Norco students use ePortfolios to impress potential employers

Nov. 14, 2011 - PRLog -- Norco (November 14, 2011) – Jordan Lotz wants to stand out from the many other engineering students vying for internships. To show prospective employers the work he’d done in classes he took advantage of a new project at Norco College.

Through a Department of Education Title V grant, students at the college can quickly create an electronic portfolio of their work. For Lotz, that meant hiring mangers could look at the drawings he had done showing experience with certain programs. He can also display what courses he has completed without having to build a website by himself.

It took him about a week to finish his site, and it’s easy enough to use that he can constantly upload new work. He sees it as a way for potential employers to know something about him before they meet him.

“They know you before they meet you,” he said.

Many departments within the school now use the program and more instructors are being trained, said Kevin Fleming, associate dean of Career & Technical Education. The grant, which ends in 2015, also includes creating a new simulation and gaming curriculum.

But the benefits go beyond the ability to build a simple portfolio.

“Knowing class assignments could be viewed by potential employers in the future adds more real world importance to each assignment,” Fleming said. “We find students are more reflective of their work and more engaged with how the material can affect their future.”

For Computer Information Systems Professor Cathy Brotherton, these portfolios give students the chance to establish their qualifications for future hiring.

“I think that the commitment of our school to offer this electronic viewing of students' work is impressive,” she said. “Students may not realize how helpful this ‘tool’ will be until they work with it.”

The more recent departments adding the electronic portfolio systems to their curriculum include communications and English. Departments already using the technology include accounting, business, computer information systems, engineering, gaming, management, marketing, and manufacturing.

# # #

About the Desert Regional Consortium of Community Colleges: The Desert Regional Consortium consists of 13 community colleges and two community college districts in Riverside, San Bernardino and Kern counties. The consortium assists colleges in providing professional development opportunities and designing programs to improve workforce training and technical education. The consortium was formed to address the economic development needs of industry, government and the community.

More info: www.desertcolleges.org

Consortium members: Barstow College, Cerro Coso Community College, Chaffey College, College of the Desert, Copper Mountain College, Crafton Hills College, Mt. San Jacinto College, Moreno Valley College, Norco College, Palo Verde College, Riverside City College, Riverside Community College District, San Bernardino Community College District, San Bernardino Valley College, Victor Valley College