Wednesday, October 28, 2009

BBADM Web Apps Week 07 Class 4 B

We discussed the essays briefly. Some students uploaded drafts to turnitin.com just to check that it worked. At the end of class those students were curious to see their similarity score so I showed them.


We looked at some tips for web site design taken from Steve Krug's excellent book "Don't make me think".

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

CMOD6001 Thursday's classes are canceled

I will be away on Thursday.

BBADM3 Web Apps Essay Titles

Only 21 students have so far submitted an essay topic for approval. Students should check that the list of essays below is accurate.

Students who have not yet chosen a essay title are now very far behind schedule. The essay assignments for these students is as follows.

Students with surnames from A to H: RFID and Privacy
Students with surnames from I to O: Online Collaboration Tools
Students with surnames from P to Z: Monetizing Music in the Digital Age

Students who submit papers that are at variance from the topics they have chosen or were assigned will be zero marks.

BBADM3 Web Apps Week 07 Class 4 A

We looked at some tips for web site design taken from Steve Krug's excellent book "Don't make me think".

BBADM3 Project Groups

Hi Guys

One of the things I wanted to sort out this morning was the project
groups and blogs. With your help we can still get this done today.

Please
Form a project group
Start a group blog
Email me the full names of all the people on the group and the URL of
the blog

If you are having problems with the group blog please email me and I
will try to track you down in the last 5 mins of a lab class today.
Unless you are in the group that has a second class today , in which
case we can sort it out after that class.

Thanks

Colin M

Colin Manning, Dept. of Computing
Cork Institute of Technology, Ireland

Monday, October 26, 2009

No class Tuesday morning

I have to go to a funeral Tuesday morning. I should be in for the
later class.

Sorry about the short notice

Colin M

Colin Manning, Dept. of Computing
Cork Institute of Technology, Ireland

Friday, October 23, 2009

New Office! Yippee!

I got word of my new office this week. It will be a bit cramped for three people but I will be glad to be out of the prefab after 10 years. Imagine an actual office indoors. An office in a building with plumbing and everything. With kind kind of extravagance it's no wonder the country is bankrupt.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

CMOD6001 Week 06 Class 2

Only 6 students in class.

I gave out some sample games I downloaded from the web and passed them out. Students met in one group and shared ideas.

CMOD6001 Week 06 Lab DCOM

There were only three students in class and none of them were in the same group. So there wasn't a lot of point in assigning group work.

I left at 1535.

CMOD6001 Week 06 Class 1

A member of each group to summarized what stage they were at.

Team Aplha Beta 2/4
Is going back to square 1. Theywere making cludo.

There's a plug in the ceiling 3/4
All chartacer set out. Plot and scenario orgainzed. Just need to start writing.

Team Acitmel 2/4
Have characters organised and connections between them.

Warner Bros CSI 1/3
Characters organized. Only one team member in class today. Doesn't seem to have been much progress in the past few weeks.

Team Untitled 4/4
Characters organized.

There was no point in setting group tasks when so many people were missing.

I gave out some projects from last year to see if they could give students some ideas.

By noon next Thursday groups should have
Invitations for the guests including character and costume suggestions.
Inital police report (or whatever) with information about the victim.
see nightofmystery.com for ideas of the kind of quality

These should be-mailed to Colin as PDFs. This is worth 10%.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

BBADM3 Web Apps CMS Group Exercise

Learning Outcome 5. Compare and contrast a number of Content Management Systems (CMS).

I am asking each group to contrast and compare 3 free web based content management systems. A table outlining the main features and a brief explanation of any non-obvious features would probably be the way to go. We are interested only in the free features. However if any site has an especially interesting paid feature, it would be worth a separate mention.

The group should also sign up for one CMS, rate it for ease of use, and write a short review.

The results of the investigation should be posted to the group blog.

By the next class Groups and Group Blogs should be in place.

Use this exercise a a test run for your group processes.

Friday is a CIT holiday

Just in case you didn't know. Enjoy the loong weekend.

