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E-Learning Challenges
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How Can E-Learning & Instructional Designers Showcase Their Work? #478

DavidAnderson's avatar
DavidAnderson
Staff
3 months ago

E-Learning Portfolio Tips & Examples #478: Challenge | Recap

What should I include in my e-learning portfolio?

Deciding what to put in your portfolio is where designers tend to struggle the most. If you’ve been at it for a while, the challenge is picking just the right projects that show off your skills and versatility without going overboard.

If you’re just getting started, the trick is highlighting your potential even if you don’t have a ton of examples yet. 

We’ve run a handful of portfolio challenges over the years, and the posts that always get the most attention are the ones where you not only share your portfolios but also throw in some tips and advice to help newbies get started. And that’s what this week’s challenge is all about.

🏆 Challenge of the Week

This week, your challenge has two parts:

First, share a link to your portfolio.

Second, create a short demo, interaction, or how-to guide that shares basic tips to help others get started building their portfolios. You can keep it general with tips and advice, or focus on specific topics like:

  • Hosting options
  • Personal branding
  • Design considerations
  • Apps and technology
  • Marketing and promotion
  • Common mistakes in portfolios

🧰 Resources

✨ Share Your E-Learning Work

  • Comments: Use the comments section below to link your published example and blog post.
  • Forums: Start a new thread and share a link to your published example.
  • Personal blog: If you have a blog, please consider writing about your challenges. We'll link to your posts, so your great work gets even more exposure.
  • Social media: If you share your demos on Twitter or LinkedIn, try using #ELHChallenge so your tweeps can follow your e-learning coolness.

🙌 Last Week’s Challenge:

Before you share your top portfolio-building tips, check out the ways course designers are using AI Assistant to speed up content creation and boost creativity:

AI Assistant Examples and Use Cases RECAP #477: Challenge | Recap

👋 New to the E-Learning Challenges?

The weekly e-learning challenges are ongoing opportunities to learn, share, and build your e-learning portfolios. You can jump into any or all of the previous challenges anytime you want. I’ll update the recap posts to include your demos.

Learn more about the challenges in this Q&A post and why and how to participate in this helpful article. 

📆 Upcoming Challenge & Webinars

E-Learning Challenge #478 (10.18): How to use [favorite app]. Create an interactive how-to guide on a popular app like Slack, Trello, or any app you use regularly. You can write a tutorial, record a screencast, build an interaction, or whatever you like. 

Updated 3 months ago
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  • JesseWu's avatar
    JesseWu
    Community Member
    3 months ago

    I wish I could have a fancy portfolio page with flashy MP4 or GIF background and a transparent black mask with white font showcasing all my works, like other searchable portfolio pages.

    And then I realized I don't have enough public works to hold it up. Half-length photos aren't my comfort zone either.

    So what can I do to compete on a less crowded track?

    https://woozie15273.github.io/tell-me-about-yourself/ ［Not for Mobile device］

    Will I remaster it with demos popping up after I have enough of them? That is a good-to-have feature. I do agree.

    • Jayashree_Ravi's avatar
      Jayashree_Ravi
      Community Member
      3 months ago

      This is a nice idea to showcase selected projects, Samuel! Very simple and creative! 

    • ThierryEMMANUEL's avatar
      ThierryEMMANUEL
      Community Member
      3 months ago

      I like the first quote, Samuel. Why leave it to a genius or a philosopher to say what you're capable of thinking yourself! Excellent way to tease your website.

  • JodiSansone's avatar
    JodiSansone
    Community Member
    3 months ago

    Sound Board Portfolio

    Demo: https://jodisdemos.s3.amazonaws.com/478+Soundboard+Portfolio/story.html

    When I am asked for a portfolio I try to create a theme that is targeted to what my client is looking for. That helps focus my attention and choose projects. For this portfolio have provided a collection of sound board interactions (Part 1) on how to use sound/audio in different ways. The "expert tips" demo provides "insights" for e-learning designers (Part 2). 

    Thanks Jonathan Hill and Ron Katz for mentioning NotebookLM a couple challenges ago. I tried it in the "Expert Tips" demo for the first time. I uploaded a 1.5 page pdf and it churned out a 12 minute conversation. I was amazed at first, but then I got fatigued with the characters. I lost count of how many times they said "Exactly" and "Right". It felt like a drinking game.

    Have a good week everyone!

    • ThierryEMMANUEL's avatar
      ThierryEMMANUEL
      Community Member
      3 months ago

      I don't know which I like better, Jodi. All four have lots of great ideas for using a soundboard, and even more ideas for everything else. 

    • mamrich's avatar
      mamrich
      Community Member
      2 months ago

      The pet harmony one was excellent! So innovative!

  • Jayashree_Ravi's avatar
    Jayashree_Ravi
    Community Member
    3 months ago

    I'm excited to share my portfolio: LearnCraft Studios Portfolio. I used Renderforest to create and host it. Since I can't showcase real client projects, the portfolio mainly includes my eLearning Heroes challenge entries and other fun projects that allow me to explore recent trends. The focus is on Storyline and Rise.

