I had hoped to move on with the CSS but because we didn't get a chance to implement the classes last week, I held off.
A good few students watched videos of the classes they missed. But that's something they could have done before today.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
SOFT6007 ITS1/DCOM1 Class 20 ITS Lab
We looked at the float property and the position property. I went to C128 and added some images with transparency to the set of graphics for use in Assignment 2.
I will look into moving us to C128, even if only for an hour a week.
I will look into moving us to C128, even if only for an hour a week.
Educational Triage
I was discussing a student with a colleague a few weeks ago and she made a
comment that got me thinking. She said “Oh, I’m not a bit worried about him. He’s not going to be here
next year anyway”. That reminded me of triage.
On the battlefield, or where there are mass casualties, medical treatment is rationed so that it does the most good. Incoming casualties are sorted into different categories. Systems vary, but generally there are those casualties who are likely to be fine without immediate treatment, those who would benefit from treatment, and those who are so badly injured that they are likely to die irrespective of the treatment they receive. They are usually assigned green tags, red tags, and black tags respectively.
I wonder do lecturers (myself included) engage in educational triage. Does there come a time in our dealings with students we categorize them into those who will be fine anyway, those who need our intervention, and those who are so far gone that there is no point wasting our time on them. Are students walking around with invisible triage tags attached, that only lecturers can see? Is this fair? Or is it just pragmatic? Like battlefield medical attention, lecturers’ attention is finite. And as class sizes and workloads increase, it is becoming scarcer.
Should every student get the same amount of attention? Should those who need the most get the most, or should it be allocated where it can make the biggest difference.
What if we make mistakes? On the battlefield being classified as beyond help is fatal. If a student is written off in error and not given much assistance, he is likely to fail.
It’s interesting to think what signals or vibes we might be using to categorize students, consciously or subconsciously. For me the question “what am I supposed to be doing?” is like bullet wound to the head. YouTube and Facebook during lab time are like serious infections.
And of course educational triage requires an additional category not seen on the battlefield. Those seriously injured students who refuse medical treatment by not turning up to class, put themselves beyond the reach of the help they need. What colour tags should we use for them?
On the battlefield, or where there are mass casualties, medical treatment is rationed so that it does the most good. Incoming casualties are sorted into different categories. Systems vary, but generally there are those casualties who are likely to be fine without immediate treatment, those who would benefit from treatment, and those who are so badly injured that they are likely to die irrespective of the treatment they receive. They are usually assigned green tags, red tags, and black tags respectively.
I wonder do lecturers (myself included) engage in educational triage. Does there come a time in our dealings with students we categorize them into those who will be fine anyway, those who need our intervention, and those who are so far gone that there is no point wasting our time on them. Are students walking around with invisible triage tags attached, that only lecturers can see? Is this fair? Or is it just pragmatic? Like battlefield medical attention, lecturers’ attention is finite. And as class sizes and workloads increase, it is becoming scarcer.
Should every student get the same amount of attention? Should those who need the most get the most, or should it be allocated where it can make the biggest difference.
What if we make mistakes? On the battlefield being classified as beyond help is fatal. If a student is written off in error and not given much assistance, he is likely to fail.
It’s interesting to think what signals or vibes we might be using to categorize students, consciously or subconsciously. For me the question “what am I supposed to be doing?” is like bullet wound to the head. YouTube and Facebook during lab time are like serious infections.
And of course educational triage requires an additional category not seen on the battlefield. Those seriously injured students who refuse medical treatment by not turning up to class, put themselves beyond the reach of the help they need. What colour tags should we use for them?
SOFT6008 Class 20
We discussed tomorrow's exam a little.
There will be 3 questions.
Q1. (50 marks) Will be a checksum validation and DOM manipulation, with some code missing. Fill in the blanks. Having implements all the checksums from the notes, would have been good practice. If you didn't getting a look at someone else's would be good. [If you use dropbox to swap code make sure you identify it as someone else's so that I don't feel like you are passing it off as yours]
Q2. (25 marks) Will be about cookies
Q3. (25 marks) Will be write a javascript function that does ... It's something that could be in any language, but just happens to be in javascript.
In designing the exam I have tried to give average students a good chance of passing, while giving excellent students a change to do very well. Weaker students may feel time pressure. So we will try to start on the dot at 1700 and go all the way to 1800.
