Details of what you are expected to do:
1. Rationale
The ability to reflect critically upon one's personal and professional effectiveness, and career development, is a core characteristic of successful managers, as well as of effective students.
`Mahara' is available free to all students and staff on myBU for the purpose of creating a customised and flexible online Portfolio, also known as a 'living CV'. The incorporation of multimedia allows the user to demonstrate individuality, creativity and flair, as they document their accomplishments for internal and external consumption. The portfolio can be shared with different audiences, hyperlinked to Linkedln, and the structure and content can be adapted to suit a particular purpose.
You will further develop your Mahara portfolio throughout your time at University, including during your Placement Year, as a way of recording and evidencing your personal career development.
Mahara remains available to students after Graduation, serving as a vehicle to showcase achievement throughout, and beyond, your time at BU. It serves as a tool for reflection, for the identification of skills gaps and for self-efficacy reinforcement.
2. The learning outcomes being assessed Assignment 2 assesses Intended Learning Outcomes 2 and 4 (refer to Page 7).
3. Overview of Assignment 2
You will be introduced to Mahara and its basic functionality during the first lab session. Further details regarding what tasks you could complete and what can be contained within your Mahara Portfolio will be mentioned within seminars and lectures. In some cases, materials will be discussed and/or developed in class. In other cases, instructions will be provided via myBU.
You will be provided with instructions as to which parts of your Mahara Portfolio to make public, which to keep private, and how to do this.
You are required to create a Collection that includes, as a minimum:
1. A Profile with a picture.
2. The Mahara CV builder and background themes functionality.
3. A Personal Skills Audit, SWOT and SOAR analyses.
4. A Personal & Professional Development Plan (PPDP) of up to 750 words maximum.
You will also need to think about your motivations, goals and aspirations:
- Include dynamic media content to portray who you are and what you want to become.
- Use other self-reflection tools - www.mindtools.com and www.businessballs.com are good resources, although others are available.
- Consider other aspects of personality that we cover in lectures and seminar groups.
The Personal & Professional Development Plan (PPDP) requires you to reflect critically upon the activities you have completed within your Mahara. The PPDP provides an opportunity to evaluate your achievements, reflect on the areas for development identified within your Personal Skills Audit, SWOT and SOAR and consider strategies to be implemented or enhanced in the future.
For example, things you might consider include:
- What you've learnt about yourself whilst building your Portfolio.
- How you have dealt with conflict, or the unexpected, or ambiguity.
- Skills or competencies developed whilst working on Assignments 1 and 2.
- What you think you still need to do to make yourself more employable going forward.
Think about how you have developed personally and professionally as a result of the DMC experience, what you wish you had done differently, what you are pleased that you did, what qualities you drew upon or developed, what you will do going forward, etc.
This is reflective writing - about learning about yourself, and about how you relate with others. IMPORTANT
The development of your Mahara Portfolio is mainly a self-managed task. Although we will be providing some guidance in lectures, and providing advice regarding contents in lab sessions, we will be providing limited technical advice. This is because we want you to teach yourself and make your Portfolio unique and personal to you.
For further details please access:
4. Assessment criteria and weightings
Please refer to Page 8 for further details of the Assessment Criteria. In addition, please note the following breakdown of marks:
Contents and Professional Impact:
Profile picture
CV Builder
Welcome message
Background Theme
Collection / Private pages Blog / Wall
Consideration of Data security User-friendly navigation
Creativity & Originality
Use of self-reflection tools:
SWOT, SOAR, Skills Audit Additional Tools
Personal & Professional Development Plan:
Depth of analysis & self-reflection Evidence of learning
Action planning
Harvard Referencing