Designing and Planning an Electronic Portfolio

As with content, the format used for the portfolio will be largely determined by the intended audience(s). The portfolio should be stored on media that is easily accessed and viewed by the audience with available equipment and software. Barrett (2000) suggests the following storage and publishing options.

Storage Options

• Computer diskette
• Paper
• CD-R / CD-RW
• Video Tape
• Zip Disk
• WWW or intranet
• Jaz disk
• DVD-RAM

Publishing Options

• CD-R
• Video Tape
• WWW
• DVD-RAM

Software Options: Electronic Portfolio Programs

A number of commercial electronic teaching portfolio programs exist, however the majority of these are designed for student use and are really designed as a student assessment tool. Another group of these programs (largely developed by Teachers Education Programs) is designed for the recording the professional development of pre-service educators. Although these programs can be adapted, they tend to be “constrained by the limits of the software structure.” (Barrett, 2000) Some portfolio software packages include:

1. Grady Profile (Aurbach & Associates) (http://www.aurbach.com/) – Demo available

This product is designed for:

• Schools of Education that wish to have pre-service teachers keep portfolios.
• Schools & Districts that wish to have in-service teachers keep portfolios.
• Individual teachers who want to keep a professional portfolio.

Features: This software program “provides a convenient format for displaying work in multi-media formats, including sound, graphics, video, text and computer exhibits. Each portfolio exhibit has specific places for describing the piece, for self-reflection, and for evaluation by the portfolio owner, a supervisor, and a visitor. A separate Notes section provides room for additional comments or dialog between profile owners and their supervisors. The program has room for 10 separate domains and 2 journal cards (one for the portfolio owner and one for the supervisor). The following descriptors (which can be changed) title the 10 “subject” cards:

1. Command of Subject Matter
2. Knowledge of Pedagogy
3. Curriculum and Planning
4. Instructional Strategies
5. Classroom Management
6. Diverse Learners
7. Teacher as Communicator
8. Teacher as Evaluator
9. Reflective Practitioner
10. Learning Communities

In addition, the Teacher’s Portfolio provides a place for the teacher to chronicle the following:

• Personal Information (address, phone, photo...)
• Professional Goals
• Educational Philosophy
• Experience
• Professional Development Activities
• Competencies
• Academic Record

The program will print reports. Each portfolio is password protected.

System Requirements:
See web site.

Cost: (approximate as of June 2003)
Site License (one academic department within a college or university): includes one CD-ROM, 5 user manuals, 5 teacher’s manuals $1750.00
Single user $ 195.00
Training: $ 800.00 + expenses for full day

See web site for current pricing.

2. Digfolio: (http://www.digfolio.com) “CD –me Digital Portfolio”

Features: This template is used to create digital portfolios that can be placed onto CD-ROMs or on an Internet website. There is a wide range of choices available for portfolio appearance, contents, and format. [Viewing of several portfolios created with CD-me appears to bear this claim out]. The CD-me system allows the use of standard software such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint , or FrontPage . Templates are easily customized for a given instructional program. Updating can be done with any software capable of editing web pages (such as Netscape Communicator & FrontPage Express .

System Requirements:
See CD-me website.

Cost (approximate as of June 2003):
CD-me Lab Packs: (35 computer station lab license + resource CDs & guides) $700.00
Training & Consulting: $850 for ½ day, $1000 for 1 full day.

Contact Digfolio for current pricing.

Software Options:
Building an Electronic Portfolio with “Off-the-Shelf” Software

Many [perhaps most] professionals seem to opt for designing their own portfolios using off-the-shelf software. A wide variety of multimedia tools are available. Barrett (2000) discusses seven types of generic software, six of which can be utilized by faculty to prepare a Teacher’s portfolio:

1. Hypermedia “card” programs (e.g. HyperStudio, SuperLink, Digital Chisel, Toolbook)

These programs allow the author to integrate several types of media into one file. In a hypermedia file, electronic cards (individual screens) are linked together by user-created buttons.

