Friday, September 30, 2011

CMOD6001 DNET/DCOM Class 09

I talked a little bit about brainstorming, and each group had a brainstorming session around a particular topic.

I gave out 2 handouts on brainstorming

CMOD6001 COM Class 09

I talked a little bit about brainstorming, and each group had a brainstorming session around a particular topic.

I gave out 2 handouts on brainstorming

CMOD6001 DWEB1 Class 09

I talked a little bit about brainstorming, and each group had a brainstorming session around a particular topic.

I gave out 2 handouts on brainstorming

CMOD6001

CMOD6001


Thursday, September 29, 2011

SOFT7001 Class 06

We looked at a simple 3-column layout. I asked student to code a simple 3-colum layout of their own from scratch.

We looked at how the BostonGlobe.com adapts its style to page width. This is the kind of thing we would hope to do eventually.

Don't worry! We will be going back to all those tricky selectors.

CMOD6001 ITM/ITS Class 09

Only 15 students showed up so it didn't make sense to put students into their project groups.

I talked briefly about how to have a good brain storming session. Students imagined that they had a paper or presentation to prepare on the topic of illegal music downloads, and they had a brain storming sessions in groups of 5.

CMOD6001 DNET/DCOM Class 08

I pointed out that someone left their dirty coffee cup behind them last week. I asked the students with coffees to put them in the bin. One left, rather than do so. When the other student didn't bin his, I asked him to go too.

I asked students to get into their groups and devise a scheme for dealing with group members who aren't pulling their weight.

Groups should post their proposal to the group blog by the end of the week

Another student arrived with coffee to 0925. When he refused to put it in the bin, I asked him to leave.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

CMOD6001 DNET/DCOM Lab

We looked at Google Docs. I started a story, shared it with the class, and we worked on it all at the same time.

I showed students how to set up a group blog.

Elective Choices

Students received an e-mail from the registrar's office requesting them to specify their elective choices. First year student should not have got this. No action is required.

CMOD6001 DWEB Class 08

Students got into their project groups - for the first time it seems.

I asked groups to devise a policy for dealing with team members that are not pulling their weight. Groups should post this policy to the group blog by the end of the week.

I will publish a policy in due course.

I showed students how to create a new blog and modify the permissions

CMOD6001 ITM/ITS

A number of students have applied for RPLs for this module. We discussed how their sudden departure from a group might affect the other members. There were some suggestions for how to deal with that. Since the project work hasn't started in earnest we will hold off for now. But anyone considering an RPL application should get it sorted as soon as possible.

I asked students to get into their groups and discuss how they would deal with team members who were not pulling their weight. [It's not up to them, by the way]. Groups should post their policies to the group blog by the end of the week.

Some groups were clearly meeting for the first time.

I distributed the job exercise to students who didn't have it already.

audio: cmod6001-itm-08-20110928.m4a

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

SOFT7001 Class 05

Still in section 8 of the W3 specification

I asked students to get to grips with sibling combinators
8.3 
div + p
h1 ~ div
 
We looked at psuedo classes
a:link    /* unvisited links */
a:visited /* visited links */
a:hover   /* user hovers */
a:active  /* active links */ 
 
6.6.3 :lang
6.6.4 not for us
6.6.5
:nth-child is very complicated. I doubt we'll use it
:first-child is very useful 
6.6.6 nothing for us
6.6.7 nothing for us
7.1 ::first-line 
7.2 ::first-letter
7.3 nothing for us
7.4 nothing for us

CMOD6001 COM1 Class

I recapped on what students were expected to have done so far.

I asked student to get into their project groups. Today was the first time most did that. Still no word on the Finnish group members.

I asked the groups to
decide which group member was going to set up the group blog
suss out if anyone has a device that can be used for Skype


I asked the groups to devise a proposed procedure for dealing with members who are not pulling their weight. Groups should post their recommendations to the blog by the end of this week. There will eventually be one set of rules for every group.

CMOD6001 COM1 Lab A

We looked at Google docs and how to share them. We all worked on a story together. And we all lived happily ever after

CMOD6001 ITM Lab ITM1-A

I showed students how Google Docs worked. Students couldn't try it for themselves though because the IDP server was down and they couldn't get authenticated.

CMOD6001 DWEB Lab A

We looked at Google Docs and I got students to all work together on a single document.

