Putting Evidence on the Web

The core of an ePortfolio is the evidence presented of work completed, combined with reflection on the lessons learned. Though not all pieces of evidence you collect will be appropriate for the Web (or for the final version of your ePortfolio), those pieces of evidence that are presented must be translated into a format that will be accessible on your site. The links below contain information specific to creating and preparing your evidence for the Web.

Web-ready Evidence
HTML pages or sites, or other multimedia projects created for classes are perfect examples of Web-ready content that can be inserted directly into an ePortfolio. These types of project files include Microsoft Word documents, PDFs, and JPEG files. Other file types, including MPEG and Flash (.swf), will be accommodated in the future. These artifacts will need little editing beyond any changes necessary to fit them into the overall structure and appearance of an entire ePortfolio. Get started right away!

Text-based Evidence
Text-based evidence is perhaps the most common type of evidence for an ePortfolio. The Web is still very much based in print, and a majority of work done for classes is in the form of papers or other writing assignments. Depending on the method used to create a text-based piece of evidence, creating a Web version is fairly easy. Simply copy and paste your Word document in the correct location.

If the text is handwritten or in another form of hard copy (meaning there is no electronic version), a scanner is probably the only effective and efficient means of creating a version for the Web. Students have a few flatbed scanners available to them in the computer labs (Friends 110, CHS 104, and Park).

If the evidence is already in an electronic form, such as a Word document (or another word processing program), then preparing it for the Web is a straightforward process. The Quick Guides listed below include information on preparing documents in a word processor (Word) and how to save them as an Adobe PDF file (Portable Document Format), which is a widely accepted and accessible file format for text documents on the Internet.

Graphics as Evidence
Graphic files are one of the most common forms of multimedia on the Web; incorporating them into an ePortfolio is a straightforward process and they take up the least space on a Web account. There are numerous types of image file formats available, but only a few are appropriate for the Web; among the most common types of image files used on the Web are JPEG files.

All lab computers have Adobe Photoshop Elements installed: Photoshop Elements is a powerful image-editing program supported by ITS. The Quick Guides below include information on Photoshop Elements as well as information on incorporating basic multimedia files in a Web site.

Sound Evidence (On Hold)
Choosing an audio format can be tricky. There are hundreds of sound formats to choose from; a Real file (.rm), Window's Audio File (.wma), WAVE file (.wav) or QuickTime file (.mov) are all examples. To make things easy, save your sound evidence as an MPEG3 (.mp3) file. Why? This format is so popular, just about every media player and Web browser supports it. Read on to learn how to convert your sound evidence to the MPEG 3 format.

Video Evidence (On Hold)
Video files are a powerful form of evidence, particularly in exhibiting skills learned. However, incorporating video into a Web site can often be a tricky prospect. There are several video formats in common use on the Internet, and the file sizes necessary can often put an account over its quota very quickly. In addition, getting the necessary equipment for creating digital video can be difficult; students should talk to their professors and advisors to see if their department has any equipment available for use.

A good rule of thumb is to keep your video evidence small. Why? Consider this: a five minute video, if compressed properly for Web delivery, can be as much as 5 megabytes. If your five minute video is a lot larger then 5 megabytes, you'll need to read on and learn about proper video formats and compressing tips.