Oops.... looks like I am still learning about this whole e-portfolio thing! Appparently nobody could read any of my files because they were all set to private... sorry guys!
I guess I'll keep learning as I continue to use my e-portfolio... hope you can enjot it now!
Sorry Ellen

I'm just doing finishing touches now. I've learnt quite a lot from this expereience to be honest I didnt think i was going to get much out of this subject but I really have. I've learnt that because this is public site anyone can look at your information, what an eportfolio is is a way people can look at you and get an impression from you just by looking onto a page. It is important that you are careful what you put onto the net because people can place judgement on you and vis versa.

I've also learnt not to use myspace mechanisms to try and make your eportfolio stand out. It did slow me down but at the same time it gave me an opportunity to start a fresh on my eportfolio because at first I didnt really take it seriously but then when it came down to doing it all over again i put more thought into what i was going to put into it and what i was going to leave out of it.

I decided to scrap a few ideas such as "want to contact me", "Ambitions and career goals" and a few others because it wouldnt have been beneficial and the information wouldnt be of much interest or resourceful to employers because at present I'm not sure what my career goals are and I'm not 100% sure with my ambitions. Instead I added a photo gallery, because i love photo's. My room is FILLED will photo's of my friends and myself.

I realised I hadnt updated my resume in quite some time when I found it. Eportfolio gave me the opportunity to do that, which will definitely save time in the future.

As things change and evolve in my life I will be adding to my eportfolio, keeping it up to date with all the events and happenings of my life. This opportunity has taught me so much and I am taking away alot of useful facts for the future.

As i was looking at my class mates eportfolios I realised that some of the files were unaccessible, I started to think what it could be... then i remembered the section 'access restriction'. I figured out that some people must have put their files on private therefore people couldnt see there eportfolios. I sent a message to lucy one of my uni friends and I informed her that i was unable to access her files. Then we thought maybe if we add each other as friends then we would be able to access each others files therefore ellen would be able to access our files and really thats all that counts right now, seeing as it is an assessment.
So we tried. It didnt work... I started to freak out, Lucy couldnt look at any of my files it was saying that i had 0 files when in actual fact I had 6. You can edit your blogs and your profile but there isnt a way you can change your files to public access, I think that should be looked at by the people that set up this program, because now that means I have to go and re do everything i have done. Its just wasting time. So now I'm sitting here re doing everything... Very annoying!

As i have been adding content to my files, I have been working on my PC because i'm under the impression that my lap top does not have compatible software. Its slightly annoying. IT KEEPS ON FREEZING ON MEEEEEE!!!!! very irritating.
I've discarded some of my files ie. Clubbing because I dont believe it is relevant.
I'm gettin slightly confused with how to add on links to sites... and i'm not to sure about this copy right business... but i will get through this...

I've decided to add more photo's than I had planned.. considering a photo can say a thousand words...

Well im pretty much finished now.
I double checked everything and made sure that all the files were posted up correctly in the folders that i made.
Well that is it, and now it is time to submit.
Ellen if you are reading this, i just want to say thankyou for all your help throughout this semester.
I've enjoyed your teachings and your very friendly and caring personality.
I would like to wish you all the best in life!
Take care and god bless!
Bryan

Finally, i finished my e-portfolio. I feel so relaxed because I only have one exam to go, then my holiday is coming very very soon. ^_^ I have achieved a lot experience through this subject, from knowing nothing about e-portfolio to being able to create my own one. While doing it, I had an understanding of copyright, tags and how to upload the files in a right way. Even though my one doesn't look professional, I'm still happy with it, because I know I worked hard and it's my product.

Also, my ability of my problem solving skill has been developed a lot. At first, I didn't know how to use mac system, now, I can use it well and also if I enconter any problem, I will try to fix it out by myself. If it doesn't work, then will ask anyone els help. I like studying new things and it becomes more and more interesting once you are on the right track.


I have got valuable experience by doing this assignment and I am satisfied with it. I hope I will be given more such technical lesson in the future~~~

Last night was the worst night of my life...Not really, but it was an annoying and stressful night. As I said in my other post, I had nearly completed my e-portfolio-just had to do a few touch ups! Well I finished it and decided to view it as an outsider, only to realize that I couldn't view any of the files! I figured it must have been because I had the files set on "Logged-on users" and I wasn’t logged on. So I changed the access setting to 'public'. Excited by the fact that I had "resolved" the problem, I once again viewed my e-portfolio as a guest and what did I see?............... NOTHING! The files still weren't showing! By now I was stressing as the e-portfolio was due the next day (Today) and although I had completed it, no one, including Ellen, would be able to see it!

