Final Thoughts & Reflections
With the spring semester coming to a close, I often look back and reflect on personal growth throughout these last fourteen weeks. This class was not what I expected. The course, Exploring Your Digital Portfolio, has taught me many different skills that I will be able to apply towards building a fulfilling career. We developed our digital presence, curate content, experience blogging, create a website, explore new technology and apps, and learn how to make the internet work for yourself. The different tools and skills introduced to me within this class will allow a stable foundation to expand my reach within my field. This class had a diverse class, with people from many different fields. The different tools were able to be applied to everyone in the class, with slight tweaking for our own field. It was really eye opening experience.
One of the first things we did was create a professional Twitter profile. This was the platform which we developed our own digital presence. This was done in the form of our Personal Learning Network, or PLN. This allowed us to present ourselves within our field on a professional level with the content we curated. We were able to present topics important to our field to a larger audience and create connections with like minded individuals. I had an inquiry about contributing to a new online journal for science through Twitter. It was one of those lightbulb moments; I was doing something right!
I was able to build content with different tools, such as FlipBoard and Paper.li. These websites allowed us to build content of our own interests. These were great attributions to our Twitter presence. Flipboard is a great site, allowing to search for new topics and news within those fields. It is a easy to use site and you can curate your own topics by building your own board. Paper.li is a site that allows you to create an online paper with different stories from many different sources and publish them within one platform. This site allows for interesting individualization of different topics and interests. It is a great way to share information in a wonderful newspaper format. These were just two examples of how we made technology work for us.
We explored many different types of technology, apps, and tools. The primary one we used the most was Google Drive. Almost every class we used some form of Google app from the well known, like Google Docs, to the lesser known, such as Google Forms. We explored many different types of presentation tools, such as Prezi, HaikuDeck, and Microsoft365's Sway. Each program has different styles that can be applied to the presenters personal taste. We also explored various types of programs and apps for building our career, help within our field, or assist in education. One fun way we shared these new apps with our peers was through an App Smackdown. These were presentations of how our app worked, functions, and would assist within our own fields. This was a fun experience to explore technology that can be both fun and functional. We also learned how to be responsible and professional on our different social media accounts. The readings from lol...OMG!, by Matt Ivester, and Untangling the Web, by Steve Dembo and Adam Bellow, were very eye opening and informative on different aspects of social media. These reading inspired me to become more of an active minded curator of my own content. Social media can be used as a tool to be utilize establishing a professional online presence, but without proper maintenance, it can be used against you.
One project was how social media could be used against your career. We had to research an individual who was negatively affected through social media. This project was educational on how to keep your social media clean and tidy. I researched the editor and writer, Victor Paul Alvarez. Alvarez published an article in poor taste of the House Speaker, John Boehner, life threat. Once stepping back from the initial writings, Alvarez was not entirely to blame of the content. The combination of small failed check points of editorial reviews caused a career sinking article debolical. Alvarez is regaining his footing, but their will always be a dark spot on his journalism career. The main point was to be mindful of what you publish, the internet never forgets.
The internet is a growing organism. For our final project, we had to create our own website. This website is a professional representation of ourselves online. I decided to use Weebly. This website is composed of information about myself on different levels and how to contact me. The different components are information about myself and my goals within my career. The different projects I have worked on and assisted in will be displayed. This will be a professional site with my resume and different recommendations. LinkedIn is a great way to keep your resume up to date and current; having this linked to my account allows for easy reading and access. The website will allow to build my own network and expand different opportunities for careers.
One of the first things we did was create a professional Twitter profile. This was the platform which we developed our own digital presence. This was done in the form of our Personal Learning Network, or PLN. This allowed us to present ourselves within our field on a professional level with the content we curated. We were able to present topics important to our field to a larger audience and create connections with like minded individuals. I had an inquiry about contributing to a new online journal for science through Twitter. It was one of those lightbulb moments; I was doing something right!
I was able to build content with different tools, such as FlipBoard and Paper.li. These websites allowed us to build content of our own interests. These were great attributions to our Twitter presence. Flipboard is a great site, allowing to search for new topics and news within those fields. It is a easy to use site and you can curate your own topics by building your own board. Paper.li is a site that allows you to create an online paper with different stories from many different sources and publish them within one platform. This site allows for interesting individualization of different topics and interests. It is a great way to share information in a wonderful newspaper format. These were just two examples of how we made technology work for us.
We explored many different types of technology, apps, and tools. The primary one we used the most was Google Drive. Almost every class we used some form of Google app from the well known, like Google Docs, to the lesser known, such as Google Forms. We explored many different types of presentation tools, such as Prezi, HaikuDeck, and Microsoft365's Sway. Each program has different styles that can be applied to the presenters personal taste. We also explored various types of programs and apps for building our career, help within our field, or assist in education. One fun way we shared these new apps with our peers was through an App Smackdown. These were presentations of how our app worked, functions, and would assist within our own fields. This was a fun experience to explore technology that can be both fun and functional. We also learned how to be responsible and professional on our different social media accounts. The readings from lol...OMG!, by Matt Ivester, and Untangling the Web, by Steve Dembo and Adam Bellow, were very eye opening and informative on different aspects of social media. These reading inspired me to become more of an active minded curator of my own content. Social media can be used as a tool to be utilize establishing a professional online presence, but without proper maintenance, it can be used against you.
One project was how social media could be used against your career. We had to research an individual who was negatively affected through social media. This project was educational on how to keep your social media clean and tidy. I researched the editor and writer, Victor Paul Alvarez. Alvarez published an article in poor taste of the House Speaker, John Boehner, life threat. Once stepping back from the initial writings, Alvarez was not entirely to blame of the content. The combination of small failed check points of editorial reviews caused a career sinking article debolical. Alvarez is regaining his footing, but their will always be a dark spot on his journalism career. The main point was to be mindful of what you publish, the internet never forgets.The internet is a growing organism. For our final project, we had to create our own website. This website is a professional representation of ourselves online. I decided to use Weebly. This website is composed of information about myself on different levels and how to contact me. The different components are information about myself and my goals within my career. The different projects I have worked on and assisted in will be displayed. This will be a professional site with my resume and different recommendations. LinkedIn is a great way to keep your resume up to date and current; having this linked to my account allows for easy reading and access. The website will allow to build my own network and expand different opportunities for careers.
With the thoughts on building careers, we learning interesting tips and skills in to survive the hiring process. We had guests talk to us about both building careers and how to secure a job. These guest speakers explained the different importance of resumes, pre-interview, during the interview, and post interview behavior and questions. These tips have helped navigate the very, gray waters of the job world. The most important fact was to stay true to yourself; these people will be individuals you would be spending eight to ten hours per day for many years down the road. These people will be with you for a long time, ensure you will enjoy and compatible with them.
With the final days of this semester, the class has taught me many different and interesting things. The various hoops and hurdles in the ever changing internet and newly developed technology; from everyday life hacks to amazing different realities to tools for careers and different fields of study. The helpful hints and caution in social media platforms, both professionally and personal uses. This class taught me the foundation which I can build my career on. The tools I learned will be able to use for the preparation of what I face in the professional world. I am enjoyed learning with this class and thankful for the different experiences it taught me. The learning will never end, but the base foundation is strong and sturdy for the future.
Comments
Post a Comment