BBADM3 Web Apps Week 06 Class 4B

We talk about different web technologies and tools and how they all fit together.

notes: web-technology.pdf (ignore last slide)


webnode.com didn't work

I asked students to google "free online CMS" and sign up for a few systems and compare them.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

CMOD6001 Assignment 1 Results

I will make the results of assignment 1 available soon. I was very disappointed with them. The task was not difficult and there were 10 easy marks up for grabs.

A number of students failed to take on board the comments I left on their blogs that could have resulted in them getting higher marks. Up to noon on Monday 8/10 marks were still available. Now this assignment is worth nothing.

Students who did not do well in this assignment should have a long hard think about what they are playing at, and should make a decision about whether or not they are in or out.

A number of students took it seriously and got good marks. Well done.

BBADM3 Web Apps Week 06 Class 4A

We talked about the various different web technologies and tools and how they all fit together. It was a lot to tackle in one class, but we will revisit some of it in more detail later.

webnode.com didn't work in C162. Maybe it needs Java. I must look into it.

notes: web-technology.pdf (ignore last slide)

BBADM3 Web Apps ESSAY TITLES

I have moved these here for convenience


  • Marketing in Social Networks - Michelle Murray

  • Social networking in the Business World - Tara Carroll, Teresa Casey

  • Using YouTube for Business - Isabel Rossiter

  • Online Collaboration Tools

  • Blogging for Business - Siobhan O Sullivan, Amanda Murphy

  • Podcasting - Barra O Connor, Darragh Ryan

  • Video Streaming - Laura Hickey, Caitriona Flynn

  • Open Source Software for Business - Joan O Sullivan

  • Wikis

  • Prediction Markets - Tanya Hogan, Karina Walsh

  • Business 2.0

  • Managing Reputation Online - Julie O'Leary

  • Understanding Google AdSense - Patricia O'Brien, Colin Kearney

  • Wiki Business

  • Business Opportunities using Location Based Services - Micheal Osborne

  • RFID and Privacy

  • Improving your Google Ranking - Stephen O'Connor

  • Cybersquatting

  • Privacy Guidelines for Small Business - Caitriona Wrynn

  • Digital Terresterial TV (business slant)

  • Internet Crime - Aisling Carey, Deidre Lucey

  • Blogola

  • Business Models for Monetizing the Newspaper Industry

  • Online Advertising - Caitriona Flynn, Marian Ahern, David Barrett

BBADM3 Web Apps Week Project

I met with the class rep over lunch. She persuaded me that I should be a bit more flexible with the group sizes and so I will.

She also explained that students are uncomfortable with uncertainty and are worried. So I have put a specification for the project online. We will work though this in class.

BBADM3 Web Apps Week 06 Class 3B

Class was cut short so we didn't get much done.

BBADM3 Web Apps Week 06 Class 2B

Collaboration tools
wikis
edited something on wikipedia
edited the home and away wiki
looked at google documents
talked about cloud computing

Monday, October 19, 2009

Yippee! I got my iPhone back.

Now I just have to wait for it to be un-blacklisted and I can once again be permanently tethered to the web.

BBADM3 Web Apps Week 06 - Class 2 & 3A

Very poor attendance

Collaboration tools
wikis
edited something on wikipedia
edited the home and away wiki
looked at google documents
talked about cloud computing

CMOD6001 Week 06 - Lab DNET

There was not a single complete team in attendance. So there wasn't much point is setting team work, nor tying to develop the projects more.

I met with (some of) Team Aplha Beta. They had the complete wrong end of the stick and thought they were making a board game.

I met with (some of) Team Unknown. They are on their way, but so far it doesn't sound very exciting.

No one was interested in doing work related to this module so I left at 1248.

Students would want to start taking this module seriously fairly soon and get their act together. It is not easy to repeat this module, so failing it might result in a year longer at college.

BBADM3 Web Apps Week 06 Class 1B

We had an exam.

A number of students who should have been in the 0900 class turned up to do the exam at 1000. No problem with that.

BBADM3 Web Apps Week 06 Class 1A

We had an exam.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Electives

I'm not teaching any electives this semester, but I thought this might be useful to students. The mad rush is on to register for electives for THIS semester. The system does actually allow you to register for Semester 2 electives also. But there's no rush with that just yet. make sure if you are registering for Semester 1 that you do not register for Semester 2 by mistake.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Someone took my iPhone from IT2.2

I don't want to use the word stole, because I suppose they could just be keeping it safe until they figure out who it belongs to. But if you wanted to find the owner of a phone you probably wouldn't power it off.