    Branding and Content
    I spent a few months working on the content and creating a unique color branding for the website before it went live. I update the examples occasionally to keep it fresh.

    Marketing Approach
    While I don’t engage in extensive marketing, I do use LinkedIn to share my challenge entries and showcase my work.

    Tip for Starting a Portfolio
    If you're just starting, focus on what you want to showcase—whether it's storyboards, interactive Storyline courses, or documents like course design or high-level analysis. Work on your selected content and seek inspiration from industry experts. Most importantly, take the plunge and get started!

    • CydWalker_mwhc's avatar
      CydWalker_mwhc
      Community Member
      3 months ago

      Sound advice Jayashree! I really like the animations on your tiles and clean navigation. A lot of exciting projects!

    • ThierryEMMANUEL's avatar
      ThierryEMMANUEL
      Community Member
      3 months ago

      Excellent portfolio, Jayashree. As many others have already said: the Learnflix demo is awesome.

  • Jonathan_Hill's avatar
    Jonathan_Hill
    Super Hero
    3 months ago

    Hello!

    My portfolio can still be found at https://engagebraintrain.com/portfolio... but if I'm brutally honest, I think I need to redesign my entire website.  My examples could be curated more intelligently.

    I think it's a good idea for portfolios to focus on use cases and skillsets.  So here's a short interaction that showcases five projects I have created using Javascript and advanced variables. It includes a recent 'side project' called SURVIVAL, which I am particularly proud of.

    NOTFLIX
    https://bit.ly/elhc478 

     

  • Ron_Katz's avatar
    Ron_Katz
    Community Member
    3 months ago

    Hello Heroes,

    My most recent portfolio is here:

    BAER eLearning Portfolio

    I like the fact that caard.co allows you to build a simple one page site without cost and they have only a very small indicator at the bottom of the screen that it is them.  I learned about this from another hero who posted a YouTube video comparing various "free" sites.

    Additionally, I posted extra work to medium which allows you to post unlimited articles online.

    My previous website used to show all of my content and e-learning challenges, but with the changes to the community that no longer shows up as the public profile looks very different now and community.articulate.com refuses to connect to my Wix website (which I linked to my profile and updated the color palette to match my portfolio. ) This is fine, as I have learned from other heroes that you should only feature 3-4 projects.

    caard.co allows you to copy your page as much as you like so my portfolio could be updated to match a clients needs just like Jodi suggests.

    I used AI to cartoonized my portfolio picture (mostly so that I don't look older than I feel).

    I appreciate any feedback.

    • CydWalker_mwhc's avatar
      CydWalker_mwhc
      Community Member
      3 months ago

      I wasn't aware of caard.co, thanks for sharing it and your portfolio! I like the streamlined interface and newsletter type design! Personally I had a harder time viewing the text with shadowing.

    • Jayashree_Ravi's avatar
      Jayashree_Ravi
      Community Member
      3 months ago

      Wow, Ron! You've put everything together beautifully! I'm glad to have a small space in your portfolio.  IFYKYK :D

    • JamesWashok's avatar
      JamesWashok
      Community Member
      3 months ago

      Overall, the content presentation is well-done. The focus on a "one-pager" is simple and streamlined.

      From a visual design point, as Cyd mentions, the use of shadowed fonts/type is difficult to focus on and could cause some issues. Additionally, the visual use of purple as a main color is quite difficult on the eyes. 

      The "blockiness" of the layout is also somewhat - well - amateurish. Again, the content itself is presented well, it's the visual delivery that is less than desirable.

      But nice use of newer tool overall. There are a lot of options out there for folks to build and present portfolios on, and this one looks like it may have potential use in certain cases.

  • ThierryEMMANUEL's avatar
    ThierryEMMANUEL
    Community Member
    3 months ago

    Bonjour Heroes.

    I usually show the pondfolio I designed especially for ELC#451. I like it and I don't want to change it at the moment. 

    https://360.articulate.com/review/content/373bd2f2-327b-4055-87bc-a01620cdb246/review

    But for this alternative version, I thought of a specific theme: movement, because static courses are boring. So, the demo is ENTIRELY dedicated to movement, in the teaser text, in the animations and in the examples I give (I realize that this demo isn't very practical for those who have trouble moving the mouse, I'm sorry about that).

    https://360.articulate.com/review/content/fc9358cb-c624-4ff2-8d02-2247a41daf16/review

    It's difficult to show our work because previous work belongs to my clients (sometimes under a non-disclosure agreement). We can never show previous work that looks exactly like what the customer is looking for. We can't show what our next work will be like for each customer. So we can only show our skills and a bit of our personality. That's what I've tried to do in the 2 portfolios. My hosting option is very simple : Review.

     

    • Samuel's avatar
      Samuel
      Community Member
      3 months ago

      I like the logic behind the movement. Thanks for sharing your source file.