Digital Portfolio-Research
Three important features about digital portfolios are:
1. You can add artifacts (example: audio recordings, videos, spreadsheets, music)
2. The digital portfolio shows the students achievements for different classes when people view it.
3. Teachers and others can view the digital portfolio and have discussions or write comments.
One advantage of a digital portfolio is that it is very easy for people to go to on the web and see it. It can also be easily reproduced on other digital forms such as CD's. This makes it easier for a big group of people to see it at the same time.
One disadvantage of a digital portfolio is that people can plagiarize what you have written due to the fact that the information can easily be copied.
Here are three samples of digital portfolios and my comments on them:
1.
Creating An Electronic Portfolio
http://cte.jhe.edu/techacademy/fellows/Spencer/webquest/lasindex.html
This portfolio is about how teachers can make digital/electronic portfolios. It explains the different steps you need to take to make one and why you would need to make one.
The areas included are the intro (which explains why you would need to make a digital portfolio), The Task, Resources, The Process, Evaluation and Conclusion.
There are many good things about the design of this portfolio. It's good that the maker has some pictures and emoticons because it makes the page more interesting. Adding to that the background is very creative and does not affect how well you can read the text. There is nothing confusing or not so good about this digital portfolio.
The portfolio is very organized because there is a hyperlink to each section and a hyperlink to go back to the top as well. This makes it easier to move around.
2.
Selling Yourself
http://www.teachnet.com/how-to/employment/portfolios/index.html
The content is about teaching people the advantages of having a portfolio. In this website it talks about creating and keeping a portfolio in a binder as well as information about what is needed in a portfolio when you apply for a job.
The different topics mentioned in this website are about what is a portfolio, how to make one, how to keep adding things and not forget to update it. The website also describes some good elements about keeping a portfolio and has a few tips for you to consider.
Some good elements from this website are that each page is listed and has its own hyperlink. It is clear to read because there is a white background and black writing and there are not too many pictures. The website keeps the same format and a clip art picture for each page so it seems put together in a organized way. I think that the font of the text could be a little bigger because it would be easier to read and would fill up the page a little more. I think there should be a title for each page you open so that it is clearer.
It is very easy to navigate the website because there is a list of all the pages you can see and they are clearly labeled. You can go to whichever page you like because the list of pages comes up on every page you open.
3.
Senior Project
http://www.richerpicture.com/dp/jenna/index.htm
The content is about a girl who had learning problems and overcomes them during a project where she learns different outdoor activities. She had problems with reading and writing so by seeing her blog you can see that she has overcome these problems. The girl (Jenna) talks about different steps in the project.
There are different areas included in this blog. It is actually similar to the Design Cycle. Jenna starts her blog with an introduction page and continues with research, designing, presenting and evaluating the whole project. This is a very good example of how we can use the Design Cycle for our projects at the International School of Uganda.
Some good things about this website are that it is clear to read the text because the colors are plain. The background is white and the text is black. The website uses the same format for all of the pages. It is easy to see the writing on the table of contents even though it is green and white. This gives the website some color so it makes it more interesting. Some things that are not so good about the website are that there are no pictures of Jenna doing outdoor activities. This would have made her website perfect. In some parts of the website there is too much writing so you lose interest and stop reading without finishing the page.
The website is very organized and it is easy to go from page to page. The table of contents is clear and each page shows one step of her project. The pages and steps are in order so this makes it even easier to understand what she did and in which order.
