Week One (26 January 2026): How will you use your ePortfolio? Discuss how you might use your portfolio, personally and professionally, once it’s completed. Then describe the artifacts you are considering including in your portfolio, referring to the list(s) in the lecture presentation.
Reflection Post 1: After reading this week’s modules, I think I will structure my ePortfolio to highlight how much my academic assignments have overlapped with my professional career. I initially started my ePortfolio during my junior year at ODU while taking a Cyber Security and Sociology course. The WordPress ePortfolio website through ODU was a bit of a challenge for me to navigate at first. However, I got a sense of how to organize my portfolio based on the course requirements and after that it was a smooth process. The main artifacts I am considering for use are academic papers focused on cyber security from multiple perspectives, including digital forensics, cyber warfare, and an exploratory analysis of artificial intelligence-powered chatbots. A lot of my coursework over the last two years has focused on the potential of AI chatbots (both for good and for bad) and I’d like to include several artifacts addressing this topic. I also created some PowerPoint presentations that I’d like to include on the ePorfolio, since this will give it visual variety. I would also like to include my resume with all of the previous work experience with the US military.
Week Two (02 February 2026): Let’s Practice Analyzing a Job Website. Let’s put our heads together and practice analyzing a Career Website. Carefully view the Website. Referring to specific jobs listed, determine 3 skills that you think would be most important to these jobs. Citing wording from their Website, what do you think the company’s culture might be like? What would it be like to work there? How does the ad text encourage an applicant to want to work there? How would the presentation of the Website make you feel about working there? Website Link Below: https://apply.intelligencecareers.gov/job-description/1252275
Reflection Post 2: Referring to specific jobs listed, determine 3 skills that you think would be most important to these jobs.
Looking at this job listing, I think being able to provide real time captioning through word processing and typing with speed and accuracy is probably the most important skill. The ability to maintain focus and consistency and not get distracted is also another essential skill. The third skill I think would be important for this job is being able to learn new terminology and understand its use in a technical setting.
Citing wording from their Website, what do you think the company’s culture might be like?
I think the company culture is one that values skills and merit over personal connections and the ability to network. I think the company’s culture is built on a high level of accountability and strong work ethic. The job posting highlights that candidates should have the “ability to caption highly specialized terminology” to “facilitate a cryptologic-associated vocabulary” would further suggest that the culture is highly trained in niche specialties.
What would it be like to work there?
I think this is a very technical and specialized work environment that features a highly educated and professional workforce. I think working here can have moments of high stress will long periods of low activity. I also think working here would give me a sense of pride in serving my country and fulfilling some of my civic duty.
How does the ad text encourage an applicant to want to work there?
The ad text highlights that the company wants to support people who are Deaf and Hard of hearing (DHH). This draws upon people’s sense of helping those in need and being inclusive to all employees, regardless of their physical attributes. The job listing’s salary at different levels of skill, education, and experience also provides a nice amount of transparency that many job seekers can appreciate. The benefits package for working at a government agency seems to be underrepresented in the ad text and could be another thing they could use to attract candidates.
How would the presentation of the Website make you feel about working there?
The presentation of the website leaves a lot of questions unanswered about your work location, how many co-workers you would be with, and the actual working conditions during your day-to-day schedule. I would have a lot of questions about these factors if I had to work here. I would feel optimistic working here, but I would be sure to maintain a high level of quiet professionalism. I get the impression that this isn’t the type of work environment that is relaxed and business casual. There is also the requirement to submit to drug testing and based on the further requirement to “facilitate a cryptologic-associated vocabulary” I would not be surprised if this job required the candidate to maintain a security clearance of some kind. This would introduce another level of scrutiny to any prospective candidate.
Week Three (09 February 2026): Let’s talk about our Skillsets. Identify at least 3 skills that you’ve gained during your academic career. What does your Five Year Plan Look Like? Be Detailed so we can all see your vision.
Reflection Post 3: Three skills that I have gained during my academic career include a mix of hard and soft skills. Hard skills such as the use of various cybersecurity software programs and applications have prepared me to help identify different security requirements and mitigate vulnerabilities depending on an organization’s needs.
Two soft skills I am most confident in are my adaptability and critical-thinking skills. My coursework at ODU has required me to adapt to different learning objectives that are dependent on multiple fields that I did not expect to learn while pursuing cybersecurity, such as ethics, sociology, political science, and even public speaking. Cybersecurity ethics taught me that different schools of philosophy can help me to answer different ethical questions that I may have to address in my future career. Sociology taught me that there is a massive human factor in cybersecurity, particularly the phenomena of social engineering attacks. Political science helped me to explore the roles and responsibilities of governments and corporations in cyber warfare. Public speaking helped me to increase my confidence in my abilities to communicate my findings effectively with different audiences, whether that be a prospective employer or a future client who needs to know how his network can become more secure in both verbal and written communication.
