COMP6023 Assignment 2 Deadline passed

If you didn't get your assignment 2 submitted on time please e-mail me when it is done. I won't go looking for it. The standard late penalties will apply.

COMP6023 Class 20 ITS1

We looked at Character sets. We wrapped up a bit early because I was feeling a bit off, and I didn't want to launch into something new.

Thanks to Meabh O'C for the slides.

What if I'm crap?

I had a discussion today over coffee with some people about the Internet and the role it will play in Higher Education. It got me thinking about this blog and my YouTube videos and podcasts. What if they are crap? Now, I'm not having an existential crisis or anything and I'm proud of most of the work I have online. But what if it is crap? I saw a statistic once that 90% of lecturers think their teaching is average or above average. But of course 90% of us can't be above average.

The Internet has transformed my dark and dusty classroom in an obscure outpost on an island off the edge of Europe that no one can see into, into a dark and dusty classroom in an obscure outpost on an island off the edge of Europe that anyone can see into. Little has changed as a result of this quiet revolution. If I was a really crap lecturer, these recordings of classes would be a problem for the Institute. All the glossy brochures, polished YouTube videos, and shiny happy clip art people on billboards, would be quite pointless if people could see into classrooms and see that what goes on in class is not quite perfect. Worse still, what if the material I was teaching was irrelevant, out of date, or at too basic a level? Everyone would know exactly what going on. I can see why that terrifies people who are responsible for developing and maintaining the Institute's image and reputation.

But these concerns raise some more fundamental questions. If everyone finds out that I am a bad lecturer, what's the real problem? That I'm a bad lecturer, or that people know? What if the courses are not relevant or the quality of the graduates poor? Is the problem really that people might find out? It was only a few years ago that there was consternation at CIT when it was discovered that the students' union had put past exam papers on its public website where anyone on the Internet could see past exam papers for CIT courses. People were genuinely horrified.

I am actually not that worried about where I am on the curve, mostly because at CIT I am pretty much the only data point on the curve. I haven't seen many other blogs, nor YouTube videos, and there are no other courses available as podcasts. I will happily accept criticism from any other lecturers who put themselves out there, but not from others. I am not Pat Kenny and can never be. I have some good days and some bad days. Everyone does. I have given some very dull lectures in my time, and some very interesting one.

I am concerned though that as the Institute's managers finally wake up to the importance of the Internet in Higher Education they may attempt to control how the world sees CIT by censoring which of the Institute's many voices the world may hear. Only approved messages via approved channels will be permitted. I think this would be a mistake. Allowing the world to see what goes on at CIT, warts and all, is hugely valuable. Consumers of information are increasingly sophisticated. They know advertising when they see it. People won't actually buy that CIT is populated by attractive shiny happy clip art people. Authentic credible information suggesting that CIT is well above average, is more valuable than fake bumf. If the truth about CIT is not good enough to attract students and command respect in the wider community, then the problem is the truth, not the discovery of it. If the reality doesn't cut it, then address the reality, not the perception.

One of the main risks the Internet poses to the shiny happy clip art world view is that the web provides a forum where people can criticise the Institute. This can make for an uncomfortable working environment for people unused to having to explain the decisions they make to those affected by them. However any organisation that prohibits criticism is unlikely to take corrective action when it is making mistakes. The recent banking crisis and consequent bankruptcy of the state are an excellent example of what can happen when dissenting voices are silenced. Fear is understandable. Exposing yourself to potential criticism is uncomfortable. But delusion can be dangerous. Does anybody really believe that North Korea is a paradise? Is our disbelief North Korea's real problem?

Which brings me back to my own delusions. I first started recording classes and putting them online just over 10 years ago. If I had a bit more time to prepare the classes could be better, but like 90% of my colleagues I still think I am above average. I think the online classes have been useful to students on the course. The classes have had a small audience outside of CIT. I definitely think that the knowledge that the recordings would be make public has had a positive impact on the quality. It has upped my game. I wonder if that tiny insight could be a lesson for the wider Institute. Does public scrutiny improve quality?

I don't believe that the best lecturer is the one that never says the wrong thing because he never says anything. But at least then all 100% of us would be above average.

COMP6023 Lab 10 ITS1b

Students worked on assignments.

COMP6023 Class 20 DNET/DCOM

I spent some time at the start of the class reviewing students' assigments, and then we looked at Podcasting.

COMP6023 Class 19 ITS1

We looked at Google Analytics

COMP6023 Lab 10 DNET

Students worked on assignments

COMP6023 Lab 10 ITM

Students worked on assignments

COMP6023 Class 20 DWEB/ITM Canceled

I had a meeting

COMP6023 Class 19 DWEB/ITM

We looked at Google Analytics

COMP6023 Lab 10 DCOM

There was only one student in class. I met with him and discussed how his assignments were going and helped out with some blog stuff. I left at 1720 because there didn't seem to be any further need for me.

COMP6023 Class 19 DNET/DCOM

We looked at how video compression works

Class cancelations

What with various meetings and events and what now the following classes are cancelled:

Tue 16 April 1100 DWEB/ITM lecture
Thu 25 April 0900 DWEB Lab
Thu 25 April 1500 DNET/DCOM Lecture
Thu 25 April 1600 ITS1b Lab
Fri 26 April 1000 ITS Lecture

COMP6023 Lab 10 ITS1

Students worked no the assignments

COMP6023 Class 18 ITS1

We looked at Podcasting

COMP6023 Lab 09 ITB1b

I asked students to review the 10 blogs before them in the list and leave comments for the authors if they find anything that needs attention.

