Florida
Accomplished
Practices
Portfolio
Requirements
and Assessment
Frequently Asked Questions...
The following questions represent some of the most common questions that arise when working on your Electronic Music Teaching Portfolio. If you have a question that is not answered here, send it to musicedhelp@russmccutcheon.net and we'll get you an answer. Who knows, maybe your question belongs on this list too!
- How many Illustrations are we supposed to have for each accomplished practice?
- Where can I find resources on Portfolios?
- I hear people say “PC” or “MAC”. What are they talking about, and which do I have?
- What does upload mean? Download?
- What is a server?
- What does URL mean?
- What are JPEGs, Bitmaps, and GIFs?
- What are MPEGs and AVIs?
- What is compression?
- What is my URL?
- Where can I get the templates for my portfolio?
- How can I create my own web pages?
- I do not have HTML editing software. Where can I get an HTML editor?
- What is a hyperlink, and how do I create one on my web page?
- How do I create an email link?
- How do I insert a picture into my web page?
- I put lots of pretty pictures on my web page, but now that I have uploaded it, the pictures are not viewable. What is wrong?
- I inserted an Image on my web page, but it does not appear. Instead there is a cross. Why?
- If I save my work from a PC onto a PC formatted floppy disk, will I be able to open that disk on my Macintosh?
- What FTP program should I use for my Mac?
- How do I go about changing a file name once it is in Fetch?
- Can I install Claris Homepage on my computer even though it is not a Macintosh?
- If I save my work from a Macintosh computer onto a Macintosh formatted floppy disk, will I be able to open that disk on my PC?
- What FTP program should I use for my PC?
- Can I use Fetch to upload files from my PC?
Content Questions
Q - How many Illustrations are we supposed to have for each accomplished practice?
A – As part of your requirement to graduate you are required to have three examples of each of the twelve accomplished practices. Individual examples can be “recycled” to multiple accomplished practices up to, but not exceeding four times.
Q - Where can I find resources on Portfolios?
A – The Following
are some links to so electronic portfolios sites:
Electronic
Teaching Portfolios
Teacher Portfolio Assessment
Emerging from the Smog: Making Technology Assessment Work for Schools
National Education Association
Creating and Using Portfolios in the Alphabet Superhighway
Feasible Electronic Portfolios
ePortfolio Consortium
General Questions
Q – I hear people say “PC” or “MAC”. What are they talking about, and which do I have?
A – PC (personal computer) and MAC (Macintosh) are the two most popular varieties of computers on the market, and probably the only formats available to you. Companies such as Dell, Gateway, Hewlett Packard, IBM, etc. produce PCs. Macintosh is a company all to itself and is it’s own producer.
Q – What does upload mean? Download?
A – Upload and Download are both terms that refer to transferring data from one storage device (Hard Drive, Floppy disk, Zip Disk, etc.). To upload is to move information from your own “local disk” to another “remote disk”. To download is the reverse, that is, to bring information to your own “local disk” from another “remote disk”.
A – A server is a computer that is connected to the Internet and usually serves as a remote broadcast station for one or many websites. Other servers may contain programs such as, but not limited to, search engines or online reference materials. For our purposes the server will be the computer administrated by the University of Florida to which your web page will be uploaded and saved.
A – URL is an acronym for Uniform Resource Locator. This is a unique address for a web page, for instance, www.ufl.edu
.Q – What are JPEGs, Bitmaps, and GIFs?
A - JPEG, Bitmap, and GIF are the file names designating different image types (depending on certain traits that they possess). JPEGs are compressed differently than Bitmaps so they take less space on a disk or server and some GIFs are animated, that is, they move! All three types of image files can be inserted into your web page.
A - MPEG and AVI are the file names designating different video types (depending on certain traits that they possess). AVI files are raw digital video, while MPEG files are encoded and compressed so that they take less space on a disk or server. Both types of video files can be inserted into your web page
A – Decreasing the size of a file thereby shrinking its storage requirements in a way that can be decompressed at the time the document is accessed and opened.
A – The URL for your website is
http://portfolios.music.ufl.edu/username/index.html
**You must use the username you were
assigned at your initial workshop**
Q - Where can I get the templates for my portfolio?
A – Both the PC and Mac templates can be accessed and downloaded on the portfolios website on the left menu bar under templates.
Basic Editing Questions
Q - How can I create my own web pages?