Frantically I began messaging my friends hoping that they would be able to save me! Luckily, 'EK' had experienced the exact same problem and knew how to fix it. What I had to do was actually begin my e-portfolio from the beginning, but this time set my 'home page' folder as public. At the moment, although my files were public, the main file was private, and in order to make it public, you had to start from scratch. Argh!

I found the process of recreating my e-portfolio extremely tedious, and my situation wasn't eased by my computer, which for some reason kept shutting down completely! After about 4 hours, I had finally recreated the e-portfolio, and this time everything was on public. (That’s what I thought anyway). Tired and exhausted, I decided to go to bed and start again fresh in the morning!

Good morning.... for about half an hour. To reassure myself that my e-portfolio was actually working, I decided to once again log in as a guest and view my e-portfolio as an outsider. Everything seemed fine until I realized that a whole folder was missing-the photo gallery- the section that due to my slow and stupid computer took the longest to complete- was missing. Life couldn't get any worse!

Oops I did it again...idiot! I made the exact same mistake that I had made the previous night! The original 'photo gallery' folder was set on private. So once again I began the tedious task of deleting and uploading photos, ensuring that I set everything on public. This time I did it right! Everything was fine!

So now my e-portfolio is complete and I can send an email to Ellen to tell her that I am F.I.N.I.S.H.E.D! However, although I found yesterday and today's task of recreating the e-portfolio a bit frustrating, positive things actually emerged from it. The first being that for some sections of the e-portfolio, I restructured the architecture, which was good, as some folders were useless and confusing!

Secondly, while having a break from creating the e-portfolio (had to release the stress somehow) I found some artefacts that I could include in the e-portfolio, such as photos, and I also changed many of my artefacts to be HTML. based. This allows the files to be accessed easier, which is good!

Last night I also came to two conclusions. First, I wish I could change the layout of the e-portfolio, as at the moment, it seems a little boring. And secondly, I think that after I receive my mark for the e-portfolio, I may change the access of some my files to private until my e-portfolio is completed, and since I am planning to continue updating my e-portfolio, this will probably be after I graduate, or just before! The reason for this is mainly to deal with privacy and confidentiality issues.

Well that is all for me. I would like to finish off by saying that I have enjoyed the process of creating my e-portfolio. It has allowed me to explore who I am, and to digitally represent my achievements and myself! I also enjoy reading other people's e-portfolios as it allows you to better know the people you go to uni with! Now the only thing I must do is update the e-portfolio when applicable! Oh, and do one final check up, and this time, there better be no mistakes or I will go crazy!

I have finished! Overall, this process has been rather challenging in
parts but also very enjoyable. As i have mentioned before in this blog,
I have never created anything like this and so there was alot to learn.
As I began this assessment I wasn't sure of what the outcome would be.
However I am proud of my efforts with this assessment.

Copyright has been quite a large issue for me when looking at different
artefacts I wanted to put on this eportfolio. For example, as I am a huge
music fan, I wanted to put copies of past tickets on the eportfolio.
However after contacting ticketek to inquire about privacy issues, they
encouraged me that although it isnt "illegal", they would strongly
advise against it, as the pictures could be interpreted as ones that are
being sold, which of course is illegal. So that idea went out the window
quickly! I was rather disapointed that i couldn't put these tickets on
the eportfolio as further artefacts, but its better to be safe than sorry!

When we were gathered in groups in our final class, discussing what we
had learnt over this semester, I came to the realisation that I really
have learnt alot. About apple mac computers (!) as well as myself. Talking
about various issues allows you to reflect and take a look at your life and
what you have accomplished. An eportfolio is just like a window that allows
other to see certain aspects of your life, that they would no tusually see.
Which i find to be so beneficial, especially when these people are potential
employers.

This experience has been very enjoyable and I promise to constantly update
this eportfolio as I continue my educational Journey!

As I was looking over my eportfolio today I decided to delete a couple
of folders. I know it is due today and this is a rather large change
but I felt that folders such as About Me, were summed up in my eportfolio
profile as well as topics such as interests and my family and friends.
I say this because, these issues make up who i am, therefore I found
the about me page too much. I also deleted Future Goals. I understand
that this assessment is based around our academia but I really do
not know what i will be doing in the future, and to be honest I don't
know what i want. As ideas form and further work is completed, I will
put it on here, however, at the present time, I feel it is uneccessary.

