Here are some tips for putting together your e-Learning portfolio, including how to organize your content.
I am constantly working on my career portfolio. That is not a humble brag. I do it because
1) I know it can never be perfect, and 2) it is important that my portfolio reflects where I currently stand in my career (which evolves regularly).
There are a lot of articles and blog posts about portfolio building, like this post curated by myelearningworld.com or these tips from TD.org. I have used these resources myself and highly recommend you take a look at them, too.
In this post, I want to share a few tips I have not seen in other posts, including one important thing you need to remember before ever starting the portfolio building process. Let's get started:
Define your Instructional Design philosophy: Be clear about who you are as an Instructional Designer before you start building your portfolio. What do you believe about learning? How do you define Instructional Design? What learning models do you use? Once you have answered these questions, you will have a clear picture of what your portfolio should look like.
Create different versions of your portfolio: Depending on what you are applying for and what you are trying to showcase, consider tailoring a portfolio for that
Package your demos and samples as "case studies": Keep it simple. Make it easy for people visiting your site to understand your work. Organizing your content in packaged demos will help them process what you are sharing. "Your Instructional Design portfolio must have testimonials that demonstrate you as a problem solver, a team player and a great communicator. It must also talk about your ability to stick to the e-Learning project timelines. Do not forget to list down the diverse tools and technologies that you have used in previous e-Learning projects" - elearningindustry.com
Buy YOUR domain name: I own nylaspooner.com and a few other domains with my name in it like nylalxd.com. Most name domains cost about $10/year (this can vary, especially if you have a common name like John Smith). Then choose your website builder carefully. I've used Squarespace.com and Wix.com to build my own sites.
Make sure your portfolio shows who YOU are as an Instructional Designer: Tell YOUR story - not someone else's story. What works for John may not work for Mary. All you need to be able to do is justify your work, confidently.
Use training prompts to build out your portfolio: If you need content for your portfolio, and cannot use projects you have already worked on because of proprietary concerns, find prompts online to help you build out demo projects. Read more about this on my post, 249 E-Learning Portfolio Prompts.
Here's a great e-book from eLearningIndustry.com about "How to Kick Start and Boost An Amazing Instructional Design Career" that includes more tips on building your portfolio and expanding your career.
If you want one-on-one help building your portfolio, let's chat! You can book time with me here: www.calendly.com/nylaspooner