Advantages:

1. Widely accessible.
2. All inclusive : Construction and presentation tools (with graphics, sound and, in some cases, a video production tool) are included in the program.
3. Cross platform: HyperStudio and Digital Chisel versions are available for both Macintosh and Windows platforms.
4. Multimedia oriented: These programs were created with multimedia in mind. The user can create files which include graphics, text, sound, navigation buttons, animation and video.
5. Security: Hypermedia files can be password protected.

Disadvantages:

1. Poor web accessibility: Most of these programs are not directly web accessible; HyperStudio requires the user to add a free plug-in to the Web browser. Digital Chisel is Java-based and is able to create files which can be converted to Web pages.
2. Size/resolution limitations: Size and resolution of the image are both limited by the screen size. This is not always ideal for the display of scanned in paper documents (e.g. evaluations).

Ease of Use:
Moderate. Some instruction desirable.

Technology required:
32MB RAM, 1 + GB HD, simple AV input (such as QuickCam)

Cost:
Educational discounts are common, and with site licenses, costs can be less than $40 per computer. Range: $39 - $199.

Player:
Available. Most of these programs have free players that can be included with the files for users who want to view them but do not have the full software on their computers.

2. Multimedia authoring software (e.g. Director, Authorware)

With these programs, the user can create stand-alone applications which can run in a cross platform environment if files are correctly formatted. Some (e.g. Authorware) are icon-based authoring environments where the user creates a presentation by building a flow chart. Others (e.g. Director) are time based authoring environments. Here the user creates a movie type presentation.

Advantages:

1. CD_ROM publishing: These programs offer the greatest flexibility in developing for CD-ROM publishing.
2. Multimedia oriented: Again, these programs were designed for multimedia. The user can create files which include graphics, text, sound, video and animation. Multimedia authoring software is especially desirable for files which include animation.
3. Player included.

Disadvantages:

1. Learning Curve: Learning to use authoring programs often requires a significant time investment.
2. Security: Some do not have password security.

Ease of Use:
Typically require significant time to learn.

Technology required:
128+MB RAM, 2+ GB HD, AV input & output, scanner, VCR, video camera, digital video editing hardware and software, extra GB+ storage (e.g. Jaz drive), CD-ROM recorder

Cost:
Even with educational discounts, cost per computer can exceed $150 - $800.

Player:
None needed.

3. WWW pages in HTML (preferably using an HTML authoring program)

The wide spread accessibility of the World Wide Web has resulted in many electronic portfolios being published in HTML format. The user creates Web pages, typically using a Web authoring program like Macromedia Dreamweaver, Claris Home Page, Microsoft Front Page or Netscape Composer.

Advantages:

1. Web accessible.
2. Cross platform: Easily accessible to both Macintosh and Windows platforms with common browser software.
3. Fairly multimedia oriented: Text and graphics are easily integrated. In some cases, sound and video can also be used with ease, although some servers may have difficulty with these media

Disadvantages:

1. Learning Curve: Learning to use these programs often requires a significant time investment.
2. Complex structure: Web pages are composed of a number of different text and image files. Some multimedia, especially video, is often not well integrated. This complex structure requires significantly more file management skills
3. Security: Generally not protected. Can be posted on an Intranet.

Ease of Use:
Moderate to advanced. Some or significant instruction desirable.

Technology required:
64+MB RAM, 2 + GB HD, AV input and output, scanner, VCR, video camera, high-density floppy (such as Zip drive)

Cost:
Freeware and Shareware are available, however, good web editors can be obtained for $50 - $99

Player:
Available. Web browsers (e.g. Netscape and Internet Explorer) are free.

4. Adobe Acrobat (PDF) documents

These files are created with Adobe PDF Writer or Acrobat distiller program. Files can be read by a wide variety of computer platforms – including Macintosh and Windows. PDF files can be easily navigated: sequentially, with bookmarks, or with hypertext links or buttons.

Advantages:

1. Web accessible: These files can be read with the free Acrobat Reader (downloadable from the Internet).
2. Cross platform: Easily accessible to most platforms.
3. Multiple applications: PDF files can be created from any application that prints to a printer. As a result, portfolios can include material from many different applications in a single document.
4. Multimedia oriented: Using the Adobe Acrobat Exchange program, sound and video files can be easily integrated.
5. CD-ROM publishing: CD-ROM publishing is convenient. The Adobe Acrobat Reader can be easily included on the CD-based portfolio.
6. Size and Resolution: PDF files retain high resolution for both graphics and text – even at high magnifications.
7. Player: Acrobat Reader is free by download from the Internet. It also comes installed on most computers.

