Portfolio Development

 

 

 

Getting Started

There are many ways and many programs to assist you in developing an electronic portfolio. Some of these methods are free of cost and others are only affordable to large institutions. Deciding on the authoring tool you will use to develop the portfolio will depend on how much money you intend to invest in your project, how indepth the project will be, and who will need to access the information. If you are planning to use the portfolio as a job seeking tool, do not forget to keep all of your documents ADA compliant. This will significantly increase the number of viewers able to access and retrieve your information.

Getting Organized

Before selecting a program that will help you digitize your documents, you should begin your project by collecting and organizing all of your documents. The organizational structure of your portfolio will depend on its use and coverage. If, for instance, you are using the portfolio as a college admissions tool, you might want to organize your portfolio into academic sections, achievements, and awards. If you are using the portfolio in a middle/high school setting you should organize the work according to subject, class, or grade level. Take time out to sketch out your organization scheme on a sheet of paper before beginning. Imagine the project organized in a 3-ring binder. How would you tab off each section and what would you label each tab? You might want to test your organizational skills by having someone else look at your organization chart to see if it is logical. Organizing all of your original documents will provide you with your "master copy" that you can continually update with current information. In addition, it will save you countless hours re-organizing your digital data.

Selecting a Program

There is a myriad of programs available to help you digitize your portfolio. As stated above, some of these are free (as long as you own a personal computer) and others are costly. Below is a beginning list of programs you can research to decide which is best for your project. The list of programs is virtually endless, so only a few are detailed below. If one of these programs does not meet your needs, it is recommended that you conduct an internet search to discover additional programs that may better suit your individual needs.

• Word Pad - This program is included in any version of Microsoft Windows. If you own a personal computer with Microsoft Windows installed, you can locate Word Pad by selecting "Start", "All Programs", "Accessories". You will find Word Pad listed under the title "Accessories". This program is a very simple word processing program. However, if you are interested in developing your portfolio using HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), this is a great (not to mention free) program to use. The downside to using Word Pad is that you will need to understand HTML. If you would like to pursue this option but do not understand HTML, there are a number of books that will assist you. One extremely easy to follow book is, "Teach Yourself Visually HTML". This book will show you everything you need to develop basic web pages that can incorporate links to your documents. The HTML web pages you develop will merely serve as a portal to your documents.
• Adobe Acrobat - If you own a full version of Adobe Acrobat, this is an excellent tool to help you organize your documents. The biggest benefit of this tool is that it allows you to convert all of your documents to the Adobe PDF format. This format is universally used and the "reader" can be downloaded for free on the internet. This assures that almost anyone can view your documentation. Another benefit of Adobe Acrobat is that it also contains features to build a picture slideshow, include audio, web pages, and pictures. Once the final document is saved in a PDF format, the overall size is substantially smaller that the combination of all individual pieces of the document.
• Microsoft Word - This program is included in the Microsoft Office Suite. Microsoft Word is a word processing program that includes the ability to easily include text formating, pictures, audio, and video. It also includes a feature that will convert your completed document into a web page. The program is easily understood and help information is provided to assist those who want to convert their document to web pages. This may be a viable and easy option for many users.
• Corel Wordperfect - Wordperfect is very similar to Word. They are both word processing programs with comperable features. There are some features of Wordperfect that provide a more extensive array for the beginning web page developer. One nice feature of Wordperfect is that it can import any document produced in Microsoft Word. It also includes the ability to incorporate text formating, pictures, audio, and video. The usability is fairly simple and easy to understand. Help features are available to explain how to convert documents to web pages.
• Microsoft Producer 2003 - Producer is a free plug-in for PowerPoint 2003. This plug-in allows you to capture audio and video and then syncrhonize it with a slide presentation. The end result is an engaging media presentation that can be delivered on demand. These productions can be delivered via computer or uploaded to an intranet or internet address for viewing on demand.
• Hyperstudio - This program allows you to create text, slides, audio, video, and animation. In addition, this program allows teachers to develop rubrics and templates for use with each portfolio assignment. These items are all accessible by students, teachers, family, and community if desired.