Tech Play Assignment 2

Electronic Portfolios

After learning more about electronic portfolios or e-portfolios in relation to traditional portfolios, I have discovered that although these tools differ in many ways, they both serve the same basic purpose. The purpose behind the use of a portfolio, whether electronic or paper based, is to showcase a collection of the author’s work as evidence of his or her knowledge or skill set. In other words, portfolios allow the author to provide the viewer with evidence of his or her achievements over a specific period of time.  The author chooses “artifacts” or works that he or she feels best highlights the achievements to include in the portfolio.

A traditional portfolio is usually paper based, containing printed documents or illustrations. Due to this fact, it is often limited in size and scope in order to make it more manageable. Traditional portfolios, in many ways, have to be limited in their size in order for them to be easily shared with others. E-portfolios are electronic based, meaning that they can contain electronic documents and other forms of media such as videos, audio recordings, animations, etc. The fact that artifacts within e-portfolios are electronic means that they can be stored on a computer or online, thus affording the creator the opportunity to make a portfolio that is larger in scale and scope than a traditional portfolio. With the ability to store an e-portfolio online, creators have more freedom to be able to edit and expand upon their portfolio artifacts without worrying if the portfolio will be too large in scale. Having an e-portfolio that is stored on the internet also makes it easier for the creator to share the information with others versus the sharing of a traditional portfolio. Portfolios in a traditional format can only be shared with a limited number of individuals at a time, while e-portfolios afford the user the ability to share the information with a greater number of people at one time through the use of the internet. Viewers of e-portfolios can access them anytime and from anywhere, as long as an internet connection is available.

While both the traditional portfolio and the e-portfolio allow the creator to explore his or her creativity when creating and compiling artifacts, the incorporation of different types of electronic tools can allow users of e-portfolios a slight advantage. Thanks to the vast array of online resources and tools available, individuals creating e-portfolios have an increased ability to customize and personalize the contents. For instance, someone creating a portfolio might want to include visual evidence of a certain skill set that they have acquired. With a traditional portfolio, they might be limited to simply providing paper evidence such as documents or certificates as evidence of their knowledge. If they were to create an e-portfolio, they might be able to include video evidence in addition to their paper documents to better illustrate to the viewer the extent of their knowledge.

In the quest to discover what tool I wished to use to create my e-portfolio, I examined Wikispaces, Wordpress, Google Sites, and Weebly. While all of these sites offered free options for creating an e-portfolio, some were more user friendly than others.  Wikispaces has many features that I think would be very helpful if looking to create a wiki for use in a classroom or learning environment. There are tools to allow for project-based learning, safe social networking, connections to knowledge communities, as well as online and remote learning. While I was excited to further explore these tools, I had difficulty signing into the site and after extensive attempts, I decided to abandon my efforts for the time being and explore other options. Wordpress offers several different templates for designing a site, but the site seems to be better formatted for blogs. Google sites also offers simple templates and editing options to allow sites to be customized. I found it to be fairly easy to use in the beginning, but I had difficulty figuring out how to get the site to be arranged in the format that I desired. Weebly offers a good variety of template designs and is easily edited with the ability to add photos, text, illustrations, etc. Due to the fact that Weebly proved to be the most user friendly, in my experience, I chose this site to create my portfolio. The only drawback to this site is the fact that users are only allowed to create a site with up to five pages for free. I may need to upgrade my site in order to add more pages in the future, but for now, the address to my e-portfolio is http://shelliharreleportfolio.weebly.com

If I were using e-portfolios in a classroom environment, I think that Weebly would be a good tool to use because of its simplicity and user friendly format. I do think that Wikispaces might be a really good option as well, due to the many tools that are offered for educators in the Wikispaces Classroom. There are tools for classroom management, project-based learning, safe social networking, knowledge communities, online and remote learning, as well as the creation of portfolios. While I was unable to truly explore these tools in depth, I plan on exploring them further at a later date.

E-portfolios can be created for a variety of fields and purposes. The use of Wikispaces classroom would afford teachers of different subjects options for creating online learning platforms. In my search for options for creating my e-portfolio, I came across several sites that were specifically designed to allow artists of different mediums to display their work. Other sites allow users to create portfolios that feature job qualifications and resumes. Not only do these sites host these professional e-portfolios, but they also allow job postings and opportunities for users to connect with potential employers. In my research, I discovered that there are a great number of options available for creating e-portfolios with many tailored to the content included and the purpose for the portfolio.