Portfolios

Hello, Kat.

Good idea to have an updated portfolio ready to go!    To answer your questions:

(1)  If you developed courses as a "work for hire" with copyrighted content, you can not (or should not) put that in a portfolio without the company's written permission.  I have found that most companies are very understanding, and realize that your portfolio is your calling card and how you land new clients.  Some clients may request that you have the portfolio on a "password protected" web page, which means that every time someone wants to view your portfolio, they have to email you and get the password.   Other options include editing the course to remove the copyrighted material and any references to the company. 

What I have started doing is having a portfolio with only 3-4 slides from each project.  That's enough to give prospective clients an idea of your capability, and also is usually not an issue with clients.  (However, I still always ask clients if they are okay with me including that in my portfolio.)

(2)  I use a website to upload portfolio samples.  I work in many different media (eLearning, video, electronic "flip" magazines, etc.)  My eLearning samples are usually in Articulate, Captivate, or one of the myriad m-learning (mobile learning) development tools. 

(3)  Keep it short.  No one will sit through a 20-minute course anyway, so just a few of your very best screens from each project is sufficient.  Be sure to include screens from one project that highlight your understanding of adult learning methodologies (how you set objectives, quizzses, tests, interactions, and so on) and some that demonstrate your graphic design and avatar programming/design capabilities, as well as your creativity. 

Good luck!  

@Sharon Jones shared this in another post it is a blog post from Dave Moxon. I think it would be a great way to create a sample portfolio.

http://daveperso.mediaenglishonline.com/2010/09/15/grouping-presentations-with-a-menu-the-easy-way/

For my copyrighted courses I just put a picture. I'm checking with my boss on what he will allow.

Also in my case, we have certain parts that are available on our website (for example the help file) that I'm asking for permission to link to.

But most importantly, I always try to spend a little time each week working on little "side projects" which is what I mostly put in my portfolio. You don't have to make a whole course, but just play around with the design, or maybe you see a really cool idea in the community that you can't really use for your "dayjob" projects.

For me my "dayjob" work gets really "boring" because all of our courses look the same and have similar functionality. Being "creative" on the side with no client helps keep me sane AND build my portfolio.

I used articulate but some people are annoyed by flash website, so you have to keep your audience in mind. Since I only work with articulate at the moment (no captivate or other rapid software) it made sense for me to emphasize my articulate ability. But you'll want whatever is best for what YOU can do (you might even be able to make non-flash courses, which if the case, you would want your website to be apple-friendly)

- Kayla

Such useful advice. Thanks guys.

@Vicki - I like the idea of a few slides only for an over all feel. Do you think I would need to ask permission if I changed the content to random text and just showed the visual design elements (minus logos of course)???

@ Zara - I had seen that post but hadn't considered using it in that way!

@Kayla - I have to say my "dayjob" is very limiting for creative expression too! I should really start some side projects cause I have all these ideas floating around that got put into "a future job" category and would make a good starting point.

Thanks for the input everyone