PLAR e-portfolio Instructions This is easier and faster than it looks! To create your e-portfolio, you will need to move through the following steps. First, here is a big picture overview of what you are actually doing: 1. Uploading all your PLAR documents onto the portfolio site. 2. Customizing your e-portfolio using a pre-set template. 3. Creating and providing a link to your portfolio so it can be assessed. It is important to note that the e-portfolio is not an interactive environment; rather, it acts as a repository for the information that you have organized and presented in a particular manner. Therefore, once you have uploaded your documents, it is not possible to edit them, except for the title. We recommend that you DO NOT upload any materials to the e-portfolio until your portfolio pieces are all completed and have been approved by your mentor. Your mentor should also approve the organization of your portfolio pieces before you upload them. [Note 1: If you want to begin by looking at our mock e-portfolio as an example, follow the directions in Note 1 at the end of this document.] Getting started 1. Login to the Athabasca University E-Lab Portfolio site using your AU username and password (this will be referred to as your MyAU credentials): https://portfolio.elab.athabascau.ca/ If you experience difficulty getting onto the E-LAB Portfolio site, please contact the Helpdesk: http://helpdesk.athabascau.ca/ 2. Create a short profile for yourself. You will be asked for your name, and email address. All site users must do this. 3. Choose the Portfolio tab at the left hand top of screen. Note that 4 tabs are now available to you immediately underneath Portfolio. You will be using the Pages and Share tabs a bit later as you upload your portfolio pieces and import each piece into your PLAR portfolio and create your secret url to submit your portfolio. 4. After carefully reading and following the steps outlined in these instructions (in order), you are still experiencing difficulties, you may contact the Portfolio Development Coordinator at gleicht@athabascau.ca for assistance. 1
Next: Accessing the PLAR page We have created a page for you to use to ensure your portfolio is presented in the necessary format and contains all the necessary pieces, entitled PLAR Portfolio Pieces. 5. To access the PLAR Portfolio Pieces page, click on the grey shaded box entitled copy a page in the upper (mid) right corner of the Pages screen (this is the screen you are on). Click in the pages box and type in PLAR Portfolio Pieces. Click GO to the right. The PLAR page will appear below on the screen. Click on the Copy box to the right of the view title. 2
6. The new PLAR Portfolio Pieces page will now be displayed. Click on the Content tab near the top of the screen (next to the Portfolio tab). This page will become your e- portfolio once you have worked through all of these instructions and personalized it. Click in the box to the right of the red text Page title to give your portfolio a title (see screenshot below). Make sure you include your name and student ID number BEFORE your title (e.g. Jane Doe, id#11111, Learning Journey). Click on the grey shaded save box at the bottom of the screen when you are done. Next: Uploading your Word or pdf files 1 7. To upload your Word or pdf files that will make up your portfolio, go to the Files tab located underneath the Content tab near the top of the screen. 8. A new page will be displayed called Files (see screenshot following). Follow the procedure outlined below to upload all your portfolio documentation. You may do your uploads all at one time or return to the process whenever you choose. a. First, click on the box to the right of upload file indicating that the files you are uploading are your own and not in breach of any copyright legislation. b. To upload a file(s), click on the Browse box (to the right of the File line). Search your computer to upload the file(s) and select open (same as if you were attaching a file(s) to an email as an attachment). 1 To ensure your portfolio documents are easily cross-referenced with your Table of Contents, be sure to name each document properly: i.e. Tab # document name. For numbers from 1 9, be sure to name them as 01, 02, etc. to ensure the e-portfolio program will recognize them appropriately. 3
c. Repeat this process until all your portfolio documentation has been uploaded to your Files page. 9. For those sections of your portfolio to which you will be importing multiple documents, for instance, your supporting documentation, you will find it easier to create folders in order to group similar documents, for example, all your letters of attestation. Creating a folder in the Files page to house multiple documents will ensure that when you import the folder into your portfolio, the contents will properly display in numerical (tab #) order (otherwise, they won t). To create a folder: a. Click in the clear box to the right of the grey shaded box entitled Create Folder (see screenshot above) that is available immediately below the Browse box where you uploaded each file. Give the folder a name to describe what grouping of documents will be housed within it, e.g. Letters of Attestation or Certificates. b. Click on the grey shaded Create Folder box to the right and a new folder will be displayed below in the list of documents/folders on the page. c. Move the specific documents into each folder by clicking the document icon to the left of the document title and drag it into the appropriate folder (see image below). 4
