Assessment of the ePortfolio
If I tag something that I think is an example of a competency, who judges if this is an appropriate or adequate example?
As part of the ePortfolio Student Support Program located in the Class of 1941 Studio, Student Fellows who focus their studies in the particular competency area will be looking at your work. These Student Fellows will notify you if the artifact you have tagged needs to be developed further. Additionally, feedback will be combined and compiled with other students in your major and these results will be forwarded to your major department. In this manner, your major’s department head will be alerted if students in the major need further development in a competency category.
Is there a right or a wrong way to create an ePortofilo, as long as the competencies are all tagged?
Unfortunately, there will be students who create ePortfolios to simply meet the requirement for graduation. If all the competencies are tagged with relevant artifacts, then your ePortfolio has been completed. However, the ePortfolio can be used to improve the value of each student’s Clemson University degree, and we hope that it will be completed with this goal in mind.
Blackboard Help
I want to change the background color on my Blackboard ePortfolio. What are hexidecimal color codes?
Here is a great place to get the Hex code for colors.
Career Portfolio
Are companies aware of ePortfolios?Not yet, but the career center is actively involved in the program. They will be spreading the word, and also have people on staff to help students use ePortfolios to their advantage in a career search.
Saving Files
How do I save files in PDF format?
For the Mac this function is part of the operating system so you simply go to the print menu (yes it is a print function) and on the lower left of the print window there is a button PDF click that button and save as PDF.
For the PC you will need to download a PDF writer. Then simply go to the print menu (yes it is a print function) and on the lower left of the print window there is a button PDF click that button and save as PDF.
Here are a couple of great free ones for the PC:
PDF plugin for Office 2007 <---- ONLY FOR OFFICE 2007!!
PDFCreator v.9.5 <---- Use if you have Windows XP; NOT FOR WINDOWS VISTA COMPATIBLE DO NOT INSTALL THE GOOGLE TOOLBAR!! IT WILL MESS UP YOUR INTERNET EXPLORER ADDRESS BAR!!
PDF reDirect v.2.2.5 <---- Use especially if you WINDOWS VISTA; also Windows XP compatible
Sharing Work
How do I share my ePortfolio with my Professor?
In the My ePortfolios section of Blackboard follow the following steps:
- You may have 1 or more ePortfolios listed in this section. Find the one that you want to share and
- Click the Manage button on the far right of the window
- Click the Share the Share Portfolio link
- Select the Share with users button (the first one)
- If you know the username type it in. For example to share with me would be gring. If you do not know the username you may browse to find it.
- You may select send email to alert the person that your Portfolio has been shared.
- Click Submit
NOTE: The ePortfolio is shared with that usr until you UNSHARE it. So make sure you find out if and when your intructor wants you to unshare.
How do I share my ePortfolio with the "world"?
In the My ePortfolios section of Blackboard follow the following steps:
- You may have 1 or more ePortfolios listed in this section. Find the one that you want to share and
- Click the Manage button on the far right of the window
- Click the Share Portfolio link
- Select the Share with external users button (the second one)
- Enter the email address of the person that you wish to share your ePortfolio with.
- You may want send an email copy to yourself.
- You may want to password protect that portfolio but be careful with this option as the person may lose the password and have difficulty asscessing your ePortfolio.
- Click Submit
When I tag my work, do I need an explanation of why I selected that competency?
Once you select the “manage” button, it will prompt you to select a competency and write a brief comment on why you tagged that item and why you believe it reflects the selected competency. Secondary “reflections” can and should be attached and tagged as well.
We created a General Education inventory so professors can double-check that their class is satisfying a competency. Beginning fall 2008, professors will be required to include in their syllabi which competencies are met by their course.
What if I have a paper that demonstrates more than one competency?
You can place multiple tags on one artifact. However, make sure that the tags are relevant and that you reflect on how the artifact satisfies each competency that you have tagged.
What if I am a transfer student and/or an AP student and I did not take some of the classes that would cover General Education at Clemson? Do I need to retake the class?
Absolutely not; you are not being penalized for either situation We realize that because transfer students and AP students may have completed general education courses (such as math, lab science and social science courses) that are transferrable to to Clemson, it may be challenging for you to generate an artifact for a particular general education competency. Because of this challenge, the faculty have determined that transfer and AP students are obligated to submit an artifact for at least 75% of the competencies. There are 22 competencies; this means that you will need to provide artifacts for a minimum of 17 competencies. In fact, you can use documents that you created at your last university or in your AP classes in high school. The process is the same; tag the artifacts and write a reflection. If you cannot locate an appropriate artifact, do not stress. Even though you will only be here for a short time, most competencies will be met in the classes you do take at Clemson.
If my document was for a foreign language class like Spanish, do I need to translate it?
No, but your reflection should be in English.