There will be 3 questions.
Q1. (50 marks) Will be a checksum validation and DOM manipulation, with some code missing. Fill in the blanks. Having implements all the checksums from the notes, would have been good practice. If you didn't getting a look at someone else's would be good. [If you use dropbox to swap code make sure you identify it as someone else's so that I don't feel like you are passing it off as yours]
Q2. (25 marks) Will be about cookies
Q3. (25 marks) Will be write a javascript function that does ... It's something that could be in any language, but just happens to be in javascript.
In designing the exam I have tried to give average students a good chance of passing, while giving excellent students a change to do very well. Weaker students may feel time pressure. So we will try to start on the dot at 1700 and go all the way to 1800.
Monday, March 12, 2012
SOFT6008 Class 19
I gave out a printed version of the sample exam that was online. I talked through some parts of it, but didn't give much away.
I said "you wouldn't want to make assumptions about the length, based on the size of the box" and actually expected to get away with it.
I said "you wouldn't want to make assumptions about the length, based on the size of the box" and actually expected to get away with it.
Module Design Course
We looked at how to write learning outcomes and the different taxonomies. There's more than one!
First part of the assignment is due Friday week, so I must actually start working on it. Like most students, I have codded myself into thinking having it done in my head is enough.
First part of the assignment is due Friday week, so I must actually start working on it. Like most students, I have codded myself into thinking having it done in my head is enough.
SOFT6008 Sample Exam
Completing this exam would be good practice for the in-class exam this week.
However completing all of the exercises would be the best practice.
Students should complete all the DOM games, try to get cookies working, and implement all the checksums outlined the notes.
Students should complete all the DOM games, try to get cookies working, and implement all the checksums outlined the notes.
SOFT6007 COM1 Class 19
We revised RGB, and then looked at Lab and CYMK. Then we started to look at GIF.
I think I lost the crowd today. Maybe the slides are a bit disjointed. We'll pick up again with GIF in the next class.
Friday, March 9, 2012
SOFT6007 DCOM1 Class 17 Lab
We added CLASSes to the TDs in the timetable to color code the lectures.
Students were on the ball and got this done very quickly.
SOFT6007 ITS1/DCOM1 Class 18
We looked at how to represent color digitally. We discussed Hue Saturation Brightness (HSB) and Red Green Blue (RGB)
SOFT6007 COM1 Class 18
We looked at how to represent color digitally. We discussed Hue Saturation Brightness (HSB) and Red Green Blue (RGB)
Thursday, March 8, 2012
SOFT6008 Class 18
We looked at the HTML5 Canvas. It's more of a gimmick really. But it might be possible to do some interesting things with it.
I'll put links to the site, and examples here later. I promise! If I don't, hassle me.
SOFT6007 COM1 Class 17 Lab A
We looked at how to classes and IDs work and I asked students to color the subjects in their timetables by adding class attributes to the TD tags.
A number of students completed this work and left early. Others who did not finish it left early also. That's not very wise.
SOFT6007 FC Class
We had a 1 hour lecture. Only about 10 students turned up, which is interesting seeing as there are people trying to get into this class and can't because it's full.
I offered to do some revision in advance of the exam, but students seemed happy enough. So we looked at how to add
The exam on Tuesday should take about 40 minutes to complete. I don't expect anyone will be stuck for time.
I offered to do some revision in advance of the exam, but students seemed happy enough. So we looked at how to add
class attributes to the td tags of the timetable.The exam on Tuesday should take about 40 minutes to complete. I don't expect anyone will be stuck for time.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
SOFT6007 FC Lab B (2 hours)
Students coded an image map.
In the second hours I flew through CSS and asked students to apply styles to their timetables. Some managed to make a start in the time that we had.
In the second hours I flew through CSS and asked students to apply styles to their timetables. Some managed to make a start in the time that we had.
SOFT6007 FC Lab A (2 hours)
We coded up image maps for the first ~half of the class.
In the second part I tore through CSS, and asked students to maybe try applying to their timetables at home.
In the second part I tore through CSS, and asked students to maybe try applying to their timetables at home.
SOFT6007 Class 17 ITS1 Lab
We added classes to the TDs in the timetable. This allowed us to target individual classes with seperate colours.
