Forums | E-portfolio at Athabasca University

20 January 2024, 11:12 AM

Hello, I have just started the course MDDE 601. I am working on my Masters degree with the focus in leadership. It has been suggested to work on the eportfolio throughout the program. I am wondering if anyone has any advice in terms of how to start things.  What do I need to add on the eportfolio now and throughout? I am very much new to this so any advice will be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

21 January 2024, 9:43 AM

Hello Tammy, 

In response to your question, the advice you are receiving on starting your e-portfolio right away is correct. 

I am an instructor at Lethbridge College and graduated from Royal Roads in a degree and masters program. One of the requirements from RRU was the development of an e-portfolio to leverage a Prior Learning Application for several course. I was tasking courses at Athabasca at the time and used their system as it is one of the better ones out there.

In one of my courses I teach E-Portfolio development and this is the 10 steps i provide to my students... 

Starting an e-portfolio involves several key steps to effectively showcase your achievements, skills, and experiences. Here's a guide on how to begin:

1. Define Purpose and Audience:

   • Clearly identify the purpose of your e-portfolio. Is it for academic purposes, job applications, or personal reflection? Understanding your goal will help you tailor the content accordingly.
   • Consider your target audience. Knowing who will view your portfolio will guide your content selection and presentation style.

2. Choose a Platform:

   • Select an appropriate platform for hosting your e-portfolio. Common options include personal websites, portfolio-specific platforms, or even social media platforms if they align with your goals.
   • Popular platforms include WordPress, Wix, Weebly, LinkedIn, and dedicated portfolio sites like Behance or GitHub for specific professions.

3. Gather Content:

   • Collect materials for your portfolio, such as academic achievements, projects, work samples, certificates, and any other relevant documents.
   • Consider including a variety of materials to showcase your skills and versatility.

4. Create a Structure:

   • Develop a clear and logical structure for your e-portfolio. Consider creating separate sections for education, work experience, projects, skills, and any other relevant categories.
   • Ensure easy navigation by organizing your content in a way that is intuitive for your audience.

5. Choose a Design and Theme:

   • Select a design or theme that complements your content and reflects your personal or professional style.
   • Ensure that the layout is visually appealing, easy to read, and responsive to different devices.

6. Write Descriptive Headings and Summaries:

   • Craft concise and informative headings and summaries for each section. Clearly articulate your achievements, responsibilities, and skills.
   • Use language that is easy to understand, avoiding jargon that may be unfamiliar to your audience.

7. Include Visuals:

   • Enhance your e-portfolio with visuals such as images, infographics, or videos. Visual elements can provide a more engaging and comprehensive representation of your work.
   • Ensure that any visuals used are high quality and relevant to the content.

8. Add Reflective Statements:

   • Consider including reflective statements or narratives that provide context for your work. Explain the thought processes, challenges, and lessons learned from specific projects or experiences.
   • Reflective statements add depth and insight, showcasing your ability to critically analyze your work.

9. Proofread and Edit:

   • Thoroughly proofread your e-portfolio to eliminate grammatical errors, typos, and formatting issues.
   • Ensure consistency in formatting and style throughout the portfolio for a polished and professional look.

10. Test Navigation:

    • Test the navigation of your e-portfolio to ensure that visitors can easily move between sections and access relevant information.
    • Consider seeking feedback from peers or mentors to identify any usability issues.

11. Publish and Share:

    • Once satisfied with your e-portfolio, publish it on the chosen platform.
    • Share the link with your intended audience, whether it's potential employers, academic institutions, or colleagues.

Remember that your e-portfolio is a dynamic tool that can evolve as you gain more experiences and achievements. Regularly update and refine it to keep it current and aligned with your goals. A key message if I have any, keep information updated as you never know when that perfect opportunity will arise. You can adjust your intro page and information to fit for a specific job easily.

Good luck with your studies 

Dave Maze 

david.maze@lethbridgecollege.ca

23 January 2024, 7:51 AM

Thank you Dave, you have given me excellent feedback that I will be referring back to often as I get more comfortable with creating my e-portfolio.  Have a wonderful day!

20 January 2025, 11:25 AM

I am doing my Master's of Nursing and haven't been to school in 20 years. I am really struggling with the e-portfolio. Not necessarily the content but the actual method of creating it.  I tried Google and have set up a basic portfolio but can't seem to figure out how to navigate this.  Can anyone recommend the most simple site to use to develop this portfolio?   