In the next five years, I intend to be in a supervisory position with the Department of Defense as a intelligence analyst. In this role, I will be responsible for leading and training the next generation of analysts, both military and civilian, as we address new and emerging threats to US national security interests. I intend to focus on the Indo-Pacific region of the globe, and hopefully I can remain in the Hampton Roads area of Virgina. However, I would not be surprised if my organization required me to shift to work on European defense issues or even the Middle East. I haven’t ruled out pursuing my master’s degree, but there are many other courses that the DoD offers that I can attend in the next five years. I hope that I can make the GS-13 pay grade within five years, as I’m currently a GS-12. I’d like to volunteer for another deployment in the next five years, but opportunities are currently limited since we are (thankfully) in peace time. There are always global crisis that could emerge in the next five years, so I plan to maintain a state of readiness to deploy anywhere and anytime my organization needs me to fill a position to help serve.
Week Four (16 February 2026): Skills (Hard and Soft). Let’s get excited about ePortfolios! What are some of the exciting aspects of this project and do you have any apprehensions about moving forward? Do you think you will have trouble Sharing your skills? Please share your thoughts!
Reflection Post 4: I think one exciting aspect of my ePortfolio is that I can create a personalized space to showcase my professional and academic skillset that others can access in digital form. I’m an introverted person in the real-life, and I sometimes struggle to find the right words when interacting with new people face to face. Having this ePortfolio is another way for me to get myself out there for prospective colleagues or employers and form a good first impression. I suppose one struggle I will have going forward is finding the right balance between showcasing hard vs soft skills. I don’t want to provide too many technical/highly specialized skills that might not be easily comprehensible to employers. I also don’t want to provide too broad of a soft skillset that makes me look like a generic type of candidate for a future employer.
Week Five (23 February 2026): Let’s look at ePortfolio Process closely. This week you looked at sample portfolios. Name some things that stuck out to you when you browsed their projects. Did it give you any ideas?
Reflection Post 5: While I was browsing through the sample portfolios a few things stuck out to me that were unique to each example. Eric Tran’s ePortfolio had a very clean, professional, and straightforward aesthetic. I liked how he kept the organizational tabs on the left side of the webpage. I also liked how he presented his coursework with a focus on skills in three topics. Sometimes less is more, and the efficiency of Eric’s ePortfolio made it a quick read that was to the point.
Mr. Samual Oates’ portfolio has much more of a flashy and attention-grabbing look, with the welcome page having a hacker and binary number sequences for the background. I also liked how he kept his tabs organized along the top of the webpage, and instead he focused on presenting his coursework that aligned with various fields of study, such as law & ethics, cyber applications, and cyber foundations. This helped to show more of the breadth of Samuel’s study in cybersecurity, and is great for an employee who has the time to dig deep into Samuel’s background.
For Dr. Emma Hubbard, I really liked how personalized and welcoming her ePortfolio looked. I could tell it was something she took a lot of pride and time in making, and including a personal photo of herself give it a very accessible feeling. Her inclusion of some of her more in-depth and longer form projects was a great inclusion, since with a PhD comes a lot more of this type of advanced analysis and research.
Week Six (02 March 2026): Reflection and writing our Narrative. Why is reflection so important to the ePortfolio process and our personal Narrative?
Reflection Post 6: I think reflection is so important to the ePortfolio process because it shows that we are capable of growing and learning from our own past experiences. It’s a similar premise in the US military, an after action report/review (AAR). It varies from unit to unit, but generally after every mission you should sit down with your teammates and leadership to go over some key pieces of information. You need to cover what went well (sustains) and what went wrong/needs to change (improvements). It’s a similar process for reflection during an ePortfolio. It helps to show that we are capable of critical self-assessment to find room for improvement, but also to help identify where our strengths lie so we can highlight those to others in our ePortfolio.
Week Seven (09 March 2026): How will you make your ePortfolio Stand out? What will YOU do to make your ePortfolio Stand Out? Tell us about it!
Reflection Post 7: There are a few things I will do to make my ePortfolio stand out. The first thing is I will include a mission statement that lays out what my goals are and how my work supports me in obtaining these goals. I will also aim to keep my ePortfolio simple and easy to follow. I do enjoy how some ePortfolio’s have a more flashy design and use digital graphics, but I will steer clear of this for my own ePortfolio. Finally, I will also include how much my academic experience will further fuel my professional future. I’m already in a stable career, so I want my ePortfolio to reflect how my academics are meant to build upon what I’ve done and what else I could do in the future with my career.
