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When I was younger, I would pay special attention to the commercials of my favorite Nickelodeon cartoons. I would wait and wait to catch a glimpse of a particular company’s products, just to see what was new: LEGO. I’m still not sure what drew me to this brick building plastic bag of awesomeness. Maybe it was the minifigures and tiny pieces, or maybe I had a little engineer inside. All I know is if I unwrapped a new LEGO set on Christmas morning, pure elation would follow.
Now to all my fellow Lego builders, I don’t know how you approached the construction of a fresh brick set. Some may have started playing immediately, some may have created something on their own, but I was pretty methodical. I would unbox and organize the pieces and then spend some time looking over the instructions, making sure I was ready to undertake the task ahead. The instructional booklet was a type of bible that had to be followed, even down to which hand the knight was supposed to hold the sword. It wasn’t until the final product had been completed that I dare deviate from my pictorial handbook. But let me tell you, once I dared to use my own creativity, I unleashed. While I may be much older (with kids of my own that play with their own Legos), I have realized that I still approach building projects of all kinds in the same manner.
Let’s unwrap Lego Set #5303: The ePortfolio.
Unboxing
This course provided me with the opportunity to fully investigate the best way to construct this project. With so many various platform options, I needed to spend adequate time finding one that would be the best fit for my goals and purpose. I am very familiar with Google sites but was hesitant to use this platform due to the limited customization of its features. I also explored WordPress, which seems like a fantastic tool. However, I found myself spending way too much time trying to learn the platform, rather than focusing on the content. I landed on Wix. I chose this tool because it felt like the right balance between customization and learner-ease.
Organizing the Pieces
Just like I did with the hundreds of individual Lego bricks, I also took the main parts of my ePortfolio and decided how to organize them. Most of the pieces (projects) were completed in EDLD 5302:
By far the hardest part of this process has been the organization. I wanted to figure out the best way to make my projects and resources easy to find and enticing to read, all in a fluid structure that makes sense to the reader. After several trial-and-errors, I landed on the current organizational model, heavily relying on the blog manager to house most of the created content.
Instruction Manual (or lack of)
Unfortunately for me, ePortfolios do not come with a standard set of instructions to guarantee a quality product. As referenced in an earlier blog post, I would say that I am not naturally gifted in building something from scratch. I often use models, other examples, or some sort of given structure in order to gain ideas and then alter and add to make it my own. Thankfully, there was time to analyze and review other projects. which provided so many different ideas on how to construct the inner workings of an ePortfolio. I thoroughly enjoyed looking through projects of former Lamar students. This was especially helpful because it allowed me to see a completed product (almost like looking at the art of the front of a Lego box). I can honestly say that my ePortfolio would not be in the polished state that it is in without gleaning from other people’s creativity and hard work.
Getting Creative
The one thing that has been most impactful from my experience in EDLD 5303 is that I think that I have found my voice, specifically when it comes to blogging. Now that the structure seems to be in place, I feel comfortable exploring different ways to communicate about my learning experiences. Hopefully, it is evident throughout the different posts (and even the Lego analogy in this current text) that I want to find a creative, unique way to engage my audience and provide material that will benefit them in some way.
The Final Product
Now by no means is my ePortfolio finished; I think that is part of owning a digital resource like this, it is never finished. As I continue to learn, grow and progress throughout my educational career, this is a place that will document that growth and continue to show meaningful connections to practical applications that will hopefully benefit the educational community. This truly is the impact of a well-developed ePortfolio - putting the COVA learning theory into practice through an authentic learning experience.
I used to invite my friends over to play with my Lego sets. We could spend hours constructing, deconstructing and rearranging all to make different creations. Part of the joy of Legos was sharing the experience with others. This is something that I would like to explore in the future and is actually a part of my Innovative Learning Project, sharing the experience of the ePortfolio with fellow teachers as they develop their own platform to showcase their learning and growth.