SOFT7001 Assignments

• Petr K
• Kyron L
• Ou L
• Sam L
• Colm M
• Ed M
• Chris P
• Kamil W

MATH6028 Free Choice

If you like maths you might be interested in MATH6028 that is being offered next semester in the free choice slot. Contact michael.brennan for more details and the CRN required for registration.

MATH6028 – Mathematical Explorations (Michael Brennan ) [2 lecture + 0 lab + 2 tutorial]

Learning Outcomes
1. demonstrate skills in mathematical reasoning and presentation;
2. describe the way in which mathematics is used in various areas of human endeavour;
3. develop and understand mathematical arguments;
4. identify the cultural role that mathematics has played throughout history;
5. appreciate how mathematics can be used as a learning resource.


· The Logic of Discovery
The familiar Sudoku puzzle provides a nice introduction to problem solving using some basic logical reasoning. Other topics that reinforce the different steps necessary in the problem solving process include Tower of Hanoi, Magic Squares and Algebraic gems.

· History and Culture
The concept of conjecture and proof are fundamental to mathematics. This section develops these from a historical viewpoint with emphasis on elementary mathematics (e.g. primes and geometry).

· Pleasures of Probability
Illustrate how lots of everyday life occurrences can be analysed via probability. Examples include games, National lottery, betting/gambling.

· Applications
The power of mathematics is in its practical application to science, engineering and the world of business. This section uses a variety of examples to highlight this.

CMOD6001 Good Luck!

On the day of the game demonstrations I didn’t get a proper chance to say goodbye to you all. After so much time and work together it seemed strange for us all to walk off and go about our business.

I was very impressed with the standard of the projects. There was a lot of imagination and enthusiasm in evidence on the day. Thanks for taking the work so seriously and for putting so much effort into it. My phone is old and slow. It would really help me if your group e-mailed me the URLs that your project used. So if someone from your group could do that, it would help me fully appreciate your efforts.

I am still correcting continuous assessment components for the module and I’m confident now that you won’t get any results for this module before you get all your results in the new year. So they will all come together.

Eventually you will be able to see the mark for your essay in turnitin. Once I have them all corrected I will take a second look at them. So marks may appear to go up or down a tiny bit. I’ll e-mail you again once they are done.

There’s no update on the free choice options for next semester. So that’s going to be a bit of a disaster. If you see some thing offered by another department that you are half interested in, take it. You will probably get an e-mail from the registrar’s office about your free choice module some time in the new year.

If you had a Finish team member please send me an e-mail about the extent of his or her involvement, so that I can calculate your bonus marks for that. Unless it is already detailed in the project documentation you handed up. If you had a French team member, that’s all sorted.

DNETs. I recommend you opt for SOFT6007 Web Development Fundamentals or your free choice.

Many of you will be taking SOFT6007 Web Development Fundamentals next semester. If you have time over the break and would like to make a start on that, you can subscribe to this podcast in iTunes. There are a bunch of classes there.
http://mcom.cit.ie/staff/computing/cmanning/soft6007.xml


DWEB1s. You can make a start on SOFT6008 Interactive Web Development by subscribing to
http://mcom.cit.ie/staff/computing/cmanning/soft6008.xml


It has been a tough semester for some students. I am very impressed by the extent to which ye supported and looked out for one another.

So good luck with you exams and enjoy the break.

CMOD6001 QR Fest

We met in the student center and group set out their games to be played.

I thought they were good. But I didn't get to play any one in its entirety.

Well done!

SOFT7001 Class

Some students are still working on the assignment. Remember to get the URL in on time. There's nothing stopping you from updating the site in the meantime.

Colin

CMOD6001 Hand up day was yesterday

A lot of groups handed up their projects yesterday. Students may had up today if they can find me. However if the late penalty is going to apply anyway, it might be best to wait until tomorrow anyway.

We will have no more classes this week

CMOD6001 COM Class

Some students used the time to hold meetings. I answered some questions. Quiet enough.

CMOD6001 COM Lab

Students were very busy working on the project.

CMOD6001 ITS/ITM

Students were just chilin' and playing games, so I left them at it.

CMOD6001 DWEB Lab

Quiet morning. Most students worked on stuff for other modules.

SOFT7001 Class

Students worked away on their websites.

We learned that if you don't explicitly use the media="screen" when using media="print", the print style sheet will interact with the regular style sheet and you might get things you weren't expecting.

CMOD6001 ITS/M Lab

Students worked away on their projects

CMOD6001 DWEB1 Lab B

Students worked on the project

CMOD6001 COM1

Students worked away on the project. Good turn out.

CIT has no power today

CIT has no power for parts of today so some services you are used to having might not be available. Access to some of your cloud based services require authentication from a CIT based server, so that might cause problems for you also.

I have no CIT e-mail today

CMOD6001 ITS/ITM

Group V gave a presentation

Some students spoke with their IUT group members afterwards

SOFT7001 Class canceled this afternoon

I'm not feeling great so I'm going to head home early today. But if you are stuck for something please e-mail me before 1430.

CMOD6001 DNET/DCOM

One group went next door to record some video.

Others groups met to work on the projects.

CMOD6001 DNET/DCOM

Students seemed to be very busy plotting away. I look forward to seeing the finished works.

Colin M

CMOD6001 DWEB1 Class

I talked about "Christmas Day"

Students worked on their projects and I met with some groups. I had some tough words for one group, but it's members are in a hole numerically and their project needs to be very good for them to pass.

CMOD6001 ITS/ITM Class

Group J (Daniele & Allison) gave a presentation on Internet Crime

Group T (Alex & Sean) gave a presentation on Net Neutrality

Anonymous comments disabled

I have disabled anonymous comments for this blog. I had believed that allowing students to post anonymously would allow for a free-er exchange of ideas, but that turned out not to be the case. I was very disappointed with the tone and character of the comments that were left. I think I may have done students a disservice. In publishing the comments I may have given the impression that that kind of behaviour is acceptable.

Comments can still be added to any post, but the poster will have to log in. Of course fake gmail addresses remain an option.

CMOD6001 Late Papers

The deadline for the papers is noon on Wednesday. Late papers will have the 2 week penalty applied to them. So a paper that might have got 45 if it were on time, would get 25%. If your second draft was half decent, it might be worth more on time, than a better paper is worth late. So if you miss the deadline make sure you make that calculation before submitting.

Once you've missed the deadline there is no rush. So you should probably ask Colin for his opinion of the old paper, before submitting a new one late.

Turnitin overwrites the old paper, so there's no going back.

update: I have changed the settings on turnitin so that students cannot submit after the deadline. Students who have arranged an extension will still be able to submit by contacting Colin. Student will still be permitted to submit late, but only once I am confident they understand the consequences of their choice.

Britain's Greatest Codebreaker

There's an documentary starting on Channel 4. Available for viewing online.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/britains-greatest-codebreaker/4od

SOFT7001 Extension

The deadline for the project is extended to noon on Friday 02 December. Students must e-mail the URL for the website to Colin before then.

SOFT7001 Class

Students worked away on their projects.

We discovered that if the max-width media query doesn't do what need, maybe the max-device-width will do the trick.

CMOD6001 COM1 Class

Questions about turnitin.

Some questions about presentation results.

CMOD6001 COM1 Lab A

Talked some people through essay feedback. Other students ran some project ideas by me. The projects sound interesting, I'm just worried about the time frame.

CMOD6001 ITS/ITM

Students worked away on various things. I met with a few to discuss their essays in depth. And some ran a few project ideas by me. Things seem to be taking shape. I almost wish the semester was a few weeks longer. Students could do great things in that time.

CMOD6001 DWEB1 Lab

Students worked away on various things.

CMOD6001 Project Demonstrations

We will have project demonstrations on Friday morning of week 12 from 0930 to 1300. Students who may be unavailable at this time should let Colin know on advance.

The schedule will vary slightly from class to class. Details to follow.

SOFT7001 Class

Students worked away on their projects.

SOFT7001 Room change Dec 01

On Dec 02 we will be in IT2.2 instead of IT2.3

CMOD6001 ITS/M Lab

Today's lab is canceled.

Student's scheduled to give presentations today will do so on Wednesday at 12 in C170.

Update: 21/11/2011 1615
It will be Thursday at 1300

CMOD6001 DWEB1 Lab B

Today's lab is canceled.

CMOD6001 COM1 Lab B

Students worked away on whatever they saw fit to work on. I had no particular plan today. There were a few questions on the game project.

