Welcome to Dale’s English 301 blog. This course offers students from a variety of disciplines an introduction to the complex world of business and professional communication. Through a mix of readings, group activities, online discussion and self reflection we will learn the strategies and techniques required to effectively communicate in today’s professional world. This will include learning the dos and do-nots of the traditional communication forms of abstracts, proposals, applications, reports and correspondence, plus the online forms of emails, texts, portfolios and networking. Additionally, we will be placed into writing teams that will provide both peer feedback and a learning opportunity for collaboration.

This course is broken into four units. The first provides an introduction to the course and our writing teams, and a focus on tailoring business correspondence for different audiences. The second unit will see us start our formal report project with a report proposal and memos, and will also include an exploration of Linked-in and the creation of an online resume. The third unit will include our team continuing work on the project report with an outline and draft, plus the further refinement of our personal job application package for our web folio. The final unit will see our team finalize our reports and us complete our application assignments.

My expectation of this course is to hone my professional communication skills through learning industry best practices. Through my previous experience I know the importance of effective communication in the workplace, and I welcome the opportunity to learn new techniques and skills. I am particularly excited about the course components on building an online portfolio, application package and social networking strategy, as this will be incredibly useful as I prepare to enter the workforce in the second phase of my career.