ePortfolio – The Open Road

In the Spotlight: Building an ePortfolio

Draft and Finished Postcards, by Adrika Hoque

As students get started showing their work–for further studies or when applying for jobs–an ePortfolio is a great way to get started demonstrating their experience!

This spotlight brings an example of a sophomore student portfolio to show how students can take advantage of class assignments to start building their own portfolios to highlight relevant job skills. Even classes and topics that are not the student’s main interest will give variety to one’s curriculum and contribute to show experience with different tools and approaches.

Adrika Hoque’s ePortfolio also gives some nice examples on how blog posts can be a great format for image analysis, as it lets the author pick their preferred balance between text and images. Even though social media platforms such as Instagram are great in their reach, posts on an ePortfolio allow for a better balance of image and text, allowing for a deeper examination and comparison.

A good example of the potential is the Visual Quote Project post (created in her first year at City Tech) in which Adrika shows her work with different concept drafts and explains each of them. In the end, after the reader is acquainted with the logic behind each, she puts them all side-by-side so we can compare and better appreciate each of the images.

Students working on getting an ePortfolio started can browse through all the great ePortfolio examples from their classmates. As you find other ePortfolios you’d like us to spotlight, let us know!

In the Spotlight: Student Mary Lewis’ ePortfolio

“Anything is possible in life. With motivation and self discipline.”

This week we’re spotlighting the ePortfolio of Mary Lewis, a City Tech student pursuing a degree in dental hygiene. Mary’s ePortfolio tells an integrated story about her academic progress and achievements, her professional development and goals, and her personal history. On her ‘About Me’ page, Mary documents her journey from Freetown, Sierra Leone, to Guinea, to Germany, and describes how her experiences led her to pursue a career as a dental hygienist. Under ‘Skills’, Mary has included a detailed list of skills learned through past professional and academic experiences – such as digital panoramic radiographs and extraoral and intraoral examination – as well as two case studies, all detailing the types of roles and tasks she has mastered and can fulfil or build upon through future employment opportunities. Along these same lines, Mary has included details about her timeline to certification and uploaded a copy of her resume. All in all, Mary’s ePortfolio serves as a great starting point for learning more about her, her skills and education, and her potential. In this way, not only does this site serve as an archive for Mary, it also serves as a great, public-facing resource where others, including potential employers, can learn about Mary, as a person and a future employee.

In the Spotlight: Student Kim Mohammed’s ePortfolio

Though many of us may more readily think ‘coursework’ or ‘group project coordination’ when we think of the OpenLab, the platform also offers an important opportunity for displaying individual work in a unique and professional way. City Tech student, Kim Mohammed offers an excellent example of how this can be accomplished. Kim’s site is clear on her professional ambitions – to be a graphic designer – and aims to highlight the various academic and professional stepping stones that are preparing her for and leading her in that direction. For example, Kim has posted a 5-part-series documenting her experience finding and securing an internship (Part 1 here), a link to well-designed resume, and an ‘About Me’ page with a brief overview of her ambitions and link to an external site displaying her design work. Kim has also shared and summarized webinars and interviews with role models in her field and reviewed apps in her blog. In addition to the functionality of the site, Kim’s site is clean and easy to navigate, as well as – with a selected quote, image, and brief professional biography framing each page – unique and personalized. All-in-all, Kim’s site is a great example of how the OpenLab can be used to store one’s work in an organized and presentable manner so that it may be used in the pursuit of larger ambitions beyond your time at City Tech.

In the Spotlight: Prof. Jason Montgomery’s ePortfolio

The upcoming summer is a great opportunity for faculty and students alike to work on developing their ePortfolios. For inspiration, look no further than Prof. Jason Montgomery’s example. Prof. Montgomery’s site draws on a clean, well-organized architecture to highlight his skills and accomplishments. Visually appealing images drive the site’s content, and Prof. Montgomery has smartly streamlined the appearance of images and text across the site’s pages. Examples of his scholarly work, teaching experience, and institutional service are easy to find, as is a link to his blog. Check out the site, and let us know if you update yours! We are always excited to highlight the excellent work that is happening on the OpenLab in the Spotlight!

In the Spotlight: Rogue Bayron’s ePortfolio

City Tech students, have you wondered what to do with your ePortfolio? If so, head over to Rogue Bayron’s site for an excellent example of an ePortfolio that showcases talent. The site includes all the essential elements of a portfolio that positions Rogue for the job market: a bio, cover letter and resume, and examples of classwork. Rogue takes their portfolio a step further by also including a weekly blog about an internship experience and posts from a student club where they serve as vice president. Any prospective employer needs only visit Rogue’s ePortfolio to capture an immediate snapshot of who they are and what they are capable of. We encourage students of all industries — from graphic design to hospitality management — to take advantage of your free ePortfolio in order to showcase your best work!

In the Spotlight: ARCH 1130 – Building Technology I

In ARCH 1130 – Building Technology I, Prof. Jason Montgomery teaches a wide breadth of design topics: from building assemblage to documentation. To do so, his students move from architectural theory to drawing practice to case studies, all in one semester. Prof. Montgomery manages to cover this much ground with the help of his OpenLab site. Students can find all the materials they need for each section of the course: from text books to drafting triangles, lecture notes to sketchbook images. Prof. Montgomery also uses his site to make sure that students have all the resources that they need for success in his course. He includes instructions for creating an ePortfolio, as well as reading strategies and learning rubrics. Check out the site to see all this, plus beautiful samples of his students’ work.

In the Spotlight: Irene Iarochevitch’s ePortfolio

Irene’s Iarochevitch’s excellent portfolio is well-designed and structured, highlighting her work in a number of courses through video, photographs, and writing. The portfolio focuses on her ambitious senior thesis project, or “culmination project,” for which she is building a laser harp, an electronic musical instrument. Her portfolio was also discovered by another harp-maker, who left a comment with some suggestions for the harp. It’s always great to see these kinds of interactions on the OpenLab, where student work can indeed attract an audience that reaches beyond the classroom!

In the Spotlight: Ways of Seeing

Ways of Seeing: Adventures with Image & Text

“Ways of Seeing” is a First Year Learning Community for ADGA students who are taking Professor Jenna Spevak’s Graphic Design Principles I and Professor Jody Rosen’s English Composition I courses. Students are creatively reflecting on the world around them through image and text, from New York City more generally, to local field trips, City Tech, the view from their window, and more. The course site is well-structured, making it easy to browse through the projects for both courses. Students have also created ePortfolios, which can be accessed from the course profile. Do take a look at their great work!

Tag: ePortfolio