Visual Communication Competencies
1) Learn and apply new techniques for Project Management
2) Create and carry out a project using skills learned in Project Management Class
3) Learn new ways to communicate efficiently in a virtual team
4) Have a complete understanding of collaborative computing
5) Learn about and identify key e-business practices
6) Learn how to plan and organize a professional website
7) Learn how to visually layout elements based on the box model of web design
2) Create and carry out a project using skills learned in Project Management Class
3) Learn new ways to communicate efficiently in a virtual team
4) Have a complete understanding of collaborative computing
5) Learn about and identify key e-business practices
6) Learn how to plan and organize a professional website
7) Learn how to visually layout elements based on the box model of web design
Competency 1: Learn and apply new techniques for Project Management
For this assignment, I had to create a project charter for a fictional Computer Support Network. The project charter really delves into the innermost workings of a project and gets you thinking about what you need to know before carrying out a project. For this assignment, we were given some details about the project beforehand. Then, we had to use the information that was presented to us to make a the charter. I learned so much through doing this project. I never would have considered half the parts of the project that are necessary to include before working on this assignment. It gave me a good look into what is needed in a project and just how important is it to give adequate details before you start. This is an important competency for me because I learned a new tool for project management. This project allowed me to think outside the box and really grow as a project manager.
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Competency 2: Create and carry out a project using skills learned in Project Management Class
In my Project Management class, the other graduate student and I were required to do an additional project. We chose to do a food drive at UW-Stout. Our project deliverables were a Project Charter, Microsoft Project Plan and our Powerpoint presentation to the class. In addition that, we had to manage the entire project from start to finish with duties like, can collection, bin placement, hanging posters, food tally, food recording and delivering the items to Interfaith Food Pantry in Menomonie. This was a really great project to run and I think my partner and I would both agree that we learned a ton. Since this was an actual project we were running, we learned first hand what things can go wrong, how to revise them and how to move on with the project in order to avoid delays. The Powerpoint presentation that is my artifact details out our project from start to finish and touches on the main parts and milestones of our project. This was a great learning experience and I know that my partner and I will both benefit and have become better project managers because of this class.
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Competency 3: Learn new ways to communicate efficiently in a virtual team
In my Collaborative Computing Class, one assignment was to explore social computing and relate a tool back to collaborating in groups. With social media on the rise, I decided that would be a great topic to explore. I wanted to see if there were social media software tools that were specifically built for business use, and there were. I also included a traditional social media tool (Facebook) and that application ended up getting my final recommendation after exploring the others. This research paper was good practice for me as I didn't realize just how many companies and teams were already using social media to collaborate with each other. It proves to be a very effective tool for virtual communication and team building. I think this competency reflects my ability to explore different types of technology, and my strong understanding of virtual teams.
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Competency 4: Have a complete understanding of collaborative computing
This powerpoint presentation really reflects my deep understanding of collaborative computing. This final research project and presentation was a graduate student project that allowed me to explore issues in collaborative computing, relate them to a real-life company, and come up with a definitive solution. Because I had to research this issue from start to finish, I had to understand collaborative computing and find applications that would work well with the ideas presented. My study of virtual worlds in other courses was what led me to study them in this presentation, but it was my overall knowledge of how they can be utilized that fueled my passion in this presentation. One thing I could have improved upon was the exploration of some of the lesser-known virtual worlds.
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Competency 5: Learn about and identify key e-business practices
In this assignment, I was to take key components of the chapter we were studying and relate them to other news articles and modern day information. I think this assignment is a good example of how class information can be applied to real-world activities. I thought I did a good job discussing the articles and providing a good summary. In addition, I think my application of the information in the article was good as well. I think something that could be improved was the overall layout of the assignment. I probably could have made the paper more visually appealing.
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Competency 6: Learn how to plan and organize a professional website
In this assignment, it was our goal to plan and organize the layout of our website using a directory tree. I found this assignment both interesting and very useful. As a person who is always organized and enjoys order, I found that by laying out my information, I not only got a great feel for what information I
wanted to include, but how I wanted to include it. I knew that I would need a separation between content and I wanted to make sure that my ideas flowed well throughout the site. Looking back on the assignment now, I can see that I had a vision of how I wanted to present my information from the beginning. The only critic I have of this assignment was that I forgot that I would need to connect my homepage to all other pages. That was a slight oversight and one that was easily fixed later in the building stage of my website. |
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Competency 7: Learn how to visually layout elements based on the box model of web design
In this assignment, we were required to visually layout the information in our website by using the Box Model of design. This assignment was the basis of how to use div and class tags within Dreamweaver. It gave me a good understanding of how I would need to format and place my information so that I could move it around on the page. By visually drawing out the information, I had to plan and design exactly how I wanted the information to look. My only critique of myself is that I wish I would have more time to research more creative ways to layout the information. While I know that my website looks clean and professional and serves its purpose well, I know that if I had more time, I could really make it pop. It would have been nice to have more training with graphic design software so I could have know what things I could do to make my website look better. I did learn a lot in this assignment and it definitely helped me when it came time to code and layout my information in Dreamweaver. |
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