ePortfolio Tips & Tricks

For our LIS Program, the ePortfolio is designed to showcase the 8 core competencies through artifacts compiled throughout your time here at St. John’s.  These artifacts will demonstrate understanding and proficiency of skills necessary to succeed in the filed.  At the DLIS Semiannual Meeting, Dr. Lee and GA Mary Glynn provided us some general information and an inside look at the ePortfolios created using Digication. The web address to begin your ePortfolio is stjohns.digication.com.  You will log in using your St. John’s Central username and password.  Listed below you will find some creation tips and experience insight that will be helpful to students in the process of creating and finishing their ePortfolios.  Successful creation is your pathway to graduation.  Do not wait until your last semester and start adding artifacts now!

1.)  Make use of the Quick Guide. 

The Digication website may seem confusing at first glance, but this guide is a great help in getting started.  The guide, which opens as a PDF, illustrates where each page function is located and how each editing tool will work.  With this guide, you will quickly set up the necessary sections and pages to add content to your ePortfolio.

2.)  Add artifacts at the end of every semester.

You are required to reflect on your work, stating how and why they demonstrate a particular competency.  It is better to add these reflections while the course is still fresh in your mind, rather than waiting until new semesters and new coursework begins.  Post semester reflection is also a good tool to examine what you did not excel in during the course, but at the end of the semester now understand how you could make improvements to your work.

3.)  Back up your hard drive.

Computers fail, crash and break all the time.  Do not lose all your hard work! Be sure to save artifacts to an external hard drive or cloud storage application.

4.)  Spice up your ePortfolio with images.

The ePortfolio can become laden with long texts, making it difficult to focus the eyes and read the screen.  Break up long sections with images.  Pictures from Academic Service-Learning projects and internships accompanying links to your work will provide reviewers a break from the long text sections.  Remember, if you choose to spruce up your page with pictures you did not take, properly attribute your sources with citations.

For more tips and tricks to help master the ePortfolio process, attend a workshop with Dr. Angel or find another offered through the university.   Tutorials have been uploaded to the Blackboard Colloquia and you can always check the St. John’s University Digication Information YouTube page for more instructional videos.  Always remember the faculty is here to answer any and all questions to help you create a successful ePortfolio.

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