Keeping the E-Trend Alive!

Hello My Followers...
This post is meant to advertise my upcoming e-portfolio (URL to follow). As part of my ECMM 470 course, in addition to the creation of this riveting blog, we have been asked to blog about our upcoming major project using a few guided questions:

(1) I chose the e-portfolio option over the webquest option for a few reasons. Firstly, I am intending to apply for a full-time teaching position in the very immediate future and thought that this project would be a great impetus to get the ball rolling on constructing my very own professional teaching portfolio. I would like to have a portfolio to refer to during potential interviews and thought that an e-portfolio would more appealing from both a creative and viewing standpoint. Additionally, by creating my e-portfolio for an assignment, I can receive constructive feedback on it and then make any necessary changes before unveiling it to a potential employer. Perhaps most importantly, I chose the option of creating a e-portfolio because my green conscience was calling me and I thought that an electronic version would be more environmentally-friendly than a bulky paper option, but I will pretend to ignore the operation of all the dirty coal-fired power plants that will be needed to generate the electricity for creating my e-portfolio.

(2) Another reason that I chose the e-portfolio is that I believed that it would provide me with several professional uses. For example, I would very much like to become more proficient with creating web-based assignments. While I intend to create multiple WebQuests in the future, in comparison to the WebQuests, I thought that the e-portfolio may be a baby step towards catapulting myself into the electronic assignment world. I would also like to introduce my students to the concept of portfolios as a means of facilitating student reflection on their own learning. For future science classes, namely biology and chemistry, I would like students to maintain e-portfolios over the course of a term and use it to document/reflect the different ways that they observe/experience scientific concepts in their lives. I would like to be able to directly speak to students about some of the challenges/benefits of creating/maintaining an e-portfolio and think that I should attempt one in order to assist my students with their online learning record. Professionally, I also made the leap that the creation of an e-portfolio might convince future employers of my enthusiasm and proficiency towards utilizing technology, although we all know that the training wheels are still on.

(3) While I have been viewing examples of educator's e-portfolios all week, I think that mine will contain the following content:
- About/Meet Me (A page devoted to explaining: Who am I; My interests, Personal statement/Philosophy of education, Picture of me (possibly); etc...)
- Resume (A page devoted to archiving: Teaching Experience; Related Work Experience; Volunteer Experience; Achievements; References)
-Planning & Teaching (A page including several examples of my Lessons/Activities and Samples of Student work)
-Assessment & Evaluation (A page devoted to my favourite topics: AFL; Literacy Strategies; and Performance-based assessment, etc...)
-Professional Development (A page documenting: Certification; Workshops attended)
-Letters of Reference (A compilation of my feedback: Intern Report; Colleague, Student, and Parent Evaluations)

(4) I do not want my e-portfolio to be plagued with text. When looking at available examples, I found that I quickly became disinterested in the person if their portfolio was composed of reams of text. To combat this problem (possibly the worst thing for a potential employer), I would like to incorporate quite a few pictures to make it visually appealing - after all, a picture is worth a thousand words, isn't it? I would also like the webpage to be easy on the reader's eyes. While I have heard that our professor has a fondness of lime green backgrounds, I think that mine will have a white backdrop and consist of dark colours for font/text. Additionally, I would like the e-portfolio to be representative of me and my interests. As such, I want it to have a nature-based theme to reflect my love of biology, chemistry, and gardening. Therefore, the homepage shall be a large tree and the branches shall be pull down menus that contain the above-mentioned topics. I would also like to have a navigation bar on the along the bottom (the roots or soil). Alternatively, the navigation bar may just be a link to the homepage.

(5) While I am concerned about privacy, I do not think that I will have an access page. I will also have to ensure that I have former students' permission to post their old assignments and evaluations of me. While they entrusted them with me to utilize at a later date, I am not sure if they would anticipate that I would post them online. I will also have to strive to be careful with the copyright issues of any pictures that I use, especially since I am striving for my portfolio to include a hearty helping of images. Luckily I learned about a website that will help me to filter out such concerns about "borrowing" web-based materials. I also want my e-portfolio to look professional and to address any questions that  potential employers might have about my experience or skill set. Hopefully, the feedback from this assignment will help with this particular concern, such that I will have time to edit/revamp any or all contents prior to my potential interviews.

To be continued...