Learning Portfolios

I think it would be fun to do an ePortfolio on my favorite movies, since I was planning on being a film major when I first enrolled in community college. Movies are very interesting to me and I have a few particular favorites that I never get sick of watching. My target audience, would most likely be my family and the people that know me best (such as my friends). There might also be a few people here and there who are also movie-fanatics who might be interested in my ePortfolio. I would show several video clips of parts of my favorite movies (courtesy of YouTube, perhaps) and then I would explain in detail why these clips are important for people to see. I wouldn't just want to direct my ePortfolio towards people who have already seen the films that I cover, but also ones who may have an interest in film in general and want to see several different movies that they maybe haven't seen before. To show my evolution of learning, I would show, maybe through text, some movies that were my favorite as a kid (mostly Disney films) and would proceed to show how my interest in films was shaped throughout the years. Images of movie posters and the actors in the movies would also be extremely efficient to show that as I got older, I didn't like movies just for the actors in them, but also mainly for the script and plot as well.

Hopefully, I would be able to get some insight from other viewers of my portfolio, but if not, then just compare my thoughts about movies to other movie critics and see how sophisticated I have become when it comes to movie-watching. Even though I have chosen not to major in film anymore, I still have quite a passion for movies and watch as many as I can (Oscar-worthy or not) every year. My overall goal would be to show others how movies can shape people's lives and how big of a role they play in our society through their famous words and images. By showing the movies that I like in particular, I hopefully would be able to encourage others to step forward and reveal their favorite movies, no matter how popular they are or not. And hopefully, people will learn about more independent, cult classic films that they have never heard of before, thus enhancing their overall movie knowledge.

Practical Portfolios

I can see myself using ePortfolios in only a few ways, one of them being for gaining employment. This option really seems the easiest to me because the freedom of the internet allows you to make your ePortfolio on your own time, at your home (or other place of choice), and you can add decorations to the webpage that you aren't necessarily allowed to do on a paper portfolio. Most of the ePortfolios I viewed were resume-type portfolios that listed all of their achievements, awards, and past jobs. I would have no qualms in making such a portfolio and I think more businesses/companies would be more interested in it if they learned more about ePortfolios.

While that may seem like the easiest and most beneficial ePortfolio to make, I also wouldn't mind making an ePortfolio that showed my work in school and how it has (hopefully) progressed throughout the years. I have already had to do such a portfolio (on paper) when I was in the eighth grade and I actually did find it pretty fun to be able to look back at all of my work, some that I was proud of and others that I wish I never did. Looking back at such work can be beneficial in realizing that school (and life) can be a rollercoaster sometimes of things that you are proud of and no so proud of, but you made it through anyways. This ePortfolio could also be considered as being made simply for my own personal pleasure, because I can't really imagine a lot of people being interested in a complete stranger's past schoolwork. But if I were to make an ePortfolio just for the sake of wanting to make one, I'd choose a topic that I have a keen interest in and others might too (such as animals or even one that might document the school life at whatever college I end up at). ePortfolios seem to be making ground in the internet world and just like any other portfolios, can be used in various ways.

Sample ePortfolios

The first search I did to find ePortfolios was on law ePortfolios. The first real ePortfolio (www.utexas.edu/academic/cit/eportfolio/portfolio/?portfolio=117) I found was on a woman's ePortfolio that described her venturing into the realm of law and justice. This woman seemed intent on pursuring a career in law and in turn, wrote about her many experiences interning at some law offices. Overall, the woman included a little statement about herself and her goals and all the experiences she has had with her career thus far. The only weakness with this particular ePortfolio is that the setup is not all that nice and it is impossible to read some of the words, but overall, I think it represents what an ePortfolio is all about. The second ePortfolio (http://www.sarahfayyaz.com/) was about another woman seeking a career in law. The ePortfolio has a simple look to it and the links are all easily accessible. I honestly couldn't find a big weakness in this particular ePortfolio because the woman included everything from the courses she is taking to the diplomas she has received thus far. I think the ePortfolio gives a good, general sense of who this woman is and what her goals are and based on the site layout I think this ePortfolio is much better than the earlier one I looked at.

The second search on astronomy ePortfolios gave me a lot more ePortfolios to look at. The first one (www.personal.psu.edu/klr279/) actually seemed more like a blog than a true ePortfolio, but there were some links that included personal information such as his current academic situation and some of her favorites (music, interests). The second ePortfolio (www.davidtylerhill.com/) went back to a more traditional ePortfolio, listing the writer's achievements, awards, etc. The strength seemed to be the content of the site, as it was useful in helping to understand the pursuits and strengths of the particular person. It was hard to find a lot of faults in these ePortfolios because the only aspect that I could truly judge was the basic look and layout of the sites. Most ePortfolios that I looked at (including this last one: eportfolio.cfa.arizona.edu/resume.php?portid=273) mostly listed personal information and career achievements (such as resumes) that the particular person has accomplished. These seemed most useful in helping a potential employer better understand the person, rather than having them communicate on a person-to-person level.

