thinking of applying for recognition seek advice from your College first.
Prove It! can help you if you are thinking about recognition http://www.proveit.edu.au
How to create an e-portfolio
There are different ways you can create your e-portfolio, ranging from the very simple through to e-portfolios that call on more complex skills and software.
The method you use will depend on your skills, your learning goals and the requirements that your facilitator sets.
Let’s look at some methods, starting with the simplest…
A folder of goodies
Create a folder on your computer, place in there all your files for your e-portfolio (any mix of Word, PowerPoint, Publisher, images, audio, video), and give it to your facilitator on CD-ROM.
Be sure to save your work every few minutes, and create a backup.
Advantage
· Simple, you probably won’t need to invest a lot of time learning new software.
Disadvantage
· It’s not easy to gather feedback from others.
Publish on your College network
Check with your facilitator to see if this is available in your College. Create your folder of goodies, then:
Using Word or a similar program:
· create a file called index
· type in the title of each of your files, and insert a hyperlink from each title to the actual file – this will ‘guide’ your audience through your e-portfolio
· save it as a web page.
Upload the whole folder to your College network
Publish on a blog
A blog (or web log) is an online journal where you can publish information about yourself. Each entry is called a ‘post’ and other
people can leave comments on your posts.
Advantages
· Your facilitator and other students can view your portfolio and leave comments and suggestions.
· Most blogging sites offer attractive design templates that can make your e-portfolio look great.
· Most blogging sites provide a web feed so that your facilitator or other students can subscribe to it.
Disadvantages
· Information is organised chronologically (your most recent post is at the top), but you can work around this by using tags well.
· You usually have to upload your files (audio, video, etc) somewhere else on the internet, and provide a link to these from your blog.
http://del.icio.us/prep4elearning/blogs - blogging sites, and articles about blogging
Publish on a wiki
A wiki is a website that one person, or a group of people can edit.
The person who creates the wiki site sets permissions for who can
edit, so if it’s your own e-portfolio, you would probably limit editing rights to yourself.
Advantages
· Your facilitator and other students can view your e-portfolio and leave comments and suggestions.
· You have more control over how you organise the information and pages on your wiki.
· You can upload your files (audio, video, etc) directly to your wiki (although file size restrictions may apply).
Disadvantages
· A little more complicated to use than a blog.
http://del.icio.us/prep4elearning/wikis - wiki sites, and articles about wikis
Other online hosting options
As well as blogs and wikis there are other ways you can get an online presence.
http://del.icio.us/prep4elearning/eportfolio-hosting - more options for hosting your e-portfolio online
What tools can I use?
There are a huge number of tools you can use to build your e-porfolio, many of them free.
Examples:
· word processor or page layout software
· image editing software
· sound recording and editing software.
http://del.icio.us/prep4elearning/eportfolio-tools - software to build your e-portfolio
Summary and follow up
In this tutorial you have:
· learned what an e-portfolio is
· learned about the different things e-portfolios may be used for
· identified some options for creating an e-portfolio
· identified tools you can use to build an e-portfolio.
E-portfolios tutorial XXX
© NSW DET 2007