Add student portfolios to your class next semester!

As mentioned in a previous blog post the National Convergence Technology Center’s (CTC) Business and Industry Leadership Team (“BILT”) has long pushed for IT students to curate portfolios of their work.  The BILT believes that job candidates who can show their work at a job interview – by using the portfolio to demonstrate an ability to work with teams and understand essential skills – stand a better chance of getting hired.

The National CTC recently hosted a one-hour “LinkedIn and e-Portfolio” webinar on this topic (see video below).  The webinar was led by Louise Kowalski from SUNY Erie Community College, a leader in teaching students online branding strategies that include curating digital portfolios online.  You may recall that Louise and her expertise were showcased at our “CCN Summit” workshop back in September.  This webinar was intended to offer a quick recap of her September presentation.

If you’re interested in adding portfolios to your IT program, we encourage you to watch the webinar below.  Louise discusses the importance of portfolios, LinkedIn profiles, and personal branding on social media.  She understands that faculty are pressed for time and worry about the logistics of adding even more content to their coursework.  And so… Louise’s webinar generously provides access to a webinar Google drive that contains ready-to-go exercises to make it easy for faculty to implement these elements right away.

As the fall term winds down, this might be the perfect time to consider adding portfolios to a spring term class.