Asynchronous Academy

Portfolio

Suggested Duration: 5 Hours

In this assignment, you will collect examples of the skills you have developed throughout this course and compile them into a professional showcase.

Imagine you are trying to land a job with a small content creator or local business to build communications for their target audience. To show them you have the skills they need, you will package and present your best work from across the semester. Consider where and how audiences might find your work in the real world:

  • Social media/YouTube (Video diaries, theme presentations, self-debates)
  • Search engines (Google) (Polished essays, academic summaries, written reports)
  • Flyers/print publications (Visual guides, marketing briefs)
  • Podcasts (Conversational audio, script readings)

Identify 1 to 3 small content creators or businesses in a niche you’re passionate about (e.g., local coffee shop, independent game developer, non-profit, or favorite niche YouTube creator). As you select and polish your work, keep their branding and audience in mind.

Part 1: Citing & Polishing Your Essays

Academic and professional credibility relies on verification. For this part, you will select your academic essay(s) from the course and polish them to publication standard by adding formal MLA citations.

How MLA Citations Work

Every academic paper must have two matching citation elements:

  1. In-Text Citations: A brief reference in parentheses directly after a quote or paraphrase (e.g., author name and page number or play act/scene/line: (Hamlet 3.1.121)), which points the reader to the source.
  2. Works Cited Page: A formatted list of all your research sources at the very end of your document.

Citing with LLMs

To format your citations:

  • You can ask Gemini to format your sources in MLA: "Please format this source in MLA style: [source details]."
  • Verify Your Work: Always double-check the LLM's outputs against a reliable MLA guide (such as Purdue OWL) to ensure that capitalization, italics, punctuation, and medium designations are correct.
💡

Citing Shakespeare: In MLA style, when citing plays like Hamlet, do not use page numbers. Instead, use act, scene, and line numbers separated by periods (e.g., 3.1.121-122 for Act 3, Scene 1, lines 121 to 122). Make sure to include the play name in your first citation or if you cite multiple plays.

Deliverable:

📤

Polished Essays (Google Doc)

Submit a Google Doc containing your polished course essay(s) complete with correct, consistent MLA in-text citations and a Works Cited page.

Part 2: Curation & Portfolio Design

Next, compile your best writings and videos from this course into an attractive, professional portfolio showcase.

For this course, you will build your showcase using Google Sites. It is a free, intuitive tool that integrates seamlessly with your Google Drive files (such as your essays and video uploads).

If you are new to the platform, you can check out the official Google Sites Help Center or follow this step-by-step Google Workspace Learning Center Tutorial to get started.

No Pressure: You are not being evaluated on your web design, coding, or artistic skills. The goal of using Google Sites is simply to familiarize yourself with a new digital tool and practice presenting your work in a structured format. There is no pressure here other than making your page clean, readable, and presentable.

What to Include in Your Portfolio:

  • The Pitch: A brief introduction of who you are, what you write/create, and your target audience (referencing the content creators or businesses you identified).
  • Written Work Showcase: Link to or embed your polished essay(s) and any other written deliverables you are proud of.
  • Video Work Showcase: Embed your best video assignments from the course (such as your theme video, self-debate, or video diaries) and write a brief 2-3 sentence description for each, explaining what the video covers.
🌐

Design Tip: Keep your layout clean and easy to navigate. Use clear headings, high-contrast text, and consistent fonts. Make sure all video links work and that your Google Drive share permissions are set to "Anyone with the link can view."

Deliverable:

📤

Portfolio Showcase Link

Submit the live link to your published Google Sites page.

Part 3: Curation Walkthrough Screencast

To complete the portfolio, record a walkthrough screencast (3-5 minutes) showing off your showcase.

In this video, guide the viewer through your portfolio page and "talk shop" about your growth:

  1. Explain your choices: Walk through each item in your portfolio and explain why you selected it as a representation of your skills.
  2. Reflect on your growth loop: Reflect on how your writing and video production skills have evolved over the course. What did you start, stop, or keep doing?
  3. Discuss your workflow: Detail how you collaborated with LLMs to brainstorm, draft, edit, and check citations.

