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While I’ve built a Google Site by myself when I was in elementary school and high school, I have never thought of using a website as an e-portfolio. When I was in elementary school, Google Site was a new thing. It’s great that I could put my own pictures I made on a website. I also built a Google Site when I was in 3rd grade in high school. I was trying to build a website that taught English for free then. However, it was so complicated for me and I didn’t think it would reach as many people as I hoped it could, so I changed the platform. I tried to create an Instagram account to post free English learning content, and it worked, which made me feel content at the time.
When I learned that I could build a website and use it as an e-portfolio in class, I thought it was such a great idea! I’ve also seen Dr. Sherry using a website to showcase herself before, but I never thought I was going to build one. Building a website as an e-portfolio has many benefits, such as 1) easily showcasing myself, 2) easy access because it’s online, 3) good for multimedia content, and 4) easy to track students’ progress for teachers and parents, to name but a few. The best one is I can put GIF files and videos online, which makes such a big difference compared to a hardcopy portfolio, which cannot include moving content. In the digital era, everyone is used to seeing moving objects, so in this way, I can catch more people’s eyes! I will use this portfolio to showcase my projects and the work I have done before. I also want to include what I did in class, such as group projects, on-stage presentations, and class activities, which I think is a good idea for creating a life roadmap!
The one challenge I encounter is that Google Site hasn’t improved that much over the years. I hope I can have more AI-enhanced features integrated into Google Site in the near future, such as image creation and using prompts to create a website. This is something common in this era and can be done by many AI platforms. If someday it has more AI features, I think it would make it more interesting for my students to build one showcasing their masterpieces online. The other thing is I hope I can upload my own font file onto Google Site, which would make it more personalized. To deal with these limitations, I tried to focus on the strengths of the platform instead, like its user-friendly interface and easy integration with multimedia. I also looked for alternatives, such as using online tools to design images and then upload them to the site, and sticking to the default fonts and layouts while making the overall design as clean and engaging as possible. While it wasn’t perfect, I learned to make the most out of the available tools.
Overall, I believe it’s a good idea to build a website as an e-portfolio, and I will teach my students to build one in the future as well! Just like my past experiences building websites to share my drawings and teach English, I see how meaningful it is to present work online. An e-portfolio can let students to showcase class projects with multimedia like GIFs and videos, making it more dynamic than traditional portfolios. It also helps them reflect on their progress and develop digital skills. With more AI features in the future, it could become an even better tool for creativity and learning.