In 1967 Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech titled, “What is Your Life’s Blueprint,” where he challenged a group of students to reflect on how they lived their lives and recommended that they develop a blueprint, or action plan for their legacy.
In today's post, we'll adapt Dr. King's challenge and refer to it as "portfolio blueprinting!"
Just as building a home today begins with a blueprint and a site plan, you'll need a starting point for your electronic portfolio (eP). The blueprint tells the builder to construct a structure with a particular size and shape, with specific infrastructure features, that will suit the needs of its future owners.
Similarly, to fit your needs and personal specifications, we encourage you to use the following questions as you think about the blueprint for the eP site you will construct using myeFolio!
| Why are you building it? | ... | purpose |
| Who is is for? | ... | audience |
| What do you want it to look like? | ... | pages, site design, resource links |
| Where will you add your personality? | ... | content, narrative, reflections |
| How will you share it? | ... | online, embedded, by QR code, social media or RSS |
| When will it be finished? | ... | update it over time...perhaps as long as you live! |
Have you traveled in areas of your country where early settlers built a one-room shelter and "added on" over time? If so, you may have noticed a somewhat haphazard appearance to the structure. In earlier generations, that often resulted out of the realities of their life.
As you develop your eP plan...anticipate that you will add new sections later. Who you are today will grow or change as you live through the experiences of learning, work and personal accomplishment.
Your portfolio should morph, improve and grow over time...using everything you've already added, but without expensive change orders or contractors! We anticipate that you will add more pages, move content around, and re-purpose your key message over time. The re-usable content approach adopted by myeFolio means that the total appearance of your site can always look like it fits together.
In the next post we'll explore specific methods to help you do this. In the meantime, explore myeFolio sites created by others, think about what you like or not, and take some time to frame out your plan.
Be as specific as you can be but don't worry if you have some gaps. That's where constructing an eP differs from building a house! Accept the reality that a myeFolio site will come together over time...as necessary.
NOTE: If you need a site, sign up for your personal myeFolio account and begin to explore the possibilities. Because changing the appearance of your site is never difficult, you will not be creating anything that you'll have to keep forever!