Intro to Online Identity

This is the post for the Friday, August 28, 2015 class meeting.

Discussing Today’s Texts

dogontheniternetFor today, you watched Sections 1 and 2 from Personal Branding Basics with Lorrie Thomas Ross. These videos relate to the branding you will do as you create an academic portfolio for yourself.

To begin our discussion of the videos, we’ll use an anonymous online whiteboard to brainstorm some ideas. Go to the Padlet for your course and add some short responses to the framing question there, “Based on the videos you watched, brainstorm some ways you can build or improve your identity online. Arrange your ideas under one of the two general kinds of portfolios you can work on: academic writer or professional writer.”

We will discuss the patterns we find and how they relate to the different kinds of portfolios you can create for this course.

Overview of Project 1

For Project 1, you will create a statement of some aspect of your identity using an image and a short explanatory statement. The assignment includes all the details for the project, which is due Wednesday, September 2, with a presentation of your image in-class on Friday, September 4.

In-Class Writing

Go to the Quizzes tool in Canvas and take the "Project 1 Audience and Goals" quiz. You will tell me about your goals and audience for the first project and your portfolio.

Homework

For today, please do the following:

  • If you didn’t complete your "Project 1 Audience and Goals" quiz in Canvas, please use the grace period to finish by 5 PM Sunday (8/30).

For Monday’s session, do the following before class:

  • Log onto Lynda.com with your Virginia Tech PID and password.
  • View the “Images and Words” from Foundations of Layout and Composition with Sean Adams.
  • Take a photo (or find one) that you can edit in class and have it online in a place where you can access it. It can be an image you want to use in Project 1, but it doesn’t have to be. Please choose something appropriate for the classroom.

For Wednesday’s session, do the following before class:

  • Aim to have at least a draft of your image ready to share in class. Ideally, you will have a nearly-finished draft of the image and your explanatory statement. We will spend part of the session on peer review, and part talking about how to submit your work and the reflection comments.

For Friday’s session, do the following before class:

  • Be prepared to introduce yourself to the class and explain/comment on your Project 1 image. You will have two minutes maximum. This is a low-stress presentation. You’re just telling everyone who you are and a bit about what you care about as a student or writer.