WEEK TWO

Well it's been a week since my last post which means I've just had another EDU4PLT lecture and workshop.

Today's lecture and workshop were on information in respect to e-portfolios, for both teachers and students. For those who have never heard of an e-portfolio before, they are a digital or electronic portfolio used to collate work or display information that demonstrates a person's skill level, progress and achievements in one or more areas of discipline over a period of time.

Whilst on my semester one placement I had the opportunity to see how students go about using their own e-portfolio within the classroom. It was a great process which I thought cut down on a lot of unnecessary paperwork. Students were set a number of different tasks which they were then required to save within their own e-portfolio to be viewed and assessed by the teacher at a later stage.

Greg also spent a bit of time talking about the benefits of using an e-portfolio in the process of applying for jobs. Given that it is getting to the time of year in which we need to start looking at applying for jobs, this was extremely useful and greatly appreciated! The e-portfiolio that we were shown in our workshop was extremely impressive. It had a wide range of information which highlighted the strengths and experience of the candidate.

In the past when applying for previous jobs in the accounting industry, I have only provided a hard copy of my resume, along with any additional written responses to selection criteria and references. However, based on what I have seen today I can see the benefit of providing an e-portfolio when applying for a job. Not only is it a clear and professional way of displaying your information but it also demonstrates your computer skills.

I would look at setting up my e-portfolio as follows:

• Introduction
• Resume
• Philosophy of Education
• Awards and Achievements
• Volunteer Work
• Referees

I would hope that these details would give potential employers a good idea of the sort of employee I would be.

Once we had finished talking about e-portfolio's, we talked about Microsoft Publisher and the ways in which it can be used in the classroom. We used Microsoft Publisher to create a brochure on one of our favourite destinations. For me that place was Chicago, which was the first holiday destination I had ever been to outside of Australia. A picture of my brochure can be found below:

Once again, I can see the interest that students would have in participating in such an activity. The opportunity to use a computer appeals to a number of students.

I can see myself using such an activity when covering topics such as countries around the world or travel.

Once we had completed our brochures we moved on to creating websites. This could be a useful way to present our e-portfolios. We used Microsoft Publisher to come up with a concept and format for our website. This process was quite straight forward and I believe students would have no trouble utilising such a program one they had been introduced to it.

Well that's about it for week two! I look forward to learning further potential lesson activities throughout the semester.