ENG1A Eportfolio assignment

the typepad site went down for maintenance so I am posting on my own blog as proof I completed it at around 10:45PM Monday Feb. 26th. I will also print one and bring it to class tomorrow as well as post this on the class blog once the site is back up.




First of all, I found this question really interesting (it is always surprising just how well we can all relate to archetypes).

Dr. Noble mentions that each part of life is like a quest, and I think that this is generally true. At first we all have to grow up and then we begin to be exposed to different ideas, develop different skills, and find what creates passion in our lives. That stage would be the call, and then the rest of the journey or “quest” is trying to realize that call, or achieve one or several goals that one sets for themselves.

Eportfolios are primarily intended to serve as a showcase of an individuals work. This can be in the format of a chronological progression or it can detail someones development in a subject or at a skill. This is the aspect of Dr. Noble that relates to Eportfolios as the typical portfolio is not just about one set of work that the owner created but it instead shows change, thought, learning, and progression. If one is Odysseus, then their Eportfolio is an autobiographical Odyssey in a sense that it shows each new challenge that they faced on their quest to master the skill that their Eportfolio is all about. In the past I had to work on a portfolio for webdesign and I had to showcase not just one skillset I mastered, but all of the technique, design, and programming knowledge I have acquired. That portfolio experience reminds me of Dr. Noble’s idea about life as a quest, because in all of the aspects of my knowledge that my portfolio conveyed, there was an inherent display of progress in what I had created. At first I had to show my basic knowledge and explain myself; why I like to deal with web-architecture, why I am passionate—my calling. Next was a display of previous projects I had worked on—essentially a retelling of all the challenges I had to conquer. The most complicated code and design in my portfolio could be compared to Noble’s homecoming, it was the grand result of all of the trials I had to face.

In the ‘flat world’ that we are reading about in class, we can see that the world is rapidly changing. If one organizes their eportfolio around Dr. Noble’s idea of a quest, then one can express how they have changed, learned, and progressed. Eportfolios are not about showing the same work over and over again, they are about chronicling all of one’s skills in an area. With an eportfolio modeled in Noble’s way, an employer can see that a prospective candidate is versatile and has a diverse skillset. In the world today, adaptability and complex skills are what is most valued and eportfolios allow a user to display real concrete evidence of what they can do. If they show how they can change and adapt than this makes the person even more attractive if they are trying to get noticed because it shows they will be able to function in the new ‘flat world’ and change when they must. It is in this way that the ‘lifequest’ idea that Noble outlines might actually be a great way to model an Eportfolio. Particularly in the IT related field, employers aren’t looking for someone that can only do one thing, they need to know that an employee can learn since the technology is always changing and they need to know that the people that they hire have a broad skillset to optimize new technologies. When one’s work is displayed as a subtle progression, these ideas can all be expressed.

Even on a personal level, one can appreciate what they have achieved even more when they realize where they have started from—or once they understand their journey.