Category: Unit 4

Reflecting on The Creation of The Web Folio

By far, the creation of the Web Folio has been one of my favorite assignments in the English 301 course. It was seeing how all the documents came together and how the theme, fonts and layout impacted the feel of the site. Overall, I was hoping to create something as timeless as possible.  Knowing the dynamism of technology, I knew this would be no easy task.  I understand the website will need to be continuously updated however, I looked to minimize the long term upkeep. I would like to reflect on the choices I made in the overall design of this Web Folio and various documents which I included in my Best Work which helped full fill this concept.

Documents
I have included the documents which I believe portray my greatest work in the course. These can be found in the drop down menu under the Best Work tab at the top of this webpage.  I want to utilize this site as a segue into my professional life, providing a potential employer with insights to my strong writing and communication abilities.  This will differentiate me from other possible candidates.  All of the assignments have been peer reviewed, edited and demonstrate writing with a “you-attitude”. By exploring new ways of communicating with different audiences I show an employer how I am able to adapt to different environments and provides insights to my ability to work well with others.

Theme, Fonts and Layout
I was playing around with a considerable number of themes looking for something which portrays me.  I would define myself as simple yet creative and I was hoping this would be emulated in the Web Folio. I wanted to echo the concepts of freedom of the mind by illustrating this blank slate, or untouched environment. Only when you dive deeper do you see colour. The fonts are simple including grays, whites and blacks to help the photos stand out.  In constructing the layout of the Web Folio, I considered which tabs would be most important for potential employers (the target audience), requirements set by the English 301 text, and best practices mentioned in the Technical Communications text.  Importantly, those tabs critical for an employer would include my Biography and the Resume and these can be found closest to the left side of the page.

I hope you find this Web Folio is easy to read and navigate through.  Please let me know how you feel in the comment section below.  I would love to hear from you and am open to any constructive criticism you may have!

Cheers,
Mitchel Sharko

Reflecting on Me, Myself and I

By reflecting on the creation of this Web Folio I have noticed a few patterns in my writing.  I would like to discuss these as well as my strengths and weaknesses both in the learning process and the assignment components of the English 301 course.

Strengths in My Learning Process
Having worked in a professional environment, I felt I was able to quickly understand and apply the concepts portrayed through the Technical Communication text.  Knowing these professional requirements allowed me to easily mold the tone and style to confer to the audience.  As this was an online course there was a large self-directed learning component.  Demonstrating I have can apply myself without constant close supervision shows employers I don’t need to be micromanaged.  I am able to teach myself, given the right tools.  It also demonstrates I am confident and can persevere through unique challenges.

Strengths With My Assignments
Being meticulous is a strength which I clearly demonstrated in my assignments.  I maintained a high attention to detail when presenting and ensured I submitted documents with poise and deep insight.  A strong effort to read through my colleagues work translated into thorough peer reviews with valuable, constructive critiques.  I also noticed the development of my writing abilities due to the freedom I had with some of the assignments. I have never really played around with the structure of sentences before. By modifying both the content and the length I was able to change the flow of a document in hopes to further engage the reader.  From an employer’s standpoint, this demonstrates an emphasis on continually trying to learn to better myself.  This benefits me and any company as I continue to add value to the business.

Weakness in My Learning Process
One of the hardest parts of any learning process, and specifically in this class, is time-management.  In structured, traditional, classroom environments, you are required to sit down and focus on the subject.  Not having this structure creates an apparent degree of freedom.  This class, having been my first one online, has thus proven to test my level of self-motivation. Speaking honestly, there were instances where time became a factor and I had to skim over the text to ensure I delivered assignments punctually.  Especially when the assignments were due back to back.  I have learned my lesson and going forward, I will allocate my time more efficiently.

At the onset of the class there was a steep learning curve.  Having no previous knowledge on blogging or WordPress I had to allot a considerable amount of time to navigate through this new program.  I feel this impacted the quality of my writing as I had to focus more time on using the program then on actually working on writing.

Weaknesses With My Assignments
I have gone back through my peer reviews to see if there were any trends in the comments sections discussing my weaknesses.  Generally, I found there were three issues with my grammar and sentence structure:

1. I often misused plural nouns and plural possessive nouns (s and ‘s)
2. Fragmented sentences
3. Wordy sentences

Simple oversight often lead to the misuse of plural nouns and plural possessive nouns.  Fragmented sentences resulted when I tried to get to pretty with my writing.  Wordy sentences were often a sign of misalignment of thought.  Moving forward, further editing of my work with specific focus on these issues will help resolve these minor problems.

I also find there are aspects of my writing process which I am still struggling with.  I continue to jump around when completing documents.  I noticed the assignments which portrayed my best work, included those which I had created templates, or outlines, helping to control my train of thought.  I will consider continuing to integrate these as I strive to work on this weakness.

Conclusion
I feel because of the subjective nature of writing there is no way of reaching an ultimate level of perfection which caters to all audiences. Nonetheless, when writing, we can get close by leveraging our strengths and developing our weaknesses.