I have also decided not to put a sample of my work on to the eportfolio.
At first I thought this was a good idea, however to me, this work is
private. If a potential employer contacts me (via this site or the
email address supplied), I am happy to send them work.

Through undertaking the subject e-portfolio, I have had the ability to create an e-portfolio that documents and records my learning both at UTS and in other areas of interest to me. The focus of this subject was around the making of this e-portfolio to be a digital story or documentation of my learning journey.

I have categorised the learning I experienced in this subject, into two categories: Firstly, I learnt practical computer skills which involved familiarising myself with e-portfolio and weblog software, and secondly I learnt theoretical facts about weblogs, e-portfolios, copywrite laws, and credibility.

In my e-portfolio I have been able to not only document my academic progress at uni, but also my artistic progression in other interest areas, including: art, dance and music. Through creating an e-portfolio I am now able to keep record of my progress and each time I visit my e-portfolio I will be able to reflect on where I have come from, what I have achieved, as well as being able to update documentation of current achievements.

Therefore my e-portfolio will be a way of communicating and relaying current and previous information about my learning progress, to audiences beyond my own network. People all around the world will be able to access my information, which could even be a way of publicising myself for future employment prospects.

As i started getting used to setting this up, everything decided to go downhill when my computer crashed. My computer held all my photos that were to be added to my Hair Folder on this website. As you realise that folder isn't there anymore, that's not because i could not retrieve the photos.. It is because i found that the night of my year 12 formal, was one of the most memorable nights of my life. That was the night where it was the last time i spent time with friends ive known for 13 years.
It was much more important to put up those photos than taking pictures of gorgeous hairstyles and showing my passion for hair.

I tried many different websites to put my photos on, these included My Space, Photo Digital and Wikispaces. I found all of these different loading sites very difficult to use. So instead, i played around with my photos (which were originally bitmap), and taught myself how to compress the photos to a JPEG format which put them into a much smaller scale. This made it much easier to load all my photos onto an easy-navigate website, and was also much quicker.

Looking through this website, i have found that i have learnt so much. This includes, using a mac computer (i've never used one of those in my life!), learning all the technicalities of powerpoint, paint, and word documents. But most importantly, how many services are available to load and set up your own website with help navigations, viewing other spaces and e-portfolios. Seeing this makes you set a goal to complete your own and look at it, and be proud of it.

I find it much easier to use programs on a PC and also a Mac (can you believe it? i actually know how to use it now!) The future job that i am aiming for in my life, will definately need the use of computers and i have found this subject quite useful and going more in-depth with computers, and helping me figure it out myself. It was quite frustrating doing this.. but now i love knowing and teaching others how to use them.

From setting up my e-portfolio i have found that, what i am putting on this website, i am showing this person who i am, and what i am all about. This e-portfolio is a webstie of what is important to me, the memories that i keep close, and what i want to aspire and goals i want to reach in my life.

Another thing that really got me interested was when my lecturer for e-portfolio mentioned copyright. First of all i am thinking to myself.. what's the big deal? Then Ellen started to talk more about it and hopped us onto this webstie about different kinds of copyright, that's when i was interested. I read all about it and realised that if i stole someone elses photos, i could get into alot of trouble. I learnt not only was there the copyright law, but there was also the patent law.

I know that everything that i have learnt in creating this e-portfolio will definately be useful to me in my future.

I posted a blog 2 days ago at University whilst i was in class, however for some unknown reason it's not showing up......so here i go again. This semester has been very useful and invaluable at getting to know the different digital tools available to portray oneself to future employees. The whole concept of a 'digital portfolio' appeals to me very much and i plan to further develop and update this online-portfolio into the future. If you are reading this blog then it means you have purposely found me. Please have a look around my site here. You will find many of my achievements within each folder and also a small gallery of photos, so as to put a 'face to a name'. This semester has been both though-provoking and stimulating to myself and my fellow students. I now know how to use an Apple macintosh computer.....don't laugh!! They are very very different from Windows, normal, standard, state-of-the-art computers!! If anything, i am proud of myself for accomplishing the skill of using a Mac. What are my aims and future goals!? Well, number one is to successfully finish my degree. Not setting myself any time limit however into finishing. Number two would be to improve my German language skills. People tell me that I am fluent, however i know that i am not. For that reason i would really like to increase my level of grammar and vocabulary and hopefully work in Foreign Affairs or for a huge international organisation one day. We'll see waht the future entails.......:)

I've just recently learnt from Georgina that you can change the format and displays of this whole thing.
Georgina knew allot about programing and web-design so she managed to change the colours and made her own customized background for the whole site.
Very impressive, but i have yet to learn how to do that, but i've changed mine already by going through some settings on this site, so it was pretty interesting.
Well im nearly done, with posting up all my artefacts and files to complete my e-portfolio.
So im just going to do some final touch ups and check everything.
My learning experience throughout this subject has been very enjoyable and i hope i can continue something like this in the future.
BrYz . .