O2 tells me that it cannot now be used. But the kind of people who hang out in CIT computer labs are clever enough to figure out a way, I imagine, to use it as an iPod at least.

It will cost me about EUR600 to replace it and I can't afford that.

I'm actually very sad. It's not that my phone is gone. It's that a computing student stole it. I like being naive. I like thinking that all CIT students are nice decent people.

And I really really need my phone these next few days.

CMOD6001 Week 05 Class 2

We did a group communication exercise (zoom)

CMOD6001 Week 05 DCOM Lab

I asked students to check the entires in the list of blogs to make sure that they are complete and correct.

I showed students how to use Google Documents to preprare and share documents. It is idea for shared project work.

Mid-semester review

It's the end of week 5 and so it feels like the half-way point of the semester, even though it's not. So it seems like a good time to reflect on how the semester has been going, how I have been performing, and how the classes have been going.

I think I have been a bit grumpy this semester. I have been less tolerant of students than I have been in the past. I'm not sure if that is actually a good thing or a bad thing.


I was a bit put out that my teaching assignments changed around so much at the start of the semester. At one point I was teaching CMOD6001 to DNET/DCOM, ITS, and COM. In the end I ended up teaching only DNET/DCOM. I actually I think I was lucky to get the best of the three groups. But over the years I put a lot of effort into this module and it was disappointing to have my hours reduced.

For CMOD6001 this semester I have reduced the workload for students. I used to require them to do a presentation and an essay. Presentation skills and writing skills are very useful things that students will need later in their college and work careers. They will be huge factors in students' future successes. However in the past some students did not take these assignment seriously and failed the module as a result. It has become clear to me however that failure has consequences, not just for students, but for the lecturer that fails them. So I have essentially dumbed down this module. This semester I am even giving 10% for just turning up. Interestingly I have found that just as many good students rise to the challenge of a difficult module, so weak students drop down to the level of easy modules. I would not be surprised if the failure rate for this module is largely unchanged as a result.

I was neither surprised nor disappointed that the COMP6023 Web Publishing did not run this semester. It was offered last year and I think most of the students that wanted to do it, did it then. I was frustrated that my HoD did not take my advice and offer some other elective in place of this one. I was very keen to run the Computing Ethics module that I have been developing. I was also worried that my HoD seems to believe that the lack of interest this module is due to the fact that I was teaching it, and that students are avoiding my classes where possible. I'd be happy to take the Pepsi Challenge any day and subject myself to market forces with some decent elective modules that I'd like to develop and teach.

My web Application module business studies is going well. I have found it interesting how people from different disciplines do things in a different way and I haven't adapted as well as I should have. It has been an education. The bulk of the students are smart, keen, and interested. I didn't have much of a plan going into this module, but I am glad now because I would have had to tear it up. Next week's exam will tell a lot. I think overall it will be a success, and if the chance comes up I think I'd like to teach it again.

CMOD6001 Week 05 Class 1

I talked about how to give presentations.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

BBADM3 Web Apps Week 05 Class 4 B

Students were a bit late because they were in the wrong room. That happens me a lot too.

We looked at nested lists.

I distributed DVDs to anyone who wanted one.

Students worked on the sample exam.

I gave out a handout on plagiarism and explained that copying and pasting any part of the essays is not acceptable. I hope people know I am serious.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Class canceled Monday 30 November

I will not be in on the morning of 30 November. Afternoon classes should run as normal.

BBADM3 Web Apps Week 05 Class 4 A

I gave out a handout on plagiarism.

We looked at how to properly nest a list.

We discussed plagiarism.

BBADM3 Web Apps Week 05 Class 3B

We discussed how Google make money. Some student are already using AdSense for their blogs. I cannot believe how much money they are making. When other students saw how easy it was to make money, they all wanted to sign up.

BBADM3 Web Apps Week 05 Class 2B

I started to talk about how Google makes its money but I found the class was a little bit distracted, so we took a short break and started again.

