COMP6023 Plan for the rest of the semester

I don't think we need any more labs.

Don't forget that you are expected to make a blog entry for Week 11 also. So the entry for this week will be the last. Your entry can be about the interesting things you found in your analytics reports. That can be a post and need not be a separate page.

We will continue to have lectures up to the end of Week 12. We won't have any classes in Week 13.

I appreciate that once the assignments have been handed in there is very little incentive to come to class. If you decide that your time is better spent elsewhere, that's fine. I won't take it personally.

GOMC should send the post-campaign report to Google when it's ready, and then send everything to me.

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 Worse still, what if the material I was teaching was irrelevant, out of date, or at too basic a level?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.