Welcome and thank you for visiting my ePortfolio. My full name is Alpha Joy Ramirez but most people call me Joy. I was born in Metro Manila Philippines but have been raised in the northern beaches of Sydney, Australia. I have been at the University of Technology Sydney for just a year now and am planning to graduate at the end of 2008 with a major in Human Resources. After I graduate, I will continue to study a related education or business degree as well as travel around the world.

Before commencing the eportfolio subject, I had completely no idea what an eportfolio was or what it consisted of. That is why, when I began creating one, I found it interesting because I was able to put assessments, documents and pictures that I was most proud of.


The first process we were introduced to in creating an eportfolio was assembling a draft plan and design of what we wanted in our eportfolio. This included researching copyright and ethical issues as well as collecting artefacts, both digital and paper form. Because I wanted my eportfolio to be based on my educational and professional career goals, I composed my artefacts based on the most considerable and appropriate forms of work. My final arrangement of my eportfolio consisted of a collection of two different assessments I had done for this year 2006, as well as word documents illustrating my class timetables, resume and eportfolio reflections.

The structure itself involved revising all my artefacts into HTML format so that it could be more easily accessible for the general public to view. This also increased computer compatibility in downloading the files from my eportfolio.

Before the beginning of this subject I was unaware about the nature of copyright and ethical issues, types of artefacts and the processes of generating web pages. Therefore, I found the whole process of making an eportfolio a great opportunity in learning various computer skills as well as portraying my educational learning journey. Furthermore, the eportfolio has allowed me to present to others my achievements so far at the University of Technology.

Not only have I gained technical proficiencies, I have also learnt how to express myself as a solemn student and a hard worker. The different parts of my eportfolio reflect how I see myself at the University as well as how I see myself now and in the future. Personally, the whole eportfolio experience has helped me expose where I would like to be in life and how I can further achieve my career goals.

On the whole I have come to the realisation that an eportfolio is imperative to ones personal and professional aspirations. I believe it is because an eportofolio facilitates and presents all the hard work, effort and learning discoveries of an individual.

A large part of this core subject consists of reflecting on the learning achieved throughout the formation of ones eportfolio. For this blog I have chosen to demonstrate how I came to produce my reflections accumulated from creating my eportfolio.

During modules and tutorials in the eportfolio subject, I was able to research various articles and information regarding issues and procedures implicated in eportfolios. It was during these classes that I discovered how to properly construct an eportfolio, and thus appropriately reflect on my learning journey.
These are the guidelines I found most supportive and appropriate in constructing and reflecting on my eportfolio experience.

Based on the Penn State University Eportfolio website
[Click to view link]

A reflection provides the reader with a better understanding of who created the eportfolio. This is because a reflection illustrates a person's personal feelings and experiences attributed from their collection of various artefacts.

Furthermore,the reflection process allows the individual to consider who they want to view and share their growth and development with.

Sourced from the Penn State University Eportfolio website
[Click to view link]

Week 12-13 - Assignment two due date is nearing and yet I feel relaxed and placid about it all. This may be because designing and constructing the eportfolio were essential activities that had to be done in class. Also, I believe the theoretical part is over and the fun part is just beginning. Creating the folders in the digital dialogues website was much much easier then creating the folders into the powerpoint program. However,I must admit, If I had not made a draft diagram on the powerpoint I would not have such a coherent structured guideline to follow by and I would have risked leading into a tangent of producing unrelated materials.



Week 11 - Having trouble searching for all the neccessary information that we need to illustrate and post into our eportfolio files. To be honest, I feel as though I have answered a vast majority of the module activies into the first assessment which was the report on the eportfolio structure and design. As I read this report I can see that I have detailed and analysed the copyright issues involved, the artefacts I have used and the dangers and risks engaged in creating an eportfolio, therefore please note that most of the module activities are not posted up on any file such as eportfolio activities but in the file folder called class projects.

Week 9 - The powerpoint diagram is due today.
Spent all night perfecting my powerpoint diagram. Through the lack of patience and lack of creativity, I have managed to create a satisfactory represenation of my eportfolio. Though the design itself looks a little cluttered, the main notion of it all is clear to understand and the artefacts to be embedded are easily identified.

