MODULE 1 – Review Past Portfolios – (May 16-22)

In this module, you begin your journey toward your own online portfolio by browsing portfolios from the previous semester. In doing so, you will learn what you might like in a portfolio, become familiar with the key features of portfolios, and begin to form ideas for your own portfolio. We know you’re looking forward to getting started, and these activities are designed to help you do just that. We look forward to getting to know you and seeing the capstone portfolio you’ll create!

Work in this module is due by May 22nd (at or before 11:59 PM Eastern Time). We encourage you to begin early in the week – it is not possible to complete the entire module at the last minute.

 

Basic Assignment(s)

📜 Review portfolios

Spend about 1 hour reviewing 10 portfolios (not just the first ten) from last semester in order to better understand what they look like and begin to understand your own preferences. Pay attention to features you like, resumés that you might like to emulate, showcase examples that might inform your own designs, etc. Take notes about things you like about the portfolios and specific ideas you’d like to re-create in your own portfolio. You will use these notes when you discuss this experience with your fellow classmates.

📩 Send an email to the author of your favorite portfolio

Email the person whose portfolio you like best. (Their contact information should be on their website somewhere or on the bottom left corner of their roster entry from last semester). Make sure you write in your own voice. Please put “Capstone Portfolio Course” in the subject line and include your instructors in the “cc:” line of your email. If a “cc:” line is not available (for example, if you send your note through a “Contact” form on their portfolio), copy the text of your email and send it to us in a second email.

You can begin by saying something like “Hello, I am taking the Capstone Portfolio Course — the professor asked us to look at portfolios from previous classes and email the person whose portfolio we liked the most. I chose yours because…” (They will have done this assignment themselves before so this really won’t be too strange – they will appreciate being selected). Continue on to say a few nice but specific and substantive things about what you like about the design of their site. This care and attention should be given to the questions you ask, as well — this shows appreciation to the author, and the act of crafting a thoughtful email about why you selected this portfolio and what questions you have about the process they undertook is also a good way for you to reflect on aspirations for your own portfolio. This should also offer you some good insight and help for this course. As a general rule, this email should be a good 2-3 paragraphs long with specific praise and genuine questions.

🎥 Post a video reflection

This will be your first post to our video discussion forum, Flipgrid. The goals here are twofold: (1) Learn how to make Flipgrid postings, (2) Reflect upon what you learned from your review of past portfolios. When you’re ready, do the following steps to make your first Flipgrid post:

  1. Go to our first Flipgrid and sign in with the password (it has been emailed to you).
  2. Record your response–follow the prompts we give you. You’re free to use video or not, but please use audio (make sure your microphone volume is high enough for others to hear you!)
  3. Fill in the informational fields–fill in your full name (first and last) and give your video a descriptive title.

If you need more detail on using Flipgrid, there is additional help in the “Elaboration” section later on this page, which we ask you to check out anyway

✔️ Update the ShareTracker

At the end of each module, you will update the ShareTracker to submit your work for this module, and let us know about any revisions to previous work.

The Sharetracker is linked here, and available through the menubar at the top of this website.

Now is the time to “submit” your work by updating the ShareTracker. Specifically, do the following:

  • Find your row in the ShareTracker, and find the Columns that correspond to this module
  • Enter “done” for each part of the module you have completed
  • Put “revised” and a date, for any assignments you have revised from previous modules

That’s it, you’re done with the ShareTracker for this Module.

🔍 Check out the 'Elaboration' section

Every module will have a section called “Elaboration” at the bottom of the page. Here we provide additional information about why we are doing things, extra resources, and more detailed instructions beyond the basic steps. Everything there is optional reading, but make sure you at least check out what’s there so you can decide what’s worth reading and what’s worth skipping each week.

