9.24.2009

10 Easy Portoflio Solutions


In the past I've made the last project for many of my classes the creation of a digital portfolio. For example, when I taught in New York my year three video classes would have to create a DVD portfolio, and my advanced photography classes had to make a digital sideshow. I can't help but notice how much has changed in the last few years, specifically, how easy it is to make an online portfolio.

For example, iWeb just keeps getting better and better. It used to be a little annoying if you didn't have a .mac account. You'd need to save and export everything to a folder, then use a separate ftp client to upload it to your website. With iLife 08, they added the ability to put in little html clips if you were so inclined - which was great news if you know how to code, and even better news if you wanted to embed a video or any of the other embeddable goodies out there in the internets. Then, with iLife 09, they added a built-in ftp client and that small time saver makes a huge difference.

However, not all of us have Macs, or want to build portfolios from scratch- lets face it, if we're doing it with a class, we'll need to commit to learning a little bit about good web design - that is a great idea if you can work it into your curriculum. However, if you don't have the time, or don't have a mac, here are 10 great alternatives from Spoongraphics.

Well, its actually just 9 great alternatives (or 7 great alternatives if you're looking only for unpaid sites) as the last one is advice for building your own.

Here's one more though, if your students are shooting film or video. Reel Clever (Thanks Jerry!) is a site to upload and share your show reel!

This year, I'm making time for this - for my intro classes as well. As our collective concept of "publishing" changes, and we can find authetentic audiences outside the walls of the classroom, the students interaction with their own art work can no longer end with 'turning it in'.

1 Comment:

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