A look at Wordpress, LinkedIn, Facebook and Wikis as possible IT strategies for realizing your first Professional Development ePortfolio.

1. Realizing your 1st
by James (Jim) Buckingham
MAODE (Open U), MA – Adult Education (Central Michigan), TEFL (Trinity)
at HCT – Men’s Campus, Al Ain , 14 April 2012

2. Realizing your 1st
Outline
• Why bother?
• Review how a PD ePortfolio differs
• Suggest criteria to help choose a format
• Strategy 1 - blogging with Wordpress
• Strategy 2 – LinkedIn
• Strategy 3 – Facebook
• Strategy 4 – wikis
• Resources

3. Realizing your 1st
Outline
• Why bother?
• Review how a PD ePortfolio differs
• Suggest criteria to help choose a format
• Strategy 1 - blogging with Wordpress
• Strategy 2 – LinkedIn
• Strategy 3 – Facebook
• Strategy 4 – wikis
• Resources

4. Realizing your 1st
• Why bother?
• evidence your PD growth
• demonstrate your interests / growth
• demonstrate your commitment to lifelong learning
• demonstrate a fundamental belief in personal /
professional growth
• gain accreditation / credit for your efforts
• replace your resume (?)

5. Realizing your 1st
• Why bother?
• evidence your PD growth
• demonstrate your interests / growth
• demonstrate your commitment to lifelong learning
• demonstrate a fundamental belief in personal /
professional growth
• gain accreditation / credit for your efforts
• replace your resume (?)

6. Realizing your 1st
• possible public?
• self
• peers
• employer
• association / accreditation body
• future employers
• Why bother?

7. Realizing your 1st
Outline
• Why bother?
• Review how a PD ePortfolio differs
• Suggest criteria to help choose a format
• Strategy 1 - blogging with Wordpress
• Strategy 2 – LinkedIn
• Strategy 3 – Facebook
• Strategy 4 – wikis
Resources

8. Realizing your 1st
• Review how a PD ePortfolio differs from
• employer portfolio
• prescriptive / limited
• length
• headings
• points to cover
• time frame to cover
• no interaction encouraged
• typically providing / offering an edited snapshot of
work / development covered by employee

9. Realizing your 1st
• Review a PD ePortfolio
• your ePortfolio for Pro Development
• focuses on development / interests
• identifying these over time
• identifying these with help of peers
• encourages sharing / networking with peers
• evidences your teaching credentials (accreditation)
• reflects what you deem to be important to your
professional goals / personal development

10. Realizing your 1st
Outline
• Why bother?
• Review how a PD ePortfolio differs
• Suggest criteria to help choose a format
• Strategy 1 - blogging with Wordpress
• Strategy 2 – LinkedIn
• Strategy 3 – Facebook
• Strategy 4 – wikis
Resources

11. Realizing your 1st
• Suggest criteria to help choose a format
• low cost / no cost
• easy to realize
• flexible
flexible & adaptable to changing needs (i.e. easy to edit)
as your skills advance, use more of the utilities available
• scalable
capable of growing in size & complexity as you grow
• good “ROI “
time & energy invested provides a return - "investment"

12. Realizing your 1st
Outline
• Why bother?
• Review how a PD ePortfolio differs
• Suggest criteria to help choose a format
• Strategy 1 - blogging with Wordpress
• Strategy 2 – LinkedIn
• Strategy 3 – Facebook
• Strategy 4 – wikis
Resources

13. Realizing your 1st
• Strategy 1 - blogging with Wordpress
Why a blog makes a good ePortfolio:
• low cost
set up website, domain - $60 yr
• easy to realize
requires some learning of Wordpress)
• easy to build upon / flexible
very flexible
• scalable
almost no limits
• offers good ROI
ease of sharing, ease of access, quickly logged by Google search)

14. Realizing your 1st
• Strategy 1 - blogging with Wordpress
Why a blog makes a good ePortfolio:
• store & organise content in dynamic ways
chronologically (like a diary)
personalised tagging systems.
• present personal profile to the world
like a website
• enable others to follow your activities
using RSS feeds (like subscribing to a newspaper)

