Education - ePortfolios

What is the process for creating an ePortfolio?

This article describes a useful process for creating an ePortfolio: 

1) Collect and save documents that represent your activities, accomplishments and best work in your area.

2) Reflect and think about your growth and development as a scholar teacher in each of the areas (i.e., teaching research, service).

        a. Reflective questions

         i. What did you learn as a result of this activity?

         ii. How did it benefit you?

         iii. For example, if you served as an article reviewer, go beyond stating that you did serve as reviewer (CV) but talk about what you gained from the process (reflective ePortfolio). How are you a better writer? How has the quality of your articles improved? What do you have yet to learn and why?

3) Select from the collected documents those that are representative of your work as a teacher scholar in your field and that demonstrate competencies such as effective teaching, creativity, collaboration, research, presentation, publication, mentoring, scholarly teaching, etc.

4) Connect and create cohesion among the various portfolio elements (teaching, research,community engagement) so that the various elements build on each other and support each other.

5) Collaborate and seek constructive feedback from peers, faculty, administrators, etc. both within your institution and beyond.

6) Locate documents in digital format

7) Build a skeleton framework in a digital website tool (e.g., WordPress, Weebly) to start uploading your content.

(Content derived from ePortfolio for Your Professional Teaching Practice (Vancouver Island University) -  goo.gl/lp70S2)

What are some other considerations (e.g. style, layout, browser compatibility) when creating an ePortfolio?

Six steps to review as you work up your ePortfolio.

 1. The Right Impression: Consider your theme

• what is the message / info you want to share and who is the audience you are trying to reach? 
• think about "branding" yourself. You are a miniature organization with skills to sell 
• if your target audience is employers and professors, use a conservative colour scheme and layout. If your target audience is a peer group, you can be a little more creative. 

2. Break it Down: Organizing your Content (Message)

• is your information current and relevant?
• are areas of content, navigation and branding clearly differentiated?
• be wary of image copyright issues! You can't just use any image you find on the web. Use copyright-free images only 

3. Work it up: Putting the pieces together

• write your content in web style... is it digestible chunks and paragraphs?
• is the presentation consistent and organized?
• accessorize sparingly like a fine suit. Do you need to add multimedia?

4. Tune it: Making it Look Good

• for a more sophisticated look, keep the use of colour to a minimum. You'll probably want to chose a simple colour scheme for your snapshot and keep it consistent throughout. Think twice before using those colour drop-downs!
• balance the layout... i.e. perhaps one key item such as a heading, image, or tinted background, is visually weighted heavier to catch the eye looking at the details, are things clear and concise?

5. Test it: Making it Work for your Audience

• test the links... when linking to a document, indicate what type of document beside the link (MS Word Doc) so the click holds no surprises
• ask yourself: is it necessary to have downloadables when links will do?
• try your site out in different browsers, at different browser widths and at different screen resolutions
• have four people try it out. Give them the scenario. Does it perform?

6. Tailor it: Revise for Different Purposes

• modify and save versions that correspond to different audiences, if applicable
• have people try it out given the new or specific circumstance. Does it still perform?

(Content derived from the University of Waterloo, ePortfolio Design Checklist      goo.gl/DZMXrH)