Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
learned and learned how to do. They add that “keeping a portfolio also allows
you to monitor your progress and development at UW-Eau Claire. You will be
able to look back over your academic work and literally see your growth and
learning”.
The benefits of the Web portfolio need to be promoted before making students
feel at ease. A portfolio must be looked at as something of value for the student
not just another assignment to be completed for a course grade. However, the
university senate created an action in 2001 that has required students to
participate in some sort of assessment which may include “interviews, focus
groups, surveys, or portfolios”. The University of Wisconsin provides a good
example of how Web portfolios have been mandated in education. Eventually,
Web portfolios will be mandated as tools for success in society. The level of
assessment will go beyond academia and deep into all professions.
Marketability
The arts have embraced portfolios forever. The ability to show a collection of
work is critical in selling artwork to others. In today's highly specialized, highly
competitive professional marketplace, more artists are embracing digital
portfolios in addition to high resolution print portfolios. One such field is
architecture. At the University of California Berkeley, the architecture depart-
ment provides a specialized portfolio class in which students learn about
creating digital portfolios and all of their different media components which
include print, video, and Web. The course description has a paragraph that
does more than define the coursework; it also defines the inevitable place of the
Web portfolio in commerce or professionals, not just those within the arts. This
statement gives the indication of the portfolio in general migrating solely from
the hands of artists into the hands of all specialized and non specialized
professionals. The use of Web portfolios will eventually trickle down to
nonprofessional levels.
The UC Berkeley architecture portfolio course description reads: “While the
printed portfolio conveys high-resolution graphical information, today's de-
signer needs more than paper and vellum to sell their ideas.” CAD models,
digital photographs, video animations, GIS databases, and other multimedia
files are now readily exchanged over the Web. To be competitive, architecture
students must adapt their printed portfolios to incorporate these new media.
This Arch 198 group-study explores the integration of print, video, and Web
