Thoughts on Consistency

June 16, 2009 1 comment »

I’ve just finished reading a couple of posts (here and here) by a colleague on the idea of consistency in university teaching and learning and it got me thinking about my own course development work.

I see two main streams of consistency talked about in the context of university teaching:

  1. Consistency of delivery – all courses have an online component, a printed component, a course profile, a study guide etc.
  2. Consistency of aesthetic design – all courses have the same website design structure, study guide template etc.

Consistency of Delivery

As a new academic teaching in a university preparatory program (or “bridging program” as my university would prefer I use) I do see the benefits to being consistent with the delivery of course materials.  However, there does need to be some flexibility on how these are enforced, especially when it comes to enforcing things like minimum standards.

The main problem (in my view) with these two streams of consistency and minimum standards comes down to one significant issue: not all university courses are same in terms of their content and learning outcomes. One problem occurred in my unit where a minimum standard was setup for use of the LMS.  The result for some courses was a bunch of empty Blackboard shells containing nothing but a (rarely used) discussion forum.  Of course this isn’t solely the fault of those who enforced the minimum standards.

Consistency of Aesthetic Design

The idea that a single course design, word template or educational theory is suitable for all courses at an institution, let alone all learners, sounds good, but doesn’t work. (David Jones)

When I see a study guide that has been well designed in terms of the visual aesthetic, I feel like other courses should be reaching for that standard as well.  The initial reaction is to just use the same study guide template.  However consistency of course design should be reached by having well designed materials in terms of learning design and visual design.  Achieving a consistency through quality courses and course design, not well designed and identical study guide templates hiding poor quality material, should be the goal.

I am learning more about how to design effective course materials and present them in a meaningful and accessible way to students.  My work at Nulloo Yumbah also requires me to consider the unique learning styles and ways of learning of Indigenous Australian students, and how to design learning materials that are culturally relevant to their learning journeys.

Are social blogs becoming irrelevant?

March 2, 2009 No comments »

A friend posted the following on Twitter recently “I don’t read “blogs” anymore… and i’m ok with it. Thanks Twitter.” It got me thinking about how long social blogs will remain relevant for, when it’s a lot quicker to send out shorter streams of information through Twitter.

Some genres of blogs (such as Photoblogs, software development blogs, news blogs, aspiring writers) will always have their place, but for the regular social blogger, isn’t it easier to just use things like Facebook and Twitter? It seems for the average Internet user that blogs are too one-dimensional, add to that the fact that most of your friends are probably on Facebook anyway.

Using an Electronic Note Taker

February 23, 2009 No comments »

I started re-using Evernote today. I’d first come across it while browsing the app store a few months back, though after signing up for an account I never actually used it. After attending many meetings, training sessions and seminars in my new job for the past few weeks as well as working on some course development among other things, my old system of post it notes and notepads was really starting to show signs of strain.

Initially I wasn’t impressed with what I thought was a silly note taking app for the iPhone. I’ve discovered today how good it really is though. Syncing between my iPhone/work PC/MacBook (each with their own application interface of Evernote) as well as web access of documents, notes, images. I’ve always been a bit skeptical of using apps like this (Yojimbo was one I used briefly then decided not to bother) as you never know when they’re going to stop being supported or a company will go broke or get bought out and essentially make the app a waste of time.

I’m going to stick with Evernote this time though, hopefully it will help my organisation a little more, well, organised.

I’ve also started using Dropbox, awesome app. MobileMe wishes it was Dropbox.

Course Redevelopment

February 11, 2009 1 comment »

One of my initial tasks in my new role is to redesign/redevelop one of the courses offered here to students in the TEP (Tertiary Entry Program). I’ve done some course development work before, but nothing of this scale. I’m looking forward to doing it, and looking at the course in question it is in dire need of some work.

I won’t go into specifics, but in general the current course:

  • is in general very confusing for the type of students the TEP is aimed at
  • is probably a little long winded in places (the study/resource guide is 370+ pages)
  • has far too much assessment (14 items)
  • looks as though it has been pieced together over the years and added to as new people were put in charge of coordinating it
  • lacks any real sort of e-learning support (in terms of Blackboard) or online/web 2.0 PLEs , even though the study guide asks students to practice on the available Blackboard lessons

In regards to the last two items, there are a few issues. Some of the students in the TEP program do not have reliable (or any in some cases) access to the Internet (students in Correctional Centres for example), so more traditional PLE’s must be encouraged and nurtured. This is a point of interest I’d like to touch upon in future posts.

In terms of the course, the first things I’ll be reviewing and looking into:

  • Condensing the assessment
  • Making some of the content a little more relevant and up-to-date
  • Making more use of Blackboard (in a way that allows for similar content to be available for students with no net access)
  • Adding in some new resources, references and reading material

I think what I end up with should be much more usable by the students it is aimed for.

    New Job – Lecturer at Nulloo Yumbah, CQUni

    February 9, 2009 No comments »

    I started my new job as a Lecturer at CQUni last week. I’m working in Nulloo Yumbah. So far it has been smooth sailing. I have quite a bit to do in addition to general teaching duties, such as some course re-development work. I should also be able to make more time to work on my PhD, which is always a good thing.

    I’ll blog more about specifics as they come up.

    A Summary of an Explination

    December 31, 2007 3 comments »

    There are several reasons why I stopped blogging this year, both intentionally and unintentionally. This year had already been quite a rough one due what began as financial stress. My postgraduate scholarship ended in February and losing that income made things hard. I tried (unsuccessfully) to get work around the university, but due to CQU’s lack of funding there was nothing to be had. I did manage to get a brief stint tutoring out at the correctional centre, but (as is the way of things) I had a better job offer come up at the same time that was due to commence.

