2.5 Portfolios Tool Help

Portfolios - Overview

An electronic portfolio is a collection of one or more web pages that presents information of your choosing and allows you to share it with others. Portfolios serve real-world purposes, such as career development and job search, documentation of and reflection on experience and learning, and collaboration. For example, you might create a portfolio for your resume or curriculum vita. You might also make a portfolio to showcase art, writing, or other talents and skills you have developed. Other uses of portfolios include collaboratively reporting on group projects and presenting learning you have demonstrated in matrices or wizards. These are just a few of the many ways people have used online portfolios.

To create and work with a portfolio in Sakai, you use both the Resources tool and the Portfolios tool. First, you collect the material you want to present in Resources. Then you use the Portfolios tool to present the information.

The Portfolios tool allows you to do all of the following:

• Choose material for your presentation by selecting forms, matrices, uploaded files, and URLs from your Resources.
• Design your own portfolio presentation by selecting from layouts and text/color/display styles made available to you by your institution. Alternatively, you may base your presentation on a template made available to you by your institution. Templates are especially helpful for more elaborate portfolios.

At your institution, some styles, layouts, and templates may be available only to a specific site, while others are available to all sites. Therefore, users working in different sites may have access to different styles, layouts, and templates.

• Publish portfolio presentations for audiences of your choosing. Your audience may include both site participants and people who are not members of the site.
• Notify others that a portfolio has been shared with them.
• Change, comment on, and delete your portfolios.
• Invite comments on your portfolios and view and manage comments received.
• View and comment on other participants' portfolios. View comments you have made about these portfolios.
• View statistics on who has accessed your portfolios.
• Download a copy of a portfolio to your desktop.

Planning a Portfolio

Before creating a portfolio, we recommend that you carefully consider the following questions and take appropriate action.

• What is the objective of this portfolio?
• What content do I need to include in order to achieve this objective? What specific word-processing, spreadsheet, image, and other files do I need? After answering these questions, store the files you plan to use in Resources. For information on adding items to Resources
• What additional information (context, explanation, and so forth) do I need to provide?
• In what order do I want to present the material?
• How much creative control do I want to have over the appearance of the portfolio? Would I rather use a template that controls the layout and text/color/display style of the entire portfolio or design my own approach by selecting from a set of predefined layouts and styles? In order to answer these questions, we recommend that you review all appropriate templates, layouts, and styles that your institution has made available for your use.
• If I plan to design my own approach, will the presentation be more effective if I use the same layout on each web page or if the layout changes from page to page? You may choose a different layout for each page or use the same layout for all pages in your presentation.
• Based on the layout(s) I have chosen, how many web pages will be required?
• If I plan to design my own approach, will the presentation be more effective if I use the same set of fonts, text colors and sizes, spacing, and background colors for all pages? Or should the text display and background change from page to page? Your institution has a default "style" that includes a standard set of fonts, colors, and so forth. If your institution has created other styles as well, you may choose between them for each page or you may choose to use a single style for the entire presentation.

Accessing the Portfolios Tool

The Portfolios tool is usually located in the Design & Publish category. To access the tool, open that category and click the Launch button for Portfolios. Sakai displays the Portfolios home page.

This page contains a list of all portfolios on the site that you have permission to view. If the list is longer than one page, use the buttons under the Portfolios menu bar to display other pages in the list.

• To display the first page of the list, click First.
• To display the previous page of the list, click Previous.
• To display the next page of the list, click Next.
• To display the last page of the list, click Last.

Creating a Portfolio

The process of creating a portfolio involves selecting items from Resources, giving the portfolio a name and an optional expiration date, deciding whether or not to allow comments, determining which site participants or users outside the site will have access to the portfolio, deciding whether or not to make the portfolio public, and optionally notifying others that a portfolio has been shared with them.

To create a portfolio, access the Portfolios tool and follow these steps:

1. If the Portfolios home page is not displayed, click the Reset button.
2. In the Portfolios menu bar near the top of the screen, click the Add button. Sakai displays the Add Portfolio screen.
3. Decide whether you want to create a portfolio "from scratch" or base it on a template.

