Fluent Essays

A website developed specifically for the purposes of being your Capstone Course ePortfolio. It should have its own web address and not be a part of any other website. (CSMASTER) The website should use responsive design and be easily navigable on a mobile device as well as a desktop. All website development tools now have responsive design templates available for you to work with. The website should contain a high-quality photograph of you on the home page. The photo should be only of you and should be appropriate to the brand you are trying to project. The website should contain at least one academic project and one extra-curricular project with appropriate text, images, videos, and other artifacts as needed. For at least one of the projects selected, you should provide a critical thinking component. Begin by briefly discussing the reason you chose this project and give background/brief overview of it. You should then describe what you learned by doing it, including a discussion of the skills you specifically learned that could help your career. Then answer the question: if you could do this project again, what would I do differently? Support with specific details and examples. The website should link to your LinkedIn account. If you do not have a LinkedIn account, create one as it is a requirement for all CMPSC-395 students. The website should be added to your "csmaster" account. Finally, and most importantly: The website should reflect the fact that you have reviewed the guidelines above and have taken them seriously. It should reflect a significant amount of effort on your part to customize it. E-Portfolio Assignment Your ePortfolio is an opportunity for you to develop a website that is presentable to employers for future job and internship opportunities. You will should have been working on the ePortfolio through your entire time as a Computer Studies/Science major and it is to be finally assessed in your concentration Capstone course. In a job market that is extremely competitive, professional ePortfolios give students a unique opportunity to showcase their experience online. A well-crafted website can be the difference maker when it comes to standing out among the competition when applying for a job. This ePortfolio assignment will be your first step in developing a quality website that will showcase your academic and professional experience to recruiters. You should continue adding to your ePortfolio as you progress through the education and career. Here are the steps to completing this assignment:  1. Know what your ePortfolio is communicating. Step number one in creating your ePortfolio is to close your computer, pull out a notebook, then STOP and THINK!! Think about the personal brand that you want your website to communicate to those that view it. In other words, what do you want the recruiter looking at your website to think about you? Do you want them to know you are a social media expert? Do you want them to know you are an aspiring marketer in the field of real estate? Having a personal brand will help give you direction as you build your website. If you don’t know how you want to brand yourself that’s okay, but these are the type of things you should be thinking about as you build your website and prepare for your professional career. Resources:  http://www.inc.com/jayson-demers/5-steps-to-buildi... 2. Determine your platform. There are many website building platforms which you can use to build your ePortfolio. Many students have chosen to work on SquareSpace, Wordpress, and Wix. Each platform has its own advantages and disadvantages; some are free and some have a monthly cost. If you are unsure which platform to use, speak with your professor about which one would be best for you to use. The instructional videos that go along with this web page are currently based off using SquareSpace as a platform. 3. Get to know your platform. The more you know what you are able to do on your building platform, the better your website will be. Spend at least 30 minutes just messing around with the platform and template you have chosen. How do you change the header fonts? Does the template automatically resize pictures? How do you edit the main navigation? These are the type of question you should be asking yourself as you initially work with your template. 4. Determine your ePortfolio website pages It is now time to determine which pages should appear on your ePortfolio. Your ePortfolio should contain information about who you are, your professional experience, and your academic experience. This is the section where you need figure out how to communicate that information. At a minimum, you should have four pages: a home page, a page to show off your accomplishments, a page to describe who you are in some detail, and a page for your resume. You may want to create more than one page to show off your accomplishments, breaking them down by category (such as “class projects”, “internships”, etc.). You are welcome to be creative and add other pages as well, such as a page to show off your travel experiences, hobbies, or a Contact Me page. It is up to you to decide which pages you need based off what message(s) you want to convey about yourself. Your goal is to make your website as easily to navigate and understand as possible. This includes your main navigation bar (main menu) at the top of your website, the buttons that help your audience move around your website, and any secondary navigation bars you might have. Be sure to think through the best way to navigate the pages you develop. 