As explained in my introduction, I decided to join UOSM2008 because I always had an interest in starting a blog, so I was optimistic about the skills I would learn and how I could use them to better my professional identity, and in the future make a name for myself online. I was blindly stepping into a module that would drastically help my tech beginner, naïve self. I had no knowledge of the online world beyond social media and funny cat videos.
To prove how little I knew, at the beginning of the module I completed a digital profile self test which rated my level of digital knowledge on a scale of 1 (no experience) to 5 (very experienced). The infographic below shows my progression throughout the module:
Changes to my digital profiles:
I have realised that platforms such as twitter can be used professionally and are a great tool for communication. Originally I had one twitter account for personal use. During the first few weeks when I first learnt about having a professional persona online, I created a professional twitter account which I have used to communicate with my peers throughout the module. I also created a LinkedIn account during Topic 3 in order to help advance my professional online persona, adding to it until it reached an ‘all star’ level. I am now confident in maintaining multiple personal and professional identities online- even within the same platform.
Skills:
This topic has allowed me to learn new and exciting things that I was ignorant to previously, from digital residency to the technology gap. I was able to time manage, plan and work independently from a tutor while communicating with my peers in a way I have never done before. Surprisingly, having a short word count has helped me in my degree to be concise in my exam technique for economics analysis.
Impressively, I am now able to create my own infographics, all of high relevance and clarity. Although multiple attempts were aborted during the module, I was finally able to master uploading a video in topic 5 that I created on Powtoon which has shown how far I have come from my first post!
Benefits:
The skill of being able to sell myself online and write such varied posts with the same formal professional prose has already benefited me. By proving I can be given a topic to research and concisely produce a report on has enabled me to join a team in writing an Economic paper to be published.
My time spent on this module has been a great success; I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to grow as a user of the internet and gain invaluable career skills. I will most definitely be continuing my blog, as it has become a hobby that I not only enjoy but I’m learning so much from. I look forward to involving myself more in the blogging network and taking my blog to a new Economics level…
Goodbye UOSM2008!
Wordcount: 499
You can find my completed before and after self test here: My self-test Reflection
Socials:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-back-8641a313a/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EmilyBack5
Emily Back 