You’ll remember that we’re using a common basic format for the Project assignments in all Modules — that is, the review of relevant professional development websites.
Specifically, for the Session Long Project for this Module, you are to review the the Open Directory Project. If you’ve never encountered it before, may seem quite odd, if not misdirected. It is the largest, most comprehensive human-edited directory of the Web. It is constructed and maintained by a vast, global community of volunteer editors, who refer to themselves as “The Republic of the Web”.
As they themselves proclaim:
“The web continues to grow at staggering rates. Automated search engines are increasingly unable to turn up useful results to search queries. The small paid editorial staffs at commercial directory sites can’t keep up with submissions, and the quality and comprehensiveness of their directories has suffered. Link rot is setting in and they can’t keep pace with the growth of the Internet.
Instead of fighting the explosive growth of the Internet, the Open Directory provides the means for the Internet to organize itself. As the Internet grows, so do the number of net-citizens. These citizens can each organize a small portion of the web and present it back to the rest of the population, culling out the bad and useless and keeping only the best content.”
You’re invited to begin exploring this most interesting resource now.
Probably the most useful part of the site for your purposes in this course would be the computer software section. Here, you’ll find a wide variety of links to the kinds of programs and information you’ll need to work through the remainder of this course. For purposes of this exercise, I’m not concerned so much with the results of your searching as such, as with your assessment of the overall utility of the site as a professional resource, and as a source of information about software and applications that you might find useful down the road.
So — check out the usual things — content, links, resources — with particular emphasis on links to software resources.
Then please prepare a 2-3 page paper addressing these topics:
summary description of its structure and purpose
its overall “look and feel” and apparent target audience
what you find useful about this site
links there that you either did or intend to follow up
any other things about the site that you find interesting
bottom-line evaluation of its value to you
Your paper should be two to three pages in length, and reflect your personal experiences with this issue. The important part of all these project assignments is to carefully assess your own experiences with the topic, and then reflect critically on what you might have learned about yourself and about situations through this assessment process.
The more that you can use the exercise to develop personal implications for your growth as a potential business person as well as a moral individual, the more value you’ll get out of the exercise.
SLP Assignment Expectations
Length: Follow the number of pages required in the assignment excluding cover page and references. Each page should have about 300 words.
Your assignment will be graded according to the MSITM SLP Grading Rubric. (To see the rubric, go to Assessments>Rubrics. Click the arrow next to the rubric name and choose Preview.)