Congratulations! The core of your portfolio is now uploaded Next you ll personalize your portfolio to get it ready for review and assessment. Next: Personalizing your portfolio 11. Click on the Portfolio tab (located near the top left of the screen). The Pages screen should appear. Click on your newly created portfolio from the list of the pages displayed (see screenshot below). 12. The PLAR portfolio template should now be on your screen. To personalize the template, click on the underlined Edit this page link on the upper right of the screen. You will now begin to import your documents (which you have uploaded in Step 7, above), following the steps outlined in a-h below. 5
a. This takes you to the Edit Content screen. Above the dotted line on this screen you will note some blocks such as Blogs, External Feeds, Files, images and video, General, Profile, etc. You may ignore this upper portion of the screen. We will be editing the portions below the dotted line (about midway down the screen). b. Note that the Edit Content screen is broken down into 3 columns that mirror the 3 parts of the portfolio Front End Pieces, Identification and Verification of Learning, and Supporting Documentation. There is a brief instructional note under each of these portfolio parts headings to assist you with adding your portfolio documents. c. Under each column heading (i.e., Front End Pieces), there are several other headings. For example, under the Front End Pieces column, you will see Portfolio Declaration Page, Table of Contents, etc. Under each of these headings is another line with the notation [No title]. This line is where you will add each relevant document or folder to your portfolio. d. Click on the pencil icon to the right of each of these [No title] lines to add the appropriate files that belong to each section. e. The click will take you back to your Files folder and a new screen entitled (File(s) to download: Configure. f. To add a file to your portfolio, click on the grey Select box to the far right of the document title. Click on the Save box on the bottom left of the screen to add that document to your portfolio. You will see the file name appear in red underneath each portfolio heading. It is now added to your portfolio. g. For those sections where you need to add more than one file repeat Step f, above except you will click on the grey Select box to the far right of the folder title to upload all of the files appropriate to that part of your portfolio (that you grouped into a folder at step 9) and then click on the Save button at the bottom left of the screen. h. If you make an error and need to delete a file from a particular place in your portfolio, click on the pencil icon across from the incorrect file. A new screen will be displayed with the document(s) that are housed under that section of the portfolio displayed in red text near the top of the screen. To remove that document from that place in your portfolio, click on the grey Remove box to the right of the file that shouldn t be there! Click Save at the bottom left of the screen to accept these changes. Note: This action doesn t remove the file from Files so you won t have to upload the file again. Screenshots describing the above steps: 6
13. When you have finished adding each of your documents to your portfolio and you have each document in the right place, click on the Done box at the bottom, middle of the screen. This will direct you back to the Portfolio page and your properly-titled portfolio (e.g. Jane Doe, id#11111, Learning Journey) link should appear (in blue underlined text) on the left-hand side of the page. Final review 14. At this point you will ask your mentor to conduct a final review of your portfolio to ensure nothing has been missed. To do this, you must share your portfolio with your mentor by using a secret URL which you will email to your mentor: a. Click on the Share tab below the Portfolio tab. b. A new screen will appear that will allow you to create the secret url for your portfolio. c. Click on the pencil icon below the title Secret url to the right of your portfolio title. A new screen will appear. Click on the grey shaded Add box and your secret url will be displayed. 7
Note 1 d. Highlight and copy the URL that appears. You will paste it into a regular email that you will send to your mentor. e. Click on the Portfolio tab to return to the main Pages screen. Congratulations you are almost done! Submitting your portfolio 15. Email the secret URL to your mentor who will review your submission. When you have been informed that there are no further changes/revisions to your work, email your secret URL to the Portfolio Assessment Coordinator at gleicht@athabascau.ca so that your portfolios may enter the assessment phase. NO alteration of the portfolio can occur after this point. Congratulations! You ve made it and your portfolio is done To make some sense of all of this, take a look at our e-portfolio for fictitious Margaret Leicht : https://portfolio.elab.athabascau.ca/view/view.php?t=wfexz8jo3o6tmlg4riyw 8
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