Frequently Asked Questions about ePortfolios

The question that I chose to respond to from Dr. Helen Barrett's "Frequently Asked Questions about ePortfolios" is the question that asks, "What do I put into an electronic portfolio?" First off, I have never even heard the word 'ePortfolio' in my entire life and I'm still trying to get a general idea of what it is. However, I'm most intrigued by what I'm actually going to be putting into my ePortfolio. I have made portfolios for school in the past, but they were all done in person with paper and envelopes, while ePortfolios are done all online (a LOT better, in my eyes). In the portfolios that I made for classes years ago, they generally consisted of work that I had done throughout the school year that I considered to be my best. The way that Dr. Barrett describes ePortfolios, is that the owner of the ePortfolio should really decide what to put inside the portfolio.

But I get a general sense that ePortfolios are basically the same as regular, paper portfolios except that with ePortfolios there are no papers but instead online writing (such as blogs!). The part that seems like the best benefit to ePortfolios is that it allows me to also include pictures and videos that I would not be able to include in an actual paper portfolio. I think such media can help greatly, especially in cases where words may not be enough to describe a certain aspect of someone's character. Nowadays, the internet gives so many different options that other sources would not be able to give and I'd be happy to use them all to my advantage.

Blog Search

The first search that I did for blogs, I looked up the word "dogs" and came up with a bunch of hits. The first site that I actually took the time to read was called Two Barking Dogs (twobarkingdogs.wordpress.com). The blog is essentially about a woman and her life with her two black Labs. The posts can be random, such as when she wrote about one of her dogs and all the little quirks about him and his temperment. Others are about trips that she made with her dogs, such as to a yard sale, the blogger's favorite, and the items she picked up. Pretty much every post though has some mention of either one of the blogger's dogs. Overall, the blog isn't that bad, but it is kind of hard to think of people that would religiously read the blog or had an intense interest in everything the blogger was writing.

To kick things up a bit, the next search I did was on polygamy, which I figured I would get a lot of hits for due to all the recent news about a certain polygamous sect. A lot of the blogs were people's personal blogs and they just happened to mention polygamy only once and then they went on to some other random thought. However, I eventually did come across a blog that dealt with polygamy, titled Christian or Biblical Polygamy (polygamy.joshuashouse.com). Now I actually got kind of scared at first to read the blog because I wasn't sure what to expect. I didn't know if the writer was going to preach that polygamy was a good thing or say that it was an absolute disgrace. While there wasn't an exact statement on that issue, I did find a lot of religious quotes taken from the Bible, so I can only assume that the blog was trying to make the point that polygamy is okay. Most of the recent blogs were on the FLDS sect situation that unfolded recently and one in particular, caught my attention as the bloggers basically agreed with a news article that the sect's separation of families is causing harm. A creepy site, nonetheless, and a ton times more interesting than the previous blog I looked it, but the controversial topic does pique my interest more.

Fantasy U-Museum

Upon entering my Fantasy U-Museum, right behind the doors, will be a huge picture (almost covering the wall) of my dog Louie. He means everything to me and is a big part of my life, so it would make sense to have him be the first thing that everyone would see. Moving along to the room to the left of Louie's picture, will be a gallery of how I think people think of me. The room will be white and bland with no windows; since I never talk in classes, most people don't even know that I'm there so I tend to blend in. White walls never really stick out to anybody, which is the way that I feel sometimes. There won't be much in this room, since most people don't get to see much of me anyways.

In the next room, however, will be a gallery of how I think the people that know me think of me. Loud music will be playing, as I love music, and pictures of me with my family and friends (and Louie) will be scattered about. The room itself is bright, open and sunny with zebra-striped patterened walls. To get out of the room, however, one must go through a maze and figure out which way to take to get to the next area. I love analyzing and figuring out puzzles, so this would be just my thing. Leading out of the maze will be a gorgeous garden with plenty of flowers, shady trees and a trickling pond. I have a fondness for nature and it always seems to relax me, which is how I would want people to feel after seeing my U-Museum. I'd want my U-Museum to overall be an eye-opening experience to other people about who I am as a person. Nothing is extragantly over-the-top or fantastical because that's not really the kind of person I am. I'm simple and somewhat boring, but I do have my passions that play a big part in who I am.