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with persuasive power. Dr. Spaulding (2004) makes reference to the impor-
tance of imaginative creativity on the outcome of wisdom. She explains:
This kind of creative thinking is fostered by narrative, which
encourages story listeners to consider several of the very differ-
ent possible outcomes that might proceed from particular cir-
cumstances. Narrative develops sequential thinking and pro-
motes the idea that someone can choose how to react to
circumstances — and that different responses produce different
outcomes that are worth thinking about beforehand — either as
goals worth being pursued or as fates best avoided.
(2004,
p.11).
I think that the Web portfolio qualifies for a good example of portraying wisdom
through the use of narrative based on the description put forth by Dr. Spaulding.
The Web portfolio is a vehicle that is interactive and nonlinear in design, but can
be developed to be intuitive in guiding the user down a sequential path towards
information that yields reaction. In the case of the Web portfolio, the reaction
can be a successful work for hire connection, showing that the Web portfolio
is a medium that connects people through narrative. The development of the
Web portfolio will therefore build imaginative thinking, demonstrating the
power of skill building and learning that comes with the Web portfolio process.
A Web Portfolio Makes You Digital
in a Wired World
Ann Leer's
Masters of the Wired World
(1999) is a blockbuster compilation
chronicling the global information society as exalted by today's most compel-
ling information science gurus. In his chapter, Being Digital in the Wired World,
MIT Media Lab Director, Nicholas Negroponte wrote that:
Being digital has three physiological effects on the shape of our
world. It decentralizes, flattens, and makes things bigger and
smaller at the same time. Because bits have no size, shape, or
