Welcome to my ENGL 301 Blog!

ENGL 301 is an online writing course at the University of British Columbia. It is taught by Dr. Erika Patterson and runs from September 3rd to November 29th. It aims to teach students the basics of written and online communication within a business and professional context. The course is comprised of textbook readings and assignments to provide students with hands on experience. This includes building a blog and creating a LinkedIn profile. Students are expected to correspond regularly with the course instructor via Facebook and Canvas CHAT. Students will also work in teams of four on the production and analysis of a formal report, will participate in several peer reviews, and are expected to engage with one another in online discussion.

Expectations

I actually have an active LinkedIn profile and am also quite familiar with WordPress. However, I have never taken a course specific to business writing, so I expect and hope to use what I learn to improve my professional content. I’m also looking forward to having my resume and general applications reviewed by the professor; I think it’ll be nice to get a professional’s opinion on my work. Unlike many courses, I expect that nearly everything we learn will have direct application to life after university. I hope and expect that Dr. Patterson will give us lots of feedback on our work, seeing that it may have a direct impact on our career opportunities. I have little experience in technical writing (for business), so I’m expecting to learn a lot about creating formal reports and collaborating with other students.

All in all, I expect the course to be a very hands on experience. Very directly applicable to real-world and business situations. I’m looking forward to expanding my professional vernacular in very practical ways.