Objectives

This assignment is designed to develop a portfolio of resources that you can use during your degree. The compilation of your Portfolio is progressive throughout the term. Please refer to the course profile to see how this assessment item relates to the course learning outcomes.

These objectives will be measured by the ‘closeness of fit' to meeting the requirements and the assessment criteria below.

Submission

Submit each file individually into Moodle using the Portfolio links in the Assessment block for Assessment item 4 on the course website. Please note there should be five (5) files submitted. Be sure to check that the correct file is submitted for each portfolio item.

The due date for this assignment is the Friday of Week 12. It is STRONGLY recommended that students complete the work during the term using the timeframe suggested in the Requirements section below.

Academic Integrity

ALL assignments will be checked for plagiarism (material copied from other students and/or material copied from other sources) using TurnItIn. If you are found to have plagiarised material or if you have used someone else's words without appropriate referencing, you will be penalised for plagiarism which could result in zero marks for the whole assessment item NOT just the individual submission. In some circumstances a more severe penalty may be imposed.

Requirements

PART 1 - Portfolio: Critical Thinking

Task

This portfolio item requires you to write about Critical Thinking. The document should have two parts.

Part A - Critical Thinking

Write approximately 200 words describing why you need to be a critical thinker. You should refer to study, work and personal life. You should include your definition of the term critical thinking.

Part B - ICT professionals

Explain why it is important for ICT professionals to be critical thinkers. You need to provide at least three (3) relevant unique points in your discussion. This should be approximately 250 words.

ICT professionals:

• At least three (3) relevant unique points about the importance of ICT professionals being critical thinkers

Note if the submission contains grammatical and/or typographical errors or is NOT well structured and easy to understand or it is too long or too short (less than 400 or greater than 500 words) there will be a penalty of .

PART 2 - Portfolio: SWOT Analysis

Task

Conduct a Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) analysis of your presentation skills. An example can be found on page 16 of the prescribed textbook. The SWOT analysis should be presented in a square with four (4) quadrants or in a list as it is presented in the textbook. Each quadrant/section should have at least two (2) unique points. In addition to the SWOT analysis, you should outline some strategies to address one of the weaknesses that you identified in your presentation skills. That is, if you identified ‘fear of public speaking' as a weakness then describe at least two strategies that you could use to overcome that weakness.

Strategies:

Identify a weakness that is listed in the SWOT analysis section. Must describe at least two strategies that are reasonable ways to overcome the weaknesses you identified

Note if the submission contains grammatical and/or typographical errors or is NOT well structured and easy to understand there will be a penalty of -1 mark.

PART 3 - Portfolio: Reflective Writing

Task

Some people love Social Networking through technology (Facebook and Twitter) whilst others loathe it. Write reflectively about your experiences with the use of a Social networking technology such as Facebook or Twitter. You will need to provide a brief description of the experience and then write three paragraphs of reflective writing where you analyse the experience, what you have learnt from the experience and how you would handle it differently in the future. If you can, choose a significant event such as your account being hacked or negative comments about you or a friend being posted. Your reflective writing should cover the three key points on reflective writing (see below). If you do not use Social networking technologies you could write a reflection on why you do NOT use Social networking technologies or choose another life experience that really challenged you and write about that. This should be approximately 400 words.

The key points to consider when writing reflectively are:

1. You need to demonstrate what you have learned from a particular experience not just describe what happened.

2. There is no right or wrong answer-reflective writing is about what you learned from the experience.

3. Ask yourself the following questions and give your responses in your writing: Why did X happen? What did I do in X situation? What were the positive and negative outcomes in the situation? How might I do things differently next time? What have I learnt and how does this knowledge contribute to my development?

Note 1: You should re-read pages 130-132 of the textbook to ensure you know what is meant by reflective writing.

Note 2: This reflective writing is about evaluating yourself; it is NOT about evaluating social media.

Note if the submission contains grammatical and/or typographical errors or is NOT well structured and easy to understand or it is too long or too short (less than 350 or greater than 450 words) there will be a penalty of -1 mark.
 
PART 4 - Portfolio: Personal Ethical Framework

Task

you learnt about how to develop a personal ethical framework and last week you learnt about work and cultural issues. Understanding who you are and how you relate to others in both your personal and work life can make you aware of the values that are important to you as well as the values that you may need to work on to improve your professional standing. This portfolio item is designed to make you think about how to build a reputation as a good ICT professional. It requires you to write about your perceptions of a good ICT professional, your work ethic and values, how you communicate with work colleagues and how to work with others from diverse backgrounds. As you are training to be an ICT professional you should refer to the ACS Code of Ethics and/or ACS Code of Professional Conduct when writing this personal ethical framework. It should be approximately 500 words.

It is recommended that you use the following headings:

• ICT professional

• Work ethic and values

• Communication with colleagues

• Diversity in the workplace

Note if the submission contains grammatical and/or typographical errors or is NOT well structured and easy to understand or it is too long or too short (less than 450 or greater than 550 words) there will be a penalty of -1 mark.

 
PART 5 - Portfolio: Successful Completion

Task

This portfolio item requires you to justify that you have successfully achieved the course learning outcomes and to provide feedback about your experiences with the course. The document should have two parts.

Part A - Justification

Create a document called ‘Successful Completion' and write a reflective analysis that demonstrates you have satisfied all eight (8) course learning outcomes that are listed in the course profiles for COIT20233 and COIT20249 Professional Skills for ICT (they are listed below). In no more than two (2) A4 pages justify how the work you have completed this term has satisfied all eight (8) course learning outcomes. Please note it is important that you JUSTIFY that you have satisfied the course objectives do NOT just summarise the course content and/or assessment items OR define the course learning outcomes.

From the Course Profile:

On successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

1. Describe the basic principles and importance of effective interpersonal communication, active listening and reading for meaning.

2. Demonstrate teamwork skills.

3. Communicate ideas effectively both verbally and in written form using appropriate language.

4. Create and deliver effective oral presentations.

5. Argue the importance of ethics, codes of behaviour, and societal, privacy and legal issues within the ICT industry.

6. Demonstrate an understanding of common work practices and values operating in the Australian workplace.

7. Assess how ICT can be used to improve organisational processes.

8. Evaluate the application of emerging technologies to communication and collaboration.

Part B - Feedback

Write two things you liked about this course and provide the reason or reasons you liked them. Also describe two suggested improvements to the course and justify why they would improve the course.

Upload the Successful Completion document into Moodle.

Feedback:

1. Two things you liked about this course plus reasons

2. Two suggested improvements to the course plus justification

Note if the submission contains grammatical and/or typographical errors or is NOT well structured and easy to understand there will be a penalty of -1 mark. If the submission is larger than two A4 pages you mark will be reduced by -1 mark.