1 August 2016

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. Formatting and uploading all your PLAR documents onto the portfolio site.

2. Customizing your e-Portfolio using a pre-set template. Your portfolio will consist of four distinct pages—Front End Pieces, Identification and Verification of Learning (learning summary), Letters of Attestation and Supporting Documentation ‘housed’ together in one collection.

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 materials to the e-Portfolio until those portfolio pieces you are uploading are 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: Take a look at our mock e-Portfolio as an example by following the directions in Note 1 at the end of this document.]

As you move forward through these instructions, please read each step in its entirety and view the screenshots before enacting the steps. This may help make things clearer to you and easier to accomplish.

If after carefully reading and following the steps outlined in these instructions (in order), you are still experiencing difficulties, please contact the Portfolio Development Coordinator for assistance.

Getting started

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 August 2016

You will see the following screen after you login (we will only be using the Content and Portfolio tabs from the five (5) tabs at the top of the screen):

1. Click on the ‘Content’ tab. There are now seven (7) sub-tabs available to you and you

are on the “Profile” tab. Create a short profile for yourself starting with your first and last name.

3 August 2016

2. Next click on the ‘Contact information’ heading. You will be asked for your email address. All site users must do this.

Next: Formatting and Uploading your files, video clips or pictures

1. Convert all Word or text files to pdf format before uploading them to the e-Portfolio site. Most versions of Microsoft Word have an option to save a file as a pdf from the ‘File’ menu (pdf files open more consistently in the e-Portfolio platform).

2. To upload your portfolio files, go to the Files tab located underneath the Content tab near the top of the screen. A new page will be displayed called Files (see screenshot following). Follow the procedure outlined below to upload all your portfolio documentation. You may return to the process whenever you choose.

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a. First, click on the box under 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. 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); OR

c. Simply drag and drop the files you want to upload on the box as indicated. d. Repeat this process until ALL your portfolio documentation has been uploaded

to your Files page.

You can either ‘browse’ your computer and upload your files OR use the convenient “Drag and drop” feature!

5 August 2016

Next: Accessing and formatting the PLAR portfolio template collection

We have created a collection of pages (grouping all 4 pages of the portfolio into one template) for you to use to ensure your portfolio is presented in the necessary format and contains all the necessary pieces. This collection template is called PLAR Portfolio. You will be creating your electronic table of contents as you ‘name each content block’ and import your documents into the portfolio template.

1. Click on the Portfolio tab now and then the Collections tab (located near the top of the screen as identified in the screenshot below).

2. To access the PLAR Portfolio template collection, click on the blue box entitled Copy a

collection (by red arrow – see screenshot above).

3. Click in the search box and type in PLAR Portfolio. Click Search to the right of the search box (see screenshot below).

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4. The portfolio collection pages will appear below on the screen. You will see four of them. Click on the grey Copy Collection box to the right of the “front end pieces” title (see above screenshot).

5. Now you can edit the title of your portfolio ‘collection’ and give it a description if you wish to (as in screenshot following).

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6. Click on the grey “Next: Edit collection pages” box at the bottom of the above screen (not shown).

7. Now click the DONE box on the bottom left of the screen that now appears (see screenshot following).

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8. You will be directed back to the Collections tab and your newly created Portfolio template will be displayed as you have titled it:

Next: You will personalize each of the four pages in your portfolio template.

9. Click on the portfolio title (as in the example in the screenshot above) and you will see the following screen (these are the four pages that make up your portfolio). Note: You will be immediately taken to the Front End Pieces page as the starting point to create your portfolio.

9 August 2016

Click on the “Edit this page” grey box to the upper right of the screen to begin personalizing this first page of your portfolio.

10 August 2016

10. Click on the Edit title and description tab to edit the “Page title” and “Page Description” (as indicated in the screenshot below). Remove “v.2” from the title of each page and edit the description (in the text box that is displayed) to include your name, student id# and portfolio title. Click the Save box at the bottom when you’re done!

NOTE: Do not alter this field

11 August 2016

11. You will be returned to your portfolio template. Now you can add the appropriate files to this page of your portfolio! You will be importing one file to each content block (delineated by each ‘title’ in the right column of the page, e.g. cover page, portfolio declaration page, etc.). Click on the circle (configure) icon across from each content block to import each document where it belongs. (Note: Remember that you uploaded your documents to the portfolio site earlier in this process).

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12. You will be directed to screen where you can “select” each file to import. The title of the content block you are working with is displayed at the top of the screen (screenshot following).

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To select the file to import into the portfolio, click the “Files” box below the document title (see following screenshot). Click the checkmark beside the file you wish to add. Then scroll down and click on the grey Save box at the bottom left of the screen.

Continue this process (steps 10 and 11) until all your front end pieces are uploaded.

*Note that for the remaining 3 pages of the portfolio, you will need to edit the content block titles when you ‘select’ the document to import as the content on these pages will not be the same for every student. Edit this title to reflect the tab number you have assigned to the document and the document name. The template reflects generic ‘titles’ for the blocks to provide direction on how to name the content blocks in each section, e.g. the content blocks under “Letters of Attestation” are generically titled Tab XX: Firstname, Lastname, so you would edit these content blocks something like Tab 5: Jane Doe, Tab 6: John Doe and so on.

(Name block here)

14 August 2016

13. Click on the heading for the next page of the portfolio – “Copy of Identification and Verification of Learning” to personalize the next page of the portfolio.

14. Click the “edit this page” box and repeat steps 9 – 11 to add your learning statements documentation. IF YOU ARE CREATING A COURSE-BASED PORTFOLIO, you will have to add more content ‘blocks’ here up to the number of competency worksheets you are including. You may also have to add more content blocks to the Letters of Attestation and Other Supporting Documentation pages as well. To add more content (If you have more files to import in a particular page as in a course-based portfolio or if you have more letters of attestation and supporting documents than the template provides for) you will need to add more content ‘blocks’ to house each of your other files. You do this by dragging a file to download (i.e. the first icon under “Media”) down to the bottom of the right column of the template. A new screen will appear where you can appropriately ‘title’ (Tab XX: document title) your new block and select a file to add to it (see next 2 screen shots).

Don’t forget to edit the ‘Block Titles’ to reflect the tab number and name of the file you are importing into your portfolio where needed in the other pages of the portfolio.

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Your new block will now be part of the portfolio (see shot below):

When you have edited all four pages of the portfolio template as outlined in the steps above, you can view your completed portfolio by selecting “Collections” under the “Portfolio” tab and clicking on your portfolio heading. It will bring you back to the following screen:

16 August 2016

Next: Create your secret URL to your portfolio

1. Select the Portfolio tab to view the following screen (see screenshot below). 2. To create your secret URL, click on the Shared by me tab. Next, click the ‘world’ icon

under the heading “Secret URLs” to the right of the portfolio title.

3. Click the + New secret URL box to generate a new secret URL for your portfolio:

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You are done – now e-mail your secret URL to your mentor!

Note 1 To make some sense of all of this, take a look at our e-Portfolio for fictitious “Gabrielle Harvey”: https://portfolio.elab.athabascau.ca/view/view.php?id=4720