The Final Stage: Copyediting for Usability and Consistency

My process for creating an ePortfolio has involved three stages:

http://docs.google.com

Stage One: Content. Inventory and digitally archive all relevant files. Use Google Docs, DropBox, or a similar tool. Save Microsoft Word files in both DOC and PDF formats. Also include: PowerPoint (PPT) files and other types of writing projects; descriptions of the assignments provided by the professor; discussion board posts; any significant email correspondence with professors or classmates; and anything else that might be needed to create a capstone portfolio with reflective summaries. Ideally, the archive will contain most of these items already because it will have been created gradually, over the course of the entire program, rather than all at once at the very end. Files converted to the Google Docs format may require editing to repair formatting problems (extra pages, duplicated text) created during the conversion process. Note that unusual fonts, which for example may have been used to create a special effect for a flyer or brochure, may become unreadable when the files are converted. Be sure to check every file in Google Docs after the conversion. In some cases, it may be preferable to skip the conversion altogether.

Maintaining a Portfolio for Days, Months, Years

I'm unsure how long I will be able to maintain an electronic portfolio. I've never been able to keep a journal for very long—I have a collection of half-empty ones—and, in a way, the process for keeping an ePortfolio up-to-date reminds me of keeping a journal. Easy to do when I have lots to say, but hard to do as a well-disciplined habit. However, unlike an ordinary journal, a portfolio is a multimedia endeavor, which makes it intrinsically more interesting. I like being able to add pictures, video, and hyperlinks. If I create content in some other forum or for some other purpose, without necessarily having a portfolio in mind at the time, I can easily connect to the content later. I can also access my portfolio from any mobile device, so I can work on it when the mood hits me.

Maybe instead of thinking of the portfolio as a piece of work to be maintained, it is better to think of it as a repository, a bottomless briefcase to which things can be added over time. As a writer, inevitably, I will be creating written artifacts as I progress through my life and career. It will be up to me to decide whether I want to annotate them as I toss them into my digital repository, or if I'd prefer to go back later to reflect on them, as I am doing for my Master of Arts in Professional Writing. Most likely, I will alternate between the two, sometimes keeping records consistently and other times doing so episodically.

Creating a Digital Narrative (a Slide Show with Voiceover)

When writers talk about "voice," they're usually referring to a style of writing that shows some personality. Readers are left to imagine for themselves the timbre and pitch of a writer's spoken words.

Not so when it comes to a digital narrative that includes both audio and visual elements. This past week, my assignment was to write a script, select or create images, figure out a way to combine the text with the images, and then add a recording of my own voice reading the script in time with the slideshow. I felt oddly nervous about recording my voice, so I saved that step for last. 

I experimented with a combination of tools. I tried iPhoto, PowerPoint, iMovie, and something entirely new to me: Screenr.com, a free web-based screen recorder. The steps I took were as follows:

Using Rubrics to Evaluate ePortfolios

This week, we referred to two different rubrics as we reviewed and provided feedback to our peers on the initial drafts of our Capstone (Academic) ePortfolios.

The first rubric was A Generic Rubric for Evaluating ePortfolios, posted on the ePortfolio Portal (adapted and used with permission from Joan Vandervelde's ePortfolio (Digital Portfolio) Rubric). This rubric used the following criteria for the evaluation (total points possible = 36):

1. Selection of Artifacts and Written Communication—All must be clearly and directly related to the purpose of the portfolio. (0 to 9 points)
2. Reflections—Constructive in nature; clearly identifying and describing goals. (0 to 9 points)
3. Use of Multimedia—Appropriate photos, artwork, audio, video, or a combination of these should enhance the purpose of the ePortfolio and make it more interesting. (0 to 6 points)
4. Captions—Are all artifacts clearly identified with title, author, and date? (0 to 3 points)
5. Ease of Navigation—Do all internal and external hyperlinks work? (0 to 3 points)
6. Layout and Text Elements—Are fonts and headings easy to read with appropriate use of white space? Are background and colors aesthetically pleasing? (0 to 3 points)
7. Writing Mechanics—Is the ePortfolio well edited: no errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar? (0 to 3 points)