CMOD6001 Essay Feedback

If you were one of the students who did not get feedback in the first wave of corrections you can ask for an extension of up to Friday at noon by sending an e-mail to Colin before Wednesday. However it's a good idea to get the paper in by the regular deadline of noon on Wednesday, so that you can get on with other things.

The Turnitin settings for this assignment have been changed so that students can see their own originality reports. This allows students to see the same report Colin will see. That's probably a mistake, because some  students will spend lots of time trying to game the system, instead of actually writing. For example, one student changed "New York" to "the Big Apple" in an attempt to disguise copied text.

CMOD6001 Assessment Weightings

I have modified the assignment weighting to account for the notable absence of Scandinavians.. See the Assignment Details under Quick Links over ->

CMOD6001 DNET/DCOM

Only 5 students on class

Met with groups in so far as that was meaningful

Group NB
plot sorted
nothing implemented
time to go with whatever plan there is by the end of today

Group CD
lots of good ideas still floating around
need to pin down the clouds and make some drinking water
time to start doing and start assigning some tasks
start thinking about the player experience

CMOD6001 COM1 Class

I met with the groups for an update


Group B
3/3
plot sorted
just need to implement everything now
an excused absence for 25/11


Group C
4/4
plot done. props organized
working on clues. sounds interesting.
site specific. and someone will need to run it on the day
if it doesn't all go right on the night it won't be for lack of effort


Group D
some group issues that need to be addressed
I am splitting this group into two . I'm not happy about this. But there doesn't seem to be an option at this stage. Group K and Group L. The tossed for the two Finns that came with the old group.

Group K
2 students nos

Group L
2 + 1 now


Group E
4/4


Group F
3/4
ideas a plenty
nothing implemented
plot organized
need to get a move it


Group Y
1/4 in
this student is leaving to join another group
I'm not happy but there doesn't seem to be much choice.

Group W
2/4
plot almost sorted
some implementation started
need more suspects. 2 not enough
I can host pages, but there's a turn around time
Finn on board but not very technical

Group X
1/4
But group seems to be doing OK
Nothing really done yet. running out of time

CMOD6001 DWEB1

Less than half of the class was in. But there seemed to be a few almost complete groups. So some groups got some work done. I met with each group for an update


Group WA
2/2 students in
Planning some sort of board game. I think this is a bit limiting
not maybe time enough to do something more interesting


Group WO
1 student in
nothing new since last week
group doesn't seem to be getting get much done
student who is in probably needs to get moving without the others

Group WB
4/4 in
Finn is in place and working away with the group
need to get a move on
some cool ideas
make decisions today!


Group WM
2/4 in
wanted to use recent actual murders, but I advised against it
sounds very complicated
think about the players' experience and how it works
not much time left for planning. time to execute the plan


Group WN
4/5
plot sorted. sounds a bit elaborate
need to pin things down today and then go execute whatever plan there is


Group WE
3/5 in
scenario well developed. sounds good.
but need to figure how to implement it

CMOD6001 Project Submission Times

Completed projects should be submitted to Colin on 30 November during the following times

ITS/ITM 1200-1230 C170
ITS/ITM 1300-1400 C123c
DWEB1 1400-1430 B219
DCOM1 1300-1400 C123c
DNET1 1300-1400 C123c
COM1 1300-1400 C123c

Details of the project event on Friday 02 December will be finalized soon. All students will be expected to attend this event.

CMOD6001 Essay Feedback

I believe I've given feedback on all of the essays now. If I've missed yours please e-mail me and I'll get to it.

SOFT7001 Class

Students worked any on their websites. My contribution was minimal.

CMOD6001 ITS/ITM Class

Skype sessions with IUT and I met with groups

Group R
Story in progress
Need to get a move on

Group H
Plot sorted
Just need to work on details

Group G
Just 1 student in
Unable to provide update


Group S
Plans not very far advanced but work progressing
Plenty if imagination in evidence, but work needs to be done to deliver

Group Q
Basic plot done


Group V
Plans well advanced

 

How Science Catches Criminals

How Science Catches Criminals

CMOD6001 DNET/DCOM

I asked student to meet in their groups and work on the project.

I met with groups for an update


Group CB
2 students in
No real story yet
Have been thinking about it but progress is slow

Group CD
2 students in
Using dinner party structure where players take on roles. That takes a lot of set up and planning


Group CE
Only 1 in
He is moving to another group. Be sure to send me the details


Group NA
2 in
Still working in ideas
A but cryptic
No plans to use real world objects
Need to think a bit more
We knocked around a few ideas


Group NB
3 students in
Plot sorted. Sounds good
On track
 

CMOD6001 Game Requirements

We've talk a lot in class about what the game might look like and how it might work. But it's a good idea to write a few things down.

If you are doing the standard kind of game we discussed you'll need at a minimum:

• a setup clue that explains the scenario and what happened
• at least 10 individual clues
• a whodunnit video that explains who did what and why and how the clues add up to that conclusion (probably in a sealed envelope)
• minimum of 5 suspects
• a printout of all the QR codes and where they go, just in case there's a problem reading them
• submit it in a shoe box (if it fits)

CMOD6001 DNET/CDOM

Esays

FI

Referencing

Game

CMOD6001 Referencing and Project

We had a good discussion of the referencing handout and the game project in a class during the week. All encore performances weren't as good, so interested students might ant to download it.

cmod6001-com1-20111115.m4a

CMOD6001 DWEB1

Group list

FI

Essay resubmit

presentation absences

referencing and handout

questions about game assignment

CMOD6001 ITS/ITM Class

I gave a handout on referencing and we went through it.

I talked a bit about the essay resubmissions. Some students were genuinely surprised that the plagiarism flag went up on their papers. That's why copying and pasting is so dangerous. You can sometime forget to reference, or not be clear on what was your own and what was borrowed.

We discussed the game project a bit, but there were very few questions.

There will be presentations during next Monday's lab class. Thursday's class will be used for IUT meetings.

Microsoft Academic Alliance

The Microsoft Academic alliance is a programme that gives softwrae free to students. It has the usual developer tools that students use for programming. But there is also some interesting cool stuff.

Microsoft® Expression® Studio takes your creative possibilities to a new level. The professional design tools and innovative technologies in Expression Studio give you the flexibility and freedom to bring your vision to reality—whether you are designing standards-based Web sites, rich user experiences on the desktop, or managing digital assets and content.

Songsmith generates musical accompaniment to match a singer's voice. Just choose a musical style, sing into your PC's microphone, and Songsmith will create backing music for you. Then share your songs with your friends and family, post your songs online, or create your own music videos.

XNA Game Studio 4.0 is a programming environment that allows you to use Visual Studio to create games for Windows Phone, the Xbox 360 console, and Windows-based computers. XNA Game Studio includes the XNA Framework, which is a set of managed libraries designed for game development based on Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0.


Kodu is a new visual programming language made specifically for creating games. It is designed to be accessible for children and enjoyable for anyone. The visual nature of the language allows for rapid design iteration using only an Xbox game controller for input (mouse/keyboard input is also supported).


 

SOFT7001 Class

I arrived a bit late.

I met with students and they showed me what they have done so far.

Some issues that came up.

The requirement not to use too many classes is not a total ban. Obviously the menu list is going to be a different class of list

Yo don't need to specifically check for iPhones. Below a certain width or height we can presume we are in  mobile phone territory

CMOD6001 COM1 Class

Groups

FI

Essay open

References

Game project

audio: cmod6001-com1-20111115.m4a

CMOD6001 COM1 Lab A

Group Y gave a presentation on Internet Crime but only one student was present.

I emailed on URLs for YouTube videos of the presentations but actually most of this group's ones have yet to be uploaded.

CMOD6001 ITS/ITM

I told students about the re-submission opportunities for the paper

Students in this group are keen to see the recordings of their presentations, so they said it was OK for me to post the URLs a comments to the group blog. I went back to my office and started uploading some more.

When I cam back I met with the groups to get an update on the game project

Group T
Nothing done yet
Get moving

Group S
Nothing done yet
Get moving

Group Q
Nothing done yet

Group R
ideas. But still thinking about it. Nerds to be pinned down soon

CMOD6001 DWEB1 Lab A

I asked students to check the information on the group list. I've been having a hard time keeping up with changes in group composition. I offered to send around a list of Metropolia students, but everyone seems to be OK. I told students about the feedback available on turnitin. Not everyone is done yet.