15. Realizing your 1st
• Strategy 1 - blogging with Wordpress
Why a blog makes a good ePortfolio:
• Examples
• Barrett, H. (n.d.). Helen Barrett -My Portfolio. Helen
Barrett. Retrieved from
http://hbarrett.wordpress.com/my-portfolio/
• Buckingham, J. (n.d.). jamesbuckingham.net. Retrieved
April 13, 2012, from http://jamesbuckingham.net/
• VanDrimmelen, J. (n.d.). Jeff VanDrimmelen. Retrieved
April 13, 2012, from http://jeffvandrimmelen.info/

16. Realizing your 1st
Outline
• Why bother?
• Review how a PD ePortfolio differs
• Suggest criteria to help choose a format
• Strategy 1 - blogging with Wordpress
• Strategy 2 – LinkedIn
• Strategy 3 – Facebook
• Strategy 4 – wikis
Resources

17. Realizing your 1st
• Strategy 2 - LinkedIn
Why LinkedIn may be a good option:
• no cost
• easy to realize
requires some learning of LinkedIn
• easy to build upon
but less flexible than WordPress
• NOT as scalable
limits to the type& variety of content that can be added
• offers reasonable ROI
ease of sharing, ease of access, quickly logged by Google search but
sometimes limited to LinkedIn members only

18. Realizing your 1st
• Strategy 2 - LinkedIn
Why LinkedIn may be a good option:
• discussed by Sarah Stewart
• Stewart, S. (2011, January 22). Sarah Stewart: Does
LinkedIn work as an ePortfolio? Sarah Stewart. Retrieved
from http://sarah-stewart.blogspot.com/2011/01/does-
linkedin-work-as-eportfolio.html

19. Realizing your 1st
• Strategy 2 - LinkedIn
Why LinkedIn may be a good option:
• Examples
• James Buckingham
• http://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesbuckingham

20. Realizing your 1st
Outline
• Why bother?
• Review how a PD ePortfolio differs
• Suggest criteria to help choose a format
• Strategy 1 - blogging with Wordpress
• Strategy 2 – LinkedIn
• Strategy 3 – Facebook
• Strategy 4 – Wikis
Resources

21. Realizing your 1st
• Strategy 3 - Facebook
Why Facebook may be a good option:
• no cost
• easy to realize
requires some learning of LinkedIn
• easy to build upon
but less flexible than WordPress
• MUCH LESS scalable
limits to the type& variety of content that can be added
• offers reasonable ROI
ease of sharing, ease of access (750 million users), quickly logged by Google

22. Realizing your 1st
• Strategy 3 - Facebook
Why Facebook may be a good option:
• Resources
• ??????????

23. Realizing your 1st
Outline
• Why bother?
• Review how a PD ePortfolio differs
• Suggest criteria to help choose a format
• Strategy 1 - blogging with Wordpress
• Strategy 2 – LinkedIn
• Strategy 3 – Facebook
• Strategy 4 – Wikis
Resources

24. Realizing your 1st
• Strategy 4 - Wikis
Why Wikis may be a good option:
• no cost
• relatively easy to realize
requires some learning of each wiki format
• easy to build upon
very flexible ; perhaps as flexible as WordPress
• potentially scalable
depends on the wiki format used
• offers reasonable ROI
ease of sharing, ease of access (750 million users), quickly logged by Google

25. Realizing your 1st
• Strategy 4 - Wikis
Why Wikis may be a good option:
• Resources
• Creating an ePortfolio with Wikispaces. (2007). Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5osJCF909qQ&feature=youtube_
gdata_player
• Creating ePortfolios with GoogleApps - ePortfolio Resources. (n.d.).
Retrieved April 13, 2012, from
http://sites.google.com/site/eportfolios/How-To-Create-ePortfolios-
with-GoogleApps
• Google Sites for ePortfolios. (2008). Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDdLBcD68uA&feature=youtube
_gdata_player