A – Web pages are created using HTML editing software such as Netscape Composer, Claris Homepage, Microsoft Frontpage, etc. For step by step instructions on how to use HTML software see the tutorial section on this site.
Q – I do not have HTML editing software. Where can I get an HTML editor?
A – Any of the above mentioned HTML editors are available at most software stores. Netscape composer is available for free download at www.netscape.com and comes on the UF software CD available at the HUB for five dollars.
Q – What is a hyperlink, and how do I create one on my web page?
A – A hyperlink (link) is a text or picture on a web page that can take you to another place on the page or Internet instantly with a simple click. To insert a link into your web page, type the text you wish to be the link, highlight the text by left click dragging across it, and select link from the tool bar of your HTML editing software. After selecting “link” a small window should appear with a field for you to enter a destination URL (web address). Enter the appropriate URL and click “OK”. The link should be created. Pictures can also be made links by the same process.
Q - How do I create an email link?
A – To make a link to your email address, you must create a hypertext
link by selecting text or an image and specifying a destination URL for
it. This time, however, Instead of typing a web site URL, type mailto:
(your email Address).
Example: Mailto:ALEGator@ufl.edu This would be entered in the Destination
URL Field if your Email address was ALEGator@ufl.edu.
Multimedia Issues
Q – How do I insert a picture into my web page
A –
Q – I put lots of pretty pictures on my web page, but now that I have uploaded it, the pictures are not viewable. What is wrong?
It is more than likely that you did not upload your graphics when you uploaded your web page. Although yse they are not on the server with the page as they were on your computer. These graphics aou have inserted graphics on your web page and saved it, the computer cannot locate the graphics becaure separate objects that the page refers to, rather than a part of the page. To fix the problem, all of the pictures must be transferred (via Fetch or WS_FTP) to the server individually.
Q - I inserted an Image on my web page, but it does not appear. Instead there is a cross. Why?
A - There are two things to keep in mind when inserting pictures on a web page. First, you have to upload the image (The JPEG, Bitmap or GIF) itself onto the server as well as the web page (the "HTML" file). Second, it is important not to relocate the image file after you inserted it on a web page. Because the "insert" command does not really paste the image on the web page but it points to the image file, after the upload, the web page is going to look for the image file in the same location relative to itself. The best way to guarantee that your images will show up is to have all your files (web page, image, etc.) in a single folder when you are creating the web page and to transfer (upload) them altogether on the server.
Uploading
Q – I finished an HTML document (web page) and it looks fabulous. Now how do I get it on the internet.
A- In order to upload a web page to the server, you must first install a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) program on your computer. An FTP program such as WS_FTP (PC) or Fetch (Mac) is a program that transfers your newly create web document to the server where it can be viewed via the Internet. See the tutorial section for uploading instructions.
Mac Specific
Q – If I save my work from a PC onto a PC formatted floppy disk, will I be able to open that disk on my Macintosh?
A – Yes, assuming that the Mac you own has comparable software, however Mac formatted disks are not viewable on PCs.
Q – What FTP program should I use for my Mac?A – We recommend that you use Fetch. You can obtain this program from the UF CD (you can buy it for $5 from the Hub).
Q - How do I go about changing a file name once it is in Fetch?
A - Highlight the file or the directory (folder) of which you want to
change the name. Go to Remote on the menu bar and select Rename Directory
or File. A dialogue box will appear and prompt you to enter the new file
name. Type in the new name and click OK.
**NOTE**Don't change the file name after you have
established your links or else your links will not work.
PC Specific
Q - Can I install Claris Homepage on my computer even though it is not a Macintosh?
A - Yes, you may purchase the PC version of Claris Homepage and it will work on your Compac, Dell, HP, etc.
Q – If I save my work from a Macintosh computer onto a Macintosh formatted floppy disk, will I be able to open that disk on my PC?
A – No, PCs do not support Mac formatted disks, but Macs can read PC formatted disks assuming that the Mac has comparable software.
Q – What FTP program should I use for my PC?
A – We recommend that you use WS_FTP. You can obtain this program from the UF CD (you can buy it for $5 from the Hub), or you can download a free version from it from http://www.download.com (Search for WS_FTP lite).
Q - Can I use Fetch to upload files from my PC?
A - Fetch is a program that works only on the Mac platform. There are many other programs that you can use to upload files from your PC, like WS_FTP.
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Last updated on April 3, 2003 - any questions or comments email the webmaster.