I met with the groups for an update on the game
Group WO
Has done some work in the mechanics
No plot device yet. Need to work on that
No FI guy yet
Need to get cracking


Group WM
Have a FI. Working away
No plot yet


Group WM
Plot nearly done.
No FI yet

Group WL
Just 2 really in the group
Group going to split up

CMOD6001 Essays

I am still working my way through the essays. Since writing is an iterative process, I wanted to give students feedback on their papers. But very few students submitted drafts. I propose to allow students to re-submit their papers so that they can correct any problems I might have identified. The deadline is noon on Wednesday 23 November. Students who don't want to re-submit need not take any action.

26 students got no feedback at all yet. They are all in the second half of the alphabet. I hope to get through those in the next few days.

Students that copied and pasted extensively from the internet got no feedback other than that.

The 10 mark late penalty for submitting in the first week after the deadline will be waived for all students. So students who missed the deadline can still submit, albiet without the benefit of feedback. The 20 mark penalty for submitting in the second week will still apply.

You should be able to see any comments I have on your paper by logging in to turnitin.

I have collected up a lot of the comments so that students can avoid making the same mistakes as others. Some comments are topic specific.

SOFT7001 Class

We firmed up the assignment specification

CMOD6001 ITS/ITM Lab

I met with the groups and got an update on the games.

I asked students to make sure to update me of groups that have been revised in light of the presentation experience. All groups will have to be sorted out by Wednesday at 1700.

Group V
Plans seem to be well advanced

Group U
Sports based plot

Group G
Seems to be working away

Group H
Some group issues
No game work done yet

Group I
Some group issues

CMOD6001 DWEBD1 Lab A

If offered to send contact details of Metropolia students to anyone who wanted it. Helsinki students should be in or out by Wednesday.

Eight s students were in. I didn't take attendance because my laptop with in the middle of an upload and I didn't want disconnect it.

I met with the groups to see how plans for the game were progressing

Group WB
Still thinking about game
Need to get a move on

Group WE
Nothing done yet

Group WA
Nothing yet

CMOD6001 COM Lab

I circulated a list of Metropolia students to anyone who wanted in. Metropolia students had been looking at the group blogs for contact details, but I expect that many have given up by now. Groups need to be formed or not by Wednesday. Students should e-mail me the names of the Metropolia students in their groups by 1700.

CMOD6001 DNET/DWEB Class

Group NC gave a presentation on Internet Crime

Group CB gave a presentation on RFID and Privacy

I logged into turnitin so that students could see if their papers were submitted as expected

CMOD6001 DWEB1 Class

Group WE gave a presentation on Internet Crime. This presentation was interrupted by a student who waiting outside to come in.

Group WB gave a presentation on Cloud Computing. One student was missing from this group. The group's presentation was interrupted by a student arriving late and barging in.

Group WA gave a presentation on Geolocation. Only one student was present from this group. He wasn't very keen to present but I sort of insisted. During this presentation  a student was busy and noisily texting, while another was solving a ribik's cube. This degree of discourtesy is not acceptable.

At the end of class I provide an opportunity to apologize to any student who felt they needed it. Two took the opportunity. Two didn't.

CMOD6001 COM1 Class

Group X gave a presentation on Digital Pollution

Group Y was missing a team member. I asked them if they were prepared to go ahead without the missing student, but they were not.

CMOD6001 Papers received to date

These screenshots show what papers had been submitted up to 0906 this morning

SOFT7001 Class 24

We looked at sprites

Slides: http://atlantis.cit.ie/interaction/notes1/PDFs/css-sprites-11.pdf

I went to each student for an update on the project.  Some still have to decide what they are doing. Some were workng on stuff for other classes.

CMOD6001 ITS/ITM Class

Group V was not in a position to present. One student was in  hospoital and another was at a SU meeting.

Group U was not in a position to present. Only one student was present and he was not prepared to give a presentation.

Group T was not in a position to present. Only one student was present and he was not prepared to give a presentation.

Group J was not in a position to give a presentation. One student was missing and they remaining student were not prepared to give a presentation.

Group Q gave a presentation on RFID & Privacy

CMOD6001 DNET/DCOM Class

Group CE gave a presentation on Photojournalism in the Digital Age (only 1 student in)

Group NA gave a presentation on Gold Farming

CMOD6001 Paper feedback

If you submitted your paper before this evening, there is some feedback waiting for you at turnitin.com

It's a pity more students haven't availed of my offer of feedback. Most of the papers I've seen will be much improved second time out.

CMOD6001 DNET/DCOM Lab

I  had to insist that a student go seek medical attention, and sent another with him. Both returned within the hour, looking much better.

Group CD gave a presentation on Geolocation

Group CA gave a presentation on Cloud Computing

Group NB gave a presentation on Net Neutrality

CMOD6001 DWEB1 Class

Group WO gave a presentation on RFID and Privacy

Group WN gave a presentation on Open Source Software

CMOD6001 ITS/ITM Class

Group Q was not in a position to present today

Group J was not in a position to present today

Group I gave a presentation on Geolocation

Group S gave a presentation on Cloud Computing

Group R gave a presentation on Photo Editing

Students who were missing today should contact Colin with an explanation. Whatever the reason get in touch with me, and try me. Not contacting me is the only wrong course of action.

SOFT7001 Class

I completely forgot to go to class. Sorry

CMOD6001 COM1 Class

Group E gave a presentation on Gold Farming

Group F gave a presentation on Prediction Markets

Group Z gave a presentation on Open Source Software

CMOD6001 COM1 Lab

Group B gave a presentation on Virtualization

Group W gave a presentation on Is TV Dead?

CMOD6001 DWEB1 Lab A

Group WP did not show

Group WL presented

Group WM presented

SOFT7001 Class 22

We discussed the assignment. Students need not spend time worrying about content.  Dummy text can be used for the body of web pages, but the menus and structure must make sense.

I met with students individually to discuss their project plans.

K: games site
S: still thinking about it. might do 2 sites
T: still thinking and experimenting
CP: fan site
CM: sports shop
P: online shop
E: food site
O: planed restaurant site. But I advised against it. Need something about 20 pages


In response to a question  I announced that students need only worry about Firefox and Safari.

CMOD6001 ITS/ITM Lab

Groups H & G presented.

Group J was unable to give me slides. 1 person was missing from the group.

Group U gave me slides on time. 1 (to 3) person(s) missing from Group U

Group I was unable to give me slides.

Any student who was scheduled to be in class but was missing should contact Colin to provide an explanation.

Any group that spans across both lab groups should advise me of this.

CMOD6001 ITS/ITM No Presentations on Tuesday

There are no presentations schedules for Tuesday

CMOD6001 DWEB1 Lab B

Group WD delivered its presentation on Prediction Markets

Group WB will present on Friday

I was disappointed at the level of noise in the classroom and that students did not show their fellow students to courtesy of giving them their full attention

CMOD6001 ITS/ITM Presentations

We'll muddle though as best we can this week. I appreciate that some students might be a bit upset and not feel like work.

If groups are available to present, I'll be really grateful to them for doing their presentations. Otherwise we could be at them a long time. I don't expect to be able to stick to the schedule.

But we'll manage

Mind yourselves and each other

CMOD6001 COM Lab B

Groups C and D gave their presentations.

Thank you to Group E for submitting your presentation on time. We didn't get time for you to go today.

Group F will lose a small number of marks for not being ready today and for delaying us.

CMOD6001 Presentation Preparations

I came in this morning to figure out how to connect my laptop up to the projectors. Some rooms have been acting up lately.

B219
Switch doesn't work
Use PC

B269
Works fine
Only one way to connect up
Can't go wrong

B187
Use chair to reach projector
Bring cable to box on top of PC


C170
Works like you'd expect
Connect laptop to computer socket
Set switch to laptop

Everything will go more smoothly on the day if students let me know in advance if they are using their laptop or mine. All the slides should be sent to me in advance of the presentations. I can take most common formats. If you are using my laptop send a PDF too just to be extra safe.

I have drawn up a schedule for the presentations but I've decided not to share that with students since it would give them the impression that they do not need to be ready on the first day. I plan to do three presentations per class. But I might do four. And if a group doesn't show, another will use its slot.

Just so there's no confusion, the presentations may also take place during the lab classes. And let me re-state that all students must attend their (timetabled) classmates' presentations. If you present on the first day you must still attend all the other presentations.

CMOD6001 Recognition for Prior Learning

A number of students applied for RPL for this module. It's Week 09 and some still have not completed the process. Despite being advised to continue with the module until the RPL was a done deal some students have not done so because they were confident that their RPL application would be successful. It's clear that if the RPL was not completed by Week 09 that that confidence was not well founded.