Deliverable:

📤

Walkthrough Screencast

Submit your 3-5 minute walkthrough screencast demonstrating your portfolio and explaining your learning journey.

Assessment

Pre-Submission

Before you submit, please complete the Pre-Submission Self-Assessment.

What to Turn In

  • 📤

    Polished Essay(s) (Google Doc) with correct, consistent MLA in-text citations and a Works Cited page.

  • 📤

    Portfolio Link to your Google Sites showcasing your course videos and writings.

  • 📤

    Walkthrough Screencast explaining your curation choices, learning journey, and production strategies.

💡 A Different Way to Learn

Async Academy courses are inquiry-based. There are no rote answer keys or multiple-choice worksheets here. You learn by exploring, questioning, and building projects you care about.

Because your discovery path is completely unique, you need a human sounding board. Enroll to submit your projects and get personalized video feedback from an Ontario Certified Teacher to guide your work.

Learning Goals

We are learning to:

  • 🎯

    Produce polished, professional written and multimedia work

  • 🎯

    Assess work holistically to identify patterns, strengths, and areas for improvement

Success Criteria

I can:

  • ✅

    Include citations correctly and consistently using MLA format

    Expectations Covered: W3
  • ✅

    Make connections across multiple assignments and draw actionable insights for improvement

    Expectations Covered: W4

Rubric

Category Level 4 Level 3 Level 2 Level 1
Knowledge / Understanding
How accurately and consistently does the student use MLA citation format?
 Demonstrates a high degree of fluency with correct MLA format Demonstrates considerable knowledge of correct MLA format Demonstrates some knowledge of correct MLA format Demonstrates limited knowledge of correct MLA format
Thinking / Inquiry
How effectively does the student draw actionable insights from multiple assignments?
 Draws actionable insights with a high degree of skill from holistic assessment of work Draws actionable insights from holistic assessment of work Draws some actionable insights from holistic assessment of work Draws a few actionable insights from holistic assessment of work
Application
How effectively does the portfolio demonstrate high-quality written and video work?
 Demonstrates a very strong ability to produce high-quality written and video content Demonstrates a strong ability to produce high-quality written and video content Usually demonstrates some ability to produce high-quality written and video content Sometimes demonstrates limited ability to produce high-quality written and video content
Communication
How clearly do speaking and writing communicate ideas?
 Speaking and writing communicate ideas with a high degree of clarity Speaking and writing communicate ideas clearly Speaking and writing usually communicate ideas clearly Speaking and writing communicate ideas with limited clarity
Knowledge / Understanding
Criteria: How accurately and consistently does the student use MLA citation format?
Level 4

Demonstrates a high degree of fluency with correct MLA format

Level 3

Demonstrates considerable knowledge of correct MLA format

Level 2

Demonstrates some knowledge of correct MLA format

Level 1

Demonstrates limited knowledge of correct MLA format

Thinking / Inquiry
Criteria: How effectively does the student draw actionable insights from multiple assignments?
Level 4

Draws actionable insights with a high degree of skill from holistic assessment of work

Level 3

Draws actionable insights from holistic assessment of work

Level 2

Draws some actionable insights from holistic assessment of work

Level 1

Draws a few actionable insights from holistic assessment of work

Application
Criteria: How effectively does the portfolio demonstrate high-quality written and video work?
Level 4

Demonstrates a very strong ability to produce high-quality written and video content

Level 3

Demonstrates a strong ability to produce high-quality written and video content

Level 2

Usually demonstrates some ability to produce high-quality written and video content

Level 1

Sometimes demonstrates limited ability to produce high-quality written and video content

Communication
Criteria: How clearly do speaking and writing communicate ideas?
Level 4

Speaking and writing communicate ideas with a high degree of clarity

Level 3

Speaking and writing communicate ideas clearly

Level 2

Speaking and writing usually communicate ideas clearly

Level 1

Speaking and writing communicate ideas with limited clarity