Adding Items
Adding content to your Portfolio is accomplished by creating content items. Adding items to your portfolio is an effective way to store, share, and reflect on your course-related material. Your instructor may ask you to add a portfolio item as part of an assignment.
A portfolio page is automatically created for each class you are enrolled in. To access the portfolio for a given class go to the course homesite and click the portfolio link located on the left side of the page.
If your instructor has created a portfolio template for the course the content items will already have been created. Otherwise, you can add your items.
On the portfolio page for your class, you will see the message: "This portfolio contains material associated with Course Name, letting you know you are on the right page for your class.
To add a new item click on the Add Portfolio Item box in the lower left-hand corner of the screen.
This brings you to the add portfolio item screen. A portfolio item has three main elements, the Item Title, the Abstract, and the Item Content.
Enter a title for your portfolio item in the Item Title field. You can enter a summary of your item in the Abstract field.
The Item Content field will contain the main body of your content item. You can enter text directly into this field by typing or by cutting and pasting from a word processor.
You can also attach one or many files to your item content with the Add Attachment link. This feature allows you to add documents, images, and videos to your portfolio items. For more information on this feature please see the tutorial on adding attachments.
When you are finished adding content click on the Post button to add the item to your portfolio.
Your new portfolio item will then be displayed as it appears to others viewing it. You can edit an item that you have already posted by clicking on the Edit Item button.
When your Instructor requests you to review other student's work you can access their portfolios by clicking on the Class List located at the top of your courses homesite. To add comments to their portfolio items click on the Post Review / Comment button. This link can also be used to add comments to your item. The Self-Reflection button allows you to reflect on your writing process and comments made by other students.
Posting Options
When editing a portfolio item there are four posting options:
1. REPOST
If you are not using the Revisions feature you can use the Repost button to update the content of your portfolio item. The Repost button is always available unless someone has commented on your item. Changes made to items with comments be as a new version.
2. POST
This option creates a new version of your content and keeps the original. The Post option should be used to create Revisions of your item and allows you to track major changes made to your work. This option is especially useful if your instructor requests you to post multiple drafts of a writing assignment, a requirement for many classes.
When using the Revisions feature, the newest version of your content will be displayed. To view the previous versions click on the Revisions link. The total number of revisions will be listed in parentheses at the end of the link.
Clicking this link will take you to the Revisions History page which page provides details for each revision and lists them by number. Each revision is saved with any comments, reflections, and assessments associated with it. To view a revision click on its link.
When editing a revision the revision number and posting date and time are displayed at the top of the page. You can navigate between revisions using the 'prev', 'next', and 'current' buttons. Use the history button to return to the Revision History page.
3. SAVE
If you make changes to an item but are not ready to post it you can use the Save button to create a working draft.
Portfolio Items that you are editing will autosave once per minute to prevent loss of data if your browser closes unexpectedly. The time a draft was last saved will be displayed in bold in the lower left-hand corner of the post options screen.
When you edit a portfolio item with a saved draft it will display the previous draft screen.
4. Cancel
If you make unwanted changes to your work you can use the Cancel button to discard them. This option does not save changes anywhere and should be used with caution.