Students should be aware that failure to attend the presentation with their group will place the students in a bad position numerically, and it will be difficult for them to pass the module by conventional means. It is not generally possible to repeat this module by any means other than attending it in semester 1 of the following year.

CMOD6001 DNET/DCOM

I asked any groups that had their presentations ready to copy them to my machine. None had. I guess that means the groups won't get much time to practice before the presentation.

I told students they could use my laptop or bring their own. I reminded them again that they must attend all the CIT classes next week. I reminded them that failure to turn up and leave on time to all CMOD6001 classes nest week would result in them getting a very low mark for the presentation and it will affect the mark of the group. Attending other students presentations is a minimum requirement for the presentation assignment.



Wed at 1700 is first possible presentation session. Students need to be good to go by then

Group CA
Only one students in his group. And he wasn't in

Group CB
0/4 students in



Group CD
3/4 students in
presentation:
plan to merge slides on Monday
we discussed what will happen if one student misses any of the presentation sessions and how it will affect the group's mark
game:
we spent a long time discussing the groups plans for the game. I shot down a few ideas and we developed a few others. There are lots of options and possibilities.



Group CE
0/3 students in




Group NA
3/4 students in
presentation:
presentation slides just need to be merged
plan to practice next week
please send me the slides as soon as they are done
game:
gone back to the drawing board. no major developments


Group NB
3/4 students in (3/3)
presentation:
problem with 1 student in the group. He as done nothing yet and not made his intentions clear. I removed him from the group.
research complete
slides still need to be done
game:
still brain storming


Group NC
Nobody in

CMOD6001 COM Class

I asked any groups that had their presentations ready to copy them to my machine. None had. I guess that means the groups won't get much time to practice before the presentation.

I told students they could use my laptop or bring their own. I reminded them again that they must attend all the CIT classes next week. I reminded them that failure to turn up and leave on time to all CMOD6001 classes nest week would result in them getting a very low mark for the presentation and it will affect the mark of the group. Attending other students presentations is a minimum requirement for the presentation assignment.

Lab Group B students may be presenting as early as 0900 on Monday.

Target presentation time is 15 minutes

I met with the groups for updates and just to check that everything is on course for next week.

Group F
no one was in
there are some serious issues with this group, but I can't resolve them with people who aren't here

Group B
3/3 students in
nearly finished putting slides together
might practice on Monday

Group X
1/4 students
research done
plan for meeting on Monday to make slides
I will need to see evidence of specific contributions of all 4 students
probably won't get much time to practice



Group Z
1/1 student in
Only one student left in the group. Student only realized this yesterday. This is not a good sign.
Not sure how much has been done so far


Group D
4/4 students in
Just need to merge slides and touch them up
Not clear on plans for practice

Group C
4/4 students in
Just need to merge slides
Not clear on plans for practice
Once student wanted to know what would happen if they were not present on one of the days. I explained that this would result in a very low individual mark and a lower group mark.

Group W
1/4 students in
Not clear on who has done what
plans seem to be well advanced
will merge slides on Monday

Group E
4/4 students in
still researching and working on slides
small bit behind schedule probably won't get time to practice

Group Y
no one in

CMOD6001 Essay swap

Student AN requested a change of essay topic. I have not allowed students to change their randomly assigned topics. But I made an exception in this case.

CMOD6001 DWEB Class 24

I asked any groups that had their presentations ready to copy them to my machine. None had. I guess that means the groups won't get much time to practice before the presentation.

I told students they could use my laptop or bring their own. I reminded them again that they must attend all the CIT classes next week. I reminded them that failure to turn up and leave on time to all CMOD6001 classes nest week would result in them getting a very low mark for the presentation and it will affect the mark of the group. Attending other students presentations is a minimum requirement for the presentation asssignment.

Target presentation time is 15 minutes



Group WA
1/4 students in class
Appears as if only AN & DA have done any work on the presentation
Doesn't appear to be on schedule for next week. But might happen
Not a lot of teamwork in evidence

Group WO
1/3 students in class
some work has been done but not really on schedule
I doubt there will be time to practice
Not a lot of teamwork in evidence

Group WB
3/5 students in class
information collected. started slides
plan to finish slides today and practice Monday morning
Some people were sick, but they will be better soon

Group WM
3/3 students in class
nearly finished slides
they think they will be OK


Group WD
3/3 students in class
nothing much done yet
working on it today


Group WE
3/4 students in
I had written one student S off, but the student is still in as far as the group is concerned.  This student hasn't done any work on the project so far. I asked to group to establish once and for all if this student was in the group or not. And I will need to see evidence of the specific contribution of this student.
Just started powerpoint


Group WN
4/5 students in
research done. still to make slides
I doubt there will be time to practice

Group WL
2/4 students in
all 4 students have been working away
starting work on slides today
I will want to see details of specific contribution of the two missing students P & G

WP doesn't seem to be still at the races

SOFT7001 Class 21

I came to class with an idea for the project that would save the students trying to come up with content. But no one was especially inspired. I think people want to do their own thing, which is perfectly fine.

I met with students ask asked about their plans. None have really made a start.

CMOD6001 ITS/ITM Class

Groups had Skype meetings with their IUT partners. The technology worked  well today.

CMOD6001 DNET/DCOM Class

I talked about the structure and tone of the papers.

There were some group adjustments.

I reminded students that they will need to attend all classes next week and that they won't be admitted late and won't be permitted to leave early. Students in the habit of doing one or the other may need to reschedule their other commitments.

CMOD6001 Digital Pollution

This blog might be useful for students working on the Digital Pollution topic.

http://www.greenm3.com/

CMOD6001 QR Game Specification

I updated the game spec.

CMOD6001 Paper Drafts

I went through the five draft papers that had been submitted by the deadline.  I was disappointed that there were so few. It took way longer that I thought it would to go through them though. So in the end I was actually grateful there were so few.

Those students should be able to see the comments I made by logging into turnitin.

All students are free to submit drafts to the FINAL folder. But there is no certainty that they will get feedback in time to be any use.

CMOD6001 DNET/DCOM

I gave out the results for Assignment 1. Students who feel they didn't get an appropriate are welcome to ask for a re-check.

I gave out a handout on academic writing. We will discuss this in the next class.

Group CA will probably be disbanded tomorrow morning. There may be some other moves also. Tomorrow morning's class is the last opportunity students will have to reorganize groups before the presentation. People had better be in or out by then.

Once group showed me what they had in mind for the QR Game and I completely shot them down. I did my best to be gentle.

I reminded students that for the presentation they will have to attend all classes in which the presentations are happening, and that they will have to be present for all the presentations. They will not be permitted to leave early.

CMO6001 DWEB1 Class

I gave out the results for assignment 1 (job exercise). Any student that feels they got a mark that was not appropriate me should e-mail me and I will re-check. There is no need to make a case or anything. A simple request will do.

I asked students to check the group list to make sure it is accurate.

I talked about the structure and tone of the papers. I clarified some points on plagiarism.

I gave out a handout on academic writing.

CMOD6001 Update to Assignments Page

I updated the Assignments Page on foot of some questions asked in classes

CMOD6001 ITS/ITM Class

I answered some questions about the presentations.

I gave out the results for assignment 1 (job exercise). Any student that feels they got a mark that was not appropriate me should e-mail me and I will re-check. There is no need to make a case or anything. A simple request will do.

I asked students to check the group list to make sure it is accurate.

I talked about the structure and tone of the papers. I clarified some points on plagiarism.

I gave out a handout on academic writing. There weren't enough to go around. I will put extra copies outside my office.

CMOD6001 Draft Papers

The deadline for submitting draft essays for feedback is today.

After today students should submit their papers to the "final" dropbox. If I get time I might be able to provide feedback on these papers also. Students may re-submit as often as they wish before the deadline.

"Finding Your Academic Voice" booklet

This is a useful booklet with some exercises and tips for writing.

SOFT7001 A List Apart

If there was a website that was the sponsor of this module it would be alistapart.com

It's full of information about the main issues this module deals with.

There are articles on CSS, fluid layout, and mobile design. Students looking for tips and design ideas for their assignment should definitely check it out.

SOFT7001 Class 20

We discussed the assessment for this module. The website is to be delivered in two part according to the assessment schedule for the module descriptor, but given that it is now week 08 it doesn't make sense for it to be in two deliverables. I will be providing feedback though on a on-going basis.

Students need to make a start on their websites soon.

