In Compiling My Best Works
The process of creating the Web Folio was a nostalgic and enlightening experience. As I selected and reviewed my writing pieces to compile a collection of my best works, I noticed significant improvements in my technical writing throughout the term. I can hardly believe that the Definitions Assignment was done only two months ago! I remember feeling that the definitions difficult to write, as I was unfamiliar with writing for a general audience. I am now confident that I can produce definitions for people outside of the field with ease in my future correspondences and writing pieces. Similarly, I noticed vast improvements in my peer review reports, with greater use of the ‘You Attitude’ in each successive peer review. Therefore, I chose my latest peer review to showcase, as it is the best one yet. Upon editing my best works, I had a great laugh at my earlier attempts at technical writing; I sure have learned a lot over the school term! Overall, I am proud of my improvements throughout the term.
In Writing for the Web Folio
At first, I had a difficult time in ensuring that the contents of my Web Folio is interesting for my readers. The reason behind this difficulty is because I did not think about the type of audience I want to write for. Thankfully, I remembered Dr. Paterson’s advice of tailoring our Web Folios to a specific audience. I can imagine how terribly difficult it would be for someone to rush into making a Web Folio, without a thought for which readers they want to target. With no intended audience, the resulting website would lack cohesion and focus. In my case, I am creating the Web Folio for prospective employers and connections in the computer science field.
Dr. Paterson encouraged us to compose interesting titles for each reflection. I wanted to find a way to link all my reflection posts together, as if they were parts of a story. As I am targeting my Web Folio for people in the computer science field, I decided to liken the reflection blogs (and the process of gaining technical writing skills) to learning and writing a computer program. Indeed, the process of learning technical writing is similar to learning computer programming. First, we learn the parts and concepts that make great technical writing pieces, as we would learn a computer programming language. Then we go through the process of reviewing and refining our writing pieces, much like a programmer would in fixing and debugging their code. I also composed a short introduction for each reflection, relating each assignment we’ve done for English 301 and the process of learning technical writing to the stages of writing a computer program. Hopefully, the analogies to computer programming will capture the interests of fellow computer programmers and prospective employers in the field.
In Designing the Web Folio
I enjoyed the design process of my Web Folio, as I am generally a creative person. As I worked on my Web Folio, I learned to use WordPress to its full potential to create a visually appealing portfolio for my viewers. The designing process encouraged me to view my website from my readers’ point of view. After every edit and every new page creation, I would open my site in a new window to ensure that my site is visually engaging and easy to navigate for my viewers. I also learned that pictures are a website’s best friends. Without pictures, the pages would simply be walls of texts, and would quickly lose the readers’ attention. Hence, I decided to include a picture to each of my blog reflections.
Initially, I was doubtful of my ability to create an interesting Web Folio, as I have no previous experience in website design. However, through my experience with the Web Folio, combined with Dr. Paterson’s and the textbook’s guidance on story-boarding and website design, I am now confident that I can create an effective computer programming blog as part of my social networking strategy. Overall, I am proud of my Web Folio, I hope my readers enjoy it as much as I did creating it!