Week 8 - Designing the eportfolio.
Besides researching the theories neccessary for the written part of the assessment, I have also had to design a draft copy of what I want to entail in my eportfolio. Personally, this has brought about a significant number of issues:
For a person that does not have much patience, this activity is much tedious and much more demanding then I thought. For someone that does not have a very artistic or technical mind, this activity is much more practical and more creative then I thought.
At first, my impressions were to stick a couple of descriptions into boxes provided by microsoft powerpoint. However, because the various activities I had done in the past concerned nothing to do with the actual contents and layout of my eportfolio I was stuck, having difficulties conjuring any thoughts of what I wanted to put in my eportfolio.
It was not until I set my ideas on paper that I felt more confident in designing into the powerpoint program.

It took the whole length of class to just merely place five boxes. Because I am not familiar with powerpoint, especially on a Macintosh computer, I struggled to fit, adjust and align all my diagram pieces. At the end of the class I felt frustrated and annoyed that such a waste was produced.

Week 6-7- Our first assignment is due in the next two weeks and it covers the modules one and two. I have been researching for the past two weeks now about the different theories and issues involved with creating an eportfolio. My conclusion through all such information is that there are many numerous ethical issues to consider. An interesting article I found deems that if you are to state your nationality, do so in a manner that will not offend to others. Also, one website that we had to look at in our modules was quite interesting to me as it directly related to the structure of my eportfolio. The main key points the website addressed were, if you are going to expose your eportfolio to career professionals, then design your eportfolio in a coherent, appropriate manner. Careful not to go off into a tangent that results in a personal diary concerning many thoughts and emotions that do not relate at all to the career purposes of your eportfolio. In this sense it reiterated my thoughts and ideas of the creation of my eportfolio.

Though I am slowly learning that this subject consists of self reflections and self learning, I must also understand the types of audiences I wish to present my eportfolio to.

Week 4 - I have missed the first three weeks of class and so I feel a little confused. I have yet to identify the purpose for this eportfolio course and I have no idea why researching on what type of person we are is neccessary. Correct me If I am wrong but I do believe the course has more to do with using the internet in a professional manner then knowing about ones personality traits...

I've finally finished!!! I've worked really hard on this e-portfolio and I can finally see the finished product. I have really enjoyed the whole process of producing this e-portfolio. It has certainly been a learning curve for me. I am glad that I did this subject though as I have always wanted to learn more about computers and put my skills to use. Working with html documents has been great for me. I actually found them much easier to work with for the purpose of my e-portfolio, so I ended up using more html documents than word or any other programs.

What I’ve found about this subject is that it’s quite self-directed. Many of the skills I’ve acquired through the subject have been through sheer luck or determination. It has been a definite learning curve.

I am hoping to stick to my word as I have said in many of my documents and keep this up to date, in terms of how I am going in my course and what sort of direction I would like my course to take me. At the moment I have stated that I would like to major in Human Resources, but who knows how things might change? I want to use my e-portfolio to its full potential, as I believe it will be of great use to me further down the track. I will also post up examples of work I have done throughout my course. I had an example of my first E-Learning Assessment to put up, however i lost the file for it so was unable to do so. As i progress through my course though I will post assessments and examples of work I feel will be relevent.

Overall, e-portfolio has been a challenge, but a challenge overcome. Now that I’m a little more familiar with the programs and the computer itself, I’m ready to take on new challenges regarding my e-portfolio, as I can’t wait to improve on what it is at the moment. I know this is only the beginning, but now that I’m a little more comfortable with what we’re doing, I’m looking forward to enhancing my skills and expanding my knowledge in the area.

Have I changed at all? This is the question I am currently asking myself at the end of what is pretty much another school year. Having completed roughly 12 weeks of e-portfolio, I have to admit that it’s been quite a journey, one which has involved a lot of self-reflection and thinking.

At the beginning, this journey had a vague destination and as each week passed by at frightening speeds what with all the assignments, work and life’s problems to worry about. The first stop in reflection for this subject was when we were required to write a digital story for our e-portfolio. At the time, I had very little idea on what I would conjure up, so I decided to stick with a short script, which took bits and pieces out of actual events during my life. Looking back at the script more than half a semester later has left me wondering how much better I am in my current position. Of course, after reading my story again, there’s no doubt that I’ve changed and achieved a fair bit since then, something which I’m proud of =)

Things didn’t get interesting until we had to dig for hidden and buried treasures/artefacts, things which held some sort of sentiment or relation to our learning experiences. Pool was one of the first things which came to my mind as I’ve spent the past year or so playing pool once a week with two of my closest mates from high school. As a result of this treasure digging, it’s quite amazing to see the progress and improvement made from when I first started playing pool at the beginning of last year.

