Creating a digital portfolio is an excellent way to show off your skills and creative work. Not only is it a great way to showcase your work, but it also helps employers, recruiters and clients find out about you. However, there are a few things to keep in mind when creating a digital portfolio.
1. Make sure your content is authentic and relevant.
To demonstrate authenticity, it is important to only include artifacts that are truly your own. This includes photographs, technical or blueprint drawings, articles and documents, audio and video files, and any other materials you have created yourself. In addition, it is important to only include your best or most recent work in your digital portfolio. Including outdated or irrelevant information could actually harm your chances of getting a job or client.
2. Make your portfolio user-friendly and accessible to your audience.
When creating a digital portfolio, it is important to consider your audience. A digital portfolio should be designed in a way that is easy to navigate for the viewer, whether it is an employer, prospective employer or a potential client. Make sure you include keywords in your digital portfolio so that it can be easily searched by your audience. Also, make sure to provide links to your social media channels and website so that viewers can contact you easily.
3. Give students ownership of their learning and assessment.
By allowing students to create their own digital portfolios, teachers can foster a culture of student-driven assessments. By giving students ownership of their own assessment process, they are more likely to take pride in their work and be more motivated to learn. Additionally, when students have a platform they can use to share their work with others, they are more likely to take the time to revise and improve their writing.
4. Give your digital portfolio a professional look.
Using an online design tool like Canva is a great way to create a professional looking digital portfolio. Not only is it simple to use, but you can customize the template to fit your needs. Having your name or logo at the top of your digital portfolio is a good way to let readers know whose work they are looking at. It is also a good idea to create a consistent look across your digital portfolio by using the same template for all of your content.
5. Publish your digital portfolio publicly and promote it to your network.
Digital portfolios are a great way to share your work, but you must be willing to promote it in order to get the attention of potential employers and clients. Posting your portfolio on social media is a great way to reach a wide audience, but you can also email it to your contacts or add a link in your LinkedIn profile. Additionally, you can even print out your digital portfolio and hand it to people at networking events or conferences.
Although some educators are hesitant to implement digital portfolios, most of these hesitant educators are more worried about their impact on teacher assessment practices than they are about the effect of student-driven assessment on student engagement. Students are growing up in a technological world, and they are more than capable of navigating online tools to help them with their daily schoolwork.