• To create a portfolio in which you freely choose the layout, text styles, and content to include, click the Develop your own portfolio button.
• To base your portfolio on an existing template, click the Use a template button.
  4. If you chose to use a template, select the template you want to use from the dropdown list. If desired, preview the template you have chosen. To do so, click Preview template. To close the preview display, click Close Preview.
  5. To proceed, click Continue. Or to exit without creating a portfolio, click Cancel. If you chose to continue, Sakai displays the Step 1 of 3: Begin, screen.
  6. Enter a title (required) and a description of this portfolio in the boxes provided.
  7. To specify the last date on which this portfolio is available for viewing, use the pulldown lists in the Expires boxes to enter that date.
  8. To allow others to view and comment on this portfolio, click allow comments.
  9. After finishing your work, choose one of these options:
• To continue working on this portfolio, click Continue.
• To save your work and exit, click Finish. Sakai displays the Portfolios home page, and the name of this portfolio is displayed in the portfolio list. You may return at any time to continue working on this portfolio.
• To exit without saving your work, click Cancel. Sakai displays the Portfolios home page.
  10. If you elected to continue, follow the instructions given in "Designing your own Portfolio", or "Using a Create a Template-based Portfolio". The appropriate choice to make at this point follows from the choice you made in step 3.

Design your own Portfolio

After you have completed the steps in "Creating a Portfolio," above, Sakai displays the Step 2 of 3: Design screen.

You may return to the Step 1 screen from this screen at any time. To do so, click the Back button near the bottom of the screen.

To proceed, follow these steps:

1. Begin to create a page in the portfolio by clicking the Add Page link. Sakai displays the Add Page screen. Using this screen, you specify the title, the look and feel, and the content of a page of the portfolio. The screen contains two sections: Page Information and Page Content.
2.

• A right-facing arrow in the header for either section indicates that the section is closed. To open it so you can see the boxes in that section, click the arrow.
• A down-facing arrow in the header for either section indicates that the section is open (that is, its boxes are displayed). To close it, click the arrow.
  3. In the Page Information section, enter a title for the portfolio page in the Title box. The Title entry is required.
  4. If desired, enter a description of the page in the Description box and enter keywords in the Keywords box.
  5. Click Select Layout link. Sakai displays a list of layouts.
  6. Select a layout by following the instructions. After you have selected a layout, Sakai displays the Add Page screen again. The name of the layout you have chosen is displayed in the Layout box, and a preview of this layout is displayed below the box.
  7. To use your institution's default style for fonts, colors, and graphics, leave the Style box blank. To select another style for this portfolio, click the Select Style link. Sakai displays a list of styles for you to choose from.
  8. To select a style for this portfolio, follow the instructions. After you have made your selection, Sakai displays the Add Page screen again. The name of your chosen style is displayed in the Style box. This style applies to the entire portfolio, unless you select another style for one or more specific pages.
  9. If the Page Content section is closed, click the arrow in the section header to open it. Sakai displays boxes for the layout you have chosen.
  10. Enter text for each part of the layout via the rich text editor. Use the icons and pulldown lists to format the text as appropriate. To add blocks of text in sequence, click the Add Row button. Sakai displays a box. Choose among these options:
• To add a chunk of text, enter it in the box. You may copy and paste test from another source or key it directly into the box. Although each box is small, you may enter as much text as you need there.
• To remove a text box, click the Remove Row button.
• To add the next chunk of text, click Add Row again.
  11. To add this page to your portfolio, click Add Page. Sakai displays the Step 2 of 3: Design screen again. The screen now shows an icon for the page you have added.
  12. To add another page, repeat steps 1 - 10.
  13. To include links that allow users to move from page to page within the portfolio, check the Page Navigation box.
  14. After finishing your work, choose one of these options:
  15.
• To save your work and exit, click Finish. Sakai displays the Portfolios home page, and the name of this portfolio is displayed in the portfolio list. You may return at any time to work on it.
• To publish this portfolio, click Continue. Sakai displays the Step 3 of 3: Publish screen. Its fields are identical to those of the Select Audience screen. Proceed as instructed in "Publishing a Portfolio" beginning with step 3.
• To exit without saving your work on this portfolio, click Cancel. Sakai displays the Portfolios home page.

Create a Template-based Portfolio

After you have completed steps 1-10 in "Creating a Portfolio", you must enter information in one or two more screens. Whether you see one or two screens depends on the template you have chosen.

If you are presented with two screens, the first screen may look something like this:

Typically, this screen will require you to do one or both of the following:

• Supply text for a portfolio title, a subtitle, and/or captions for images.
• Specify a particular level of a matrix to include in the portfolio. The second screen contains dropdown lists from which you select items to include in your portfolio.

Complete the screen(s) by following these steps:

1. Enter information and attach files and other materials as instructed on the screen. In general:

• To enter text in a box, either key it in or copy and paste it.
• To attach an item you have stored in Resources, follow the instructions.
  2. When you are ready to leave this screen, choose one of these options:
• To save your work and exit, click Finish. Sakai displays the Portfolios home page, and the name of this portfolio is displayed in the portfolio list. You may return at any time to continue working on this portfolio.
• To proceed, click Continue. Sakai displays either the second of two screens or displays a screen from which you can publish your portfolio. For information on publishing a portfolio, see "Publishing a Portfolio".
• To exit without saving your work on this portfolio, click Cancel. Sakai displays the Portfolios home page.
• To return to the previous screen, click the Back button near the bottom of the screen.