Another artefact I found revolved around my favourite past times of games. In particular, Warcraft 3 was one of those games, which consumed a countless number of sleeping hours throughout the year. And well… this game is damn popular (even now and for a long time to come) and aside from having improved in learning how to play this game, I’ve made a lot of social contacts with other gamers. I think it’s quite something to realise how many millions of people around my age play this game and the endless possibilities of social interactions involved between these people. Guess I also have the internet to thank for that.

A few other important artefacts include my TAFE transcripts and resume. This subject and course in general continued to emphasise the interrelatedness between career and education. And now, my mind is continually being boggled with what sort of career/education path/s I would follow in the future. The photo artefacts were the more touching and emotional part of this journey. Instead of finding a few photos to put onto my e-portfolio, I spent most of the time reminiscing the good times of which all those photos captured =*).

One of the activities we did in class involved finding a piece of music/song, which would reflect what our e-portfolios are about. If I were to choose any song that best represents everything that this subject has taught me from the journey, reflection to the learning experiences and great time I had with class mates, it would be:

Green Day – Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)

I’d love to post up and share this song, but that would infringe on copyright HAHA XD

Overall, I have to say that this subject was quite fun as there was always something interesting that would be happening in class relating to our e-portfolios. One of those would be learning how to use the MACs. They are pretty nifty, even though the ones we used were much older than the better-looking and faster white ones I usually see around campus.

Well, hope you’ve enjoyed this series… which strangely enough never actually had a name, but I’ll leave it up to your imagination to come up with one =)

Remember, it’s not the destination that matters the most, but the journey, learning and development that is undertaken, which enriches us. And I reckon my e-portfolio has mirrored part of that journey.

THE END

Just completed my e-portfolio and spiced up the games and interests section. One small issue is that most of the files on the site are .MHT instead of HTML, which can be downloaded like normal web pages.

The reason for using the MHT format is because all the pictures and links, etc are contained withing one file whereas HTML requires the user to place external links to pictures. So for the sake and convenience of your viewing pleasure, MHT would be more appropriate.

The following sections will contain MHT files:
- Home/Index
- Purpose
- Disclaimer
- Games/Warcraft 3

The other files within the site will follow the usual HTML format.

Also, there is an 'Academia' folder, which contains a copy of my information architecture, 1st eportfolio assignment & my digital story.

On the next episode, we'll be concluding our exciting series, so don't miss the finale!

As a first year student studying a bachelor of arts in organizational learning I didn’t know exactly what my course had in mind for me. After the first semester I had great understanding of why myself and my class mates were enrolled in this course. I believe all the knowledge we have learnt over the last year weather it be about management, Human resources or adult learning have been extremely interesting and useful for our future goals. Although the other subjects studied were overall useful in learning new information, facts and data, I believe that this subject has been the most enjoyable by fair and I have come out learning more things regarding computers then I would have ever anticipated.

At the first glimpse of this subject I thought it would be impossible for someone as computer illiterate as me to complete an E-portfolio and when i began searching e-portfolio's it just seemed to 'high-tech' for me to do! The first few weeks of class were probably the most stressful as the activities we completed didn’t do any justice as to how easy it actually was to make an e-portfolio. With the guidance of a great teacher he made this ‘e-portfolio’ seem like it was actually achievable. Without any previous experience on Apple computers, Roman was able to educate us on how good Mac computers were and I now have mixed emotions on the Mac and windows debate.

The digital dialogues website was quiet confusing at first, I like the rest of my class mates was familiar with the ‘myspace’ revolution that had formed over the past two years. But after weeks of searching and simply playing around with the digital dialogues website I finally got the hang of things. I did have difficulties with the whole public and private situation but after a few helpful hints from my classmates my e-portfolio was underway. The majority of documents that have been uploaded on my e-portfolio were discussed in assessment number one, although I have added a few more documents as I believe they are suitable. One thing I wanted to achieve through my e-portfolio was that I was able to educate others about myself, through certificates of achievement down to the basics of my likes and dislikes. Not only is this allowing my classmates to learn a few novelty-like facts about myself but it’s allowed me to move outside my comfort zone of being very private about a lot of things.