Monday, September 26, 2011

SOFT7001 Class 04

I couldn't get my computer connected to the projector, so that wasted some time. Hopefully we will find out groove soon. The new room is a vast improvement, projector or no

I asked students to codes pages with combinator selectors, and child selectors to demonstrate that they know how they work, Specifically these three forms

  • h1 em  (descendant)
  • body > p (child)
  • div * p (grand child or deeper) 
Went around to each student. They are still finding their feet a bit, but I think those three things are OK now.

    CMOD6001 ITM Lab ITS

    We looked at Google Docs and how to share documents. We all collaborated a single document and tried to write a story. It didn't go very well but it was fun and illustrated how the technology works, if not the technique

    CMOD6001 Bespoke Award Assignment (a.k.a. The Job Exercise)

    Each student has been given a job description.

    Imagine that this particular job is the job that you want.

    Find out
    • What technical skills are required for the job
    • What non-technical / soft skills are required for the job
    • What do all those technical terms mean *
    • What modules at CIT should you take to get those skills
    • Which modules provide which skills
    • What kind of modules should you take, but are not offered at CIT

    * Actually find out, understand, and explain in your own words. A copy & paste won't do

    Students should publish the results of their investigations to their blogs by the end of week 5. It's week 3 now.

    During Week 6 I will ask students to briefly outline their findings in class. Students who are not present in class when called upon will receive a very low mark. Students who are called upon to present will be marked based on their ability to answer questions on the day and their blog. Students who are not called upon will be marked on the blog alone. There is unlikely to be time to call on every student over the course of the week, but that might be possible. Each student will be asked once. Students who are no present on the day will not be provided a second opportunity.

    CMOD6001 COM1 Class 07 Lab B

    We looked at google docs and how to share and collaborate on documents

    Friday, September 23, 2011

    CMOD6001 DNET

    I gave out job description (more about those later)

    I explained that each group will be joined by a student in Helsinki

    Students go into their project groups and discussed what they want to get out of college.

    Two students left their dirty coffee cups behind them for someone else to clean up. Amazing.

    CDMO6001 COM1

    I explained that each group will be joined by a student in Helsinki

    Students go into their project groups and discussed what they want to get out of college.

    audio: cmod6001-com1-06-20110923.m4a

    CMOD6001 DWEBD1

    I explained pass by compensation and carry fairl.

    I gave a quick overview of the appeal process. More info at www.cit.ie/appeals

    I explained that each group is going to be joined by a student in Helsinki

    I explained that students will be expected to go away on Erasmus in Semester 6. Students may be permitted to stay in Cork in exceptional circumstances.

    audio: cmod6001-dweb-06-20110923.m4a

    Thursday, September 22, 2011

    CMOD6001 Group Blogs

    Each groups is going to start a group blog.

    To do this
    1. One member of the groups starts second blog. Nothin' too fancy for the name.
    2 In Settings > Permissions add authors

    Each group should use its group blog to sell itself to prospective team members. You might want to include links back to the individual groups members' blogs. Since some Metropolia students will be influenced by the availability of meeting times, you could list possible meeting times or even provide a link to a google calendar of your timetable.


    Each student should include a link to the group blog by
    1. going to Design
    2. Add a gadget
    3. add a Quick Links gadget
    4. Put a link to the group blog


    Your prospective group members from Metropolia and IUT  Lannion will probably use the blogs to find the groups they want to join.

    France is 1 hour ahead of Ireland. Finland is 2 hours ahead of Ireland. So when it's 9 in Cork, it's 10 in Lannion, and it's 11 in Helsinki.

    If you plan to use google calendar to organize meetings, you may need to enable the time zone support to that an invitation to a meeting at 9 in Cork is received in Helsinki as an invitation to a meeting at 11.

    CMOD6001 Groups

    Group List

    I have assigned students to groups. Where students are in an incompatible group from a time table perspective, I will, of course, move them. However, in general, students are stuck with whoever they were assigned. Students who are groupless should find a group that is prepared to take them. Groups should think carefully about who they allow to join. Groups that already have 5 members may not take on any more.

    We will have to formalize the procedures for removing students from groups if they are not pulling their weight. But in general this will be possible. Students who have been removed from a group may join another group that will have them, or may be required to work alone.

    Each group will be joined an additional student from IUT Lannion or Metropolia Helsinki. (More about this later)

    IUT students are restricted to joining groups G H I J K Q R S T U V

    SOFT7001 Class 03

    This class was in PF54. There was no projector, no computer, and not that many power points either.

