When I started my consulting business, I knew that to market myself, I had to go beyond having a strong paper-based portfolio. Consequently, my e-portfolio has been a major business goal and I look forward to reading anything on the subject. As the authors of The Educational Potential of e-Portfolios: Supporting Personal Development and Reflective Learning (Connecting With E-Learning) discovered when they began researching the use of e-portfolios in the classroom, there has been relatively little information published about the subject.

Stefani, Mason, and Pegler define the e-portfolio and explore its role in one’s educational and eventual professional development. Although the book’s primary audience is those in academia looking to establish the use of e-portfolios in an institute of higher education, everyone who engages in personal development and practices reflective learning will benefit from reading it.

Stefani and her coauthors feel that “E-portfolios may well be the tipping point that e-learning really needs to be a fully functioning approach to learning without the ‘e’!” (16) Supporting their claim with examples from successful programs from all over the world, the book describes how to use e-portfolios as a tool across the curriculum rather than a project of any particular course. Their goal is to help you be a part of creating a system-wide approach by which students take control of their own learning through system-wide portfolios.

The authors describe the particulars of integrating e-portfolios into the curriculum and ensuring technological support. Their chapters guide you through each step of the process:

• Getting started with e-portfolios
• Course design using e-portfolios
• E-portfolios and assessment of student learning
• The e-portfolio as a tool for professional development
• E-portfolios and inclusive learning
• Software solutions for a complex concept
• Relating other new technologies to the e-portfolio
• E-portfolio futures

As a small business owner, occasional college instructor, and lifelong learner, I was concerned that this book would be too specialized for me to apply much of it to my business or personal development. The authors quickly allayed that fear. I discovered methods to adapt my eportfolio to make it more than just a showcase of my work and skills. I learned how to use an e-portfolio as a tool rather than an outcome in both my students’ development in the classroom and my personal development in my workplace.

The book’s content, organization, and accessibility make it a must-read for any instructor, manager, or individual interested in using e-portfolios as a tool for personal development and reflective learning.

For Amazon Kindle owners, this book is available for immediate download.

The Educational Potential of e-Portfolios: Supporting Personal Development and Reflective Learning (Connecting With E-Learning). Lorraine Stefani, Robin Mason, and Chris Pegler. 2007. Abingdon, UK; New York, NY: Routledge. [ISBN 978-0-415-41214-8. 186 pages, including index. $35.98 USD (softcover).]

This book review first appeared in TechnicalCOMMUNICATION, Volume 55, Number 3, August 2008, p. 295. TechnicalCOMMUNICATION is the journal of the Society for Technical Communication.

I’m gearing up for my presentation about professional portfolios that I’ll be doing at the Society for Technical Communication’s Summit to be held May 4-6, 2009. One of the first questions asked every time I do this presentation, is

How do I showcase my skills when much of my work has been on proprietary projects?

Here is my standard advice:

• Don’t! If the projects you’re working on are restricted by proprietary agreements, you really can’t show them.
• Volunteer! Countless professional organizations and nonprofits desperately need your skills. Ask around to see if anyone needs a little help in areas you want to showcase in your portfolio. It’s a win-win situation.
• Negotiate! During the hiring process, talk about what you will and will not be able to include in your portfolio.
• Ask! Ask your employer if you can use particular parts of projects and how you can use them.
• Get it in Writing! People and companies can be litigious. It’s always a good idea to cover your assets!
• Be transparent! Be open with your employer about what you’re putting in your portfolio fodder file. Collect your pieces regularly and from the beginning of your employment. Trust me, we know when you’re getting ready to change jobs and you making a mad dash of copying files is just one of many indicators.
• Redact! Often you can sanitize a document and make it perfect fodder for your portfolio by taking out all identifying information.
• Rework! Redo elements of the projects that show your skills for company X.

I posted this question in several different venues and this is what other professionals from both sides of the table had to say. Read the rest of this entry »

OK, so you’re comfortable with blogging, maybe even have your own blog, but are trying to decide if a blog is the right way to showcase your skills. With literally 1000’s of wordpress themes and plug-ins out there, it can be a chore to determine what will work best for your skills. If you’re a photographer, graphic designer, architect, or any other type of professional that can represent yourself through images, the Fotofolio theme may be just the theme for you. It’s a free download with the developer appreciating donations. If you want to remove the developer’s branding, that will cost you a $29 donation. Here are the  basics.

