Reflections-Comm 302
When I first began my academic journey here at Old Dominion University, I had never heard of an ePortfolio. Initially I dismissed it as just a writing assignment but as semesters began to come and go, I began to hear more and more professors stressing the importance of having an ePortolio as a part of arsenal when entering the employment arena. I wanted to know precisely what an ePortfolio was. Google says: An ePortfolio (electronic portfolio) is an electronic collection of evidence that shows your learning journey over time. Portfolios can relate to specific academic fields or your lifelong learning. Evidence may include writing samples, photos, videos, research projects, observations by mentors and peers, and/or reflective thinking. The key aspect of an eportfolio is your reflection on the evidence, such as why it was chosen and what you learned from the process of developing your eportfolio. The best thing I have learned about ePortfolio’s is having a growing body of work where I can display an evolving collection that shows evolution and allows potential employers to see how my work has developed as I have progressed in my degree. I think that with my intended career choice, as complex as it may be, I would be able to utilize the ePortfolio to display my writing capabilities, my live interviewing, my public speaking abilities delivering keynotes or Talks at events, television hosting as well as radio and live event hosting and hair & makeup skills.
Even beyond college, this will be a great tool to keep updated as it allows the potential employer a glance beyond the words on a resume to actually see my work , capabilities and skills. The personal website will reflect my style, personality and taste.
My main project experience for this class was frustrating at times as I was foggy on the intentions of the assignment and expectations. Perhaps taking this type class online was a poor choice on my half but I think I would have better benefitted from taking this in person in order to get feedback and clarification more timely. I don’t think that I presented my best work for this assignment as my interpretation of what was wanted seemed to be off track. Most valuable to me was the actual Presentation of the project and seeing different creative aspects that classmates put into their assignments, to me this was most exciting and allowed me to use my creative abilities to better share what my research proposal was about.