When I came back we discussed the technical problems students are having accessing the online class. I had not understood until then that there was a genuine problem with access to those notes. If I do not have a technical fix for that by tomorrow's 1000 class, we will have to consider postponing the exam on Monday.

We got no actual work done in this class

Monday, October 12, 2009

BBADM3 Web Apps Wiki Experiment

In order to allow students to experience wikis first had I have set up a Home & Away Wiki. Student are encouraged to correct mistakes in they find (it is not sent in Austria) and to add to the page. The object of the experiment is to see how the content is created and amended over time. You do not need to register or log in to make changes to the page.

Go to http://homeandaway.wikidot.com/home-and-away-main-page. You are then free to edit the page as you wish. To avoid conflicts no two people may edit the page at exactly the same time. So once you begin editing the page is locked for 15 minutes.

Changes are anonymous. But if in the comments section you leave something that identifies you (e.g. your initials) you might win a prize.

BBADM3 Web Apps Exam

The Web Apps short exam will be on Monday morning 19 October.

BBADM3 Web Apps - Week 05 Class 2A & 3A

I find that some students are having a difficult time concentrating in class. Please try to work on that.

We discussed how Google makes money from advertising and some of the privacy issues with Google. (For more on privacy students should visit the website of the Data Protection Commissioner and the Commissioner's YouTube Channel has some interesting movies.

I tried to show students data from Google Analytics but there is no Flash installed in the lab. I showed students some examples of AdSense statistics and the level of detail provided. Students signed up for AdAsense for their blogs.

notes: google.pdf

BBADM3 Web Apps - Movies play in back row of C162

If you are having difficulty playing the the online classes at home, you can play them on the machines in the back row of C162 (and possibly some others)

DMOD6001 Week 05 DNET Lab

I asked students to get into their project groups and work on the list of characters.

I discussed some ways to structure the game.

BBADM3 Web Apps Week 05 Class 1 B

I gave out a sample exam for students to do. I offerred to correct it for any students that wanted feedback.

BBADM3 Web Apps Week 05 Class 1 A

I gave students a sample HTML exam to do in class. I offered to correct it for anyone who wanted feedback. Nobody did it.

We went over lists and tables again, but didn't do nested lists. Details of how nested lists work are in the online class. I got the feeling that most students had not yet bothered with the online classes.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

CMOD6001 Week 04 Class 2

We discussed plagarism and did an exercise on it.

CMOD6001Week 04 COM Lab

Students organixed their blogs. I'm annoyed that it is taking so log for students to get organized. A task that should have taken an hour is taking weeks.

Some students are needlessly losing marks every week.

CMOD6001 DCOM/DNET Week 04 - Class 1

I was a bit annoyed because students had not completed the group tasks I set for them last week. If the approach of students does not change I will micro-manage the development of the group projects and set many mini deadlines. This will make it more difficult students to pass.

I asked groups to meet and provide me with the following
1. Group name
2. List of group members
3. Game Scenario
4. Rules for the group
5. Group blog URL


Team Actimel's scenario is a medievel themed zoo. Girls plus one is undecided. Alpha Beta is still brainstorming. Team Untitles is using a theatre. Team CSI doesn't have a scenario.



Some rule's teams decided on
1 meeting per week.
If you miss three consecutive mneetings there will be punishment. Failure to do the punishment will result in expulsion from the team and asses tothe team blog cut off.
Evicted member can rejoin group if they come up with a team song.
Every member must do fair share of work.
Missing 4 meetings results in eviction.
Meeting quorum is 2. Quorum is 3.
Minutes must be recorded.
Tasks that go 2 meetings beyond due date are reassigned.


I helped students set up group blogs.

Each group should e-mail me the URL for the group blog.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

CMOD6001 Assignment 1

I was disappointed with both the quantity and quality of the submissions for Assignment 1. A lot of students did not get it in on time. If these students submit before next deadline (Monday at noon) the standard 10% penalty will be applied.

Some students who submitted on time might be better off if they re-submitted. Even with the 10% late penalty they could come out better off. This assignment required student to go find out about the various technologies required for their job. The example I went through in class made that clear. It was not enough to just plug terms into Google and copy and paste the results. Students must use their own words for assignment submissions.