    Students that had laptops hared with those that didn't and go to work on the different combinator selectors (Secion 8 p32 of the handout). I got students started but I left at 1530 because I was no longer to prepared to shout over workers outside cutting stone.

    I hope we will move the class from this room soon.

    CMOD6001 ITM Class 05

    I explained pass by compensation and carry fail.

    I told students that the last person in each project will be a student from IUT Lannion in France.

    We will pin down the project details later

    audio: cmod6001-itm-05-20110922.m4a

    CMOD6001 DNET/DCOM

    We looked at some module descriptors to understand what there terms mean. And I discussed what would be expected for this module.

    I explained RPL and how it works

    Someone brought a cup of coffee to class but I left it go. However he didn't even bother to put it in the bin when he was finished. No food and drinks are allowed in class, except for bottled water.

    Attendance was only about 50%. That's discouraging for week 2

    audio: cmod6001-dnet-04-20110922.m4a

    Wednesday, September 21, 2011

    CMOD6001 DNET/DCOM Class 03 lab

    Students set up blogs at blogger.com

    CMOD6001 DWEB1 Class 04

    Only about half of the class turned up.

    I put students into groups.

    I very quickly ran through blogger for the students in DWEB1-B who haven't had a lab yet. Every students is expected to make at least one blog entry per week Students who have't already done so should e-mail me the URL of their blog soon.

    I asked studenst to discuss why they are at college and we did an exercise

    no audio. turn up to class!

    CMOD6001 ITM Class 04 ITM

    I put students into their project groups. Some students moved classes so I will re-assign them to other groups. Others have no group.

    We talked about why people come to college. I gave out an exercise sheet and asked students to discuss it in their groups.

    audio: cmod6001-itm-04-20110921.m4a

    SOFT7001 Class 02 - Cancelled

    No class today. I have to go to a meeting.

    Tuesday, September 20, 2011

    SOFT7001 Class 01

    We looked at the module descriptor and I explained what this module was and wasn't. Since a number of students are taking this an an elective I explained what the pre-requisites were.

    I asked students to construct a simple web page with some tags and to change the color of the text using a linked style sheet. The students present were able to do that, so I figure they know enough CSS to proceed with this module.

    I gave out a handout. I had enough for all but one student. It was a copy of (most of) http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-selectors/

    Students with laptops should being them to the class in PF54. There is no prospect of doing anything productive there otherwise. I have requested a room change.

    DWEB2 students are automatically registered for this module. Other students need to register. The CRN for this module is 22517.  I would like these students to also e-mail their names to me.

     audio: soft7001-01-20110920.m4a

    CMOD6001 COM1 Class 02

    We talked about the appeals process and Erasmus

    cliona.mcguane@cit.ie is the Erasmus co-ordinator for the dept. of Computing

    audio: cmod6001-com1-02-20110920.m4a

    CMOD6001 COM1 Lab A

    Students set up blogs at blogger.com

    Students will be expected to make at least one blog entry in English per week.

    I gave out number job ads. Details later

    RPL for Languages

    When I spoke about RPL I said that student who just came from the leaving cert probably didn't have any experience that they could use for recognition for prior learning. However students who speak a language other than English many be able to apply for PRL for a module in that language.

    You can look for language modules in the modules database at modules.cit.ie

    There are modules for Irish, French, German, & Spanish.

    CMOD6001 ITM Lab ITM1-A

    Students set up blogs at blogger.com. Students will be expect to make at least one blog enrty per week.

    CMOD6001 DWEB1 Lab A

    I asked students to set up blogs at blogger.com

    Students will be expected to make at least one blog entry per week

    Monday, September 19, 2011

    DWEB1 Computer Architecture

    John Creagh is no longer the lecturer for DWEB1 Computer Architecture

    CMOD6001 ITS Lab ITS

    Students set up blogger accounts and started their blogs.

    Students will be expected to make at least one entry per week for the duration of this module and all entries should be in English.

    CMOD6001 laptops in project groups

    I will be assigning students to project groups soon. I have noticed in that past that groups often like to work around a laptop. If you have a laptop are are likely to bring it to CIT please e-mail me and let me know. Just send an e-mail with laptop in the subject line. I will endeavor to put at least one laptop owner in each group.

    CMOD6001 COM1 B Lab

    Students set up blogger accounts and started their blogs.

