This module addresses communications skills, provides opportunities for information gathering, synthesis, and analysis in solving problems and in critical thinking.
You need only have the following technical skills prior to using this module:
If you feel you are lacking some of these skills, there are resources available at Penn State where you can go for help. Some of these resources include:
For more information about these resources, use the Penn State Web site, http://www.psu.edu, to search for the location of the University Learning Center at your location. Staff at the Learning Centers will be able to help you find the additional help you need. Your academic advisor can also help you locate resources for getting help.
The iStudy for Success! modules work in the Penn State course management system, ANGEL (http://cms.psu.edu) In order to log on to ANGEL, you will need to have activated your Access account. For more information about your Access Account, see http://aset.its.psu.edu/accounts/access.html.
If you are completing iStudy for Success modules as part of a course, your instructor will tell you which modules and activities to complete and how to access them. If you are completing iStudy modules on your own or with the help of a tutor at the University Learning Centers, directions for creating a group in ANGEL and importing modules are found at the iStudy Web site (http://istudy.psu.edu/access.html).
This module contains reflective questions and activities that are central to developing a meaningful e-portfolio. These reflective questions and activities will help you recall what you already know as well as to help you work through new ideas and concepts.
The modules all have a standard layout. When you import a module into your ANGEL group a folder with the module's name will be added under the "Content" tab (ANGEL group). This folder can be moved and placed within another folder if desired.
To start the module, you should open the first file in the list inside each module's folder. This file has the word lesson as part of its name and contains the links to other parts of the lesson.
Open the first file in the module folder to begin the lesson.
This "master" file contains descriptions of the purpose, goals, and objectives, as well as instructions for completing the module, references to materials used in designing and developing the content of the module, a summary of the important points in the module, and a survey for you to complete after finishing the module. (Survey results are available to editors in the group or course through the on-line grade report tool.) If you are completing the modules as part of a course, your instructor will tell you if you are to complete the survey or not. If you are completing the modules on your own or with a tutor in the Learning Centers, you do not need to complete the survey.
The rest of the files in each module's folder are accessed through links embedded within the content. As the you read the content and complete the activities, other files from the module will be used. Some students may become confused because they try to complete the module by working their way down the list and viewing each file without reading the accompanying materials. This is not the way the module was designed to be completed.
Note: The module will only work correctly if you begin with the "master" file and work through the activities using the embedded links.
Responses to reflective questions using the "My Notes" tool are accessible only to the person who types them - they are not available to the group or course editors. Your instructor may ask you to use a word process or to answer the reflective questions instead of the "My Notes" tool so they can be turned in as assignments.
Following are the assignments embedded in the Introduction to e-Portfolios module:
Activity 1: Reflective questions -- What does an e-Portfolio look like?
Activity 2: Reflective questions -- What kinds of evidence belongs in an e-Portfolio?
Activity 3: Reflective questions -- Where do you hope to find yourself in 2 years? 5 years?
Activity 4: Reflective questions -- Who will you share your e-Portfolio with in the next year?
Activity 5: Reflective questions -- What are your Top 5 pieces of evidence?
Activity 6: Activity -- Why did the Top 5 make it into your Top 5 list?
Activity 7: Activity -- Reflection vs. Description
Activity 8: Activity -- What is your point? Have you made this clear?
Activity 9: Activity -- Design your e-Portfolio
Activity 10: Activity -- Create the Web pages for you e-Portfolio
The work that you have completed, or the experiences that you have been involved in as a result of completing other iStudy modules all may potentially be included in your e-Portfolio. Gather your evidence, think about the message you want to create and then select the evidence that helps support your message.
The activities that are listed in this module are designed to help you articulate what you know, what you can do and what you value. The overarching question for you to be thinking about during this process is - How is all of this important to me? Please note that you may be having trouble coming up with a definitive goals or statements of purpose. If this is the case, try adding details to what you already do know and make an outline for what you are unsure of. Describe the "placeholders" for what you would like to see in your e-portfolio as fully as you can.
In order to create a truly meaningful e-portfolio, you will probably need to spend a lot of time just thinking and making notes about what you want to include. Remember that you are doing this for a real audience. Ask your friends and advisor to read and provide sincere reactions to the materials and information you are gathering and the e-portfolio pages you are creating. The more thought you put into how you want to portray yourself in your e-portfolio and the information and materials you want to include that will show others who you are, what you know, and what you value, the better your e-portfolio will be. This is really more than just another assignment to be completed on the way to graduation -- this is a representation of what you have learned, who you are, and who you want to become.
As you work on your e-portfolio, you will see that the power of e-Portfolios lies in the process, not in the product . Reflective practice is a way of thinking, e-portfolios are only an electronic representation of this.
Refer to the e-Portfolio web site for the General e-Portfolio Evaluation Criteria worksheet.
This general evaluation rubric can be used to evaluate your e-portfolio on your own, or it may be modified by the instructor and used as an scoring rubric for evaluating your class assignments. If you are creating your e-portfolio as part of a class assignment, your instructor will tell you how to use the rubric and any changes that need to be made to it to better adapt it to the course assignments.