Introduction
This was a busy week for class! I started writing the first draft of my paper and got it done in a few days. It took a lot of thinking and research to get it done, but I'm glad I didn't procrastinate. Revising the first draft might take quite and effort as well. In the past when I would write geological reports, I found revising them was the hardest part.
Part I.
Speaking of hardest part, time management is something I am still getting used to, especially with this week's workload.
Out of the items in the time management article, the top 3 things I feel like I am best at are:
However, I could use some work on:
Part III.
Project management skills are something I feel like I don't have enough experience with, and the videos we watched this week gave a helpful overview of what effective project management looks like. Effective project management is based on clear organization, a focused objective, and treating a project as a series of "subwork" units that create deliverables, the ultimate goal of a project. Another video covered the common pitfalls of poor project management, including incorrect budgeting and forgetting quality assurance checks. I am already familiar with Gantt charts because I deal with them a lot at work - I don't deal with very large ones, but I have seen the ones my manager works with and they are mind boggling in size - Excel spreadsheets that are over 2000 rows "long".
Part IV.
I watched the YouTube compilation of the CS/CD 2015 capstone presentations on campus. Here's a quick summary and review on three of them:
Steebly
This is an online, collaborative, cloud based dev environment that includes coding tutorials for students. I think this is a really great idea for students due to its convenience and independence on hardware, as well as teaching them basic teamwork skills. However, I don't really see this catching on with professional developers due to its lack of terminal support, reliance on the internet, and possible performance issues when working with large codebases. However, good GitHub integration might cause some devs to take a second look. The presentation seemed well rehearsed and the speakers spoke at a good pace and volume.
Ceres
This is a web based management tools suite originally created for Student Recreation at CSUMB for internal services, such as inventory tracking, staff scheduling, and event planning. The application itself looks cleanly designed and contemporary, and the developers want to make it an open source project. I like the idea of reusing code for multiple purposes, but the same idea could backfire, especially for specialized management needs. Also, I had some trouble seeing how the application differentiated itself from other cloud based, web reliant management services that already exist. The speakers spoke at a good pace, but their volume was a little low.
Language Screener
This is an iOS and web based application that was created for the Morgan Autism Center. It is an attempt to replace the paper based evaluation and testing system that the Center used for speech and language learning students. The app itself can record responses from students taking tests, as well as internal notes from a pathologist proctoring the test - at the end, results are formatted can be sent through email. As I believe in a paperless future for education, I like this idea and I think it would do well in the market especially with the prevalence of tablets and smartphones in education. I do wish the app utilized the recording capabilities of iOS at the time of the presentation, but that's something that can always be added on later. The speakers spoke at a good pace and volume, and the presentation was succinct.
Part V.
This week, I learned how to properly cite format papers APA style. Additionally, I learned the basics of project management and how to do it effectively. I believe project management's a really important skill that can help me out later in my career, and it's something I'm eager to learn more about and practice.
This was a busy week for class! I started writing the first draft of my paper and got it done in a few days. It took a lot of thinking and research to get it done, but I'm glad I didn't procrastinate. Revising the first draft might take quite and effort as well. In the past when I would write geological reports, I found revising them was the hardest part.
Part I.
Speaking of hardest part, time management is something I am still getting used to, especially with this week's workload.
Out of the items in the time management article, the top 3 things I feel like I am best at are:
- Creating a good study space
- Taking notes
- Reading
However, I could use some work on:
- Sticking to a schedule
- Revising lecture notes (on time)
- Studying within 30 min. of going to sleep
Part II.
Here's the activity log I filled out. It documented one of my Mondays at work.
Project management skills are something I feel like I don't have enough experience with, and the videos we watched this week gave a helpful overview of what effective project management looks like. Effective project management is based on clear organization, a focused objective, and treating a project as a series of "subwork" units that create deliverables, the ultimate goal of a project. Another video covered the common pitfalls of poor project management, including incorrect budgeting and forgetting quality assurance checks. I am already familiar with Gantt charts because I deal with them a lot at work - I don't deal with very large ones, but I have seen the ones my manager works with and they are mind boggling in size - Excel spreadsheets that are over 2000 rows "long".
Part IV.
I watched the YouTube compilation of the CS/CD 2015 capstone presentations on campus. Here's a quick summary and review on three of them:
Steebly
This is an online, collaborative, cloud based dev environment that includes coding tutorials for students. I think this is a really great idea for students due to its convenience and independence on hardware, as well as teaching them basic teamwork skills. However, I don't really see this catching on with professional developers due to its lack of terminal support, reliance on the internet, and possible performance issues when working with large codebases. However, good GitHub integration might cause some devs to take a second look. The presentation seemed well rehearsed and the speakers spoke at a good pace and volume.
Ceres
This is a web based management tools suite originally created for Student Recreation at CSUMB for internal services, such as inventory tracking, staff scheduling, and event planning. The application itself looks cleanly designed and contemporary, and the developers want to make it an open source project. I like the idea of reusing code for multiple purposes, but the same idea could backfire, especially for specialized management needs. Also, I had some trouble seeing how the application differentiated itself from other cloud based, web reliant management services that already exist. The speakers spoke at a good pace, but their volume was a little low.
Language Screener
This is an iOS and web based application that was created for the Morgan Autism Center. It is an attempt to replace the paper based evaluation and testing system that the Center used for speech and language learning students. The app itself can record responses from students taking tests, as well as internal notes from a pathologist proctoring the test - at the end, results are formatted can be sent through email. As I believe in a paperless future for education, I like this idea and I think it would do well in the market especially with the prevalence of tablets and smartphones in education. I do wish the app utilized the recording capabilities of iOS at the time of the presentation, but that's something that can always be added on later. The speakers spoke at a good pace and volume, and the presentation was succinct.
Part V.
This week, I learned how to properly cite format papers APA style. Additionally, I learned the basics of project management and how to do it effectively. I believe project management's a really important skill that can help me out later in my career, and it's something I'm eager to learn more about and practice.
Hi Cody,
ReplyDeleteIt appears you were most alert during the morning hours and perhaps the most productive. It also looks like, once you had lunch, it took some time to get into productivity mode. You did take some time after lunch to distract yourself on the Internet and to socialize with a colleague. Are these activities done during your lunch hour or are they part of your work hours? It is healthy to keep a nice balance between your mental health and your work. You noted feeling tired and flat during the last hours of work. Does this fatigue carry over to when you go home to work on assignments? How do you re-engergize yourself to ensure that you are successful in your academics?
Hello Sarah!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, my only solution lately has been to drink more caffeine after lunch, but I've found that taking more walks around the office has been helping. I need to improve my sleeping habits. I feel like they've gone out of wack lately.