    It was during WWDC this year that I was told I would not be going to Apple for an internship (the specifics of this are best kept for another time). I should note that this was not Apple’s decision, but a decision of the AUC. So not only was I struggling to try and finish my PhD as quickly as possible (and getting nowhere fast) while earning no income, I’d also found out that I’d lost out on a major once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. All of this made me lose motivation in a lot of things (blogging one of them).

    Since WWDC though I’ve found a job I enjoy, and have been on a leave of absence from my PhD. This has been a good thing, as going to CQU everyday and sitting in my cubicle was starting to make me really depressed. When you put your hand up to do a PhD noone tells you about the recurring feelings of self doubt and worth you have, nor the fact that you’ll basically be viewed as someone who has qualifications but no experience to back them up (which was the case for me, I missed out on several jobs – and one REALLY good one – because of my lack of real world and industry experience, even though my qualifications were very impressive). This makes you question what the hell you are doing a postgraduate degree for, other than to become and academic (and that certainly wasn’t going to happen at CQU). I’m sure PhD’s in other fields have a different outlook on things, medicine for example.

    Anyway, since July I’ve been working at a small Advertising and Media company in Rockhampton (this job came up at the same time as the tutoring job at the prison). They mostly handle newspaper press ads and television ads, and have been increasing the rate at which each of these are produced in-house. They also do all the general stuff such as business cards, websites and the like. It’s been an enjoyable experience so far, and the work differs quite a lot from week to week, so it has been keeping things interesting.

    In September, Hayley and I found out that we would be having a baby. This was pretty exciting news for us. We kept it a secret for a while just to make sure everything was OK, but everything is fine and we are having a little baby boy at the end of April 2008 :) .

    I also started playing in a band around this time. I hooked up with them through a friend who heard they were looking for a guitarist. A regular gig is something I have been after for a few years but have never been able to pull off due to different peoples work commitments (or others work ethic) so stepping into an organised established group was ideal. It’s a 3 piece (drums, rhythm guitar and lead guitar, with sequenced bass and keyboards) so there’s no hanging around for 4 or 5 other people all the time. It’s been fun and while I started just filling in, next year I’m gigging with them almost every weekend (I had an idea where I might take a photo from the stage at every gig, and calling it “a year in the life of a Rockhampton musician”, or something. It would showcase all the shitty venues local muso’s play in and put up with around Rockhampton – as well as the good ones). If I could get away with it I’d just play music full time, but in a place like Rocky there doesn’t seem to be that much opportunity.

    Anyways thats what I’ve been up to since WWDC when I made my last post. What started out as a pretty rough year ended up being rather a decent one towards the end. Hopefully this year I’ll have more incentive to post.

    Happy new year!

    CocoaHeads Meeting

    June 14, 2007 2 comments »

    Last night I attended the CocoaHeads User Group meeting at the Apple Store in San Francisco. There were four speakers, Daniel Jalkut (Red Sweater Software), Gus Mueller (Flying Meat), Wil Shipley (Delicious Monster), and Brent Simmons (Net News Wire). All of them (other than Brent) spoke about their experiences of quitting their jobs, and becoming independent developers for OS X full time.

    Each of their stories were very different, as were their motivations for doing so (money, freedom, lifestyle). Each of them also went into detail about all of the extra “stuff” that comes along with doing what they do, such as customer support, financial and security management and serial number tracking. The Q&A was also very informative, and it’s pretty amazing that someone can make a very decent living by working for themselves writing software. Of course, that software has to be very good, but I don’t think it is an unachievable goal for anyone with the right motivation and drive.

    Sometimes I think I might have been in a similar position had I not gotten sidetracked with other things over the past few years…

    Photo From Cupertino

    No comments »

    I had meant to upload this earlier. Here’s a group photo of some AUC people taken on our trip to the Apple campus in Cupertino on the Sunday before WWDC.

    Take Me Out to the Ball Game

    June 13, 2007 3 comments »

    I have always wanted to go and see a baseball game while in the US, and after reading about Jason’s recent experience I was even more keen to go. Luckily there was a game on this week. On Tuesday night, a group of people from the AUC went to the game, it was the San Francisco Giants vs the Toronto Blue Jays. These two teams rarely play each other, but are having a three-game series (as was my understanding, they are in different leagues normally). The first game was yesterday, and the final game is tomorrow. AT&T stadium is quite spectacular, with the stand behind the batter area (not sure what it is actually called) facing directly out into the bay. Here’s a couple of photos taken from where we were sitting.


    The game itself was pretty enjoyable, though there were no runs scored after the 4th inning. The Giants won 3-2 so on the way out the majority of the 34000+ crowd were very loud and rowdy. Attending a baseball games seems to be a very social affair, as you spend almost as much time chatting, eating and drinking as you do watching the actual game play. It is very stop-and-start and it only really gets exciting towards the end.I had an absolutely horror of a hot dog, and a plate of “garlic fries”. Imagine about 10 cloves of garlic spread over some fries and thats what you get (see the last pic above). I didn’t get a beer though, as $9US for a regular cup was a bit of a turn off.

    New Blog. New Name.

    May 28, 2007 2 comments »

    I have been wanting to update my blog for quite a while now, but the motivation just wasn’t there. Put it down to a lack of having anything of interest to say. Somewhere along the line I decided to get my own URL (instead of leaching from one I did not own) and start afresh, what you’re reading is the result. Lets see if I can actually keep this thing updated and make it worth the price of admission this time around.

    As for the name, well, I felt like a change and I feel that this name says something about me (or at least one perspective I have of myself) in the context of the internet, as well as referencing my interest in coding. I think it’s even a little hip (maybe?).

    I’ll also be periodically adding any posts from my old blog that I think are worth keeping.