26. Realizing your 1st
Outline
• Why bother?
• Review how a PD ePortfolio differs
• Suggest criteria to help choose a format
• Strategy 1 - blogging with Wordpress
• Strategy 2 – LinkedIn
• Strategy 3 – Facebook
• Strategy 4 – wikis
• Resources

27. Realizing your 1st
• Resources
Barrett, H. (n.d.-a). How To. Helen Barrett. Retrieved from http://hbarrett.wordpress.com/how-to/
Barrett, H. (n.d.-b). My Portfolio. Helen Barrett. Retrieved from http://hbarrett.wordpress.com/my-
portfolio/
Batson, T. (2010, April 7). ePortfolios, Finally! Campus Technology. Retrieved April 13, 2012, from
http://campustechnology.com/articles/2010/04/07/eportfolios-finally.aspx
Buckingham, J. (n.d.). jamesbuckingham.net. Retrieved April 13, 2012, from
http://jamesbuckingham.net/
Butterworth, A. (n.d.). Effective practice with e-portfolios. Retrieved April 13, 2012, from
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/programmerelated/2008/effectivepracticeeportfolios.aspx
Creating an ePortfolio with Wikispaces. (2007). Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5osJCF909qQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player
ePortfolio for Personal Development. (2008). Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5w_XdroqUY&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Google Apps. (n.d.). Creating ePortfolios with GoogleApps - ePortfolio Resources. Retrieved April
13, 2012, from http://sites.google.com/site/eportfolios/How-To-Create-ePortfolios-with-
GoogleApps

28. Realizing your 1st
• Resources
Google Sites for ePortfolios. (2008). Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDdLBcD68uA&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Gray, L. (2008). Effective practice with e-portfolios : JISC. Higher Education Funding Council for
England. Retrieved from
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/publications/effectivepracticeeportfolios.pdf
Gray, L. (n.d.). e-Portfolios - An overview. Retrieved April 13, 2012, from
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/eportfolio
How to create e-portfolios for business, education, professional development or personal use.
(n.d.).Squidoo. Retrieved from http://www.squidoo.com/e-portfolios
Hussain, R., & Ng, H. (n.d.). A case-study: The adoption, adaptation and transformation of
Facebook as eportfolio in Higher Education. AACE Global Learn. Retrieved April 13, 2012, from
http://www.aace.org/conf/glearn/sessions/index.cfm/fuseaction/PaperDetails?presentation_id=
47373
Learning Technologie - Virginia Techs. (n.d.). English as a Second Language Education. ePortfolio
Initiatives at Virginia Tech | Virginia Tech. Retrieved April 13, 2012, from
http://eportfolio.vt.edu/gallery/DeptsProgs/englishassecondlanged.html
mjmobbs. (n.d.). Creating a ePortfolio Using Wordpress. Scribd. Retrieved from
http://www.scribd.com/doc/20842800/Creating-a-ePortfolio-Using-Wordpress

29. Realizing your 1st
• Resources
OASIS - University of North Caroline (Chapel Hill). (n.d.-a). Logging in / Introduction to Wordpress.
Retrieved from http://media.oasis.unc.edu/instructional_technology/wordpress/wordpress-
login-into.swf
OASIS - University of North Caroline (Chapel Hill). (n.d.-b). Writing / Editing Post page. Retrieved
from http://media.oasis.unc.edu/instructional_technology/wordpress/wordpress-edit-
content.swf
Silverman, R. E. (2012, January 24). No More Résumés, Say Some Firms. Wall Street Journal.
Retrieved from
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203750404577173031991814896.html#articleT
abs=article
Stewart, S. (2011, January 22). Sarah Stewart: Does LinkedIn work as an ePortfolio? Sarah
Stewart. Retrieved from http://sarah-stewart.blogspot.com/2011/01/does-linkedin-work-as-
eportfolio.html
VanDrimmelen, J. (n.d.). Use Wordpress to Create a Professional e-Portfolio — OASIS - Office of
Arts & Sciences Information Services. OASIS - University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill). Retrieved
April 13, 2012, from http://oasis.unc.edu/old-site/training/blog/use-wordpress-to-create-a-
professional-e-portfolio