5. Thinking through the design A great looking website is defined by how the content is placed on the website pages. You don’t want to just throw massive amounts of text on the website next to a huge picture. You want to lay all of your content out very simply on the webpage. If you don’t have a great “design eye” I would recommend using design blogs, Pinterest, or Tumblr for design inspiration. Pinterest is my favorite resource to see how great designers are laying out their websites. Here are a couple great links to resources: · A Pinterest board:  https://www.pinterest.com/johntounger/ · Tumblr Web Design Tag:  https://www.tumblr.com/tagged/web-design 6. Website content For each page, be sure you think through what content you can provide. Ideally, you will want to select items that have a good mixture of images and descriptive text. If you have a video or audio file that you can include, that will add an extra dimension of richness. When you want to highlight your experiences (both academic and extra-curricular), choose projects where you can demonstrate your accomplishments through both narrative text and an artifact, such as a file attachment or video. For example, if you did a marketing project that you would like to highlight, you will want to be able to describe it on the web page and then also include a link to the actual project. If you did a presentation that you think would be a valuable contribution to the site, include a description, a link to the slides, and (ideally) a video of the presentation. You could also add in any metrics you have on a project. For example if you had a social media internship, by what percentage did you grow the account? Do you have graphs that can show this? 7. Reflection and Critical Thinking Besides providing proof of your talents, the ePortfolio will also demonstrate to potential employers your critical thinking skills. In order to do this, you will need to provide some reflection on one or more of your assignments. This shows the person viewing your profile that you are learning from your experiences. More details on this will be given in the deliverables section. Assignment Deliverables For this assignment, you are required to complete the following list of deliverables: 1. A website developed specifically for the purposes of being your Capstone Course ePortfolio. It should have its own web address and not be a part of any other website. (CSMASTER) 2. The website should use responsive design and be easily navigable on a mobile device as well as a desktop. All website development tools now have responsive design templates available for you to work with. 3. The website should contain a high-quality photograph of you on the home page. The photo should be only of you and should be appropriate to the brand you are trying to project. 4. The website should contain at least one academic project and one extra-curricular project with appropriate text, images, videos, and other artifacts as needed. 5. For at least one of the projects selected, you should provide a critical thinking component. Begin by briefly discussing the reason you chose this project and give background/brief overview of it. You should then describe what you learned by doing it, including a discussion of the skills you specifically learned that could help your career. Then answer the question: if you could do this project again, what would I do differently? Support with specific details and examples. 6. The website should link to your LinkedIn account. If you do not have a LinkedIn account, create one as it is a requirement for all CMPSC-395 students. 7. The website should be added to your "csmaster" account. 8. Finally, and most importantly: The website should reflect the fact that you have reviewed the guidelines above and have taken them seriously. It should reflect a significant amount of effort on your part to customize it. Please review the rubric for details on how this project will be graded. CMPSC-395  ePortfolio  Assessment  Rubric  –  Name________________________   E-portfolio  Purpose:  The  primary  purpose  of  creating  and  maintaining  this  ePortfolio  is  to  students  in  obtaining  employment.    This  showcase  of  work   selected  by  the  student  from  his  or  her education,  career  and  life  experiences  should  be  well  organized,  inter-related  and  reflected  upon.    Reflections  are   an  integral  aspect  of  critical  thinking  where  the  student  should  include  specific  skills  learned,  why  those  skills  are  beneficial  to  the  student  and,  if   appropriate,  what  the  student  would  have  done  differently  to  enhance  the  experience.   