COMM 333 Final Thoughts...

I have spent the last few semesters looking forward to taking COMM 333 because I find the topic intriguing and extremely relevant to society. Not only have I learned a lot about the concept of persuasion but I have also improved the professional presence of my COMM 333 ePortfolio. There are several elements that I really like about my ePortfolio. This includes design elements and assignments. As always, there were some challenges that were faced when completing the ePortfolio. However, there are lessons learned from the experience that can help future students. There were some key components of persuasion that I found the most interesting and personally relevant. The final topic we will discuss is whether my view of persuasion has changed.

There was only one major change that occurred during the curation portion of my COMM 333 ePortfolio project. This occurred on my “projects” page. The transition of the icons to the buttons has increased the professional appearance of my COMM 333 ePortfolio. The use of buttons conveys a deeper level of Wix platform knowledge. A viewer would see this and assume that I am very well versed in how to develop a Wix ePortfolio. This aids in bolstering my credibility on a professional level.

One of the things the I like best about my ePortfolio is the use of the blog page. During this course, I have posted a minimum of one blog per month. This is something that I have not done in previous courses. When I view someone else’s blog and they are actively blogging, I find what they say to be more credible. This is because I assume that they care about what they are saying and taking the time to develop their online presence. If I were to choose between reading a blog with one post a quarter or five posts a quarter, I would naturally gravitate towards the more active blogger. That is why I like the amount of blog posts we have been required to complete in COMM 333.

I really enjoyed the Artifact Analysis that we completed in module five because of my artifact choice. Friends is my all-time favorite show. For this assignment, I had to repeatedly watch the episode that I choose to analyze. Since I am a huge fan of the show, I really enjoyed getting to watch the episode and apply concepts from COMM 333. It made me look at the episode in a new light.

The most challenging part of my COMM 333 ePortfolio was the curation. I had to get an appointment with a ePortfolio adviser. There were also several steps that I had to complete to satisfy the curation requirements. I do not think that they were excessively challenging. There were just a lot of steps and pieces that had to fall into place.

My advice to future students would be to get an appointment with an ePortfolio adviser quickly. This is a newer service the ODU offers. As time progresses and more students utilize this service, it will be more difficult to get an appointment prior to specific course due dates. Even if you do not have a course that requires you to meet with an ePortfolio adviser, I would still recommend it. I had a great experience and my ePortfolio page benefited from what the adviser had to say.

The component of persuasion that was most interesting to me was cognitive dissonance. I often find myself in a position of cognitive dissonance. The internalization of orders that I am instructed to enforce may not always be easy because I have strong morals. However, there are times where I need to internalize them to accomplish the mission. Understanding cognitive dissonance and how to return to a state of equilibrium can help me to be a more effective leader. Hopefully, I will be able to realign my attitudes and behaviors quickly so that I can act as a buffer between my superiors and subordinates.

My view of persuasion is not different than when I began COMM 333. I have never believed that people have 100 percent free choice. I have always thought that we are constantly bombarded by persuasive messages that influence the decisions that we make. This occurs on both the conscious and subconscious levels. Therefore, I placed a very high expectation on what I would learn from this course. I wanted to arm myself with the most amount of knowledge on the topic so that I could make more informed decisions for myself and be a more effective leader in the future. I still believe that I will be influenced by persuasive messages. However, I feel that I will be able to recognize persuasive messages and analyze them appropriately.