Google Docs and Etherpads: "Realtime Collaborative Text Editing"

For about a year now, I've been using Google Docs for collaborative text editing. The tool allows me to share documents with other people, either for viewing only or for editing collaboratively. Up to ten people can view or edit a document simultaneously. A revision history, color-coded by author, is created automatically so changes can be tracked and restored to earlier versions if necessary. There's an integrated chat, which shows up as an IM window, so that collaborators can discuss what they're doing while they're doing it. The tool also makes it easy to email and post documents online. (For a more detailed description of Google Docs, see the Google Docs Getting Started Guide.)

This past week, I played around with iEtherPad. Although Google shut down the EtherPad.com servers, after acquiring AppleJet Inc. and the EtherPad collaboration product and technology, it released the code as open source. So, etherpad services are still available through the following links:

iEtherpad
PiratePad
Sinc.in
The Etherpad Foundation
TypeWith.me

When I tried out iEtherpad with my Portfolio in Professional Writing class, I discovered that it had the following features:

Work Incrementally. Save Everything. Be Flexible.

Condensing years of experience into a few sentences or square feet of space isn't easy.

I spent most of the day yesterday at the NH Homeschooling Coalition (NHHC) annual Spring Workshop, where I served on a panel and shared what I know about homeschooling high school. The purpose of the workshop was to enable those with questions about homeschooling to hear from those who were already homeschooling successfully. NHHC volunteers also set up large tables with displays of curriculum materials for browsing and catalogs to take home. Attendees included those who were considering homeschooling for the first time as well as experienced homeschoolers who were looking for help with the high school years. Some of the questions I was asked were:

• What does your program include, and how did you decide to include those subjects?
• What resources do you use, and where do you find them?
• What records do you keep, and why?
• How do you know when you're finished? (Unlike a student attending school, a homeschooled high school student does not necessarily receive a diploma from an accredited institution.)

Giving Up the Devil You Know

One thing about tools: it's always tempting to remain loyal to the familiar ones. Once I've spent time learning how to use a new tool or technology, I'm inclined to keep using it. I need to be tempted away by the promise of better performance, greater convenience, or very cool features. Otherwise, my uncharacteristically conservative philosophy when it comes to tools can be summarized by this pithy bit of wisdom: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Perhaps this explains why I spent two years wrestling with Google Sites before I discovered Weebly and Blogger, or why I have until recently resisted switching from iPhoto to Picasa for Mac. Sometimes, it's the little things that make all the difference. For example, when I wanted to created tabbed web pages, Google Sites was no help to me. I suppose I could have written the HTML for a tabbed page (see this Elated article), but one of the reasons I was using a WYSIWYG editor like Google Sites in the first place was because I wanted to avoid doing my own programming. Sadly, instead of searching for a new tool, I settled for less and resigned myself to organizing pages with customized sidebars.

During the past two weeks, I have been researching different tools for creating blogs, wikis, and websites. I am delighted to see that Weebly offers a variety of tabbed web page designs. Other niceties, like drag and drop elements and instantaneous previews of template changes, make Weebly an easy tool to learn and use. No doubt, I will eventually encounter drawbacks to Weebly but, so far, I like it just fine.

Taking a Course, Receiving an Education

I have taken seven courses at New England College related to professional writing: Professional Writing and Rhetoric; Editing in the Professions; Research methods; Media and Public Relations; The New Media; Business and Technical Communication; and Creative Nonfiction. The course titles suggest in broad terms the course content, but they are not definitive. It would still be possible to make inaccurate assumptions about what the courses offer or what a student like myself who has taken the courses might know as a result. So, simply listing the course titles, as a typical transcript does, is insufficient when it comes to assessing my qualifications.