Students who are re-submitting should make a new blog entry and leave the previous entry intact.

Some students did very well and I am please by that.

BBADM3 Web Apps ASSESSMENT

The short question exam will be held during Week 06. More details to follow.

BBADM3 Web Apps Week 04 Class 4 B

We looked at lists and tables in HTML.

We discussed the exam briefly.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

BBADM3 Web Apps Report - ASSESSMENT ESSAY

Assessment 2 for this module is outlined in the module descriptor as:

Written Report - A report on current business Web applications - 4 - 25% - week 8

Learning Outcome 4 is
Explain the business benefits of a range of Web technologies.

This leaves a lot of scope for interesting reports. Students are free to propose report titles of their own, however they must be approved in advance. Once you have chosen a topic e-mail it to Colin for approval. Students without an approved topic by 21 October will be randomly assigned one. Reports should be at least 3000 words.

The report is due before noon on Friday 6 November 2009. Students are very welcome to submit drafts for comment in advance of this. Papers must be submitted to turnitin.com using Class ID 2932306. Enrollment password was given in class. (Hint: Hawaii)

Here is a list of possible topics I have thought of so far:

I have moved these to a more recent post for easier access

BBADM3 Web Apps Week 04 Class 4 A

I asked students to make HTML versions of their CVs.

Few did.

BBADM3 Web Apps Week 04 Class 3 B

Students asked for the class off to attend the careers fair. Seems like a good idea.

BBADM3 Web Apps Week 04 Class 2 B

I talked about blogs.

Notes

Monday, October 5, 2009

BBADM3 Web Apps Week 04 Class 2 & 3 A

I showed students where to find the online HTML classes. Students will need a thorough understanding of HTML if they are to successfully complete the project.

Although I was able to play the online classes on my machine, students were unable to do so. This is a problem.

We did a quick revision of HTML and looked at lists and tables. Students should follow up these topics using the online notes.

slides www1, www2, www3

BBADM3 Web Apps HTML Notes

I have placed some HTML notes online. Students should use these to learn the HTML required in order to successfully complete the project. (Students need not concern themselves with JavaScript code)

These online classes should play in Windows Media Player, in QuickTime, and in iTunes. They have been coded to play on iPods without any further encoding.

Interested student my learn even more HTML by taking more online classes via the iTunes Music Store. Inthe iTunes Music Store search for "Colin Manning".

CMOD6001 Week 04 - Lab DNET

Some students have still formed groups so the group exercise for todays calss was postponed.

Students should have formed groups of four by the end of the day.

One member from each group should e-mail me the name of their group, the URL for the group blog, and the names of the group members.

BBADM3 Web Apps Week 04 Class 1B

I completely forgot about this class and it was 1035 before I turned up. I am still a bit confused.

Some students had already left so we didn't do any thing new.

BBADM3 Web Apps Exam

The course schedule specifies that there is to be an exam in Week 04 worth 15%. However given the slight disruption we experienced, I think it is a bit soon just yet. I will give at least one week's notice of this exam.

BBADM3 Web Apps Week 04 Class 1 A

I gave a talk on blogs and social software notes

Students worked on their blogs and figured out how to add labels.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

CMOD6001 DCOM/DNET Week 03 - Class 2

I gave out details of the project. Students formed groups and had their first brainstorming session.

By next Thursday groups should have:

  • a group name

  • a group blog

  • minutes from today's meeting

  • a scenario for the game (medievel castle / space ship / casino / underwater city /...)

CMOD6001 Week 03 - Lab DCOM

Students worked on the job & modules assignment.

CMOD6001 DCOM/DNET Week 03 - Class 1


Job exercise is due on Monday at noon. Students should check that they are correctly entered in my list of blogs.

I recommened a good book for study skills.

Class was a bit empty so we waiting until 0915 to make a start.

Handout 6. Students discussed this is groups. It sounded like students took this exercise seriously. There was some disucssion groups of the Lisbon 2 Treaty. But that's no harm either.

0920 Handout 29. Students discussed this is groups. Students took this serioulsy.

0945 Handouts 75 & 76. Students worked on these and then discussed them a bit.

0955 I spoke very briefly about the assessment plan.

Handout 63