Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
create a Web site. The same conceptual and technical processes learned
through Web portfolio development are the same as those used in creating any
Web site, regardless of goals or audience. In the larger sense, learning how to
create a Web portfolio gives you digital skills that will reap rewards for you
throughout your life.
The list of skills needed and learned during involvement in the Web portfolio can
be quantified in technical terms. To identify specific discipline skills need to
develop content all would require a dedicated research effort looking at the
Web portfolio content collection and development practices of students and
instructors within in that particular discipline. That is not the purpose of this text.
However, there are some important skills and personal attributes that become
critical to the Web portfolio development process, both in development and
during learning and growth cycles. They include conceptual and logical skills
such as brainstorming, information seeking, knowledge organization, classifi-
cation, sketching, flowcharting, writing, visual design, and artistic engineering.
The technology skills include basic computer skills for managing files and
folders, graphic application skills to create and prepare text, graphics, and
multimedia artifacts, Internet development to test and post Web pages, and
critical evaluation and usability identification skills to determine the quality and
effectiveness of the Web portfolio.
The Web Portfolio as an Appearance
The Web portfolio is an extension of the public, professional appearance of an
individual or a business.
I'm going to describe a brief analogy to explain the
underlying purpose of the Web portfolio. Later on in the text we will get process
specific. The new media portfolio, the financial portfolio, and the artist's
portfolio are the same in the fact that they are content containers. However,
they differ drastically in their purpose and application. Simply described,
financial portfolios are used to make money for people in the financial markets.
The content is stocks, bond, funds, and other financial instruments. This is a
private portfolio, seen only by the user, advisor, and creditors. The artist's
portfolio has content that includes photographs, drawing, paintings, and other
artist representations. The artist's portfolio is used in interpersonal situations
where the artist and the viewer are both present, sharing the experience.
Contrary to restricted situations, the Web portfolio is a mass communication