This subject has allowed me to learn a range of new skills and I am sure I will continue using e-portfolios in the future as they are a great form of recognition when it comes to employment.

E-portfolio has not only taught me how to create an e-portfolio and what it is but has also taught me a lot about myself as it has forced me to think about my passions, my feelings, my creativity and my life. As I am unsure what I want my future to entail, and am unsure of my career path, I chose to focus my e-portfolio on one of my passions and so the focus is on youth ministry. This has enabled me to gather my thoughts and opinions for my own benefit as well as enabling me to share them for the benefit of others. I have been able to reflect on past experiences and influences and look toward the future and think of ideas and possible aspirations.

In this subject, a lot of the work that we were being taught and going over was very basic for me. This led to me becoming frustrated part of the time in class as I wished to go further ahead but couldn’t do so because other members of my class didn’t understand or we were being explained something again. I did, however, have to get used to using a Mac but this soon became second nature to me and it was a good opportunity to learn how to use one when I am used to using a PC.

The layout of the final e-portfolio is very different to what I expected. I expected it to be laid out like a webpage where we could decorate the page to suit ourselves, could write information or ideas on pages under headings related to the artefacts we could also add. This was not so even though the e-portfolios we’d been looking at had been like this and so keeping modules one and two in line with module three has been difficult due to mixed expectations. I also had problems as I couldn’t include all of the artefacts I wished to as the site didn’t have enough space for all of my artefacts. Because the page was simple to develop, I feel that the subject should have been more challenging and allowed students who have used computers a lot, opportunities to create a better page and learn new and possible harder skills.

The subject has been a lot of fun as we were able to be creative and it allowed us to create something which taught us about ourselves and a skill we may possible have to teach and use later and allowed us to reveal and tell others information about ourselves through the page generally, our artefacts and through blogging.

Studying e-Portfolio has been eye-opening for me! When I entered my first e-Portfolio class I felt out of place, I am not very good with computers usually and it shocked me that I had to basically learn how to make a website all about me. I also found it hard to write about myself at great lengths because I didn’t know what to include and what would be interesting for others to read. However, once it was explained to me that an e-Portfolio is just like an extension of your resume and that the Europortfolio website believed that everyone in Europe will have an e-Portfolio by the year 2010, I realised that this process was probably going to be very beneficial to me and I should give it a chance.

At the beginning of the semester I had trouble grasping what the final product was going to look like and I must admit the program we used to make our e-Portfolios isn’t exactly what I imagined but it has achieved what I set out to do and that was make a sophisticated, professional looking e-Portfolio that I would be happy to show to potential employers.

Studying e-Portfolio has introduced me to a whole new way of expressing myself to others and also furthered my knowledge in weblogging (which I have to admit was very limited! And I still have trouble grasping the fact that I should be writing it as though it were my own private thoughts yet people are going to be able to read it). As I said before, at the beginning of this semester I felt a bit lost in this subject this was mainly because of two reasons; firstly because it was on Apple Macs and I haven't used them since I was in primary school. They are so different to PCs and now when I use a PC I do things that I should be doing on an Apple, so it is still confusing for me! The second reason is that I had no idea what an e-Portfolio was and I was a bit scared at the thought of having to make a lot of information about myself available on the world wide web for anyone to look at. However, my knowledge has grown in the last 13 weeks and I am sure it will grow more as a result of completing this subject

I am happy with the result of completing this subject because now I have something that I can show potential employers for them to gain an impression of me before hiring me.
All-in-all this has been a very beneficial subject because of the knowledge I have gained as a result of completing it.

At the beginning of the semester I wasn’t very interested in creating my own e-portfolio. However, nearing the end of semester two, e-portfolio has proven to be very valuable subject and I have realised having my own e-portfolio, is a very useful resource. Apart from learning how to create my own e-portfolio and upload my files, I have also learnt other techniques for example using Macs and navigating through the digital dialogues website. After all the classes and time spent at home I have my completed my e-portfolio (for now!). An e-portfolio is a great source but only when it is kept up to date and relevant to the particular time in ones life. My e-portfolio will be updated, when I have acquired new skills, completed any further education and or work experience. The aim of my e-portfolio was to reflect what I have accomplished so far, including high school, experiences from different jobs and community involvement. I wanted to keep my e-portfolio formal which I have proven to do so.