Week Eight (16 March 2026): ePortfolio Madness! Please view these videos and discuss what your thoughts were.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boLZNiupZ_g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9axgV_cPtlU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTj5z58rels
(31) How to Make a Portfolio Website on WordPress | Quick Tutorial (2026) – YouTube
Reflection Post 8: Teacher Clare and Dear DISes’s ePortfolio tutorials were great for people that need an ePortfolio without any prior knowledge. Prior to watching these videos, I had no idea Google Drive and Google Sites had a template for student ePortfolios. Their tutorials were also helpful for showing how to make edits and setting up the ePortfolio through use of the Google Drive application in the video which is always a huge help.
How to Digital’s tutorial on Wix was also very informative and presented in an easy to follow format. Wix has plenty of different templates for creating a website for just about any use, including ePortfolios. However, the paid subscription basis of Wix is a drawback for me.
The Stuff’s tutorial on Word Press followed the same format as the other videos and gave a how to presentation that was easy to follow along. I do appreciate how the tutorial focused on the free version of Word Press since this is how most users will be building their initial ePortfolio. I’m more partial to Word Press since I’ve had to use it during my prior courses at ODU and already have an ePortfolio set up through Word Press. ODU’s partnership with Word Press has been a great resource.
Week Nine (23 March 2026): Learning More about the process! I know these weeks have been overwhelming with eportfolio information but… Better to have more than less! Watch this informative Video and Discuss your thoughts! What do you think?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7uyD93Fvt8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=intloRAKysQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPXks8fg-mw&t=42s
Reflection Post 9: The SLCC and Cascade Tutoring ePortfolio videos were well thought out and would be very helpful for students using their specific platforms. However, there videos were a little too specific to the ePortfolio platform that their schools use to create and customize an ePortfolio.
I felt Tech Express’s ePortfolio tutorial was much more accessible and helpful. The use of Google Sites, a free platform, is great for anyone regardless of their background. The different templates in Google Sites for students, artists, or entrepreneurs are very useful. This video has given me some ideas on how I want my ePortfolio to look after I graduate.
Week Ten (30 March 2026): Reflect on a High Point and a Low Point in your Education. How has it changed you?
Reflection Post 10: I would have to say a Low Point and High Point in my educational journey was during my first semester at ODU after transferring from Tidewater Community College. I was enrolled in PHIL 355E – Cybersecurity Ethics and did not anticipate the amount of intensive writing needed for this course. The professors and materials were all excellent, and the subject matter of the course was very engaging. However, the assignments themselves were structured in a way that each module was a sort of “min-game” that required me to learn about a different ethical philosophy such as Kantian Deontology, Virtue Ethics, Contractarianism, Utilitarianism, and so on. I then had to read a science fiction work like a short story and apply how the short story demonstrates one of these philosophies. Once I’ve demonstrated how this philosophy works through a short essay, this philosophy was “unlocked” for me to apply it to one of eight follow-on essay assignments analyzing a scenario in cybersecurity using that philosophy. All of that to say it was an intellectually challenging course. The essays were graded on a pass/fail rubric with only two revision attempts allowed. I ended up getting a “B” grade in the class, which felt very highly rewarding given how difficult it was to comprehend these different philosophies and apply them to a cybersecurity problem.
Week Eleven (06 April 2026): What is your best Skill or Asset? What is Your Best Skill or Asset Job/Career Wise? For your future ePortfolio… What will you highlight for future employers?
Reflection Post 11: There are several skills that I want to highlight to prospective employers. However, if i had to narrow it down to just one skill, it would be my adaptability to fill any role needed to support intelligence or targeting operations. My one asset that I would highlight is my security clearance from the Department of War that I’ve maintained for over 17 years. Having a clearance demonstrates to the US government that you are trusted with highly sensitive information and are responsible enough not to jeopardize this information.
Week Twelve (13 April 2026): Tell us What Application or Forum Do you think you will be using to create your ePortfolio?
Reflection Post 12: For my ePortfolio, I plan to use the WordPress application through ODU. I’ve already created an ePortfolio using this application during previous courses at ODU, so the application is familiar to me and I won’t have to waste time learning a new system. As a bonus, many of the artifacts and key pieces of information I’d like to include in my ePortfolio are already saved in WordPress.
Week Thirteen (20 April 2026): Are you confident about working on your final Project? Talks to us! Tell us All About It! Some Videos to View Please Discuss~ What (if any) do you fear about this ePortfolio process? Take a look at the Videos Tutorials- Discuss~ These are all the Same Links Below as some links work on different servers.
Reflection Post 13: I am feeling fairly confident about being able to complete my final ePortfolio project. The assignment criteria and requirements are easy to follow and comprehensive enough that there is no confusion about what is required to complete this project. I think the one thing that I am fearful of is being able to narrow down my skills to three points and finding three artifacts for each skill. However, I do think I’ll be able to be creative enough to find enough artifacts that fit within each skill I identify. Another thing I am a little hesitant about is sharing too much information in my ePortfolio since there is always a risk of putting too much information on yourself for cyber criminals to access.