Disadvantages:

1. File Size: These files are typically smaller than the originating word processing documents, however, they are still much larger than HTML files.
2. Separate Creation Software: PDF files are really created by other applications and limiting editing tools exist for changing the contents of Acrobat files.

Ease of Use:
Moderate. Some instruction is desirable.

Technology required:
64+MB RAM, 2 + GB HD, AV input and output, scanner, VCR, video camera, high-density floppy (such as Zip drive). Extra memory recommended.

Cost:
Educational discounts are available for both PDF Writer and Acrobat Exchange. License Program fees may be as low as $42 per computer.

Player:
Available. Web browsers (e.g. Netscape and Internet Explorer) are free.

5. Multimedia Slide Shows (e.g. Microsoft Office-Word/PowerPoint, ClarisWorks Slide show, Gold Disk Astound)

These programs allow the user to create electronic slide shows – typically viewed in a linear sequence. Most allow integration of sound and video. PowerPoint has limited ability to create buttons and links.

Advantages:

1. Commonly available: Included in most of the Office Suites.
2. Cross platform: Easily accessible to most platforms.
3. Fairly multimedia oriented: Graphics, sound, and video may be integrated into the presentation.

Disadvantages:

1. File Size: These files, particularly PowerPoint files, are often very large.
2. Web accessibility: In order to publish these files on the web, they must be converted to HTML format. For most recent versions of many of these programs – this is relatively easy.
3. Security: These programs may not have password protection.

Ease of Use:
Moderate. Some instruction is desirable.

Technology required:
Pretty variable. PowerPoint is among the most demanding, working best with a set-up similar to that required for Adobe: ( 64+MB RAM, 2 + GB HD, AV input and output, scanner, VCR, video camera, high-density floppy ).

Cost:
With educational discounts, $29 - $210. Many users already have these programs included in Office Suites.

Player:
Available for PowerPoint. This player can be included with the files for playback on computers that do not contain the complete software. No player exists for ClarisWorks.

6. Video

It is often desirable to include video material within the portfolio. Both digital and analog video materials are used.

Digital Video: Digitized video is typically in QuickTime or AVI format. Common software includes: Movie Player Pro, Avid Cinema, Adobe Premiere, iMovie (for editing), Apple Video Player (for digitizing). In portfolios, digital video is often used to include performances (such as lectures) within other digital portfolio construction tools.

Advantages:

1. Web access.
2. High interactivity.
3. Random access.
4. Editing.

Disadvantages:

1. Large file size resulting in storage difficulty.
2. Quality may be inferior.
3. Bandwidth requirements may be difficult to accommodate.
4. Hardware requirements for digitizing are significant.

Ease of Use:
Fairly challenging. Significant instruction is desirable.

Technology required:
Similar to that required for Multimedia Authoring software + a video digitizing board. A digital video camera is very helpful.

Cost:
Video editing software ranges from $29 to over $500. Digital video cameras are now under $1000.

Player:
Including with most operating systems.

Analog Video: Analog video comes in a variety of formats (e.g. VHS, 8mm). In portfolios, digital video is often used to capture performances in the classroom. It is also used as a universal format for the final presentation portfolio. Sometimes the computer is used to organize and present the formal portfolio.

Advantages:

1. Ubiquitous access.
2. Cheap storage media.
3. Quality is acceptable.
4. Relatively low cost hardware requirements.

Disadvantages:

1. Access is linear.
2. Little interactivity.
3. No Web access.
4. Storage may be inconvenient.
5. Editing is difficult.

Ease of Use:
Recording is fairly simple, requiring no training. Editing can be difficult.

Technology required:
A number of analog video cameras are readily available. The only other need is the videotape. An analog editing system can be added.

Cost:
A suitable 8mm camera can be obtained for $300. Analog video editing systems start at about $250.

Player:
A VCR.