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