Introduction to Digital Communication (CMNS1000)
Assessment Information Sheet – Home Page & Reflection Item
Value: 20%
Due: Friday midnight Week 5
Submission details: The link to your site will be uploaded in the appropriate area on Discussion Board. The reflection piece will be uploaded via Turnitin. The reflection piece must include screenshots of your site.
What are you doing?
You are building a website that portrays you as a professional. Are you looking for employment as a journalist, a PR professional, in film/television production, as a teacher, IT professional or web designer? Regardless of the position, you’ll need to present yourself as a professional. How would you like an employer to see you?
For this task, you will construct a WordPress website (using a University provided WordPress site) that presents you as that professional. Who are you? That is what we want to know. Tell us where you see yourself and about yourself. You will also include a 300-word reflection piece.
This WordPress site will be where you upload future assessment tasks and you may be required to use the site for other courses within your degree.
What to include:
The site must include an introduction (including a bio and a CV/LinkedIn link), a personal photo and a 15-45 second slide show/movie with sound (must upload via Vimeo – see podcast for how to do this).
You must include at least two pages on the WordPress site for this first assessment. The first page is the ‘About Me’ page and the second page is where you will upload written work for CMNS1000, including the reflection piece for this assessment. You can include other pages if you think that would tell the story of you in a better way.
First page (‘About me’ page**):
• What must be included:
- CV and/or LinkedIn link – you have the choice of including a CV on your site or you can link to a LinkedIn page.
- Biography
- Photo
- 15-45 second slideshow/film with sound that presents images and/or footage of you and which portrays you as a professional (NB ask yourself if the length you have chosen will portray you adequately). This must be uploaded via Vimeo – see podcast for how to do this
• You can include other elements (e.g. links to social media sites) BUT ask yourself why you are including these sites. Should they be included? Why/why not? You can talk about your reasons in the reflection piece. The readings, lectures and class discussions will help you make these decisions.
• Do not make information up.
• **IMPORTANT: You must include at least one page with the ‘About Me’ information BUT if you think your story will be better told over more than one page, you may develop other pages and include the information about yourself on other pages.
Second page (‘CMNS1000’ page NB consider this the ‘parent’ page for your CMNS1000 assessment tasks):
• Under the ‘CMNS1000’ page, generate a sub-page and call it ‘Task 1 – Reflection Piece’.
• Post your 300-word reflection piece.
• Reflection is an important part of the learning process. Here are some tips on how to be reflective throughout the web site design process. You do not need to include all of them, but they will give you a starting point:
Reflection Tips: Content understanding and thinking: reflect on the content of the web site design assignment.
Creating this artefact will help me in the future by…
This work reminds me of…
I tried to make connections by….
This web site design shows…
If I do this again, I would change…
This led me to ask more questions such as…
The part that still confuses me…
I still wonder that…
Reflection Tips: Personal learning and personal application: students reflect on their own thinking and the skills used during the web site design process.
I learned… about myself…
I was surprised that…
I had some trouble… but I solved it by…
I still wonder…
Today my thinking is like… because both…
My thinking changed because…
Three things that I want you to notice about my work are…
Important Notes
• Do not include personal details such as your birthday, phone number or address.
• You will be marked on your understanding of copyright.
Length
• Website: at least 2 pages (can be more)
• CV/LinkedIn link: as long as you need. (NB You must not make up information to include in your CV and DO NOT include personal information.)
• Biography: 150-200 words
• Slideshow/film with sound: 15-45 seconds (must upload via Vimeo – see podcast for how to do this)
• Photo: minimum of 1
• Reflection piece: 300 words
Submission details
• Upload the URL for your website into your class time in the Discussion Board. The link to this Discussion Board upload point is included in the assessment area and will be discussed in class. You may upload this link at any time before the due date.
• Take a screenshot of the pages on your blogsite and include it with your reflection piece to be uploaded to Turnitin (Tip: search how to do a screenshot on Google).
• The reflection piece and screenshot of your blogsite are to be electronically submitted to Turnitin (doc, docx, rtf, pdf) via the Turnitin upload point in the assessment area.
Please note that taking a screenshot of your blogsite at this point will also help you in Assessment Task 3.
Marking
You will be marked on the appearance, technical elements and content of the website, as well as the structure and content of the reflection piece and the understanding of your audience.
Please see the detailed marking criteria sheet on the Blackboard site.
Some tips
Have a look at other sites in your professional area. What do they have on their site? Note, too, that looking at other professional sites may be useful in your second assessment task.
Course learning objectives of this assessment (1, 2, 3, 4)
- Recognise the basic principles of web page design and apply these to their own practice using designated computer software
- Demonstrate integrated creative, technical, and computer skills by developing publications at a professional standard for an online environment.
- Apply knowledge of the social, political and cultural impacts of digital communication to real world situations.
- Employ narrative and interactive design principles to assess and create professional online publications.
The purpose and benefit of building a home page is to provide the students with a context in which to employ and demonstrate the skill to communicate with a particular audience in a particular context, in this case, employing digital technology to design and deliver media content via the WWW.