We looked at the learning outcomes of the module descriptor. Students' websites should demonstrate competence in all of these areas. I also discussed other things that I expect to see in the websites.

• Fluid design that allows the page to display in at all (reasonable) dimensions
• Images on the page should reposition and resize as the page dimensions change
• A mobile phone version of the site that displays well both horizontally and vertically
• minimum of 15 pages. but 25 would be more like it
• nested list based CSS menus
• a style sheet for print

Students are free to show off who much CSS they know

Students will lose marks for over use of classes (users of Dreamweaver beware)

I met with students individually to discuss their plans for their sites

audio: soft7001-20020111101.m4a

CMOD6001 COM Class

We talked about the structure the papers might take and took them topic by topic. I talked about the appropriate tone for science writing and I gave out a handout. I also talked about the importance of paragraph structure.

Some students asked for an extension of the deadline for drafts. I'll consider that. The main worry I have is that I might got get back to students in time if the drafts come too close to the final papers.

I gave out results for the job assignment. Students who feel like they should have done better are free to e-mail me to ask me for a recheck. I might be able to provide some feedback too.

CMOD6001 COM Lab A

I asked students to ensure that there were contact details on their group blogs so that potential partners could find them. I distrubuted e-mail address and asked student to get moving on finding a Metropolia student.

I gave out some results for the job exercise. Some students asked why they didn't get 100%. I didn't really have a satisfactory answer.

Group B

• 2/3 students in
• nothing mucgh has happened since last week

Group W

• 3/3 students in
• down down to 3 students now
• work seems to be progressing

Group X

• 3/4 students in
• ork finally started
• group working OK

Group Y

• 1/4 students in
• made a start

Group Z

• 1/2 students in
• only 2 students in the group as far as those present are concerned. Officially down to 2 now
• The student in class has not been able to contact the other group member in the past week
• I advised him to find another group and he did
• This group now only has one peron in it

CMOD6001 ITS/M Lab Clas canceled

I turned up for two minutes just to explain that I had to leave campus use to a small family emergency.

CMOD6001 DWEB Lab A

I asked students to make sure that there was enough contact information on the group bogs to ensure that potential Finnish partners can find them.

I gave out e-mail addresses of Metropolia students.

I'm a bit worried about the groups in this part of the class. There doesn't seem to be much get up and go in evidence.

Group WL

• 2/4 students in
• found Metropolia student

Group WM

• 3/3 students in class
• still looking for Metropolia student

Group WN

• 4/5 students in
• nothing much happened since last week
• still looking for a Finn

Group WO

• 1/4 present
• set up a google doc
• but not much else has happened since last week
• no attempt made to find a Metropolia student

SOFT7001 Class 18

I asked the students to work on media queries and to make different pages for desktops machine and phones. This requires tha pages be hosted somewhere however.

Example

mystyle.css:

@media screen and (orientation: landscape)
{
body {background-color:yellow;}
}

@media screen and (orientation: portrait)
{
body {background-color:gray;}
}

CMOD6001 ITS/ITM Class

There was no one waiting for us online. There are no classes this week at IUT Lannion, so our planned Skype sessions didn't go according to plan. I was told this way back, but I forgot. Some IUT students were online anyway.

A large number of CIT students took the mere possibility that their partner might not be available as a cue to leave. That degree of commitment is shocking.

CMOD6001 DNET/DCOM

QR mystery demo. I didn't get a feel for whether or not the students were very interested.

CMOD6001 Dropbox

Dropbox is a great way to share files between computers if you use more than one. It might be a useful way to share the files you are using for your group projects. You can signup here

CMOD6001 Withdrawals and RPLs

A number of students have left the course or left the module. Either way they are no longer in their groups. I will update group list as information comes to me.

If you have information that I don't have please get it to me. If there is someone nominally in your group who is long gone, you may need to formally eject them. Otherwise their absence from the presentation could be costly.

CMOD6001 DNET/DCOM Lab

I met with the project groups for an update

Group CA

• 2/2 students in
• nothing on the blog
• because nothing has actually happened yet
• only 2 in this group now
• looking for a Metropolia student

Group BC

• 4/4 students in
• everything seems to be going OK
• group working well
• still looking for a Metropolia student

Group CD

• 3/4 students in
• recent addition to the group
• everything seems to be going OK
• group working well 
• Metropolia student on board

Group CE

• 2/3 students in
• no blog URL sent to me yet
• Nothing much has happened yet
• group working well 
• Metropolia student on board

Group NA

• 4/4 students in
• Seems to be going OK but progress is slow
• group working well 
• Metropolia student on board and contributing to the presentation. If this students contribution to the presentation is demonstrable, this group will get good "international" marks

Group NB

• 3/3 students in
• slow start. but work progressing well now
• group working well
• not clear on Metropolia student.

Group NC

• 2/2 students in
• 1 student recently left this group because of inactivity
• nothing on blog yet. nothing has happened
• this group discussed a merger with Group CA but didn't merge
• suggested group consider a swap with one of the available alternatives
• no Finnish action yet

I asked students to install QR code readers on their phone is possible

I asked students to take a look at the assessment breakdown on the bolg under quick links. But everyone was kind of wrapping up for the day at that stage.

CMOD6001 ITS/ITM Class

QR game demo

video: cmod6001-itm-20111026.m4v

CMOD6001 DWEB Class

QR game demo

News | Tech savvy Irish students headhunted by US company

News | Tech savvy Irish students headhunted by US company

SOFT7001 Class 17

We looked at web safe font, and web fonts.

I asked students to use google fonts to use some strange font on a webpage.

resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web-safe_fonts
http://www.ampsoft.net/webdesign-l/WindowsMacFonts.html
http://www.google.com/webfonts

I talked a little bit about the assessment. I don't know if it makes sense to assess students so soon. I don't feel like we have done enough for that to be meaningful.

audio: soft7001-20111025.m4a

CMOD6001 COM1 Class

I set up the European Federal Police crime scene by way of introduction to the QR game project. Students were thoroughly underwhelmed by the whole concept. I'm hoping it will grown in them.

I explained how QR codes worked and how short URL redirects work. I answered questions about the project. Again students very unimpressed.

CMOD6001 COM1 Lab A

I met with the groups for a progress report.


Group B

• 3/3 students in
• down to 3 students
• group working OK. But feels like one person is doing more than the others
• need to get a move on

Group W

• 3/4 students in
• work progressing. well done
• problem with 1 student not pulling his weight. I advised students to sort this soon one way or the other

Group X

• 3/4 students in
• nothing really done yet
• group knows where it's going though
• group working OK

Group Y

• 2/4 students in
• haven't done anything at all yet
• need to make a start
• students confident the group will work out OK. But it seems to me too soon to tell

Group Z

• 2/4 students in
• only 2 students in the group as far as those present are concerned. 1 definitely appears to have done a runner. I will investigate the other
• nothing done yet. need to get a move on

CMOD6001 IST/M Lab

I met with each of the groups for an update on their progress



Group Q

• 4/4 students present
• seems to be going OK. making progress
• IUT students is well integrated into the group
• Group working well

Group R

• 4/4 in
• Not much happening according to the blog
• Not much has happened yet in reality
• IUT student not yet fully integrated into the group
• group needs to sit down and discuss the topic
• Group working well

Group S

• 4/4 in
• plans seem to be well advanced. well done
• outline of presentation all sorted. working on slides next
• IUT students not yet fully integrated into the group. Interaction is limited

Group T

• 2/3 students in
• problem with one student in the group. As far as the group is concerned there are only two members
• This is a tough topic to explain. I gave some examples.
• IUT student working out
• This group would like some more members. There may be a second IUT student joining. I may find another CIT student

Group U

• 1/5 students in
• This group isn't working
• The one student who was in left to join another group
• Remaining students in this group need to get their act together soon

CMOD6001 ITS/M Job No. 24

On Monday 17th an ITS/M students talked us through Job No.24: Technical Writer in Paris. I have no record of that job being assigned to an ITS/ITM student. So I need that person to get back to me so I can put the marks with the name.

CMOD6001 DWEB1 Lab A

I met with the project groups for an update. In the meantime students worked away on various things.

I asked students to install QR readers on their phones.


