Capstone Project Action Plan

Introduction

I am excited to work on my capstone project and put the best of my academic work together into an e-portfolio. Since I heard of this course and last big assignment, I thought it was a great idea for a newly graduated student to showcase their best work in an easy to use, online format with prospective employers or committees. I started working on my artifact matrix in Week 2 and it has been fun to look back on the assignments, discussions, and papers that have helped shape my academic achievement and knowledge. I started this program with a very narrow view. I figured earning a master’s degree would help me accomplish a lifelong goal and would help my resume so I can earn a better paying job. It has been two years since I started researching a master’s degree program in Information Science. I have since gained so much more than just a section on my resume. It has been a long journey with a lot of hard work, long hours, and early mornings and I have learned so many new skills. I am grateful for this capstone assignment for giving me the chance to reflect on everything I have learned and accomplished and put it together to showcase to others.

What I enjoy so far about the capstone project is that I am using several of my best skills to accomplish the final product. I am using different tools such as Google Drive, an online file storage, Trello, a task management board, and Forklift, a double-pane file manager to increase my productivity and organization. By using different tools such as Trello, I can create a calendar type of project timeline so I can stay accountable for my progress. I understand I will deviate from the timeline, which is why I started early to give myself some padded time in case I burnout and need a break. The good thing about Trello is that I can move things around easily, write myself notes, and change things to stay flexible and ensure I can still finish on time.  I will show my use of Google Drive, the Trello board, and Forklift below in my general approach.

To build a wholesome portfolio, I will be adding a lot of my research and papers I wrote on Net Neutrality and tech services. I will be adding my best presentations, different types of business writing, and some of the fun work I did as President of the ALA Student Chapter board, such as special pieces I wrote for our newsletters and our team charter. I hope that through this portfolio, employers will see my personality and creativity, critical analysis, academic and business writing, quality research, and diverse, transformational leadership. 

General approach

Throughout my time in the program, I have mostly learned that my best work usually takes time. I must take the time to plan each step. I also do research, write, revise, fill in gaps, rewrite then submit. My process is sometimes all over the place. I start to plan how to tackle a hard assignment and even if I end up doing it differently, I still get assignments done and I do well if I give myself enough time. 

My assignment plan below shows a basic breakdown of how I will work on completing the portfolio and project plan paper and my other assignments. I started working on the artifact matrix in Week 2. 

I created an easy to use and basic Artifact Matrix based on the template. I made a few different changes to make it easier for me to stay organized. Below are the planned steps I plan to follow and my use of software tools I will use to complete the capstone project.

Trello is a virtual task management board I have been using for a few years and it was extremely helpful throughout my time in school. The first image shows my current board for the semester. I created lists for every class and all my reading and assignments for each class.

The second image shows the task card for the Artifact Matrix. In this card, I have added all the information for the assignment including the description, important links, its due date, and a categorizing label. This card and task board decreases all the time it takes to get organized to do a big project. Combining all this information into a task board makes it easy to find all the important documents I need and information and allows me to see how much time I need to complete. I will be using the Trello board to keep track of all the tasks for the capstone project as well as all my other tasks and assignments for my other courses this semester.

I used Google Drive to organize my folders so I can save all my work online. This step saves space on my laptop and is a security measure in case something happens to my laptop in the middle of my semester, so I won’t lose any of my work. I have set up my Google Drive as a mapped network drive on the Forklift software app so I can do the file management from one easy app on my computer.  
Designate a few hours every week to do the organization legwork: organizing the artifact matrix and downloading my past assignments from Moodle to the designated folders in Google Drive to keep track of which assignments go where in Scalar. 

In order for the last few steps of the process to be easier to complete, I am taking the time to stay organized at the beginning of the process. I have designated Sundays as my capstone project day. I will dedicate 6-8 hours every week to finishing this project. My system so far has been utilizing my double screens to have my excel spreadsheet and a Forklift open on one screen, then Moodle and the goals description document open on my other screen. I go through one by one every goal and go through every single week of a course that may have assignments for that goal. When I find an assignment, I copy the information into my excel spreadsheet into the designated goal section, then immediately download the file from Moodle to the designated program goal folder in Google Drive. I will sometimes look back into my past folders in Google Drive to find the assignment and copy it to the program goal folder using Forklift, which is the second image.

As the last few weeks after the e-portfolio is turned in is mostly writing, I have separated when they are turned in on the Schedule overview below to show when I will begin working on them and when they are due. Additionally, I will be adding these assignments into my Trello task board with all the information on them as I did above to stay on track and keep all the information on the assignments altogether. I will continuously look over the schedule in this action plan to keep track of my progress and where I should be.

Schedule overview