🗒️ Assessment and Feedback

There is no formal feedback for this assignment. However, your ability to to do these weekly assignments and participate in class activities will be part of the feedback you receive in this course. This will happen at the end of module 5 and at the end of Module 11

Elaboration

🔍 A Team Teaching Approach

The capstone course is taught by Dr. Matthew Koehler (professor at Michigan State), often times with one or more teaching assistants.

We teach as an integrated instructional team. When faced with a decision, we employ group decision making. Specifically, the whole team meets each week to talk about the course, make decisions, and troubleshoot any issues that have arisen.

What does this team approach mean for you? Mostly, you will experience the team approach in the way you converse with us. For example, we ask you to use contact us page because that means the entire team receives your email. Only one person may answer your email on behalf of the entire instructional team, but the entire team has received it and thought about it.

🔍 Detailed Flipgrid Instructions

Basic Posting

On camera, make sure you start each video by saying your name. For example, “Hi, this is Matthew Koehler, and today I’m talking about …. ”

After you record your video, there are a couple of fields to fill out. Make sure you pay particular attention to how we use these fields in the capstone course:

  • First Name – Put in your first name.
  • Last Name – Put in your last name.
  • Email – This is optional, but if you give your email address you will be able to delete or update this video by yourself without instructor intervention.
  • Title – Give your video a descriptive title (e.g., “my awesome resumé page”, “need help with Weebly formatting!”, etc.).
  • Link – Give the full link to the website or page you created for this assignment so that others can visit it and provide feedback to you.

App for your Phone

There is a Flipgrid app for your phone that you may wish to use instead. Visit the appropriate app store for your phone to download it.

The app may have several advantages over using your computer, in that if you wish to discuss something you see on screen, it is easy to film the screen with your phone and point to what you’re talking about.

If you do use your phone, you will be prompted to “enter a code” to get to the right Flipgrid. The code for our class is “msu_capstone”. The password is “GoSparty” (capital “G” capital “S”)

Technical Problems

Flipgrid does require Flash installed on your computer. It also requires a working camera and microphone—these are things you would need for the exhibition and tech check or office half-hours anyway. Consider using your phone if you don’t have one on your desktop. If you have problems beyond simply installing Flash, a camera, and a microphone, try the excellent Flipgrid support page, or contact us.

🔍 Policy for due dates, early work, and late work

Deadlines. Although we say “deadlines”, the course is designed to be flexible with pacing. Our “deadlines” are firm suggestions on how to stay on track in this course. Unless stated otherwise, the “deadline” for all work in a given module is due at 11:59 PM Michigan time on the last day of the module. The only true deadline in the course is that the final online portfolio is firmly due on the last day of class with no exceptions.

Early Work. The course dates we have laid out are minimum pacing requirements. Please feel free to complete the course faster than these required dates. The only minor hiccup may be around the final exhibition (Module 11), which is scheduled during a specific week. If we have enough people wanting to finish faster, we can likely have an early exhibition (or two).

Late Work. we have worked hard to design the course around modules and due dates that keep you on pace to complete a high-quality portfolio on time. We understand that life happens—getting sick, busy times at work, technology troubles, global pandemics, just to name a few—and things don’t go according to plan. If this happens, we expect you to communicate with your instructor before you miss a due date. In this communication, let your instructor know when you will have the work completed. If you aren’t sure, communicate the uncertainty and then communicate again when you do know. We are happy to work with you, but it is your responsibility to proactively communicate.

🔍 The parts that make up a portfolio

The portfolio you make in this class has several components. The first component is the technology used to create and display your online portfolio (Weebly, Wix, WordPress, Google Sites, etc.). The process of deciding what technology to use is a scaffolded choice that happens throughout Module 1, Module 2, and Module 3, although you can revisit this decision at any time.

