The CEdO 555 class is all about ePortfolios, and as part of this program we be creating our own portfolio to showcase our work. I do not currently work at a school, and in my IT job there has not been a lot of need or applications for an online portfolio. However as I am looking to expand my career into the realm of eLearning, I can see many applications for an ePortfolio.
The first and most obvious is as a place to showcase the work that I have done in the field of online learning. This is especially critical since I am transitioning from a career in IT to one that is more focused on education. I have done a lot of technology training over the years, but I do not have one central place to store and showcase all of the artifacts from that work. I can send potential employers to the ePortfolio so they can see that even though I have not officially been employed as a teacher, I do have an extensive collection of training materials, and thus experience, that I have developed over the years.
Another great use for an ePortfolio is a way for students to show off their work. Because they can easily publish to the internet, this work can be shared with family and friends. It will give the students a great sense of pride to know that many others are looking at their creations. It will also make the teacher's job easier as it provides a central place to find a student's work.
In my company's business, ePorfolios could also serve a similar purpose by allowing individuals to create documents and help files relating to their job, or to new technology that might change the way they work. These individual ePortfolios would then be searchable, so that if someone else in the company has a similar problem, they can search for the answer and find document or lesson that another employee created. Anyone in the company can function as a teacher.
I am sure there are many other applicaitons for ePortfolios that I have not thought of yet. As we go through the course I hope to come up with more examples.
John---
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy reading your posts; you offer such a unique perspective in a group of predominantly educators. I also think that a portfolio would be a great way to create a sort of resume in the business setting, possibly replacing the old paper version. I also am glad to hear that you're thinking about branching into the realm of education; I think that you'd do a fantastic job. An ePortfolio would certainly be a great way to show prospective employees not only what you're capable of, but what you've done!