Creating Presentations in ePortfolio
This guide provides instructions on how you can create an ePortfolio presentation. Presentations let you compile ePortfolio items in a web project to showcase your achievements. Your presentations may have multiple pages and use different themes and layouts. Presentations provide a polished, professional medium to demonstrate your learning and accomplishments.
This guide covers the following topics, use these links for easier navigation:
- Navigate to ePortfolio
- Access New Presentation
- Create a New Presentation
- Add Items to your Presentation
- Edit Display Options
- Include Text in your Presentation
- Edit Presentation Navigation and Page Layout
- Set the Presentation Banner
- Select and Modify a Theme
Step One: Navigate to ePortfolio
1. From your VU Collaborate home page, navigate to a unit space located in My Spaces.
2. Select Toolbox from the Navbar in the Learning Space and then select My ePortfolio.
Step Two: Access New Presentation
1. Under Build your ePortfolio, click on New Presentation.
2. Alternatively, from your My Items page select New Presentation.
Step Three: Create a New Presentation
1. Give the presentation a Name.
2. If appropriate, include a description of the presentation in the text box.
3. Add any tags you want to add to the presentation.
Note: Tags are words you associate with an object to make items easier to find. You can search for items with specific tags, and other users can use your tags to search for items.
4. Select the allow comments and assessments checkboxes if you want to provide others with the option to review your presentation when you share it. You also have the option to attach a Rubric, if applicable.
5. Click Save.
Step Four: Add Items to your Presentation
1. Click the Content/Layout tab on the Edit Presentation page.
2. Click Add Component in the content area where you want to add an item.
3. Select the type of item you want to add: artefact, reflection, text etc.
4. Select the item you want to add.
5. Click Add.
Step Five: Edit Display Options
1. From the Content/Layout tab, open the context menu beside your new item.
2. Click Edit Display Options.
3. From this menu, you can change the Title or Description of the item you just attached, if desired.
Also:
4. Choose whether you want the artefact to display in-place or as a link (if applicable).
5. Choose whether you want to auto-fit the artefact to the content area it is displayed in, or maintain its original size (if applicable).
Note: This will only change the title or description of the item within this presentation.
Next:
6. Under the Comments/Assessments menu, select the appropriate options related to displaying comments and assessments.
7. Under the Comments section, choose whether to allow users to comment on your presentation. You can also select how many comments to display at a time.
8. Under the Assessments section you can choose to allow other students to add or view assessments. Ticking this option will give you another opportunity to attach a rubric.
9. Click on Save when you are done.
Step Six: Include Text in your Presentation
One of the more useful components to add to your presentation might be a Text Area. This component behaves in a similar way to a traditional presentation slide. To insert a text area into one of your presentation pages note the following steps.
1. From the Edit Presentation page, select a page and click on Add Component.
2. Select Text Area from the menu.
3. On the new page that appears, you can give your text area a title.
4. In the text box that appears under Content you can type the text that you want to be displayed on the page. You can also use the menu at the top of the text box to insert links, pictures etc. You can also control the formatting of your text from this menu.
5. Select Save or Save and Close when you are happy with your content.
Note: If you are linking to other ePortfolio artefacts within a presentation, please be sure to use the Insert Stuff button and not the Quick Links button to do so. This is because items that are inserted via Quick Links do not inherit the sharing permissions applied to the larger presentation.
Tip: In the bottom right hand of the screen there are some icons that you can select to check the spelling of your content, preview how the content will look when published, etc.
Step Seven: Edit Presentation Navigation and Page Layout
From the Content/Layout section, you can edit the Navigation and the Page Layout of the presentation.
To edit the navigation:
1. Select Edit Presentation Navigation. This will take you to a new page which will present the navigation options.
2. Select the appropriate option for your presentation.
3. Click Save when you are done with your selection.
Note: This can only be applied on a presentation basis. Individual pages cannot contain different navigation settings.
To edit the page layout of your presentation, select Edit Page Layout from within the Content/Layout section on the Edit Presentation page. The page layout dictates the positioning of content within your presentation.
4. On the page that appears, you can select from two Page Layout options.
5. Once you have selected your desired layout, click on Save.
Note: You can apply these settings on a page-by-page basis.
Step Eight: Set the Presentation Banner
A Banner appears at the top of every page in a presentation. It performs a similar function to a traditional header in a book and it will usually contain the title of the presentation. However, you can edit the Banner so that it says whatever you like. To do this:
1. From the Edit Presentation page, select the Banner tab.
2. Type an appropriate title and description for your Banner.
Tip: The Banner will be applied to your entire presentation. The appearance of your Banner is determined by the theme of the presentation. To modify the appearance of the Banner, you will need to modify the theme.
Step Nine: Select and Modify a Theme
The theme dictates the overall appearance of your presentation. There are several pre-existing themes for you to select from within ePortfolio however, you can also modify any of the themes you select. To select and edit a theme:
1. On the Edit Presentation page, click the Theme tab.
2. Click the Select button beside the theme you want to apply to your presentation.
When you have selected a theme to apply, a pop-up will ask you to confirm your selection.
3. Click on Set Theme to apply the theme to your presentation.
To modify your selected theme:
4. Click the Edit Styles icon 
beside your current theme.
5. Select the page element you want to modify.
6. When you are satisfied with your modifications, click Save.
Tip: You have many different options, you can select your own background image to display in the presentation, you can select a background color, and you can select an image to display in your banner. It might be a good idea to take the time to click through and explore the different modification options. You can filter your options by using the drop-down menu underneath the Filter section.
