Building Job Marketability Through Your Learning Environment
Michael Szapkiw & Amanda J. Rockinson-Szapkiw
School of Education, Liberty University
Abstract: Graduating students enter the job market hoping to find the perfect job they have been training for
throughout their course of study. Unfortunately, graduating students often find that there are hundreds of others
competing for that same job. So what will help them stand out in the crowd? And how can educators help? One
solution is to create a learning environment with the potential to meet course objectives and equip students with a
practical tool to find distinction in an often crowded job market. The solution discussed is eportfolios created
throughout coursework with the software WordPress.
Literature Review
Electronic portfolios (eportfolios) have been considered a relevant topic for discussion and investigation for well
over a decade. While eportfolios can serve a number of purposes within the higher education environment; they
have been primarily used to support licensure and accreditation (Britten et al., 2003; Deneen & Shroff, 2010;
Wilkerson & Lang, 2003). Typically, university programs adopt a software or system that imposes uniformity on the
portfolio, and students are required to construct a portfolio within this system that has little relevance and usability
outside of the university system. While this is effective in meeting the increasing demands for accountability, it does
not support students in becoming employable in a global marketplace. Further, students often express frustration
with these portfolio systems (Fielder & Baumbach, 2005) and fail to recognize how an eportfolio is an opportunity
not only to enhance their learning, to increase self-development, and to consolidate their learning artifacts, but also
to display tangible proof of their skills and abilities to a prospective employer (Cohn & Hibbitts, 2004; Chen &
Light, 2010; Hallam, Harper & McAallister, 2012). ePortfolios are essential in getting hired for desired jobs in
fields ranging from educational technology to teaching to business administration (Yancey, 2009). Unfortunately,
many students remain unfamiliar with the importance of an ePortfolio and the tools available to them outside the
university environment for creating professional ePortfolios. As such, this discussion focuses upon how universities
can encourage students to use websites, blogs, and wikis to create eportfolios during their degree programs that can
be used for both assessment and employment opportunities. Specifically, the use of WordPress to create ePortfolios
is discussed.
Goals and Objectives
Participants will be able to: (a) Identify the process for assisting students’ use of websites, blogs, and wikis for
academic and career portfolios, (b) Setup a personal WordPress website and create a live webpage, (c) Identify the
process for evaluating student portfolios built via websites, blogs, and wikis for assessment, (d) Demonstrate how
students can transition an academic portfolio into a career portfolio, (e)Discuss the organization/artifacts to place in
a career portfolio so relevant info – accomplishments, skills, etc., are optimally highlighted.
Description of Practice/Strategies
The free, open-source WordPress software is no longer just for blogging. WordPress can be, and is, used to establish
full-fledged websites to include news sites, company sites, magazines, social networks, and eportfolios. In March
2012, it was reported that WordPress was on 72.4 million different websites around the world making it the most
widely used and most popular content management system (CMS) in existence. With this wide acceptance, the large
support community, and the low barrier to entrance (free), WordPress has quickly become a standard in website
building and, thus, will be the focus of the demonstration.
Participants will learn:
1. A solid process for assigning eportolio creation to students in an academic program and evaluating their
progress in building eportfolios, and the key elements students should include in their eportfolios.
2. How to setup WordPress websites/eportfolios with unique domain names step-by-step through a live
demonstration. They will also have the opportunity to follow along during the presentation to setup their
own websites.
3. Where to find helpful resources for learning WordPress and receiving ongoing training to maximize the
effectiveness of their eportfolios.
Discussion
What makes WordPress an ideal solution for eportfolios?
How does one create an eportfolio with WordPress and what are the basic elements students should include in an
eportfolio?
How can eportfolios help students get an edge in the job market?
What strategies can faculty implement to transition students’ academic portfolios into career portfolios?
References
Britten, J., Mullen, L., & Stuve, M. (2003). Program reflections on the role of longitudinal digital portfolios in the
development of technology competence. The Teacher Educator, 39(2), 79-94.
Cohn, E. R., & Hibbitts, B. J. (2004). Beyond the electronic portfolio: A lifetime personal web space. Educause
Quarterly, 27(4), 7-10.
Chen, H. L., & Light, T. P. (2010). Electronic Portfolios and Student Success: Effectiveness, Efficiency, and
Learning. Washington DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities.
Deneen, C. & Shroff, R. (2010). Eportfolio use in two institutes of higher education: a comparative case study. In
Proceedings of the International Conference on e-Learning 2010, 92-100.
Fiedler, R. L. & Baumbach, D. (2005) Portfolio as a comprehensive exam: Instigating change. In Proceedings of the
Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International Conference (SITE) 2005 Edited
by: C. Crawford et al. 26-33 Association for the Advancement in Computing in Education P.O. Box 1545,
Chesapeake, VA 23327-1545: AACE
Hallam, G., Harper, W., & McAllister, L. (2012). Current ePortfolio Practice in Australia. In D. Cambridge (Ed.), EPortfolios and Global Diffusion: Solutions for Collaborative Education (pp. 129-148). Hershey, PA:
Information Science. doi:10.4018/978-1-4666-0143-7.ch011
Wilkerson, J. R., & Lang, W. S. (2003). Portfolio, the pied piper of teacher certification assessments: Legal and
psychometric issues. Educational Policy Analysis Archives, 11(45).
Yancey, K. B. (2009). Reflection and electronic portfolios: Inventing the self and reinventing the university. In D.
Cambridge, B. Cambridge, & K. Yancey (Eds.), Electronic portfolios 2.0: Emergent research on
implementation and impact (pp. 5-16). Sterling, Virginia: Stylus Publishing.