Features

• Captivating design to display your works
• Automatically resize image for Thumbnail and preview
• Jquery Integrated for Featured Photos and Previews
• Theme Options for easy configure

About the Theme: Fotofolio

Fotofolio is a free wordpress template designed for easy creation online portfolio for Visual Workers; Photography, Graphic Design, Manga, Architect, etc. Fotofolio is very simple and easy to use, please read the installation and usage for details. Fotofolio is created by Pupung Budi Purnama. Fotofolio is released under Creative Common License.

Special thanks to Lyndi from South Africa for spreading the news on Twitter.

Can you recommend other Wordpress or Blogger themes? Let us know in the comments.

I’m getting ready to speak at the Society for Technical Communication Summit in a few weeks about showcasing your skills in your professional portfolio. While I’ve spoken on this topic before, I decided to do a bit of audience analysis and threw the question out into the twittersphere at #stc09.

Here are the things that have been requested. Don’t worry if you can’t make it to Atlanta in a few weeks, I’ll answer the questions here, too.

• What is the best way to showcase your skills through online items?
• How large should a document be? How many pages of a book should be in your portfolio?
• What kind of samples should you include?
• Should you include awards in your portfolio?
• Should you include recommendations in your portfolio?
• How should you organize your portfolio?
• How much of any one thing should you include in your portfolio?

While I’ve alluded to several of these questions already, I’ll be sure to address them one at a time in upcoming posts.

What other questions do you have? Let us know in the comments. Inquiring minds want to know!

Starting a portfolio can seem to be a monumental task. Designers have to make choices about what type of portfolio they want and be careful as they develop it. Remember, you’re showcasing your skills in a manner  that best represents you. There are many different types from which to choose.  I believe a professional should have more than one variety, and possibly one of each. Read the rest of this entry »

Considering  using a blogging platform for your portfolio? A blog is indeed an excellent way to put your information out there and it can be a powerful marketing tool. Not sure how to make it work? No worries.

On April 6, 2006, Problogger, Darren Rowse, is kicking off his free program 31 Days to Build a Better Blog. This is a great opportunity to flesh out your own answers to the top questions marketers ask about social media I discussed over at the STC Marketing Communications Blog.

If you’re just getting started in blogging or are hoping to fine-tune an established blog, I’m sure you’ll get some value out of this free training. I’ve been following Problogger for a while, and have found both the website and Darren’s book to be a wonderful resource as I’ve ventured into the blogosphere.

I’m excited to be a part of the challenge. Worst case scenario, I unsubscribe after a couple of days with a start. Here are a few details from the instructor:

1. It is free and kicks off on 6 April.
2. Each day over the challenge period (31 Days) you’ll receive an email notifying you of a new post that contains teaching and practical tasks to help you improve your blog.
3. Tasks will be small enough to do in 10-15 minutes
4. You may unsubscribe at any point if the challenge doesn’t fit with your needs or situation.

New to blogging? Come on in, the water’s fine. And stay tuned to see what hppens with this blog in the next 31 days.

When I (or anybody looking to hire someone) ask you to bring your portfolio, I’m hoping to learn more than just what projects you’ve been a part of in your career. (Check out my previous post about what I’m looking for.) As a potential employer, your portfolio is very important to me because it allows me to determine

• what skills you have
• if your experience complements the skills already present in my business
• if you’re starting out in your career, it tells me how much mentoring I’ll be doing
• your potential
• if you’re able to follow instructions
• how I can expect you to  treat my projects if you become a part of our team.

If you don’t want to come to work for me (or for anyone else), here are five sure-fire ways to blow it. Read the rest of this entry »

With the current downturn in the economy, I’ve been getting calls from a potential contractors interested in working with us at Content Solutions. If I have projects on my radar screen that match your skills, I will likely call you in for an interview to determine if you will be a good match for a current or upcoming project. Much of our discussion will evolve around your portfolio.

No portfolio, low potential of getting hired. If I’ve asked you to come in for an interview, it’s highly likely I’ve projects for which I need immediate assistance. (Immediate as defined by most of my clients means due last week.) If you come to work for me, you’ll be hitting the ground running, so seeing what you’ve already done is important. What I see in that portfolio and how you handle it during the interview process will determine your likelihood of becoming a part of my team. Read the rest of this entry »

While we’re diligently working on polishing our template, ironing out the backend of our blog, and dotting our i’s and crossing our t’s in our first few blog posts, we’d love to hear from you.

What are your buring questions about your assets, or rather the content for your portfolio? We’re here to help you figure out what you’ll include in your portfolio! Let us know in the comments.

While we’re diligently working on polishing our template, ironing out the backend of our blog, and dotting our i’s and crossing our t’s in our first few blog posts, we’d love to hear from you.

What are your burning questions about legal-type stuff? We’re here to help you figure out how to C-Y-Assets! Let us know in the comments.