SOFT6008 Checksums Handout Typo
There's a typo on the Checksums handout. On page 3 the indexOf() should evaluate to 15, not 10.
SOFT6008 Check Digits
Here are some data to use as test cases for the check digit exercises.
5313197L
1234567T
1234567t
0000000W
0000071w
03457393-X
03457393X
03457393x
03405999-K
70240341-C
70259948-P
70259948p
If these test cases give you trouble read the small print on the ParseInt box!.
I have noticed that in real life Spaniards tend to insert separators between groups of digits to make the DNI number easier to read and it is common to put a dash before the letter (as above). To accommodate this your code should strip out all useless characters from the input before looking at it more closely.
Ensure that your code insists on the correct length
007-X is not valid. But 00000000-X is.
Be sure to check some serial numbers that have a zero immediately after the letter. If that gives you trouble ParseInt may be to blame.
IE-PPSN
These numbers are valid in theory5313197L
1234567T
1234567t
0000000W
0000071w
ES-DNI
These are valid numbers03457393-X
03457393X
03457393x
03405999-K
70240341-C
70259948-P
70259948p
If these test cases give you trouble read the small print on the ParseInt box!.
I have noticed that in real life Spaniards tend to insert separators between groups of digits to make the DNI number easier to read and it is common to put a dash before the letter (as above). To accommodate this your code should strip out all useless characters from the input before looking at it more closely.
Ensure that your code insists on the correct length
007-X is not valid. But 00000000-X is.
Euro Banknotes
Just take some from your wallet. There are fewer than 26 countries that issue Euro banknotes some some letters never appear at the start of a serial number. Accounting for this would require some very inelegant code. We can't have inelegant code!Be sure to check some serial numbers that have a zero immediately after the letter. If that gives you trouble ParseInt may be to blame.
SOFT6008 Class 17
I wasn't feeling well, so I didn't bring very much to the party. Students worked on the various exercises.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
SOFT6008 Assessment 1
There will be an in-class on Thursday 15 March at 1700. All students taking this module this semester should attend.
The exam will be a written closed-book exam that will cover all of the topics and examples we have seen in class
The slides and examples are here.
The exam will be a written closed-book exam that will cover all of the topics and examples we have seen in class
The slides and examples are here.
SOFT6008 Class 16
Students worked away on the various exercises.
There is quite a gap opening up between the students who are up-to-date and those who are behind.
The DOM slots, cards, and dice should be done or nearly done by now. To be on schedule students should be looking at cookies or checksums.
I wouldn't start work on Assignment 2 just yet.
There is quite a gap opening up between the students who are up-to-date and those who are behind.
The DOM slots, cards, and dice should be done or nearly done by now. To be on schedule students should be looking at cookies or checksums.
I wouldn't start work on Assignment 2 just yet.
SOFT6007 COM1 Class 16
We had an in-class exam.
If you don't have a watch you should probably buy a cheap and cheerful one. Bringing a phone to class and using it as a watch is against the rules. It can lead to an automatic zero in the exam. So be careful.
It's inconsiderate to make noise while other students are still working on their answers. And staying in the room after you have finished to have a chat is not very nice.
If you don't have a watch you should probably buy a cheap and cheerful one. Bringing a phone to class and using it as a watch is against the rules. It can lead to an automatic zero in the exam. So be careful.
It's inconsiderate to make noise while other students are still working on their answers. And staying in the room after you have finished to have a chat is not very nice.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
SOFT6007 Digital Color (HSB) Online Lesson
Online lesson on Digital Color: Hue Saturation & Brightness (HSB)
Friday, March 2, 2012
SOFT6007 Class 14 DCOM1 Lab
We linked a style sheet to the timetables completed in previous classes. I asked students to experiment with various attributes.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
SOFT6008 Class 15
We looked at some more examples of checksums and discussed how they might be implemented in JavaScript.
The audio recording didn't work for today's class. But I put the video on Google+ anyway.
The audio recording didn't work for today's class. But I put the video on Google+ anyway.
Anonymous comments back again
I have re-enabled anonymous comments on the blog.
We'll see how long that lasts :-)
We'll see how long that lasts :-)
SOFT6007 COM1 Class 14 Lab B
We added styling to the timetable table coded in previous classes.
A lot of students used the second hour of the class to complete work for other modules.
