Here are some points to guide you as you construct your ePortfolio site. You will have one blog (listed under Posts in the dashboard) on which you can comment, categorize, and collaborate with cadets and professors. You can also create as many pages as you wish -for class, for projects, for whatever you want!
Remember, your site is your own! In it, you’ll create several ePortfolios, but you will also personalize it. This is your way of expressing yourself and making your learning your own! The best place to start is by choosing a theme, or layout, of your site. You’ll have over 180 potential layouts from which to choose that best fits your personality!
To get started, log in and choose your site from My Sites in the bar at the top of the screen. Edit in your dashboard or simply choose to view what your site looks like to the VMI community. As you experiment with the digital space, consider some of the following ideas:
- Think about your work in a class or program. Choose the best! You want to showcase your abilities and talents in a class or program.
- Start early. Update often.
- You MUST have an About Me or Bio page. This personalizes your space and allows your professors and classmates to get to know you better.
- Categorize, Post, and Display in your blog and pages. You might tag some blog entries for a particular course, IS 332X or SP 311X. Others might be personal or meant only for your friends. Remember, you have control over the privacy settings for every page and every blog post.
- You will create an ePortfolio for a particular class by adding a page or pages and adding them to your menu. On your ePortfolio page(s), you will add your artifacts, or assignments, that you think best demonstrate how much you have learned in a course. You will tag those artifacts with annotations about the process of your learning. For more information, follow the links above or contact your instructor. One artifact and reflective tag per page! Use your menu to organize your pages into one ePortfolio for a particular class or program.
- Check your grammar! You need to be mindful of how you present yourself in all facets of your life. Be yourself, but recognize that your friends and professors see you
- Add media. Again, be creative! Movies, podcasts, images, drawings –any media is welcome. There are many ways to include media on your site; follow the link here for more information.
- Reflect! There are many opportunities for reflection for college students, and especially true for VMI cadets! As you explore your ePortfolio site, you might think on the unique experiences you have had over the course of your cadetship.
Some topics for reflection include:
- your community
- borders you have crossed (figuratively and literally)
- collaborations with classmates and teachers
- choices you have made
- different paths to knowledge you have taken
- the production of knowledge for an audience
- reception of an audience to your work
As you reflect, think on what you have learned and how you came to learn it!
(adapted from SUNY-Stony Brook and Queensborough Community College guides, as well as work by Dewey, J. 1934. Art as Experience. New York: Penguin Books and Darcy, J., and M. Cuomo. 2010. “ePortfolio Cornerstone Community: Symphonic Reactions on Different Ways of Knowing.” Presentation to the Association for Authentic, Experiential, and Evidence-based Learning annual meeting.)