Category   Exemplary  (20  pts)   Proficient  (15  pts)   Partially  Proficient  (12  pts)   Incomplete  (5  pts)   Professional  &   Technological  Layout  &   Design  -­‐  Is  there  a  logical   flow  and  ease  of   navigation  throughout   ePortfolio?   ePortfolio  appears  very   professional,  appealing  &  flows   well.    ePortfolio  demonstrates  an   exemplary  use  of  digital   technologies.  Pages  are  well-­‐ balanced,  all  navigation  links   work  seamlessly.       ePortfolio  is  well  organized   and  predominately   appealing.    Multimedia  is   included  and  appropriate.     Proficient  use  of  digital   technologies.         The  logical  flow  of  the  ePortfolio   is  somewhat  confusing.     Multimedia  is  included  but  is   used  randomly  and/or  without   purpose.    Minimal  use  of  digital   technologies.   ePortfolio  appears  to  be   very  rushed  and  lack   professionalism  in  the   design,  organization,  and   use  or  lack  thereof  with   digital  technologies.   Quantity  and  Quality  of   Artifacts  –  Is  there   significant  evidence  of   valuable  skills  learned   and  applied?   Significant  amount  of  artifacts   and  samples  of  work  that  provide   a  variety  of  applied  learning.       Various  experiences  are  provided   that  demonstrate  a  valuable   range  of  skills  that  have  been   learned  and  applied.       There  are  several  artifacts   and  work  samples  provided.   Artifacts  contain  some   variety  and  demonstrate   solid  applied  learning.   Few  artifacts  and  work  samples   are  related  to  the  purpose  of   the  e-­‐portfolio.    Artifacts  show   little  variety  and  demonstrate  a   minimal  level  of  applied   learning.   Most  artifacts  and  work   samples  are  unrelated.     Artifacts  show  little   variety  and  demonstrate   very  minimal  applied   learning   Critical  Thinking   through  Reflection  &   Self-­‐Assessment.  Is  it   clear  what  was  learned,   why  it  was  important  and   what  could  have  been   done  differently?   Robust  reflections  are  thoughtful   &  demonstrate  evidence  of   significant  achievement  and  self-­‐ assessment.  All  reflections   contribute  to  the  overall  value  of   the  ePortfolio.    Several  hyperlinks   connect  various  areas  in  the   ePortfolio.   Reflection  describes  efficiently   why  artifacts  in  the  ePortfolio   demonstrate  achievement.     Proficient  critical  thinking   demonstrated.  Connections  are   made  between  course  learning   and  other  areas  of  life,  both   personal  and  professional.   Few  reflections  describe  why   artifacts  in  the  e-­‐portfolio   demonstrate  achievement.     Reflections  are  limited  and   remain  on  a  surface  level.    Little   to  no  self-­‐assessment.   Reflections  are  missing,  and   those  that  are  there  do  not   describe  why  artifacts  in   the  ePortfolio  demonstrate   achievement.  No  self-­‐ assessment.   Career  Purpose  &   Personalization.    Is    the   ePortfolio  leveraged  so   that  a  potential  employer   can  get  a  relevant  glimpse   of  the  person  beyond  that   of  a  resume  or  LinkedIn?     Students’  career  purpose,   passions  and  creativity  are  very   clear  throughout  ePortfolio.   Professional  summary  page  is   linked  to  relevant  social  media   sites.  Expressiveness  of  unique   personality  is  clearly  apparent.       Has  a  relevant  contact  page.   Career  purpose  is  clear  and   ePortfolio  serves  its  purpose.   There  is  some  creativity  and   some  connections  are  made   with  social  media  sites.     Expressiveness  of  personality  is   evident  in  the  content.    Has  a   functioning  contact  page.   Career  purpose  is  rather  generic   and  ePortfolio  capabilities  are  not   really  leveraged.    Uniqueness  of   the  person  is  difficult  to  ascertain.   Not  quite  sure  how  skills  will  be   utilized.      Minimal  contact   information.   ePortfolio  is  generic  and   basically  a  digital   resume.  No  social  media   connections  exist,  and  a   unique  personality  is  not   evident.  The  purpose   and  value  of  the   ePortfolio  are  unclear.   Quality  of     Communication  Skills  -­‐   Is  there  a  professional  level   of  writing  &  other  forms  of   communication   demonstrated  throughout   the  ePortfolio?   Writing  shows  excellent  career   and  employee  worthiness.    The   writing  is  free  of  grammatical   errors.      Content  in  multimedia   demonstrates  excellent   communication  skills  and   professionalism.      Writing  shows  good  career  and   employee  worthiness  and  is   largely  free  of  grammatical,   spelling,  punctuation  errors.       Multimedia  is  included  and   appropriately  demonstrates   communication  skills.   Writing  shows  fair  career  and   employee  worthiness.  The  writing   includes  some  grammatical,   spelling,  and  punctuation  errors   that  distract  the  reader.         Multimedia  is  utilized  randomly   without  purpose.     Writing  struggles  with   career    and  employee   worthiness.  There  are   numerous  grammatical,   spelling,  and  punctuation   errors.      Minimal  or  no  use   of  multimedia.   Version  11/14/2016