 

20 January 2025, 1:00 PM

I would have to agree Dave has offered some sound advice ..one thing to consider as you mover along is your reflection on the competencies you seek to demonstrate. The platform  and tools need to be easy to navigate. Do hou have any examples offered by your program that you can review?
I used  suggested platform and my final product was truly the story of my journey that linked the work to the program competencies. It was a great way to reflect on how I progressed and the examples and images brought the journey to life. So I recommend choosing based on the ease of use for you. Also reflect and go back as you grow and go back to reflect on on your reflection even! It motivates look for the A-ha moments to share.
I used Mahara E portfolio platform.
Good luck on your journey!

20 January 2025, 6:01 PM

Hi Marleis,

There is a link in the right hand column under Links and resources called e-Portfolio Help. You might find some helpful info there. 

23 January 2025, 8:09 PM

Hi,

I recently defended my digital EdD about intersections of nursing education, first wave feminism, kwayskahsatsowin (conciliation), and the TRCC (2015) calls to action. One of my actions was to use ePorfolio pedagogy to as a tool disrupt the dissertation and open space for different ways of knowing and expressing doctoral knowledge. I used ePortfolio pedagogy – what I come to call ePortfolio andraheutagogy – adult self-directed and self-determined learning using a digital digital platform to engage in critical autoethnography, or in my case digital critical nursography. Thus, I joined the effort to drag the dissertation into the 21^st century with the encouragement of the Canadian Association of Graduate Studies (2018) taskforce on the dissertation, my amazing supervisor, committee, external examiners and amazing folks in the faculty of graduate studies (but that’s another story for a different venue).

I use foliotek [based in the US, but so is the Amazon cloud] to host my digital dissertation that includes a sonic landscape [curated musical soundtrack] – as an invitation into a more embodied experience for the ePortfolio visitor. This is one of the awesome things about using ePortfolios – you can invite the reader into a multi-modal experience [if you go for that like I do]. You can’t achieve that with two pieces of covered cardboard holding together 200-300 pages of text.

I am still working on revisions so it is not ready to be released to the wild. It is my hope it will have a second life as an open educational resource. I was going to post a link here to my last research seminar ePortfolio where you those of you looking to see what different platforms can might get a sense of the capabilities of foliotek [and Canva], but while this space claims to allow linked content, everything I have tried to link has come back saying the links are blacklisted -- including Nukskatowin's strategic plan, the CAGS website, Canva, and my portfolio. Email me if you would like me to forward the link. 

I think I pay around $40 US/year, but as it looks like you can start for free. The platform is easy, fun to use and intuitive to learn. -- check out foliotek.com 

Pros:

There is no limit on the number of eProjects and ePortfolios you can make, and you control who you share with. Some of my ePortfolios are public, some I share with a small number of people – for example I developed an ePortfolio as part of a job  application that includes my educational philosophy, my CV split into different pages, and examples of tools I have developed. Some ePortfolios I create are private – for example I have one for personal reflections on life, the universe, and everything. I find the space joyful to work in, and we can all use a little more joy in our lives. The experience of creating in the space itself can become a contemplative in a way that goes beyond digital space to hold learning artifacts, but a path to deeper learning and critically reflective praxis.  Dave talks about gathering content for your ePortfolio, and while I do curate, I also create multi-modal content.  

There are two types of platforms within foliotek. eProjects are smaller than full ePortfolios. eProjects have a maximum of 2000 characters per page, and you can add documents, images, videos. ePortfolios to contrast, have few limits, it fit my whole dissertation. You can add eProjects to ePortfolios.

Cons:

Foliotek, in my experience, is almost but not perfect. First, I would prefer my data be stored in Canada. Second, I am unable to access analytic data anymore and the software engineers at foliotek are still trying to work out that bug and last I heard it wasn’t anytime soon. Unfortunately for me, this means not capturing any analytics unless I route people through a website to capture initial visitor data.

I sort of wish I had used mahara -- the ePortfolio offered by AU, but once I tried foliotek that was it for me – it was just so intuitive and easy. Plus, as I mention above, I have now made a number of ePortfolios for a variety of purposes because I have fun creating them – I think in different and deeper ways as I take a multimodal approach to expressing my ideas and knowledge.

Is there anyone in the community who can comment on the pros and cons of mahara or any of the other ePortfolio platforms Dave mentions in his post?

I love working in ePortfolio space.   

Cheers, 

Margaret

 

Margaret Rauliuk RN MN EdD FCAN

mrauliuk1@learn.athabascau.ca