History of the Communication ePortfolio Project
With generous funding from the Quality Enhancement Plan (focused on interdisciplinary writing) in 2013, followed by investment by the Department of Communication & Theatre Arts, the Communication ePortfolio project was created and managed by Dr. Gary A. Beck, Dr. Danielle Jackson, and Professors Alison Lietzenmayer and Carla Harrell. Project designers worked closely to build a sustainable embedded program guided by the premise that communication students have much to gain from additional focus and emphasis on analytical writing ability. Communication students that join the professional world are expected to have mastery of different “hard” and “soft” communication competencies: Interpersonal skills, group facilitation, public speaking effective writing ability, as well as mastery of mediated communication (e.g., social networking applications, emailing, professional correspondence, “Web 2.0” familiarity) (see Robles, 2012). Furthermore, communication professionals that can express themselves clearly and effectively in their writing abilities can not only best represent their employer, but also advocate for their own expertise and educational training (Adams, 2013).
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​University faculty members have an opportunity to intervene and shape students’ online professional identities and share “digital wisdom.” Student writing assignments and multimedia projects, as demonstrations of their professional identity, can be developed and showcased in ways that increase their relevance and quality. Such an approach would be in line with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), or the expectation that all employees will act in accordance with the best interests of the company (Sims, 2003). Poor social media identity representation of self, colleagues, and company run counter to this prevailing perspective.
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As the University furthered support of the ePortfolio initiative through the creation of ePortfolio & Digital Initiatives, led by Dr. Megan Mize in the Office of Academic Innovation & Learning Support, Communication faculty continued to build upon previous efforts-- now backed by institutional tutoring support, class visits, faculty development training opportunities, and more. For additional University support at ODU regarding ePortfolios, please reach out to ePortfolio@odu.edu.
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References:
Adams, Susan (2013). The 10 skills employers most want in 20 something employees. Forbes. Retrieved on January 23, 2014, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2013/10/11/the-10-skills-employers-most-want-in-20-something-employees/
Robles, M. (2012). Executives Perceptions of the Top 10 Soft Skills in Today’s Workplace. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, 75 (4), 453-465.
Sims, Ronald R. (2003). Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility: Why Giants Fall. Greenwood Publishing Group.
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