Computer Malfunction- Week Before Presentation is Due

I spent the weekend in Newark with plans to "hide away" and complete my project without the distractions that I have at home. I took my laptop, my new mini-laptop (I watch Fred's videos on it and then do the work on the regular laptop), my two textbooks on Dreamweaver and copies of some readings. I had a portion of the content for my webpage completed, but I wanted to work on the content as well as the web work.

I got up there Friday and not long after I inserted the CD that came with one of my Dreamweaver text books. As directed, I went to the lesson files on the disk to copy one to the harddrive as I worked on it. You may or may not be able to relate to the level of frustration (and rage) I felt when I saw that my CD/DVD drive was not being recognized w/in Explorer. My first reaction was that the CD was bad, so I put in a DVD I had taken up to watch in the evening. It also didn't play, and again the drive wasn't even recognized as being there. Keep in mind that it is 6 month old computer that I bought specifically for my decision to return to the University and for presentations I make at conferences. I was very upset, because it had been my plan to use the book to learn how to put my content into a site (instead of one single page) and I needed more instruction that was available in the text. I have had other serious problems with the laptop, with Vista, and with learning the latest version of MS Office that came with the computer. I called my husand, who is not a "computer person" and he convinced me to calm down, shut down the computer for the night, take the computer to BestBuy in the morning to see if they could fix the drive recognition problem.

I did, but they were not able to fix it without sending it to Sony for the repairs.

So, I re-evaluated, downloaded a CSS template from one of the resources Fred recommended, and began to work on the project as a webpage, not a site. I am disappointed about this, as I would like to have created a small web and not put so much content on one page. I reduced the amount of content I planned to include.

Thinking back on the semester, I realize that I spent too much time trying to learn Dreamweaver and Camtasia and reading some of the text materials - and not enough time preparing the content for the presentation web. It was a short class, so perhaps a one page webpage is acceptable, but I wanted to do more. I did go to Borders and found another Dreamweaver tutorial book that does not include a CD, but has step by step instructions that I like better than the other book I had purchased.

On Friday, after I will have given my presentation, I will be turning my laptop in to BestBuy and to Sony for some major repairs. I was able to make the best of the weekend without it.

Sample Portfolios

This morning I found this link to a page of sample Portfolios. I will come back to it later, look at it and comment on the sample projects.

http://wordsworth2.net/webfolio/websindex.htm

Finding the right combination for an EPortfolio

I have recently returned to the University of Delaware with hopes of completing my doctorate (EdD) in Educational Technology. I am a little past half way through the coursework, and I have completed all but one of my Ed Tech specialty courses.

I had taken a four year break, when I decided to return last fall. I took a class in the Spring of 2008, and I am currently taking a class this summer.

It was during this course that I first was introduced to the concept of Educational Portfolios. I have decided to keep a blog as I am developing my portfolio since it is a new concept for me. I am very open to suggestions and collaboration on this project.