Nick Wade Personal Development and Learning Session 2 Blog Beaumont Street Studios (4th March 2009)
Learner’s Introductions… In a getting-to-know-you exercise the group paired up, interviewed each other and summarised their knowledge to all. A touch nerve-wracking, but harmless and ice-breaking.
The afternoon’s forthcoming task using digital cameras was briefly forewarned along with the PowerPoint presentation that would be made the next day.
A PC was presented with the case opened and the various components revealed (CPU, hard drive, sound & video cards, USB & firewire inputs etc.). This was a useful revelation. The advantages of using a PC over, for example, a laptop, were summarised: PCs can be updated and money saved over expensive laptops with the same specifications. With some knowledge a PC can be constructed and courses in ‘How to Build your Own PC’ are available locally, often free to the unemployed. I shall look into this option as I gain more IT knowledge and experience. We then worked through ‘Know Your Computer 2009′ to clarify basic computer knowledge. The aid of the tutor helped those with less experience. This included the colour-coding of slots for monitor, keyboard and mouse. I had been vaguely aware of these colour-codes beforehand without ever learning them and so instead I often struggled to read the symbols on the back of a PC in poor light. Very useful to finally know! The protection of data using anti-virus software was also apparent, as were the advantages of using log-ins in preventing unauthorised access and respecting the privacy of various users of the same PC. Health & Safety issues were looked at regarding body posture, chair and monitor height etc, and the need to rest the eyes regularly. Also, how to avoid RSI (Repetitive Stress Injury). However there was no mention of fire hazards and stray cabling. The early ECDL unit I studied recently was a bit more thorough in this respect. We looked at ways to back up data storage eg on flash drives or floppy disks. The safeguard of hard copy prints was recommended. I should point out here that, strictly speaking, physical prints do not provide a data back-up as such because ‘data’ is electronic information. In the event of hard disk failure, printouts would have to be re-converted into a digital format. [The ECDL level 2 test on ‘Using the Computer’ had set a tricky question in this regard].
Some Pre-presentation research tips summarized ‘traditional ‘and ‘modern’ methods of research. Generally the ‘modern’ represented digital and ‘virtual’ means as we now know them (Internet, mobile etc). Whereas traditional methods implied more physical exertion (libraries, public archives, information offices, using the mail etc). But there were clearly crossovers between the two definitions, which were ultimately and inevitably rendered a touch limiting.
Some PPT Presentations of previous learners were shown to help give us ideas. Bullet points are widely used to present information concisely. Music featured in most and we were asked to think about our own background tracks. Finally we saw a presentation incorporating video footage. This showed the broad potential of Powerpoint, although our first project will simply use still images.
Introduction to digital cameras… The actual cameras to be used on the project were demonstrated very briefly. (To be fair, the photography standard was not paramount on this introductory project). Only 40 minutes were given for two people to get shots of different venues in town while sharing a camera with little internal memory (and in our case a very low battery). However, this did concentrate our initiatives! And real-life journalism is probably just as compromising…
It was confidence building to take pictures such as these in public and working in pairs helped share the burden. we discovered that St Peter’s Gardens is a place where believers and non-believers alike can relax…
Web research.. On our return we were able to supplement our findings through the use of search engines such as google. Information found will be used in the presentation, including details of St. Peter’s Church. For instance I discovered that Huddersfield Parish Church (St. Peter’s Church) was constructed in 1838. It is located opposite the Kirkgate entrance to the town’s
Pack Horse shopping centre… 
Governement websites relieved future plans for St Peter’s Gardens being studied by Kirklees Council..
The group were then shown how to create this WordPress blog. Having completed two Certificate modules with blogs previously gave me more time for research and should help make this PDL course a little less demanding and a little more fun.
