This year, Igor Web has taught Bachelor's students how to create and design online digital portfolios.
Just like we did for transport websites, we chose the Google Sites solutions, which allowed students to create professional-grade portfolio without having to learn to code !
What's a student portfolio ?
First of all, it's a method, consisting for each student in analyzing the skills they acquired during their training, be it academically or during their internship periods.
By using the official knowledge chart of their diploma, the students managed to precisely pinpoint their progress and what they had to further improve.
Why a website ?
There are many ways to build a portfolio, but we chose to use a generalist website creator for good reasons : first of all, it's a very good way to practice applied digital skills, which is part of these students' curriculum, second, each student had the opportunity to finely tune their portfolio so the design can match the message they want to convey, and last but not least, they will have the opportunity to keep this online portfolio in the future if they ever want to use it as an online resume to help them in their job hunt later on.
What structure ?
To make things easier for students, the portfolio is based on a threefold structure : personal introduction with an explanation of the portfolio method, academic and professional background, and self-evaluation of their skills and knowledge.
Full-custom design.
What is really great with Google Sites is that each learner had the opportunity to create a website in his image, to better convey the message they want to send to the world. Some of them went for sleek and modern design trends, some of them used humor, others were more interested in including many modern functionalities in their website to showcase their digital skills. This was far from a one-size-fits-it-all approach.
Powerful tools.
The other strength of Google sites is the possibility to integrate pretty much any type of content from one's Google Drive with just one click.
This functionality has been particularly useful to integrate "proofs" of acquired skills. "Proofs" means any document, test, diploma, proving that one student masters a skill, they can come from academia, internships or work experiences.
For example, a test about accountancy or picture from a warehouse remodeling during an internship, can all be used to attest that a student is proficient and knowledgeable in a skill.
As another example, it is possible to integrate PDF documents or spreadsheets on the website, making them browseable directly from the page without having to download them. This integration is done without using HTML code, all using the graphical user interface.
Professional-grade results.
There are other ways to create digital portfolios, sometimes more advanced than what we did. But most of the time, they are very academic-focused and not really usable outside of school.
By choosing a multi-purpose solution, we wanted students to be able to keep their portfolio for later in life, and for those who wish to, use it to find a job after University.
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Some of them were indeed interested, and we could analyze what changes needed to be done to turn this academic project to a professional one with only a few changes, and without redesigning it from scratch.
More screenshots.
Here are some examples of student portfolios, all rights reserved to them.
Want to know more ?
Contact us !