I met with each student to discuss the progress of the assignments.

COMP6023 Class 18 DNET/DCOM

We looked at dithering and GIF.

COMP6023 Lab 09 DWEB

I asked students to review the 10 blogs before them on the list and to highlight any issues they might encounter.

Students worked on the assignments

COMP6023 Class 17 ITM

We looked at how video compression works.

Feedback on Essays now available

All students who submitted on-time Draft 1s and Draft 2s can now view some feedback by logging back into TurnItIn.com

Students who submitted a draft will be prompted by TurnItIn to review the work of some other students.

COMP6023 Lab 09 DNET

Students worked on the assignments.


I asked students to read weeks 5-8 for the 10 blogs above them in the list and highlight any issues. There's still time to correct mistakes make in the entries for those weeks.

Google AdWords not required for blog

A number of students had problems getting approved for Google AdWords. So I removing the from the list of requirements for the blog. I will update the spec in due course.

COMP6023 Lab 09 ITM

Students worked on the assignments.

I asked students to read weeks 5-8 for the 10 blogs above them in the list and highlight any issues. There's still time to correct mistakes make in the entries for those weeks.

COMP6023 Class 18 DWEB/ITM

We looked at Podcasting

I mentioned some of my favorites.

COMP6023 Class 17 DWEB/ITM

We looked at video compression

Some AdWords math

COMP6023 Lab 09 DCOM

We didn't do anything in particular. Students worked away on various things.

COMP6023 Class 17 DNET/DCOM

We looked at representing colour images, compression, and dithering.

It was a bit haphazard. These prerecorded classes might be a bit better.

Channels at the end of
http://mcom.cit.ie/staff/computing/cmanning/comp6021/comp6021-lesson06.mov

Subsampling & Color Look Up Tables
http://mcom.cit.ie/staff/computing/cmanning/comp6021/comp6021-lesson07.mov

Color Palettes & Dithering
http://mcom.cit.ie/staff/computing/cmanning/comp6021/comp6021-13.m4v

COMP6023 Lab 09 ITS1a

I met with some students to discuss the assignments.

I asked students to read the 10 blogs before them in the list and to highlight any errors in entries for week 05-08.

COMP6023 Class 16 ITS1

We looked at GIF and JPEG

ChartGo.com

ChartGo.com looks like a good place to do the charts for assignment 2. Adding the images it generates might be easier to include in a blogger page, that something generated by Excel.

COMP6023 Lab 08 ITS1b

I met with students to discuss how the assignments are progressing.

COMP6023 Class 16 DNET/DCOM

We, somehow, got talking about online learning and what college might look like in the future, and the role the internet might play. We had an interesting discussion, which is why I enjoy this module so much.

COMP6023 Class 15 ITS1

We looked at indexed colour for coding images and dithering.

COMP6023 Lab 08 DNET

I met with students to see how the assignments are progressing.

COMP6023 Lab 08 ITM

I met with teams and individuals to see how the assignments are progressing. People are at very different stages.

Prediction Market Leaders' Board

There were some major sporting upsets recently that brought about some serious changes of fortune.

COMP6023 Class 16 DWEB/ITM

We looked at JPEG & PNG.

COMP6023 Class 15 DWEB/ITM

We looked a little bit more at dithering. I'm not sure if all students are comfortable with putting numbers on it.

We looked a GIF.

COMP6023 Class 14 ITS1

We looked at digital colour. We saw the Hue Saturation Brightness, Lab, Red Green Blue (RGB), and Cyan Magenta Yellow Black (CMYK) systems.

COMP6023 Lab 07 ITS1b

I met with each student to get an update the progress of assignments 2 & 3

COMP6023 Class 14 DNET/DCOM

We looked at how colour can be represented digitally. We looked at the Hue Saturation & Brightness (HSB) model, Red Green & Blue (RGB) and very briefly Lab and CYMK.

Prediction Market Leaders' Table

COMP6023 Lab 07 DWEB

I got updates from the students on how the assignments are going.

I asked students who will be submitting essays to sign-up for the class on TurnItIn.com

COMP6023 Class 13 ITS1

We looked at how to digitize black and white images.

We bagan thinking about how we might represent colour digitally, and considered how many colours there are in the rainbow.

COMP6023 Lab 07 DNET

I met with students to discuss how the assigments are going.

I asked students who will be submitting essays to sign-up for the class on TurnItIn.com

COMP6023 Assignment Spec updated

I have made minor changes to the spec that dealt with the instructions for how to get your Assignment 2 images. So it's less confusing now.

The spec is up to Version 4 now. So if you are working from an older one it might be worth a look. But there have been no substantial changes.

Students submitting as essay for Assignment 3 should register with turnitin.com

Prediction Market Leaders' Table

COMP6023 Lab 07 ITM

I met with students to discuss how Assignment 3 is going. Nobody seems to be working on Assignment 2.

I asked students who will be submitting essays to sign-up for the class on TurnItIn.com