I am struggling with my ePortfolio format already. I have chosen to use Wikispaces for reasons I have written about. But I just cannot seem to be able to do what I want with it. What I want to do is:- have a main page with a list of certain activities;
- with each activity (when appropriate), I wish to link to an individual page where I write more detailed information with my personal reflection but...
- I do not want this reflection page to show up on my navigation/index page.
But I just cannot seem to be able to work out if I can do that with Wikispaces.
Now this may be because I have not followed the instructions properly. But if it is not possible to do what I want on Wikispaces, then maybe I need to look at another ePortfolio platform before I do anymore work. Damian Bariexca has recommended Wikidot. Whereas, Alan at Science of the Invisible is getting into Windows Live SkyDrive. I do not really want to learn another platform at this stage and I do not want to get involved with WindowsLive because I have all the web services I want through other providers. Having said that, the midwifery students at Otago Polytechnic do have access to WindowsLive so that may be the logical platform for them to use.
But...maybe I need to re-think my format and do things another way which allows me to present all my material including the reflection and outcomes, but in a way that the reader does not feel is too laborious to follow.
So, any suggestions would be very gratefully received. Whatever I do, it has to be easy and not too time-consuming.
9 comments:
I'm uncertain if I would want everyone out in cyberspace to have access to this portfolio. Is there a way to make it 'private'? I was once a 'career counselor' and a huge advocate of what we called a 'career catalog' and this seems like a very easy way to keep all this info updated. However, I am concerned about the public access.
Hi Danielle, I'm really intrigued to hear more from you about this - can you be more specific about the elements of the portfolio I should keep private. Why should I keep this restricted?
Security is something I am considering and there certainly are elements that I would keep restricted such as my personal reflections about my midwifery practice and dealings with students. Otherwise, things like my publications etc are all a matter of public reference and my reflections on what I learned would not be that sensitive.
I plan to expand this conversation in a post so would love to hear more on people's thoughts.
I think you should tweak your blog and use it for your "ePortfolio". Seeing that you are in blogger, you might like to set up a new blog called sarah-stewart-portfolio.blogspot.com
Apply exactly the same template you have hear and link them in their main navigation. You can create as many new blogs as you like this way, and even restrict access to them, or posts within them.
Your navigation is customizable. By default it shows all pages in your space, in alphabetical order, but you can edit it to contain whatever content you want. Editing the navigation is done in the same way you edit a wiki page. First, click the "edit navigation" link below the navigation section. Next, the editor will load. Add links, images, files, etc. to this page, and click save. That will now become your navigation section.
If you have any other questions, please let us know at help@wikispaces.com
HI Sarah
Looks like you've got some great feedback thoughts - for me I think the idea of a portfolio being open is a good idea - how better to get yourself known more in the midwifery world... the only caution I can think of is if you are quite strong in a particular view and express this through your reflections or through your entries.. then when you apply for a job, an employer could 'check you out'... but then that could happen through your blog anyway!
Funny what keywords can throw your blog stats out of this world!
Thank you, Leigh & Dominick but I have managed to sort myself out and have got wikispaces to do what I want it to do. So am happy to stay where I am for the time being.
I do feel that this blog is an important part of my eportfolio so will be doing a lot of reflection here and then linking it back into my eportfolio.
Thanks for that, Merrolee. Your comments and those of Danielle's will go into my next post.
Hi Sarah,
What you describe in your post is easily accomplished in Wikispaces. Here's how:
The "Navigation" page on your model should be the sidebar menu; create however many pages you want, and make them all links. You'll also want some sort of greeting message on the main wiki page.
On EACH of the main pages ("Page A" on your diagram), you seem to want links to sub-pages. First, list the activities (may want to use "Heading 3" font or bullet-point them for easier reading) on Page A (or B, or C, etc). Then, go back and highlight "Activity 1" (or whatever text you want to make the link to the subpage) and hit the "Create Link" button. You will be brought to the "Create Link" screen.
From here, select "Wiki Link". Your space name will appear in the top box; leave that as-is. Just below that will appear the text you highlighted. This will be the name of your new subpage; you can either leave it as-is or create a new page name (e.g., If you highlight the text "Activity 1", unless you manually change it, the new page will automatically be called "Activity 1".
Just hit "OK" and you've created your first subpage. You can make as many as you wish for each page.
It's hard to explain all this in a comment box; feel free to email me for clarification on anything. Really, it's a lot easier than it may look here. Good luck!
Damian & Dominick: Thank you both very much for responding to my post - I think I am all sorted now. cheers Sarah
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