Changing a Portfolio

You may change any portfolio you have created. To change a portfolio, access the Portfolios tool and follow these steps:

1. If the Portfolios home page is not displayed, click the Reset button.
2. Find the portfolio you want to change and click the Revise link below its name. Sakai displays the Revise Portfolio screens, beginning with Step 1 of 3: Begin.
3. Make changes to the boxes as needed. For more information, see "Creating a Portfolio," steps 6 - 10. Continue, as appropriate, as instructed in either "Creating a Portfolio Based on Your Own Design", or "Using a Template To Create a Portfolio".

Publishing a Portfolio

After you have created a portfolio, you may publish it for others to view. You have the option of publishing it to groups of people on your site, to individuals outside your site or outside Sakai environment, or to a URL that can be accessed by anyone via a Web browser.

To publish a portfolio, access the Portfolio tool and follow these steps:

1. If the Portfolios home page is not displayed, click the Reset button.
2. Find the portfolio tool you want to publish and click the Publish link below its name. Sakai displays the Select Audience This screen contains two sections: The Publish to a Group or Individual section and the Publish to the Web section.

• A right-facing arrow in the header for either section indicates that the section is closed. To open it so you can see the boxes in that section, click the arrow.
• A down-facing arrow in the header for either section indicates that the section is open (that is, its boxes are displayed). To close it, click the arrow.
  3. To make this portfolio available to all site members who are assigned to a particular role and/or to make it available to specific site members, follow these steps:
• In the Publish to a Group or Individual section, click the appropriate role or name in the Role/Name box. (Roles are listed first, followed by names. You may need to scroll down to see all of the names.) Or hold the CTRL key down as you click multiple roles and/or names.
• Click the Add button. Sakai displays the roles and names you have chosen in the Selected Audience box.
  4. To share your portfolio with someone who is not a site member, enter the person's email address in the Individual Email box and click Add. Sakai adds that address to the Selected Audience box. Repeat this step for each email address you want to add.
  5. To post your portfolio on the Web, check the Public URL box in the Publish to Web section. Sakai then displays the default URL for this site's portfolios in the box to the right. To specify another URL, change the entry in the box. Caution Checking the Public URL box makes your portfolio publicly accessible by anyone with access to the Web.
  6. After identifying the audience for this portfolio, choose one of these options:
• To publish the portfolio and notify your audience that it is ready for viewing, click Finish and Notify. Sakai displays this screen:
• To publish the portfolio without notifying the audience, click Finish. Sakai publishes the work and displays the Portfolios home page.
• To return to the Step 2 of 3: Design screen, click Back.
• To return to the home page without publishing the portfolio, click Cancel.
  7. If you clicked Finish and Notify, fill out the fields of the Notify Viewers screen as follows:
• Check the box for each role or individual user that you want to notify.
• In Your Message, enter any message that should be included in the email.
  8. To send this message to the selected users, click Send. Sakai sends the message and displays the Portfolios home page again. Or, to return to the home page without publishing the portfolio and sending the message, click Cancel.

Important After you click Send, people who are not members of this site but who are in your selected audience receive two emails. The first email notifies them that an account has been set up for them on the site and provides the login ID and password needed to access it. The second email contains information needed to access your portfolio on that site. In order to view your portfolio, these users must enter information from both emails. Site members who are in your audience receive only one email. This email notifies them that your portfolio is ready to view and provides information needed to access your portfolio.

Downloading (Exporting) a Portfolio

You may download (that is, export) to your desktop any portfolio you have created. The portfolio will be exported as a compressed (zipped) file made up of numerous HTML files. To download a portfolio, access the Portfolios tool and follow these steps:

1. If the Portfolios home page is not displayed, click the Reset button.
2. Find the portfolio you want to download and click the Download link below its name.
3. Proceed as instructed.

Deleting a Portfolio

You may delete any portfolio you have created. To delete a portfolio, access the Portfolios tool and follow these steps:

1. If the Portfolios home page is not displayed, click the Reset button.
2. Find the portfolio you want to delete and click the Delete link below its name. Sakai displays the Delete Confirmation window.
3. To delete this portfolio, click OK. Sakai deletes the portfolio and displays the Portfolios home page. Or, to return to that page without deleting the portfolio, click Cancel.

Viewing a Portfolio and Its Comments

To view a portfolio and comments on it that you are permitted to see, access the Portfolios tool and follow these steps:

1. If the Portfolios home page is not displayed, click the Reset button.
2. Find the portfolio you want to view, and click its name. Sakai opens a new window and displays the portfolio in it.This screen has three parts:

• The top portion of this screen contains the actual portfolio.
• Below the portfolio are comments (if any) that have been made by individuals who have already viewed the work.
• At the bottom of the screen is an area in which you may add comments of your own.
  3. If the portfolio has multiple pages, use the links to view other pages.
  4. To exit, close the window.

