Tech Directions - December 2008 - (Page 15)

portfolios that will sell the candidate—the student—to an employer. With this goal in mind, I have my students prepare two types of digital portfolios: a “general” portfolio and an “interview” portfolio. • General portfolio—An organized collection and presentation of all of the student’s best work from the twoyear program. • Interview Portfolio—A speciﬁc organized collec- Sample Gantt chart to include in digital portfolio tion of work compiled and presented for a speciﬁc job interview. This is the showcase of work that will “sell” the candidate to an employer. This portfolio is designed with a user interface. For a web presentation, an HTML interface is programmed. For mail-in or face-to-face interviews, we use a CD-R or DVD format with a Microsoft PowerPoint or Adobe Flash interface. with the ﬁrst thing listed in the job descriptions also being the ﬁrst thing on their résumé. Students hold appropriate e-mail addresses that make it easy for an employer to identify them. An interview portfolio is designed to speciﬁcally feature work for the skills required in the job posting. I encourage seniors to create an HTML interface for their portfolios so that interviewers can review their work in a browser. Although game demos might be provided in a “.exe” ﬁle format” or in a Flash .swf format, other student work examples are linked with PDF ﬁles. Although work is not hosted on the Web without parent permission, students learn about the opportunities and problems associated with work posted on the Web. Students create a professional-appearing label based on the interface screen for each CD-R or DVD. They then burn, test, and label three copies of the interview portfolio. They mail one to the prospective employer, take one with them to the interview, and keep one themselves. If the student has a laptop, he or she will install a copy of the interview portfolio on it. Grading the General Portfolio I arrange for professionals in the ﬁeld to give feedback on students’ portfolios, then have the students ﬁll in the rubric shown in Table 1. Table 1— General Portfolio Grading Rubric How you graded your portfolio How professionals graded your portfolio General Portfolio Building Tasks • Each team member plans, organizes, and creates a general portfolio. Team members include 16 to 40 pieces of work in their general portfolio. • The portfolio is organized according to a plan. Only original student-created work is included in the portfolio. • A menu-driven user-interface is programmed for selecting work. • Two copies of the general portfolio are burned to a labeled CD-R, one to be kept by the student and one to be kept by the teacher in the student’s ﬁle. • Two-color labels are printed with the student’s name, copyright information, school name, and instructional program name. Students review and discuss general portfolios from previous classes that are built on one of three general portfolio organizational plans. After discussing the plans, students compare each plan and determine which would be the best choice for each student. Students then ﬁnalize their selection of a plan for organizing their portfolios. Items marked with [R] are required in the portfolio. Part I: Functionality, presentation, and user interface A. Functionality and presentation, maximum 10 points B. Organization, maximum 15 points C. User interface, maximum 25 points Total points A-C, maximum 50 Professionalism and packaging D. Professionalism, maximum 25 points E. Packaging, maximum 25 points Total Points D-E, maximum 50 Part I final grade Part II: Content A. Demonstrated technical proficiency, maximum 25 points B. Application knowledge, maximum 25 points C. Balance, variety, and originality, maximum 50 points Total points A-C, maximum 100 Part II final grade Interview Portfolio Throughout the senior year, students review job postings at www.gamejobs.com to read position descriptions and to apply for jobs. For the graduate, this site offers additional services. When students ﬁnd listings that are a match, they write a new cover letter and résumé based on the speciﬁc position description in the order of the skills posted. In other words, students design their résumé www.techdirections.com COMMUNICATIONS 15 http://www.gamejobs.com http://www.techdirections.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Tech Directions - December 2008

Tech Directions - December 2008 Contents Advertisers Index Technically Speaking Direct from Washington The Report Technology Today Technology’s Past Mastering Computers Digital Portfolios—Powerful Marketing Tool for Communication Students Choosing the Right CC Welding Unit—Student Success Depends on It Think Green—Increasing Awareness of Garbage and Recycling Think Green—Teach Students Smart Ways to Reduce Home Energy Use Go International! Build a Simplified Shortwave Receiver Mooresville Middle School Snags Web Site of the Month Gifts for Geeks More than Fun

Tech Directions - December 2008

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