Establishing Online Identity as an Integral Component of an Undergraduate Curriculum

It is well recognised that employers increasingly use social media sites to recruit and screen potential employees. In the digital media industry, which is especially concerned with the development of web services and applications, maintaining an active Online Identity becomes especially important.

The Online Identity of a person working in this industry makes a vital contribution to developing their network of professional contacts and relationships. Professional social networks provide undergraduates with an ability to advertise their skills and experience. However, the platform used to disseminate this information can be limiting in allowing the physical demonstration of a student’s skills. This paper is concerned with how we have integrated the establishment of a student’s Online Identity within the Digital Media undergraduate curriculum.

In particular, we explore how the digital portfolio, which not only serves as a way of displaying the person’s professionalism and skills but also a shop window of their creative ability, is an important component of a student’s Online Identity.

This paper describes the workflows that have been adopted in developing a student’s Online Identity, and the use of Precedence Analysis Diagrams together with desktop wireframes, as key stages in developing responsive websites that serve as digital portfolios.