Tech-Play 2

• Explore a variety of ePortfolio tool options such as wikis, websites or proprietary platforms.

• Create something. You can begin building your portfolio or just play around with the tool but you will need to post a link on your blog to something that you created this week.
• Identify affordances. In your blog post, write about the affordances of the tools you explored. Consider how and why that tool might be the best choice for you.
• Consider context. Would you make a different choice of tool if you were asking your students to create an ePortfolio? Why or why not? Discuss the affordances of these tools for others in different contexts.

Link to my ePortfolio: http://saradalton.weebly.com/

I played around with a wiki for another class but did not get very far in the creation process.  I thought I would give wikis a second chance today but my experiences have been the same.  I think I need more experience using someone else’s wiki before creating my own.  The process is not as self-explanatory as other tools.  One important feature of an eportfolio is an index so the users can easily navigate your site.  While working with wiki, I could not figure out how to create an index for the pages I wanted to add.  This inability caused me to look elsewhere for tools.  

After exploring the wiki, I googled “proprietary platforms eportfolios.”  I ran into the problem of needing to buy a subscription or needing to download a program, neither of which I want to do.

I chose to explore creating a website last because I thought it would be the most complicated but to my surprise, it is the easiest and most user-friendly.  I created a website using Weebly.  The affordances within Weebly are very easy to understand.  The website guides the user in creating a user name and domain name.  Once on your own Weebly page, there are icons listed at the top for you to select during the design process.  By selecting an icon, more icons appear on the left to further the design and creation process.  Creating a website using Weebly is similar to creating a blog using Blogger.com. 

If I asked my students to create an eportfolio, I would like them to use Weebly because of the ease of use.  As with a door knob we know to turn it, on Weeble the user knows exactly what to do when a pop-up window appears or by selecting an icon.  The user can easily upload artifacts and drag them to the desired place.  Possible artifacts include: text, image, slide shows, maps, webpage links, video, sound, and files among others.  A forum can also be set up allowing for class discussions similar to a blog.