Leaving a Comment

To leave comments on a portfolio you are viewing, follow these steps:

1. Scroll to the "Add new comment" section near the bottom of the screen.
2. Enter a title and a comment of any length in the Title and Comment boxes, respectively. Both of these entries are required.
3. Under the "Make this comment visible to" subheading, choose one of the following options:

• Make the comment visible only to yourself by clicking the Only Me radio button.
• Make the comment visible only to yourself and the person who created the portfolio by clicking the The Owner and I radio button.
• Make the comment visible to the general public by clicking the Everyone button is the active button. This is the default option.
  4. To submit your comment, click submit.
  5. To exit, close the window.

Managing Comments on Your Portfolio

When you view a portfolio you have created, the middle section of the display contains comments that have been left for you to see. (You cannot see comments that were left by someone else and marked as private.) The Comments section looks something like this:

Each comment has a header in boldface type. The header includes the following:

• The word "public," "shared," or "private," indicating whether everyone, you and the person who left the comment, or only you can view the comment.
• The name of the person who left this comment
• The date and time the comment was left
• One or more links with which you can manage this comment. Using these links you may delete the comment or change the audience that is permitted to view it.

The next line or lines contain the comment itself.

To manage a comment, take any of these steps:

• Delete it by clicking the Delete link in the header. Sakai deletes the comment immediately. Caution: Be sure you want to delete a comment before clicking Delete. Sakai does not display a delete verification window before deleting the comment.
• Change the audience to include only yourself and the person who left the comment by clicking the make shared link.
• Change the audience to include everyone by clicking the make public link.
• For a comment you have left, change the audience to private by clicking the make private link.

Viewing Comments on All of Your Portfolios

To read comments about all of your portfolios, access the Portfolios tool and follow these steps:

1. If the Portfolios home page is not displayed, click the Reset button.
2. In the Portfolios menu at the top of the page, click the Comments from others button. Sakai displays the Comments Written About My Portfolios screen. Information on each comment fills two rows.

• The top row indicates the name of the portfolio and the template used to create it (if any), the title of the comment and the date and time it was submitted, and the name of the author who left the comment. The last column indicates whether the comment is displayed to everyone (Public), only to you and the author of the comment (Shared), or only to you (Private; you will see this comment and the Private notation only if you have left a comment on your own portolio).
• The second row contains the text of the comment.
  3. If desired, sort the list by any of the headings. To do so, simply click the heading you want to sort by. The first time you click a heading, Sakai sorts the list in ascending order. If you click the heading again, Sakai sorts the list in descending order.
  4. To return to the Portfolios home page, click the Reset button.

Viewing Your Comments on Portfolios

To read comments you have made about portfolios on this site, access the Portfolios tool and follow these steps:

1. If the Portfolios home page is not displayed, click the Reset button.
2. In the Portfolios menu at the top of the page, click the My Comments button. Sakai displays the Comments screen. Information on each comment fills two rows.

• The top row indicates the name of the portfolio and the template used to create it (if any), the title of your comment and the date and time you submitted it, and the name of the portfolio owner. The last column indicates whether the comment is displayed to everyone (Public), only to you and the portfolio owner (Shared), or only to you (Private).
• The second row contains the text of your comment.
  3. If desired, sort the list by any of the headings. To do so, simply click the heading you want to sort by. The first time you click a heading, Sakai sorts the list in ascending order. If you click the heading again, Sakai sorts the list in descending order.
  4. To return to the Portfolios home page, click the Reset button.

Seeing Who Has Viewed Your Portfolio

To see a list of users who have looked at a portfolio you created, access the Portfolios tool and follow these steps:

1. If the Portfolios home page is not displayed, click the Reset button.
2. Find the portfolio you are interested in, and click the Statistics link beneath its name. Sakai displays the Portfolio Statistics screen. The screen contains a list that includes the name of each person who has looked at your portfolio and the date and time the user accessed it.
3. To return to the Portfolios home page, click the Reset button.

Changing Permissions

To change the default permissions for the Portfolios tool, access the tool and follow these steps:

1. If the Portfolios menu bar is not displayed, click the Reset button.
2. Click the Permissions button on the menu bar. Sakai displays the Permissions screen.
3. Referring to the table below, check boxes to select the appropriate permissions for users in each role.

4. To save the permissions settings, click save. Sakai saves the settings and displays the Portfolios home page. Or, to return to that screen without saving your changes, click cancel.