Group WL

• 2/4 students in
• group has set up a google doc for gathering info and ideas
• contacted Metropolia students, but none got back

Group WM

• 3/3 students in class
• meeting regularly online
• set up google docs

Group WN

• 4/5 students in
• still gathering information
• advised students to make sure blog reflects what they are doing

Group WO

• 2/4 present
• some students had never met before
• one student is rarely in. I proposed the students meet to issue a red card, but they want to hear from the missing student first
• group hasn't really done anything yet
• needs to get sorted soon

SOFT70001 Media Query Resources

• http://mediaqueri.es/
• http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-mediaqueries/
• http://www.alistapart.com/articles/responsive-web-design/
• http://reference.sitepoint.com/css/mediaqueries
• http://stuffandnonsense.co.uk/blog/about/hardboiled_css3_media_queries
• https://developer.mozilla.org/en/CSS/Media_queries
• http://webdesignerwall.com/tutorials/css3-media-queries
• http://designshack.net/articles/css/20-amazing-examples-of-using-media-queries-for-responsive-web-design

SOFT7001 Class 16

We looked at using different stylesheets depending on the conditions under which the page is displayed. We used window.innerWidth as the determining factor. But JavaScript media queries are even better.

I asked students to write two stylesheets for a page: one three column layout for wide views and one single column version for narrow displays. To really push the boat out students could use the horizontal and vertical menus developed in earlier classes.

some code:

<html>
<head>
<link id="stylelink" rel="stylesheet" href="style1.css" type="text/css" />
<script type="text/javascript">
function resetcounter()
{
        document.getElementById("counter").innerHTML = window.innerWidth;
if (window.innerWidth < 500)
        {
        document.getElementById('stylelink').setAttribute('href', "style2.css");
        }
        else
        {
        document.getElementById('stylelink').setAttribute('href', "style1.css");
        }

}

</script>

</head>
<body onresize=resetcounter();>
<div id="counter">000</div>


</body>

</html>

CMOD6001 ITS/ITM Lab

I asked students to talk us through the jobs they were assigned to research. Students who went last week were given a change to go again. It was a bit rushed and a bit short with people, but in the end we had plenty of time. So I offered anyone who wanted it, a chance to say a bit more about their job. No one took me up though.

I outlined the break down of the assessments.

I asked students to log in to turnitin.com and enroll for this class.

I asked students to install QR readers on their phones

CMOD6001 DWEB1 Lab B

I showed students how google docs works. I started a story, shared it with the class, and asked them to finish.

I met with project groups for updates.

Group WA

• 2/4 students present
• There is nothing on the group blog. This seems to be an arrurate reflection of what has happend so far
• I advised students that at this rate of progress they are unlikely to pass
• Group members don't even know each others names

Group WB

• 4/5 students present
• Not much on the blog.
• Group has found a Metroplia student. Well done!
• No real work has been done yet
• I advised students that at this rate of progress they are unlikely to pass

Group WD

• No one from Group WD was in class

Group WE

• 4/4 students present
• nothing on the blog
• Group emailed some Metropolia students but didn't hear back
• No real work done yet
• I advised students that at this rate of progress they are unlikely to pass

Some groups still haven't decided whether or not to keep the topic they were assigned or to do a swap. It's getting late in the day.

CMOD6001 Attendance

I e-mailed 12 students today about their attendance. Some students seems to have disappeared.

If you have applied for this module by RPL and have been successful please let me know. That way I can stop worrying about you.

CMOD6001 Helsinki students

Metropolia students are unlikely to be available to work on the presentations. So groups should expect them only for the game.

However groups that have a Metropolia student already in place should ask them if they are prepared to work with them on the presentation. It could be a good way to get the ball rolling.

CMOD6001 COM Lab B

I asked students to take a look at the breakdown of the assesments and the schedule. I will provide more detail on the game assignment in class during the week.

I asked students to enroll for this class at turnitin.com

I met with the groups for a progress update

Group E

• 2/4 students present
• told me everything is going OK
• I reminded them to update the blog so that it reflects what's actually going on. From the blogs it looks like nothing is happening. But in reality everything is fine.

Group F

• 3/5 students present
• blogs needs to be fixed. It can't be read. Changing the design template will probably correct this. The students who were present couldn't fix it because they don't have admin rights
• There are issues with one of the mmebrs of this group. I recommened that the members present today have a meeting to discuss it. But they wanted to wait for the 4th member to be present. This should probably be sorted very soon.

Group D

• 4/4 present
• told me everything is going fine

Group C

• 4/4present
• told me everything is going fine
• advised them to keep blog up to date to reflecting what's going on

CMOD6001 Assignment Details

I have published a breakdown of the assessments for this module and the delivery dates.
http://colinmcit.blogspot.com/p/cmod6001-assessment-details.html

CMOD6001 DNET/DCOM Class

I talked about plagiarism. I gave a demo of turnitin. I gave out an exercise that students did in groups.

I asked students to install QR scanners on their phones.

CMOD6001 COM1 Class

I talked about plagiarism. I gave a demo of turnitin. I gave out an exercise that students did in groups.

I asked students to install QR scanners on their phones.

CMOD6001 DWEB1 Class

I explained what plagiarism was. I gave a demo of how turnitin works. I gave a handout on plagiarism and students did an exercise in groups.

There was some group maintenance.

I asked students to install QR scanners on their phones in time for the next class

Colin is out today

Actually I'll probably be back some time after lunch. So check my office if you are looking for anything.

No classes though 'cause I can't say for definite when I'll be back

CMOD6001 DNET/DCOM

I got students to talk me though the jobs they were assigned to research. Students who were missing for good reasons should advise me.

CMOD6001 ITS/ITM

On Tuesday last half of the class went through their job assignments.  I attempted to do the other half of the class on Monday but students didn't know their job numbers. I propose to try again next Monday. So all students in that group must attend if they want to get a decent mark for that assignment. Students who were supposed to be in class on Tuesday but were not, should provide details if they want the absence to be excused.

I will be at a funeral tomorrow. Students should plan to meet their IUT project member online, or tell them in advance that you will not be available.

Today we talked about plagiarism. I gave out an exercise on plagiarism. Not many people took it seriously.

Please keep all condoms in their wrappers in future classes.

CMOD6001 COM Job Assignment

I will have the marks for the job exercise sorted out soon. If you were missing on the day and have a medical cert or some other good reason please let me know.

I have notes on the student who had job no.28 and who spoke about it at the end of the full class. But I have no records of a COM student being given job no.28. Can this person contact me please.

Classes with Colin canceled on Thursday

I am going to a funeral on Thursday. I don't expect to be at any classes. Except maybe the 0900 one. Check back here for an update

Google Docs has upgraded the Presentation App

It might be worth checking out. It still looks fairly basic though.

CMOD6001 COM, DNET, DCOM, DWEB Blogs

Tonight I spent a good while reading student blogs. I had planned to read all the first year blogs, but guess what? If you open up 100 webpages all at a time your machine gets really slow. I should have expected that. So maybe I'll check out the other classes another day.

I noticed that a some students have very short posts. It annoyed me though to see so many people using lower case i for the first person. I thought I totally made that point very forcefully. Oh well.

topsecretgovernmentsecrets.blogspot.com can only be read by the people who wrote it. Ironic, but not much use.

Some students have colour schemes that make it really hard for old people like me to read.

I left a load of comments but they didn't seem to appear on the pages at all. If people didn't get them I'll be annoyed 'cause that means I was wasting my time. I could have been watching TV or something.

SOFT7001 Class

We looked a color and text. I spoke a little bit about the different kinds of fonts and how they can make a different impression. The interaction of background and font can impact on readability. I stressed the importance of relative sizing.

I referred students to fonttester.com to experiment with the different font properties

We finished up around 1730 instead of 1800

CMOD6001 COM1 Class

I asked mostly Group B students to talk us through the jobs they were assigned to research.

CMOD6001 COM Lab A

I asked students to talk us through the jobs they were assigned to research.

CMOD6001 ITM ITM-A

I asked students to talk us through the jobs they were assigned to research.

CMOD6001 WEB1-A

I asked students to talk us through the jobs they were assigned to research.

SOFT7001

http://www.fonttester.com/

Is Facebook a no-go for teachers?

Is Facebook a no-go for teachers?

Get your Facebook data - all of it!

This is an interesting article on how to get a copy of nearly all of the data Facebook  has on you

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/1015/1224305819740.html

SOFT7001 Class 13

I asked students make a vertical menu from a nested list in CSS. This is much easier than the horizontal one we did last week. But it's best to start with an empty CSS file rather than modify the horizontal one.

CMOD6001 ITS/ITM Lab

We went through some of the jobs students researched.

A number of students didn't know the job number they were assigned so that meant I didn't get as many responses as I should have. Students should know their job numbers in time for the next class.

Students who felt they didn't do a great job of explaining their topic might get another chance to explain their job.