A lot of students used the second hour of the class to complete work for other modules.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
SOFT6007 COM1 Friday 0900 class canceled
There will be no web dev class on Friday morning. Cinderella, you shall go to the ball!
Nà beidh a leithéid ann arÃs
Today is a sad day. Today any public servant of our republic who has enough pension entitlements to make it practical for them to leave, will leave. In schools, hospitals, government offices, and colleges all around the country people are saying their goodbyes. I imagine there pubs will be busy tonight.
The departure of so many people all at the same time will be a bit traumatic for some institutions, and the effects may even be noticed by the customers of those public services. But I expect that their departure will affect not just the public services themselves, but will impact of the very nature of public service.
The republic, since its foundation, has been served well by its public servants. They were dedicated, impartial, and well respected. Of late there has been a lot of public servant bashing, and the mutual regard the public and public servants once had or each other has been eroded. Today's exodus will see not just a quantitative change in the number of public servants. There will be a qualitative change in the whole culture of public service.
Good luck to those going. Nà beidh a leithéid ann arÃs.
The departure of so many people all at the same time will be a bit traumatic for some institutions, and the effects may even be noticed by the customers of those public services. But I expect that their departure will affect not just the public services themselves, but will impact of the very nature of public service.
The republic, since its foundation, has been served well by its public servants. They were dedicated, impartial, and well respected. Of late there has been a lot of public servant bashing, and the mutual regard the public and public servants once had or each other has been eroded. Today's exodus will see not just a quantitative change in the number of public servants. There will be a qualitative change in the whole culture of public service.
Good luck to those going. Nà beidh a leithéid ann arÃs.
SOFT6007 Class 14 ITS1 Lab
We looked at using CSS to change the appearance of the timetables we coded in previous classes.
All students present eventually got it working.
All students present eventually got it working.
SOFT6008 Class 14
Students worked on coding the various exercises.
I gave out a handout on Checksums
For numbers over 10, mod 9 gives the same result as adding the digits together. That's easier to implement.
I gave out a handout on Checksums
For numbers over 10, mod 9 gives the same result as adding the digits together. That's easier to implement.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
SOFT6007 DCOM1/ITS1 Friday class canceled
I have to attend a panel visit for a new course on Friday morning so the 1100 class won't go ahead. Students will be expected to take the class online. A recording of the 0900 COM1 will be made available.
YouTube video on Teaching Naked
I spent all day today working on a YouTube video about Teaching Naked. I did the script months ago, and the audio a few weeks ago. I was hoping to get someone with some illustration skills to draw slides for me, but decided to just get it done and dusted.
I consider it to be in Beta just yet. Will publish it after I get some feedback.
I consider it to be in Beta just yet. Will publish it after I get some feedback.
Monday, February 27, 2012
SOFT6008 Well done!
I'm pretty impressed with the quality of the work being done in the labs. Most students seem to be taking it seriously and getting on with it.
But don't forget that if you get stuck, it's important to ask for help.
But don't forget that if you get stuck, it's important to ask for help.
SOFT6008 Class 13
We started to look at check digits. The phonenumbers example illustrates where we are going with this stuff and how it's coded.
Must students were still working on other things though.
Cookies are tricky to deal with, but very impressive once you get them working.
Must students were still working on other things though.
Cookies are tricky to deal with, but very impressive once you get them working.
Friday, February 24, 2012
SOFT6007 Class 11 DCOM1 Lab
Students worked on the various exercises. Most concentrated on getting the image maps working.
Good day's work. Well done
Good day's work. Well done
SOFT6007 COM1 Class 12
How many colours in the rainbow? Bit of a head-wreck. And I didn't even get to explain why Santa's suit is red!
Thursday, February 23, 2012
SOFT6008 Class 12
We looked at cookies.
I was very tired and so was everyone else. I think we will start to use more lab time as lectures rather than expect our brains to work properly on Thursday at 1700.
I was very tired and so was everyone else. I think we will start to use more lab time as lectures rather than expect our brains to work properly on Thursday at 1700.
SOFT6007 COM1 Class 11 Lab A
Students worked on coding the Iberia and USA Cities image maps. This is going slower than I had anticipated.
SOFT6007 COM1 Class 11 Lab B
Students worked on coding the Iberia and USA Cities image maps. This is going slower than I had anticipated.
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