Tuesday 22 May 2007

Final Entry

Well, Ive completed the essay. I'm not sure of its quality and the mark it will attract but it's done. I'll give it another read tommorrow night. I've had the last 2 days off for this assignment, sick kids and a funeral, so hopefully it makes some sense.
This will probably be my last entry on this, my first ever blog. Hopefully it too attracts at least a pass mark. I've looked at other student blogs and there is some fantastic quality out there. Well done guys! I'm jealous of your talents but I live in the hope that one day soon I too will be at that level. Anyway, I'll have the rest of tonight off, veg in front of the tv for a while and then have another look at the essay tommorrow night, submit if ok and then on to studying for next weeks exam on another (totally unrelated) Uni subject.
I wish there was a week off in between study periods. It would be more than welcome from other OUA students.
Thats it for a totally boring entry. I know this was a boring one but i'm pretty drained and tired.
Thankyou

Friday 11 May 2007

Comments

It's been a while since I've posted comment or even looked at my blog. Assignments from this subject and a 2000 word essay for another have taken most of my study time. Fortunately I think I'm on top of this subject at the moment. I'm re-reading through Module 5 in more depth and getting ready to begin the essay. On top of this I have many readings to do for my other subject and also my wife has started a community action group that is lobbying our local council not to shut down our childcare centres. If anybody is interested you can click on this link http://www.newcastle.nsw.gov.au/in_council/policies_and_plans/management_plan_feedback and about 1/2 way down the page you can see as space for comment:
Part B: Proposals identified for further investigation only(not contained in draft Management Plan)
Council has also seeking community feedback on several other potential service level variations which have not been fully investigated or costed to date. This means the full implications are not clear at this time. Any savings would be dedicated to infrastructure maintenance backlog unless otherwise indicated.
Child Care Centres
Investigate : Alternative commercial or community-based service providers for this service.

Please feel free to help us in our fight. Mainly, we are arguing that childcare is not an under utilized council service and is an essential social service. Privatization would only increase the financial burden on already struggling families.

Anyway thats what I've been up to away from uni. Looking forward to the essay and fighting the good fight.

Thursday 26 April 2007

Module 4 Tasks - Evaluating the Web

In your own words, write an annotation for the source which could communicate to a reader both your 'judgement' of the site according to what you have learnt from the tutorial, and also the following information:
the reliability and authority of the site / source / article
the main ideas or subjects discussed in the article
the purpose for which the site was written (this might include any apparent external interest, intellectual motivation or contextual information).
Record your annotation in your learning log.


I originally chose http://www.k12science.org/tutorials/advanced/ which is an Advanced Internet User Tutorial from an organisation called CIESE (The Centre for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education). Although the site appears to be commercial it has the suffix .org which suggests that it is a non-profit organisation but this is not conclusive. CIESE was founded in 1988 with the goal to improve K-12 science and mathematics education through the use of technology. It seems to be a reliable site. It recieves funding from grants issued by various US government departments. It provides links to journals written by their staff or about the organisation by others. It also lists awards and recognitions that they have recieved. The tutorial covers various procedures and aspects of the browsing on the Internet. The procedures are divided into individual subjects that have browser specific instructions and practice exercises.
After using the tools learnt in the tutorial exercise, I believe the site is a valid source. It comes highly referenced, gains government funding and has been around for quite some time. These factors along with the tutorial itself, lead me to conclude that this is an appropriate site to recommend for the Advanced Internet User.


Compare your final analysis and annotation with the material you saved for the last task, and think about these questions (you may wish to discuss these questions in your group)
in terms of your own future use, which 'body ' of information (ie. the original 'snapshot' of the site, or your own, annotated, analytical version) would be most useful to refer back to?
I definitely believe my second annotated format on the web site is more useful. It is more thorough and uses the skills learnt in the tutorial. The annotated format covers purpose, who authored the site, links and references and a more detailed look at the content. The previous version gave a quick review of what the site contained and what CIESE stood for.


In term of external users (i.e. if you included this site as a hyperlink or resource on a website) which body of information would best help them judge if the site was useful or of interest to them?
The tutorial page has the main body of information that suits an Advanced Internet User looking for information. It has the tutorials, exercises and browser specific instructions to perform the task at hand. To validate the site for the user, the "About Us" link shows where CIESE is from, their mission and how they operate. It gives validity and credibility to the site and its information.