Once you have chosen a technology, this course helps you build 7 required pages that go in your portfolio, although there can be great flexibility and individuality in how these required pages are implemented in your portfolio. These seven pages are:

  • A home page (Module 3) – You create a landing page, or the first page that viewers see when visiting your online portfolio.
  • A resumé / vita (Module 5) – You create a page that highlights your professional preparation, appointments, skills, and goals.
  • A showcase (Module 6) – You create a page that shows examples or artifacts of your best work from your master’s program.
  • An annotated transcript (Module 8) – You create a page that lists the courses and topics covered as part of your master’s program.
  • Three reflective essays – You reflect upon your past, present, and future learning in the form of three essays:

In addition to the seven required pages, you will add three or more components that are specifically tailored to you and your portfolio. We call these Pieces of Flair, and you mix and match these components in a way that adds breadth and depth to your portfolio. You might, for example, add a page that describes your classroom (that would be one Piece of Flair), or connect to your presence on LinkedIn (that would be another Piece of Flair).

One website technology, PLUS 7 required pages, PLUS 3 (or more) pieces of flair will give you a website that will be uniquely yours and that you can be proud of.

❓ Why look at past portfolios?

In Module 1 you look portfolios from the previous semester, and you may also consider looking at these portfolios at other times. Why? There are several reasons.

  • Better picture of the goal — You may have only a vague understanding of what a capstone portfolio might look like at this point. By looking at some finished portfolios, you will develop a much better understanding of your final goal in this course: a portfolio to be proud of!
  • Appreciation of features — By looking in depth at portfolios, you will be able to think about what features go into making a good portfolio. Is it aesthetics? Easy navigation? Good content? By looking somewhat analytically at the evaluation of “good portfolios,” you will start to develop your own design sensibilities.
  • A source for ideas — Looking at past portfolios will likely give you plenty of good ideas that you may want to use in your own portfolios. If you see something you like, bookmark it!
  • Accolades for previous students — Students who finished the course would love to have some feedback and praise from you if you liked their portfolio as part of this review process. When you’re ready, contact the author of your favorite portfolio. That email will reward that previous student for all their hard work. Hopefully you’ll receive an email next semester, too!

❓ Why is this course designed this way?

There are any number of ways (perhaps an infinite number!) to design a course such as this one.

In this course, we have embraced an “open” approach to education — an approach that removes barriers to access, making as much of the course open and available to all whenever possible. We’ve also embraced an idea that every course should be different — no “cookie cutter” courses! A portfolio course should look different than a science course or an English course.

In our efforts to be open, we’ve chosen to go with the most widely-used web-authoring (and blogging) platform in the world—WordPress. It’s easily customizable and can (with some work) be repurposed from a blog to be a course management site. In doing so, we often have to mimic basic CMS functions with plugins, use of 3rd party sites, and sometimes our programming (in PHP). What this means for you is you will be using many different sites that together do what closed sites like D2L can do out of the box. Let’s walk through them, and we’ll explain why we’re using each:

  • Flipgrid – Flipgrid is a way for us to interact and share through asynchronous video conversations. We use the site to post thoughts about our work and provide feedback to each other.
  • Google Drive – We use googleDocs and GoogleSheets to securely share feedback and course progress with you. These aspects are private and not open to the public.
  • Zoom – This runs our online office hours (also known as the Capstone Coffeehouse) and our end-of-semester exhibitions. We would need something like this even with D2L.
  • D2L -We use D2L to securely handle grades. Now that we follow an “un-grading” philosophy, the gradebook will only have one entry (your overall grade in the course). D2L has no other use in this course.

The good news is that you’ll be using a site that is open—you’re joining the open education movement, seeing several examples of “repurposing” technology, and hopefully learning how to use technology flexibly in your own educational settings.

You should be seeing a site that isn’t like other courses you’ve seen before (in a good way, we hope). Moreover, you’re getting a site with what we think is a thoughtful combination of the best technologies for different purposes. We welcome your questions and comments and hope you enjoy this approach.

❓ Still have questions?

If you still have questions, contact us. The option to ‘contact us’ will always be available under the “communicate” menu at the top of this website.

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