Nearing the end of the first year of university, I have accumulated numerous amounts of knowledge and skills which is the first step towards my goal of becoming a Human Resource Manager and/or apart of a Learning and Development department. First semester saw me complete four subjects including: Language, Culture and Communication, Managing People and Organisations, Human Resource Development and Adult Learning at Work. All of these subjects gave me a clear vision to where are course is heading and confirmed my interest in this course.
Second semester which is now almost complete included another four subjects: Analysing Organisation Learning Needs, Management Knowledge, Work and People and lastly E-Portfolio.

Recently, I was offered an internship at a large Recruitment firm which will be running for the next 6 months. I am looking forward to this, to gain valuable work experience and the opportunity to apply some of my knowledge and skills which I have already gained from my first year at UTS.

Sitting down in my first E-Portfolio class, I had no grasp of what was being discussed. However, I have found E-Portfolio to be an extremely valuable subject, and have learnt to recognise the benefits of creating an online dimension of myself.

I am using my E-Portfolio as a extension of my professional resume, by including information about my achievements and past work experience. However, I have also chosen to use my E-Portfolio to help give future employees a look into who I am. To do this, I have included photos of trips overseas, information about myself and my family and also what I enjoy to do on a social level and future plans.

In the beginning I found the activities in class a little pointless as I did not see how they were connected to the final product we were going to be creating, however these activities formed a solid basis on which I have built my E-Portfolio. These activities included defining terms associated with E-Portfolio, understanding ethics and copyright laws, the differences between E-Portfolio and digital story telling, and creating content inventories and artefact flowcharts. These have all helped me to build what I hope is a high-quality E-Portfolio.

The process of creating my page was at first a little daunting, as I did not fully understand how I was to transfer all my information on a web page. I also found the site difficult to manoeuvre through at first, however I worked with the people in my class and my teacher, Roman, and I eventually got the hang of it.

After deciding what to include in my E-Portfolio, I set about collecting the artefacts I needed. This was a process of scanning documents at home, and collecting photos to transfer into my online files. This was quite time consuming, especially sorting through and choosing the appropriate material to display, however, I have picked the documents I feel best represent myself.

My information architecture has changed slightly from the flowchart I submitted with assignment one, as I have had to change folders around and remove some to make it flow effortlessly, yet the overall look and direction of my E-Portfolio has remained the same.

Overall, I am very happy with my E-Portfolio, and am excited to have a personal web page with my name on it. I look forward to my E-Portfolio being utilised at a corporate level, as I continue to grow and update my achievements and plans on the site. I hope I have created a distinctive voice for myself, and that my E-Portfolio becomes a useful tool in my professional life.

Hi Blog,

I can’t explain how strange this feels to be writing something….not for anyone in particular but just so that other people can learn more about me. Amazing.

Throughout 2006 I have been studying the BA in Organisational Learning. Each of the subjects address different aspects of the Human Resources industry. In semester 1, ‘Adult Learning at Work’ allowed me to discover the different ways which adults learn. Adults are not like children, so learning parrot fashion is not appropriate. Rather, adults respond to explanations that relate to themselves, and their own experiences. Respect is paramount, and if possible some sort of interactivity is recommended so that it might be reinforced.

My career aims and aspirations for the future are simple: work experience, successful completion of uni and a full time corporate job (so that I can wear professional suits). However, working is, and never will be my whole life. I work so that I might live and socialise comfortably.

I am really looking forward to getting work experience. When the time is right, I will approach large organisations with many employees and different departments. I am not entirely sure, but I do think that I would enjoy the liasing and personal aspect of the HR industry rather that the Learning and Development part. I love to communicate, and build professional relationships based on trust and a guarantee of high quality work. For me, I want to have fun, experiment and network at my work experience.
I have also given thought to work experience abroad. International experience is commended, and would only open up further opportunities. Working for a big business in Europe or Britain for 2-3 months is my short-term career dream!

I am always pretty optimistic, so my view on the entire uni course is broad. It is a Bachelor of Arts above all things, showing that I am capable of writing academic reports and essays. It is very specific in that it focuses on Organisational Learning, but that’s just details. I am happy to continue learning whilst in the industry, allowing me to venture wider than my original educational groundings.

The subject E-Portfolio (which allowed me to create and publish my own e-portfolio) has been useful. The vision of storing all of my academic assignments and professional records is appealing. I will reap the rewards for having an online portfolio in years to come. The functions of the e-Portfolio are very similar to those of “MySpace”. Up-loading images and submitting blogs are frequent work of a MySpace user. I struggled to understand what the final site would look like. Having completed the foundations of my e-portfolio, I will continue to develop and personalise my submissions. All in time.

Lauren