The Digital Portfolio: An Introduction and Overview

1. The Digital Portfolio: An Introduction and Overview Dennis B. Steigerwalt, Ph.D. Director of Career Services East Stroudsburg University, PA

2. What is a digital portfolio? • An expanded resume that includes additional documents that support the claims made in the resume – all papers/pages are in electronic format • A story of your life experiences, accomplishments, and career development • Common use: Career advancement…but potentially much more!

3. Some Background: • “Hard copy” portfolios - 80’s to present • Digital/Electronic portfolios, E-portfolios, Webfolios - 90’s to present

4. Additional Background: • College-level beginnings: - Art, Graphic Art, Architecture, Fashion, Computer Science, Media Communications/Technology • More Recently: - Teacher Education, Liberal Arts • Today: - possible for all fields!

5. Digital Portfolio Basics: • Goal: create an expanded, “super” resume, a work of art! • Typically: use the components of a resume, and then provide more specific, detailed items that demonstrate those selected experiences and accomplishments • Each item is called an “artifact”, eventually saved in an e-format

6. Artifacts are... • Items that document and showcase your experiences and accomplishments: “show me!” - or - “tell me more!” • Used to validate claims people make about themselves • Sample Formats: Word doc, PDF, jpeg, ppt, web page link, video, audio

7. The digital portfolio ties all of your artifacts together into one coherent whole! “Excellent...portfolios are characterized by the meaningful coherence of the whole, the quality of the individual pages, the clarity and logic of the overall design, the creativity of the links and the degree to which the rationale for particular links is explicit and sensible, the critical judgment apparent in the selection of external sites, the extent of the portfolio, and the overall aesthetic quality of the portfolio.” “Although they use technology,…portfolios are not about technology; they are about habits of thinking and the practices that cultivate those habits.” St. Olaf College

8. Artifacts you might include in the Digital Portfolio (through text on a page or via links): • Cover or Title Page, or Summary statement about portfolio • Career Preparation (cover letter, resume, recommendation letters, internship evaluation, personal philosophy statement, license or certification) • Academic Activities (project description and excerpt, writing sample, research paper/abstract, class presentation, survey conducted, internship description, technology competencies [not just a list, the actual program or project], lesson plan, academic transcript, course descriptions)

9. Possible Artifacts (continued): • Involvement and Service (campus/community service or leadership descriptions, awards/certificates -- training/conference descriptions or links -- thank you letter received -- athletic awards; pictures, brochures, links relating to study abroad or travels ) • Work Experiences (employer evaluations, project description/excerpt, business proposal, actual budget, military record, internship learning contract, internship evaluation, reference letters, presentations, customer feedback, examples of expertise in technology)

10. Artifact ideas – still more!: • Publications and other creative works (creative writing sample, publication clip -- video, audio, web, or print publication -- articles, brochures, ads, posters, web page/link, artwork, performance review, design project, essay, photographs) • Honors and Awards (honorary membership/awards certificate, dean’s list certificate, scholarship article or pictures)

11. Tie it all together using technology: • Transform artifacts to e-format • eFolioPA will enable you to develop a web-based digital portfolio • eFolioPA is available at no cost to PA residents and PA students • To start, create an account -- visit – www.efoliopa.com

12. Developing a digital portfolio:An overview of the basic steps • Create your resume • Build on your resume - begin to plan your portfolio’s content/structure/design (first conceptualize it as a hard copy portfolio) • Develop your list of possible artifacts to support your portfolio’s text/content • Begin to plan and determine how to convert all artifacts to electronic form

13. An overview of the basic steps, cont’d • Determine what your tabs, or child links, will be – also, plan your navigation strategy for your website – develop a storyboard! • Tabs could match your resume headings • OR -- Use skill clusters as tabs – organizational, communications or interpersonal skills, writing/research, athletics, clinical exp, leadership, business • OR -- Use combination formats – e.g. Homepage, Resume, then use skill clusters and/or major experience headings

14. Digital Portfolios: Many Possible Applications • Academics/Classroom (managing assignments, guided learning, assessment) • As graduation requirement • Organizing career development/planning • Job search/career advancement tool • Graduate school admissions • Lifelong learning

15. The Career Services Perspective: “The only job security you can count on is the transportability of your own skills. The new emphasis on skills portability suggests that you must do whatever it takes to keep your qualifications package up to date.” Joyce Lain Kennedy, “Job Talk” Columnist, Los Angeles Times

16. More food for thought: “Think of your career as a portfolio of work. Think of yourself in terms of a portable skill-set rather than an specific job title. Conduct your job search in an entrepreneurial fashion, as if you are marketing a product called “Me, Inc.” Mark Kimeldorf Digital Portfolio Author/Maven

17. Summary: “A digital portfolio is an evolving tool that documents your personal, academic and professional development. It is a visual guide that maps out where you have been, where you are going and how you plan to get there. Your digital portfolio can also serve as a tool to communicate your plan to others.” Albion College