Transcript What is an e-portfolio?

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/eportfoliosamples - samples of e-portfolios [web link not
working?]
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 teacher may
ask you to put together an eportfolio.
Your teacher 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 teacher 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 teacher 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.
Prove It! can help you if you are
thinking about recognition
http://www.proveit.edu.au
[web link not working?]
If you apply for recognition at your
College you may be able to use an eportfolio 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.
How to create an e-portfolio
There are different ways you can create your eportfolio, 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 teacher 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 eportfolio (any mix of Word, PowerPoint,
Publisher, images, audio, video), and give
it to your teacher 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 teacher 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 teacher and other students can view your portfolio and leave comments
and suggestions.

Most blogging sites offer attractive design templates that can make your eportfolio look great.

Most blogging sites provide a web feed so that your teacher 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 [web
link not working?]
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 teacher 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 [web link not
working?]
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/eportfoliohosting - more options for hosting your eportfolio online [web link not working?]
What software can I use?
There are a huge number of tools you
can use to build your e-portfolio,
many of them free.
Examples:

word processor or page
layout software

image editing software

sound recording and editing
software.
http://del.icio.us/prep4elearning/eport
folio-tools - software to build your eportfolio [web link not working?]
Summary and follow up
Summary
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.
Follow up
Close this window then:

listen to the interviews with teachers for tips on eportfolios

try the planning activity in the ‘Try it’ section.