E-Portfolios

Video credit: What is an ePortfolio? – posted by AuburnWrites on YouTube

Think

e-portfolio

Creating an e-portfolio that is available to the public...
- is dangerous. What if someone retrieves personal information from my resume and my past work?
- will impress everyone because they will be able to browse my past work.
- is pointless. Why not just send my resume to my potential employers?
This is true. Even though making yourself findable can be beneficial, unfortunately people can use what you make available on the internet in a bad or good way. One option is to make your e-portfolio password protected so that you can control who can see your information. Alternatively, you can also censor personal information (such as your phone number on your resume) when you upload files to your e-portfolio. Take a look at the Explore section of this page to see the tips on how to control your personal information on your e-portfolio site.
An e-portfolio is a good way to showcase your past work. Employers will be more impressed if they are able to see the work that you have done. You might want to consider making yourself findable so that your potential employers can find you.
Having an e-portfolio allows you to easily showcase your past work. By putting your resume online, you will have more flexibility in formatting and be able to add interesting features. You can showcase your “artifacts” (coursework, projects, artwork, written samples, and web design) and really impress potential employers.
Who will be viewing my e-portfolio?
- Anyone can see it
- Only potential employers
- No one. I don't think my e-portfolio is that popular
You're on the right track. By default, an e-portfolio is publicly available for everyone to see. If you do not want it to be publicly available, you may consider making it password protected. However, making your e-portfolio publicly available has benefits to your online brand.
Yes, your e-portfolio will be available to your potential employers. But it will also be accessible to anyone else on the internet. Therefore, it is important to develop and maintain your online brand.
Not quite. By default, your e-portfolio will be publicly available to everyone. If you do not want it to be publicly available, you may consider making your e-portfolio password protected. However, making your e-portfolio publicly available has benefits to your online brand.
What should I include in my e-portfolio?
- My personal information such as address, phone number, and name
- CVs and resumes
- My past projects and work
Be careful when including your private information such as address, phone number and name in your e-portfolio. You do not know who might check your e-portfolio. You might want to consider a dedicated e-mail address for contact through your e-portfolio, instead of using your phone number or primary email address.
That's a good idea. Making your CVs and resumes accessible will make it easier for your potential employers to know what kind of skills you have. You may also want to include your past projects to really impress those potential employers. But be careful when you are including private information such as your address, phone number and name. You don't know who might be checking out your e-portfolio. You can also consider dedicating a secondary email address to your e-portfolio, instead of leaving your phone number or primary email address on your site.
Good idea! E-portfolios are great for showcasing your past work and projects. However, if you are showcasing a project that you didn't work alone on, be sure to ask for permission and include the statement “Used with permission” on your website. Do this for:
- any material that you you didn’t create yourself (ask the creator, via email or snail mail)
- material you created for a third party, for example, a website for a charity. (ask the third party)
- material you created with someone else, for example, a group project. (ask the other people)

Work

An attractive, well-written resume always stands out to employers. By putting together an e-portfolio, you have flexibility in formatting and adding interesting features. The key to a good e-portfolio is showcasing your “artifacts” (coursework, projects, artwork, written samples, and web design), alongside your resume and personal reflections. By highlighting all of your work and qualification sin one place, you can put your best digital foot forward and really impress potential employers.

Many UBC classes and programs require students to create an e-portfolio as part of their coursework. The following resources offer a place to start:

The University of Toronto also offers portfolio creation services through Portal, and guides on e-portfolio creation. You can find more information here:

Do	Do Not
Include a professional email address	Include your phone number, home address, or any other private information
Ask permission to include material that you didn’t create, created with someone else, or created for a third party	Include information you didn’t create, created with someone else, or created for a third party without asking permission
Give creators, co-creators, or third parties attribution by saying: “used with permission from ____________”	Forget to give attribution to co-creators by saying: “used with permission from ____________”
Keep proof of permission for use of content from creators, co-creators, or third parties	Delete proof of permission for use of content from creators, co-creators, or third parties
Put your best foot forward by only sharing your best work	Put up sub-par work for the sake of filling space
Make sure the right people see your content by managing your privacy settings	Ignore your privacy settings
Be findable	Lock all your work away
Edit your content over time	Leave old work on your e-portfolio that no longer represents you

Discuss

The Digital Tattoo Project encourages critical discussion on topics surrounding digital citizenship and online identity. There are no correct answers and every person will view these topics from a different perspective. Be sure to complete the previous sections before answering the questions.

What are the pros and cons of creating your own ePortfolio?
In your opinion, what kind of content is best to highlight on your e-portfolio?
2 responses to “E-Portfolios”
1. Eny October 22, 2009 at 3:51 pm Permalink | Reply
  
  Is putting your CV online really safe? I have a friend in Asia, who shared his CV (not online) with some colleagues through professional network and it turned out his CV was only used to bid for a big project. Once the project got selected and won the bid, he was dumped and not involved in the project at all. He said that his CV was only used to increased the profile & marketability of the company participated in the bid. He was really upset, of course, but he cannot do anything unless he proceeds with legal route which he prefers to avoid.
  
  I was wondering whether putting one’s CV online would increase the odd of having similar abuse to happen.
  
  Thanks for the advise.
  
  Office of Learning Technology1 January 25, 2010 at 8:15 am Permalink | Reply
  
  Hi Eny,
  
  Thanks for your comment. Unfortunately people can use what you make available on the internet in an ethical or unethical way. Any time you put content online it is wise to weigh the benefits and potential costs involved. One possibility you might consider is to use a platform (like a blog) that allows you to set a password to see certain content on your blog. This gives you a little more control over who sees what on your site. Thanks for sharing this story with us.
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