Introduction to ePortfolios with Digication
Topics discussed in this document:
ePortfolio Dashboard
Creating a new ePortfolio
ePortfolio Functions
Courses
Creating ePortfolio Templates
Digication is an ePortfolio tool that allows students to respond to assignments and discussion questions, create specific ePortfolio sites for courses and projects, and share work with peers and professors to receive feedback online. Digication allows instructors and students to customize their ePortfolios to fit their needs based on course goals. Students can create an unlimited number of ePortfolios, and can set viewing permissions for each. Anyone with access to an ePortfolio can leave feedback in the form of comments.
ePortfolios present similarly to websites and are arranged into pages that contain specific information on projects and topics, with commenting and discussion functionality built in.
Digication operates on any device with a supported browser, with most of the functionality still active except for some of the specific editing capabilities for ePortfolios.
Logging into the Dashboard and Creating a new ePortfolio: When a student or faculty member logs into Pratt.digication.com/app/ they will view their dashboard. If there are ePortfolios the user has access to already, the first six will be displayed in the section “My ePortfolios,” with a plus sign icon to the right to create a new ePortfolio. If no ePortfolios exist for the user, there will be templates listed in this section to create a new ePortfolio with.
Creating an ePortfolio: Select “create new ePortfolio” from the Dashboard page. Type the name of the ePortfolio here, select a template, and click create.
Settings: From the ePortfolio menu, as shown below, click on settings and select “Permissions” under “Permissions & Share.” This option allows you to set who is able to view your ePortfolio, and from this settings window you can additionally add members of specific courses or groups to your settings. Allow members of your class to View, Edit, Publish, and/or access the Settings of your ePortfolio site. As seen below, students can grant other students form their course permission to view the ePortfolios, which grants the ability to make comments.
Comments: By pressing the comment icon (as seen below) in the lower right hand corner of the ePortfolio page while on Published View, you can view the comments that other students and faculty members have left on your page. Comments can be replied to directly, creating nested threads in response to particular things on the page.
Sections: ePortfolios are arranged in sections, which can be added with the “Add content” button (blue plus sign icon). These sections can include a number of types of content, including audio, video, pdfs, other uploaded files, embedded google drive documents, and more.
Pre-existing sections can be edited as well; double click on the section or hover over it to show a menu that allows you to edit and move the module.
Pages: ePortfolios are organized into pages that can be accessed from the ePortfolio’s header. While editing the ePortfolio page, hover over the header and click on the lock to be able to make changes to this section, as shown below.
From here, hover over the listed pages in your ePortfolio, and select the first button in the menu, edit (as shown below), to open the Pages Settings.
The Pages Settings allow the user to rename the various pages in the ePortfolio, create new pages for topics, and edit the urls of the new pages. Create subpages by clicking and dragging an existing page below another, nesting them.
Publishing: ePortfolios automatically save changes made as you edit. These changes are only available to the creator in editing mode; the changes will become public when published. While editing the ePortfolio, use the toggle at the top of the screen (shown below) to see the currently published version of your site. Click the “Publish Changes” button in the yellow banner to publish the changes made to that page only; publish all pages by navigating to the ePortfolio menu (hamburger menu with down arrow to the right of the toggle, as shown below) and clicking “Publish Pages.”
Viewing Courses from the Dashboard: Below the section My ePortfolios, there is a listing of courses. These courses are updated based on the class rosters and should include your current courses. Instructors have the ability to create new courses here with the blue plus sign icon in the upper right hand corner of the screen.
Courses allow instructors to post discussion topics, links, and assignments, and allows for a centralized location for all ePortfolios associated with, and shared with, the course.
Creating Templates for ePortfolio: Make a template ePortfolio for your course for students to complete on their own ePortfolio pages.
Create a simple ePortfolio that includes multiple pages for specific projects and lesson responses, format the pages to include sections for each required piece of information. In this template ePortfolio, include the desired accessibility settings for the student ePortfolios in this course. While editing this ePortfolio, click on the ePortfolio menu and click on the option “Add ad Template.”
For a course template, include the name of the class in the title of the template. In Template Settings you can set the template accessibility to public, and share the template with all members of your class.
More information on creating and managing templates can be found here.
Using Templates on ePortfolio: The created template is accessible to students in the course. When creating a new ePortfolio, students should select the template in the available Template Library.
Tutorials used in creating this document can be found here