I pointed out that one of the machines in C128 now has Skype on it

SOFT6007 Web Dev Fun Image Maps

Build a webpage with an image map that links to 4 cities: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and New Orleans (circle). Download the image here

This grid can help you figure out the coordinates

Remember that using the correct order for the areas can make the map simpler. Some areas can be under others.


You can revise image maps using this video

CMOD6001 DWEB Lab B

I forgot that DWEB had an extension for the job exercise.

I showed students again where to find online journals in the library.

Some students worked onthe job exercise and others worked on their papers. Others just mess around a bit.

I reminded that copy and pasted text was of little use for the job exercise.

CMOD6001 COM1 Lab B

Students checked the list to see the topics for the essays.

I showed students where to find online journals at the library website and explained why they are often superior to what can be found for free online. Students searched for articles relevant to their essay topics.

CMOD6001 DNET/DCOM Class 15

We did a group exercise. I have never seen a more impressive group distribute information as efficiently. Borg could not have done it better.

It seems that early on students figured out that they needed to listen to each other. Some students tired to take charge and the others let them.

CMOD6001 COM Class 15

We did a group exercise. It was good fun but didn't go especially well. Many students stood around waiting for others to come to them, and clusters of students who belonged together didn't read out to other clusters.

CMOD6001 DWEB1 Class 15

I gave out handouts on study skills and time management.

We did a group exercise. It didn't go especially well.

CMOD6001 Job Exercise deadline

The job exercise deadline is extended to Monday 1600 for DWEB1

SOFT7001 Class 12

We looked at color and backgrounds. I asked students to add backgrounds to the menus we made in the last class.

I referred students to a YouTube video about color systems. A second video on the RGB system was rejected by YouTube for being too long so it's available here.

CMOD6001 ITM

We use the class for meetings.

By the end of today's meeting students should have:
full contact details of other group members (e-mail will do)
discussed the presentation topic
shared a google document (or at least made a plan to)
assigned different tasks to different group members
arranged a time for the next meeting
recorded minutes of the meeting in the group blog

Today's session didn't go very well. We might have to rethink how this is going to work

CMOD6001 Essay Topics

Students will be expected to write a written report for this module. I will provide details later, however the is no reason for me to delay the assignment of topics to students. I had considered letting students write about the same topic as they are using for their presentation, but I felt it would be difficult for students who have worked together on something to write very different reports.

The topic assignments were random, except for students who co-incidentally got the same topic for their paper as for their presentation. If you got the same or nearly the same for both, t means I missed you. Please advise me of this.

You can see which one you got by checking the list of blogs

Topics:
PCCL Policing the Cloud
Explore the difficulties faced by police in dealing with evidence that is in the cloud. This topic is not as broad as internet crime in general. Cloud computing poses some specific problems.

RFID RFID and privacy
How widespread use of RFID technology can have an impact on privacy.

GEOL Geolocation
Applications. Good? Bad? Unintended consequences?

FOTO Photojournalism in the Digital Age
Can we believe anything anymore? is seeing still believing?

GOLD Gold Farming
What is it? Is it cheating? Should it be outlawed? Exploitation?

NETN Net Neturality
What is it? Should we have laws to enforce it?

DIGP Digital Pollution
Internet technologies seem like they are clean . But keeping google's servers up and running requires lots of energy. Is the Internet contributing to gobal warming?

PRED Prediction Markets
What are they? How might they workd? Can they applied in the real world?

OPEN Open Source Software
If free really free? Is it any good?

SOFT7001 Digital Color I

CMOD6001 DNET/DCOM Class 14

I reminded students to check the URL for their blogs. I outlined some of the reasons I get students to keep blogs. I discussed some of the options available to students who might have discovered that they are in the wrong course. There was some discussion about whether or not transfers are still possible or if the policy has changed. I must check.

We talked about some grammar rules. I gave out a handout of common errors. Students with weak English should used the spell and grammar checking features of MS Word. We digressed into an interesting conversation about online reputations.

I explained that I wasn't keen to move the Friday class because that would leave some students with only one class on Fridays. That would be worse than just two. If I know something important is coming up on a Friday I will do my best to give notice, but students can't expect that I always will.

CDMO6001 DNET/DCOM

Students met in groups and I gave them a second chance to change presentation topics if they wanted to. But we used time on Friday for this.

I asked students to check the list online to ensure that blog addresses I have are correct.

Some students needed clarification on the job assignment. And there were some group issues.

I gave out a list of Finnish students with e-mail addresses. Each group should find a Metropolia student to join the group. There was a good bit of Facebook stalking.

Most students used the time for meetings. Since there seemed to be real work going on, so I left them at it.

A good day's work. Well done

CMOD60001 DWEB1 Group B

I'd like to apologise to group B for the classes I missed. I hadn't correctly added the new hour to my calendar. I hadn't set it to repeat. But it's there now. You can even check for yourself

CMOD6001 DWEB1 Class 14

I asked students to check the list on my blog to ensure that I have the correct URL for their blogs.

I talked about why I want students to keep personal blogs and group blogs.

I explained what the options are for anyone who has realised they are in the wrong course.

I talked a little bit about some common grammar mistakes and gave a handout with common mistakes. Some grammar rules are non-negotiatable. The spell checker and grammar checker in MS Word is very useful for anyone whose English is weak.

I gave out a list of Finnish students who are looking to join groups. That prompted some discussion about the value of having a remote student in each group.

I showed students where to find IEEE and ACM journals o the library website.

Some students wanted to swap presentation topics, so they stayed a few minutes at the end for that. Some students only got their jobs for the assignment today.

audio: cmod6001-dweb-14-20111012.m4a

CMOD6001 Deadline Reminders

Your submission for the job exercise needs to be on your individual blog by the end of this week. Let's say Friday at 1600 so there is no confusion.

Students needs to attend ALL THREE classes next week so that they are available to discuss the the job they were assigned to research. Students who are called on in class, but are not present, are unlikely to be given a second opportunity to discuss their job.

This assignment is worth 10%  of the overall grade for this module. This is an individual assignment. Performance of this assignment will have no impact on any members of your project group.

CMOD6001 ITS/ITM Class 14

I reminded students to check that the addresses I have for their blogs are correct. The lists is available at colinmcit.blogspot.com

I talked about why I want students to keep individual and group blogs.

I gave out a handout on common spelling and grammar mistakes. Some grammar rules are non-negotiable.

I forgot to say that students should use the spell checker and grammar checker in MS Word. It is very useful and very helpful.

audio: cmod6001-itm-14-20111012.m4a

SOFT7001 Class 11

We completed out horizontal menu using CSS to change the properties of a nested list. We resisted the temptation to create classes for the inner and outer lists using child selectors.

Getting the elements to line up nicely proved difficult because of inheritance of the padding properties - or something. Colin promised to look into it.

Colin attempted to use background images instead of colors for the hovers, but that didn't go so well. We will look at images the next day.

Today's code. Note the child selectors and the display property's none and block attributes


body {background-color: #cccccc;}

div.menulist {
width:100%;
border-top: 5px solid #069;
border-bottom: 5px solid #069;
margin-top:20px;
float:left;
background-color: #ffa;
}


div.menulist >ul >li {
float:left;
width:6em;
padding-left:0;
}

div.menulist  li {
list-style-type:none;
background-color: #ffa;
border-right: 1px solid #069;

}


div.menulist > ul {
margin-top:0;
padding-left:0px;}


a:link {color:black;}
a:visited {color:black;}
a {text-decoration:none;}
a:hover {color:red;}

div.menulist li:hover {background-color: #aaa;}


div.menulist ul li ul {
margin:0;
width:6em;
position:absolute;
padding-left:0;
}

div.listmenu ul li ul li {
width:100%;
}

div.menulist ul li ul {display:none;}

div.menulist ul li:hover ul {display:block;}

CMOD6001 COM1 Class

I asked asked students to check the list of blogs to make sure that the URLs for their personal blogs are correct.

I talked about why I want students to keep a blog.

I talked about the importance of using correct spelling and grammar. Some rules are non-negotiable

audio:cmod6001-com1-14-20111011.m4a

Ireland can become a global games hub for the 21st century– Forfás

Forfas has published a report on the potential for the games industry in Ireland. Download the full report here

CMOD6001 COM1 Lab A

Students met in their groups. I asked each group to research the topic they have been assigned and for each to decide to keep that topic or switch to one of the alternatives.

Today's meeting should be recorded in the group blog with details of the time, place, attendance, and any decisions made.

