Our Last Class : (

I am sad that this class is coming to a close and that our last day is this Wednesday, July 29th. I have truly enjoyed working with and getting to know each one of you a bit more.

During our last class we will try to wrap up our weblog, portfolio and personal branding projects. I will give you an overview of your grade and any outstanding work, and you will present your weblog and portfolio projects to the class. We may have a visitor (Susan Helser) in class Wednesday interested in seeing the excellent work you have done this semester.

Finally we will wrap up the class by completing our Final Exam which will also become part of our weblogs. The Final Exam will be much like the research assignments we have been completing.

I will give you time to research and compose the exam/essay in class. I ask that you save your sources in a Diigo list and in a Word document as well. The exam, which will be in essay format, will ultimately be posted to your weblog and also saved in a Word document. I will be looking at the printed version and the weblog version when I grade it.

The topic for the Final Exam is:

Learning environments, web 2.0 and web 2.0 learners: How are web 2.0 services and ideals revolutionizing our approach to learning? How does this carry over into the world of work?

Here are a couple of lists to get you started:
web 2.0 + work | learning 2.0 + web 2.0 learners

Presentations and Beginning your Job Search

This week we will focus in on preparing for presentations of all types, conquering presentation anxiety and honing in on our creativity to develop memorable presentations and materials.

We will also look at preparing for a job search, brush up on resume tips, strategies for writing an attention getting letter of application and preparing for an interview.

Preparing for your Interview:

One practice exercise that can be very helpful is participating in a mock interview. Although we were not able to complete our practice interviews in class last week, I would like each of you to look at the common interview questions listed in our text. Give them some thought and prepare answers to the questions that give you the most difficulty. The book lists some of commonly asked interview questions on page 358 and also toward the end of the chapter. If you have any personal favorites that you would like to include that would also be appropriate, or you may add common interview questions that you have found from other research.

In any case, once you have a list of 4 - 5 of the toughest questions, write out your answers or a strategy for answering such questions and we will discuss it in class this coming Wednesday.

Please bookmark any interesting sources of help on the subject, link them up in a diigo list and post your questions, answers, and the link to your Diigo list on your weblog.

Four Generations in the Workforce!

Today's topic examines generations in the workforce.

I would like you to generate another Diigo list that compiles articles on characteristics and viewpoints of the different generations in today's workforce. Along with your list, summarize your findings and any strategies for bridging generation gaps and place both on your blog.

July 8th: Leadership, teams, and workplace culture

This week we have had yet another excellent and thought provoking discussion on leadership styles, reward systems, how teams work together and the cyclical dynamics of team interactions and workplace culture.

While this is a mouthful it is a recurring theme that has prevailed throughout our discussions, revealing itself in one after another personal example from each of us in class. These dynamics permeate every workplace system without prejudice. If the leadership, culture and team interactions of an organization are healthy, its products will reflect that. If they are not, it will reflect that as well.

Next week we will not be meeting due to the 4th of July holiday, but I would like you to continue to investigate how these three aspects of the workplace are intertwined: Leadership; teams; reward systems; and workplace culture.

For next week:

• (1) Create four separate Diigo lists for this research to mark the separation of the four areas of study (leadership, teams, reward systems, workplace culture).

While they are related and dynamic concepts that flow from one to the other, it is important to understand them separately as well as how they work together. We will use your research the week we return to develop some personal strategies and leadership goals for our careers. I would like to take the concepts we have studied and develop a tangible, systematic approach to handling common workplace situations that will ensure that we are true to ourselves and those we serve. This goes beyond the 'rules for life' that we strive to uphold and should look at how to apply our time tested beliefs in situations that are not ideal and maybe even impossible.

Everyone is a leader. Only the choices of what to teach the world varies. Each one of us communicates something about how to handle things in life through our every day actions and choices.

• (2) From your research develop an initial list of strategies that you will personally employ in the workplace to help you make consistent choices that ensure effective decision making and actions in the workplace.

Developing your online portfolio and preparing for your job search

Today we will be further developing our online portfolios and preparing materials for future job search expeditions.

Specifically we will continue to add information to our LinkedIn profiles and explore other ways to exhibit our work and skills online.

We will also explore site names and domain names as an additional step to help build and place emphasis on your personal brand.

I will be asking you to research how other people are using social networking tools, such as wikis, blogs and other tools to showcase and link up their experience, skills and samples of work. As always I would like you to compile your sources into a list on Diigo and post a summary of your findings (with the link to the Diigo list) on your weblog.

Workplace Collaboration and Information Processing

This week we will explore workplace collaboration and information processing and how these technologies and processes are evolving.

Based on our discussion of information processing and collaboration in the workplace, research trends in enterprise software and web-based solutions, as well as cloud computing. Identify which solutions have the best overall functionality and accessibility.

For next week, add your favorite software & web-based solutions to a new Diigo list along with any articles related to work flow, collaboration and information processing trends and best practices.

Finally make a "Must Have" list, a "Could Have" list, and a "Could Care Less if it Has" list for your dream collaboration system. Once you have your lists and supporting articles, post a summary of your findings, your 3 lists (above: Must Have, Could Have, and Could Care Less if it Has) and a link back to the articles and solutions you bookmarked using Diigo on your weblog and share them with your friends on Twitter.

For Next Week...

Next week we will begin to work on our Personal Branding project. Please bring in a photo of your self, or some other icon or image that you would like to customize to become your "visual identity".

Also think about what type of impression you are trying to create. We will try to develop this in a visual sense.

Today we will work on creating a Diigo account and our first Diigo list.

Adding your first Diigo list to your blog:

1. Sign in to Diigo and create your list.
2. Begin your search on our topic of the week "Our Ever-Changing Workplace".
   
3. As you find sources that you think are interesting or relevant, bookmark them using Diigo and check "Add to a list".
4. When you are done adding articles to your list, go to the list page in Diigo under Diigo -> My Lists on the toolbar (remember you will have to sign in and add the toolbar at home).
5. View the items in your list and organize them in the way that makes the most sense (you can re-order items in the list or move things from the top to the bottom).
6. Next we need to get the link to your list -- Select and copy the URL (web address) of your list page. It is located at the top of the page and looks like http://www.diigo.com/list/username/List-Name.
7. After copying your list URL, create a new post on your weblog (in Blogger).
8. Summarize your findings in the new post and add your list as a link in the post. You can also add your list as an item in the sidebar of on your weblog if you like. (We'll cover how to do that in more detail next week : )

Feel free to email me with questions if you get stuck on any particular part of this process, or bring your questions to class next Wednesday and we will work out any bugs in the process then.

Have an excellent weekend!! -Nicole