Eportfolio Options Google tools

Prepared by Belinda Allen, Learning and Teaching Unit, November 2014.

There are many open tools available that could be used for different types of eportfolio. Indeed, it is
common practice for professionals to use a range of tools to collect, curate and present evidence of
achievements. Google provides a suite of tools that can be useful for eportfolio purposes including
Blogger, Google sites, Google docs, Picasa, Youtube, Google+ and Hangouts (as well as the widelyused Gmail). Google provides resum templates to convert Google docs into a resum format. LinkedIn,
not a Google product, but widely used for professional networking, also offers a resum tool.
If using open tools such as Google for eportfolios for your students, please be aware that:

Open tools are not hosted by UNSW, so there is no technical support or archiving of content
located here. It will be your responsibility to advise students on requirements. For example, for
assessment purposes you may wish to ask students to copy from their eportfolio to a Moodle
assignment submission to ensure that proper assessment records are kept. (A copy of
assessable work must be kept until after the course results have been released, appeal window
closed, etc., just like an essay or other submitted work assessment.)
Using open tools requires students to create their own accounts, and have responsibility for their
eportfolio, thereby encouraging student ownership. When students may be publicly sharing
content, they should be aware of the potential consequences, for example copyright
requirements when sharing material from other sources.
UNSW has a Digital Media policy which can help to guide you, and Student Social Media
Guidelines to provide information for students. Your School may have a policy on use of open
tools for learning activities and assessments, so please check.
Google tools matched to eportfolio activities

Tool

Ease of use

Features

Privacy

Links

Not a single tool, but

different apps integrate
well and are accessible
through one log-in.

Can manage privacy in

Google drive, Picasa
albums, Google sites,
Blogger.

http://www.google.com.au/intl/en_au/about/pro
ducts/
Google apps for eportfolios:
https://sites.google.com/site/eportfolioapps/

Very easy. Requires Blog posts, Pages,

Google (Gmail)
Commenting
account.
Image gallery (through
Picasa)
1GB storage

Public or private, invite

others to view, no
control at page/post
level.

https://www.blogger.com

Public or private,
Doc-level control.
Share via Google
groups, or by invitation.

https://docs.google.com

Holistic eportfolio
Google
products/
apps

Requires Google
(Gmail) account.
Many people
already have
account.

Reflective eportfolio
Google
Blogger

Example of blog:
http://sampleportfolio.blogspot.com.au/
How-to:
https://support.google.com/blogger/answer/16
23800?hl=en
Portfolio-style templates:
http://www.bloggerdiy.com/2013/10/portfolioblogger-templates.html

Collecting evidence
Google
drive/ docs

Similar to Word doc. Document-based. Create

And Dropbox.
folder to collect items.
Requires Google
(Gmail) account.

Showcase (website)

Example of public Google doc:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/19qgtjYh
L0OfKHNfSDYI0_upFeXJ6RYnoi8eXYpF9Wt
E/edit?usp=sharing

Google
sites

Website builder.
Requires Google
(Gmail) account.

Web pages more

controls.
Commenting for editors
only
Attach files, 100MB
storage

Public or private, can

invite others to view.
Page-level control.
Share via Google
groups

https://sites.google.com/

Integrates with
Google+. Requires
Google (Gmail)
account.

15 GB of free storage to
Manage privacy by
share across Google
album.
Drive, Gmail, and Google+
Photos.

http://picasa.google.com.au/

Video upload and

share. Requires
Google (Gmail)
account.

15 min/20GB limit per

upload

http://www.youtube.com/

Google
Resume
templates

Integrates with
Google docs.

Use templates within

Public or private,
Google docs to format and Doc-level control
share your resume.
Share via Google
groups.

Linked In

Commonly used
professional tool.

Supports social networking Limited privacy settings. http://www.linkedin.com/

with professional context. Manage privacy through http://resume.linkedinlabs.com/
Dedicated resume tool.
creating contacts.

Examples of Google sites:

https://sites.google.com/a/nd.edu/michelle-mfuhrman-s-e-portfolio/home
https://sites.google.com/a/nd.edu/ddejaegh/ab
out-me
How-to:
https://sites.google.com/site/eportfolioapps/onl
ine-tutorials-sites/sites-how-to

Image gallery
Google+
photos
(Picasa)

Example of public Picasa gallery:

https://picasaweb.google.com/116272870812
037282078/Architecture

Media gallery
Google
YouTube

Public by default.
Privacy managed in
Google+.

Example of public YouTube collection:

http://www.youtube.com/user/matrixeducation

Resume
Resume templates
https://drive.google.com/templates?q=resume

UNSW Student Social Media Guidelines - https://student.unsw.edu.au/social-media-guidelines

UNSW Digital Media Policy - https://www.gs.unsw.edu.au/policy/documents/digitalmediapolicy.pdf