I asked students to verify that I have the correct URL for their personal blogs and group blogs.

CMOD6001 Tervetuloa / Välkomna

Students may soon hear from Metropolia students in Helsinki wanting to join their groups. When selecting a student to join your group make sure there is some time in the week when you are all free to meet online. Don't forget that Finland is 2 hours ahead of Ireland. When it's 10 in Ireland, it's 12 in Helsinki.

Metropolia semesters are a different length to CIT semesters. The timetable after Metropolia's "break" is more important than the current timetable.

CMOD6001 Well done

So far I am very impressed with the way students are taking this module seriously. Well done.

A small number of students still need to get their act together. But the ship hasn't sailed just yet. There is still time to get on board. Get those individual blogs and group blogs sorted. And don't miss the deadline for the assignment this week.

CMOD6001 ITS/M Lab ITM

Students met in groups and discussed whether they wanted to change presentation topics. I asked student to not the time, place, attendance at the meeting, and the outcome on the blog.

We recapped on what it is expected for the Job Exercise.

I asked groups to check the group list so that they know which IUT student is in their group.

I must talk about the Library in the next class. I didn't leave enough time today.

CMOD6001 DWEB Lab A

I gave out DEWEB student handbooks. These have been sitting in my office for a while actualy. Sorry about that. The electives for each semester don't really mean anything and so are best ignored. The choices offered in any one semester are likely to be very different from those listed.

Students met in groups to research and discuss their project topics. Any group taht wanted to change was allowed to chose from the alternatives.

I asked students to record the time, place, and attendance at this meeting on the group blog, and to outline any decisions made.

We looked at the online databases in the CIT library. These are very impressive. Computing students will be priarily interested in the IEEE and ACM databases. There are also some e-books. We had a quick look using some search terms and the selection seemed to be quite good. I asked students to research their presentation topics in the ACM library.

I talked briefly about the IEEE and ACM and recommended that students join. Student membership is very cheap.

SOFT7001 Class 10

We looked at the poristion property. It's tricky but very important.
static, relative, absolute, fixed

We coded a list and used it as the basis for a menu
code:

div.menulist {
width:100%;
border-top: 5px solid #069;
border-bottom: 5px solid #069;
background-color:#ccf;
margin-top:20px;
float:left;
}



div.menulist li {
float:left;
list-style-type:none;
background-color: #ffa;
padding: 0px 6px;
border-right: 1px solid #069;
}


div.menulist ul {
margin-top:0;}


a:link {color:black;}
a:visited {color:black;}
a {text-decoration:none;}
a:hover {color:red;}

div.menulist li:hover {
background-color:black;}

CMOD6001 ITS/ITM

I asked students to meet in their projects groups and research the topic the group has been assigned. A group may swap to an alternative topic, but that decision must be made very soon.

Groups should check that they know the name and contact details of the IUT student in the group.

I feel like students are taking this work seriously. Well done.

CMOD6001 ITS/ITM Group Projects

ITS/ITM
Group G Gold Farming

Group H Prediction Markets

Group I Geolocation Applications

Group J Internet Crime

Group Q RFID and privacy

Group R Photojournalism in the Digital Age

Group S Cloud Computing

Group T Net Neturality

Group U Digital Pollution

Group V Open Source Software

ALTERNATIVES
Virtualization
Localization
Podcasting
Online reputation
Is TV dead?

CMOD6001 COM1 Lab B

Students met in their groups. I asked each group to research the topic they have been assigned and for each to decide to keep that topic or switch to one of the alternatives.

Today's meeting should be recorded in the group blog with details of the time, place, attendance, and any decisions made.

Some groups wanted to change topic without really understanding the one they had been assigned. In all cases they decided to stick the the assigned one.

CMOD6001 ITS/ITM Group Updates

I have updated the list of groups with the latest information I have. If it's incorrect please let me know.

Since there are as many groups as there are IUT students, there is very limited scope for choice at this stage.

Students without a group blogs are losing marks every week it is not available. Get that sorted right away.

CIT and IUT students should swap Skype ID and (mycit.ie/gmail) addresses so that they can share Google Documents.

CMOD6001 DNET/DCOM

We discussed making some changes to the timetable.

Multiple intelligences

Communications styles

The students present decided to go for a random assignment of presentation topics. I allowed some swapping. Not all students were in class, but I was prepared to let those students present make decisions on behalf of their groups.

Group Presentation Topics
CA Cloud Computing
CB RFID and privacy
CD Geolocation
CE Photojournalism in the Digital Age
NA Gold Farming
NB Net Neturality
NC Internet Crime

Groups may swap with each other by mutual agreement, or may swap for one of these other topics

Virtualization
Digital Pollution
Prediction Markets
Open Source Software
Localization
Podcasting
Online reputation
Is TV dead?
Making a living from music in the digital age

CMOD6001 DWEB

Multiple intelligences

Communication styles

Groups may swap topics with each other by mutual agreement. A group may chose from the list of alternatives on a first come first served basis.

Group Presentation Topics
Group WA Geolocation Applications
Group WB Cloud Computing
Group WD Prediction Markets
Group WE Internet Crime
Group WL Localization
Group WM Podcasting
Group WN Open Source Software
Group WO RFID and privacy
Group WP Digital Pollution

Alternatives:
Photojournalism in the Digital Age
Virtualization
Online reputation
Is TV dead?
Gold Farming

CMOD6001 COM1

Multiple intelligences

Communication styles

We decided to go with random assignments of topics to groups

Groups may swap topics with each other by mutual agreement. A group may chose from the list of alternatives on a first come first served basis.

Group B Virtualization
Group C Cloud Computing
Group D Geolocation Applications
Group E Gold Farming
Group F Prediction Markets
Group W Is TV dead?
Group X Digital Pollution
Group Y Internet Crime
Group Z Open Source Software

Alternatives:
Photojournalism in the Digital Age
Geolocation Applications
Localization
Podcasting
Online reputation
RFID and Privacy
Net Neutrality

CMOD6001 ITS/ITM (Thursday)

Today was Skype day. I connected up with the lecturer in IUT but there were problems with the sound on the student machines at IUT. Still most groups managed to find an IUT student using chat. We might call again next Thurday

SOFT7001 Class 9 canceled

Class canceled again today. Really sorry guys.

This is going to be my third trip to CUH in as many days.

CMOD6001 DNET/DCOM Class

I gave some tips for giving presentations.

We talked a little bit about the CA for this module, but we did not of that yesterday.

CMOD6001 Groups update

Due some late arrivals I have had to reorganize some groups. Group CD has been split into CD and CE. Since CD did not yet have a group blog it seemed to be the best candidate for splitting. I used the lack of a blog to conclude that the group's plans were not very well advanced.

CMOD6001 DNET/DCOM

I asked students to make sure that the group blogs had enough contact information for a potential partner to contact the group. There is no word yet on the Finnish situation.

I asked students to check out the spec for the jobs exercise and to ask if there was anything that needed clarification. I gave out jobs to students who didn't yet have them.

I gave a quick run down of the assessment schedule, or order at least and the weightings.

We discussed the job exercise in detail, outlined what was expected, and how much it was worth.

I explained a bit about electives

Some blog admins stuff. Some students updated their URLs

CMOD6001 DWEB1

Presentation tips

CMOD6001 ITS/M

Presentation Tips

SOFT7001 Class 08 canceled

Class canceled. Sorry about the short notice

CMOD6001 COM class 11

Class canceled. Sorry about the short notice

CMOD6001 COM Lab A

I checked that the groups are all a sorted. Just waiting on 1 or 2 personal and group blogs.

I asked students to check the spec for the jobs exercise.

I asked students to put some contact information on the group blog so that the Finish student will be able to contact the group more easily. I'm not sure yet what's happening with the Finish students.

Since I didn't have any particular task for today's class, students worked on the blogs and job exercise mostly.

CMOD6001 ITM Lab ITS

I asked students to check the spec for the job exercise and to make sure they understood what was expected of them them.

I gave out a list of IUT students. There was some FB stalking.

Because the lab groups changed, we had to spend some time reorganizing he groups.

Students worked on setting up their group blogs. I am still waiting on a number of group blogs

CMOD6001 DWEB Class 10 Lab A

Students check their e-mail and blogs and FB for the first 30 mins. A number of students were quite late.

From 0930 we looked at Google Calendar

CMOD6001 Group Presentation Topics

Groups that form first will get first call on the topics for the presentation. So get moving.

Once you have found your IUT partner e-mail Colin. Obviously the IUT student must agree to be in the group.