    Students will be expected to make at least one enrty per week for the duration of this module and all entries should be in English.

    Thursday, September 15, 2011

    CMOD6001 ITM Class 02

    We talked about the examination appeals process and Erasmus.

    The Erasmus coordinator for Computing is cliona.mcguane@cit.ie

    audio: cmod6001-itm-02-20110915.m4a

    DWEB1 Lab Groups

     A few students have changed lab groups

    Wiktor    A
    Padraig    A
    Fearghal    A
    Cian    A
    Peter Desmond    A
    Joseph    A
    Eric    A
    James Eoghan    A
    Maire    A
    Damien Patrick    A
    Glenn    A
    Calum    A
    Sinead    A
    Scott    A
    Sophie Elizabeth    B
    Darryl Matthew    B
    Kevin    B
    Aron    B
    David    B
    David    B
    John Vincent    B
    Dean    B
    Conor    B
    Steven    B
    Douglas    A
    Sarah    B
    Patryk    B
    Kevin    B
    Caroline    B
    Alex    B
    Sean Patrick    B
    Natalia Laura Olivia    B
    Matthew    A

    CMOD6001 DNET/DCOM Class 01

    I talked about the appeals process and Erasmus.

    The Erasmus coordinator for Computing is cliona.mcguane@cit.ie

    I realize now though that I should have given a whole other talk, because this was actually our first lecture. I thought it was our second.

    audio:cmod6001-dnet-01-20110915.m4a

    Wednesday, September 14, 2011

    Student Induction on Friday at 1000

    First year Student Induction is on Friday at 1000. Just go to your timetabled class, and someone will come get you. It should last about 2.5 hours.

    Your 1100 & 1200 classes won't be taking place.

    All First Year students must attend

    CMOD6001 DNET/DCOM Lab

    We looked at Google Calendar.

    I asked students to enter their timetables into the calendar and to synch up with their phones where possible.

    We looked at how to register phones and laptops with CIT so they can use the WiFi. That's at its.cit.ie

    CMOD6001 DWEB Class 01

    We looked at a module descriptor for a module and explained what all the different terms mean (ECTS, NFQ)

    We looked at the syllabus for the CIT module

    I explained about the Free Choice module in subsequent semesters

    I explained how RPL works

    audio: cmod6001-dweb-01-20110914.m4a

    CMOD6001 ITM Class 01

    We looked at a module descriptor for a module and explained what all the different terms mean (ECTS, NFQ)

    We looked at the syllabus for the CIT module

    I explained about the Free Choice module in subsequent semesters

    I explained how RPL works

    audio: cmod6001-itm-01-20110914.m4a

    Tuesday, September 13, 2011

    CMOD6001 COM Class 01

    We looked at a module descriptor for a module and explained what all the different terms mean (ECTS, NFQ)

    We looked at the syllabus for the CIT module

    I explained about the Free Choice module in subsequent semesters

    I explained how RPL works

    audio: cmod6001-com1-01-20110913.m4a

    CMOD6001 COM Lab A

    We looked at Google Calendar.

    I asked students to enter their timetables into the calendar and to synch up with their phones where possible.

    We looked at how to register phones and laptops with CIT so they can use the WiFi. That's at its.cit.ie

    CMOD6001 ITM Lab A

    We looked at Google Calendar.

    I asked students to enter their timetables into the calendar and to synch up with their phones where possible.

    We looked at how to register phones and laptops with CIT so they can use the WiFi. That's at its.cit.ie

    Sunday, September 11, 2011

    New Year New Beginning

    Welcome welcome welcome

    This semester I am teaching CMOD6001 Creativity, Innovation, and Teamwork to all Computing first years. That's going to be interesting. It'll certainly be efficient, because I can invest a bit more knowing that any preparation work I do will be used three times.

    I'm also teaching SOFT7001 Advanced Web Development, which is basically CSS. That's good because I've putting off becoming a CSS guru for a while. Now I have no choice but to master the tricky bits.

    I am also minding WEBD1 students again this year. But there are a few more than last year. So that will be a bit more work.

    All in all it's shaping up to be an interesting semester. And interesting in a good way.

    Saturday, September 3, 2011

    COMP6021 Final Exam Repeat August 2011

    A copy of the repeat exam and marking scheme is now available. I have also included some comments and statistical information.


    The next repeat will be in May/June 2012 unless the module is offered this semester. To date there are no plans to offer this module in semester.

    Check back here for updates