I’m shocked that I haven’t included this as a Terminology Tuesday. I’ve written extensively about portfolios, which I’ll link to below, but I began drafting this post after DevLearn 2016. Tim Slade was giving a Morning Buzz on Friday morning regarding Portfolios, and at dinner the night before he mentioned that I should pop by. I did, and was first surprised by the amount of people who already had portfolios, but also by how much the discussion was able to help 1) those who didn’t have one yet, and 2) those who needed information related to more of the logistics behind portfolio building.
In any event, being an instructional designer, e-learning designer, or e-learning developer without a portfolio is pretty much a crime. At least if you want to position yourself well within the market. There are a lot of developers out there competing for jobs that you might hope to have (now or in the future), so it’s important to get your work out there, but to do so in a strategic manner.
E-Learning Portfolio
An e-learning portfolio is a container that houses most of your best work. The goal of your portfolio is to be able to provide a visual guide, for prospective clients, as to what you can do within the technologies you work within.
Sure, you might not be able to share all of your coolest things because of non-disclosure agreements or proprietary content concerns, but you can still create SOMETHING. How will prospective clients know that you can do the type of work they need done if you have no way of showing that you’re capable of doing that type of work?!
I’m not going to repeat myself too much here, but if you want to dive further down the hole of why I think portfolios are so important, please check out the following resources. I include tons of tips for creating an effective e-learning portfolio, and have even been told this past week, that the ‘How to Build Your E-Learning Portfolio’ series has been a good job aid and effective motivator!
Resources
How to Build Your E-Learning Portfolio – Part 1
How to Build Your E-Learning Portfolio – Part 2
How to Build Your E-Learning Portfolio – Part 3
How to Build Your E-Learning Portfolio – Part 4
Podcast: Share Your Tips for Creating Effective E-Learning Portfolios
Learning Solutions 2015 Presentation: Building Your E-Learning Portfolio
Good reminder – people often don’t build their portfolios constantly, but only when there is a direct need, like job seeking happens, while the moment you finally get the thing done is the best moment to highlight what do you think was the best part of the work you’ve done.