Monday, 25 November 2013

PDP Feedback

PDP peer review

For this task we had to evaluate and give feedback to each other on our personal development plans document.

Peer's name: Aiden

P5: Is spell checker evident?- achieved.
P5: Use IT tools effectively to aid communication?- achieved.
P5: Consistent terminology used throughout?- achieved.

Peer feedback

'Use of terminology is good and consistent'
'Need to fill in more boxes'
'Well detailed answers in what you found easy and what you found difficult'

Overall im pleased with the feedback that I received, because I only have a small amount of things to improve on.

Wednesday, 20 November 2013

Feedback on Design document

Design document peer review

For this task we had to get our game design document reviewed by a peer and see what they thought about the document and give us tips on what we could improve on and what we have done well.

Peer's Name: Jacob

P5: Is spell checker evident?- achieved.
P5: Use IT tools effectively to aid communication?- achieved.
P5: Consistent terminology used throughout?- achieved.

Peer Feedback

'The terminology is correct throughout you just need to add styles to the heading and text on the pages to make the document more appealing to read'

Overall I think the feedback was positive as I only had a few improvements to make to my document to make it even better.

Feedback on my pitch

Peer Evaluation

For our preparation for our game pitch we had to do mock pitches about a product, and we picked the Ipad air. we were put into teams of two (myself and Dan), after doing the presentations we were graded  by getting feedback of our peers about things we did well and things we could improve on. we had three different peers reviewing our pitch and these were their words on what we could have done better and what we did well.

Peer's Name: Debbie

P4: demonstrate a range of interpersonal skills?- achieved
P6:communicate technical information to a specified audience?- achieved
P5: consistent terminology used throughout?- achieved
It has to grounded in expert knowledge?- achieved

 Peer feedback
Muyiwa: stood in front of the power point presentation and read of the screen. But gave exceptional answers about why I should purchase the product.
Dan: Good knowledge about product but failed to explain why the product will be successful.
Overall good knowledge about the product and a bit more and good answers all round and well organised presentation.


Peer's Name: Sam

P4: demonstrate a range of interpersonal skills?- achieved
P6:communicate technical information to a specified audience?- achieved
P5: consistent terminology used throughout?- achieved
It has to grounded in expert knowledge?- Not achieved

Peer feedback
Be more original with your presentation.
Use notes or memorize lines.
Overall good knowledge and good insight about the product.

Peer's Name: Marcus
P4: demonstrate a range of interpersonal skills?- achieved
P6:communicate technical information to a specified audience?- achieved
P5: consistent terminology used throughout?- achieved
It has to grounded in expert knowledge?- achieved

Peer feedback
Dan: learn to read of power presentation less, either take notes or memorize lines.
Muyiwa: good answers equally use notes or memorize presentations
Overall Good presentation and good use of pictures

Overall we think our presentation went well with just a few negatives which we can easily improve on thanks to the peer reviews. we have taken the positives and the criticism on board for next time we want to do a pitch.

Wednesday, 6 November 2013

D1 Written comunication

written communication

For the exercise 'written communication' we looked at the 'monster island game pitch' and evaluated it based on things like e.g. grammar, punctuation, spelling, layout, consistency, readable or not and overall professionalism of the document.

The grammar used in the text was mostly negative 'PS2 is a pain in the butt' using the word butt is a negative word to use if you want to pitch a game because its not being professional, negative use of words and you wouldn't be taken serious or even slightly considered. We also looked at the punctuation in the document, the punctuation was one of a few positives in the document, constant use of full stops commas, exclamation marks and more in the appropriate places was why I thought the punctual parts were good.

Another thing I looked at in the document was the spelling which was also one of a few other positives because no words were wrongly spelt which overall was another positive and a good step towards a good design document. the layout was average due to it being organised but it was poor in the sense that you dint know what you're reading e.g. it doesn't say where the characters are and it pretty hard to find and it shouldn't be like so also it had random quotes all around it which I wasn't sure about what they represent. It should be easier to find and readable which is yet another negative in the document, I found the text very hard to read due to the text being too small, they could have improved this by making the font bigger or bolder so its easier to read.

Overall I thought the document for was very poor due to having far too many negatives against the positives. Things like use of inappropriate words in the context, bad grammar, poor layout and the document being unreadable make it a very poor game pitch document. I feel to make it a professional document they would have to make a lot of improvements and modifications to the document, maybe using more pictures a better background and better laid out information would be a start to improving the Document.

M3 Learning Styles

Learning styles

We were put into groups of three to complete a task. The task was to make a circle with paper without joints, so it had to still be fully intact. The groups were picked depending on what learning style a certain person was. In my team we had me, and I'm a kinaesthetic learner, we also had Tom who is equally kinaesthetic learner and lastly we had nick who is a visual learner. In this group we had two different types of learning skills split between the 3 of us. In our group Tom did the cutting of the paper, nick gave tom morale support and accurate measurements of where to cut the paper until and finally I read the instruction sheet and gave tom advise and criticism on his ideas. Overall I feel that we could have performed the task a lot more better and easier if we shared the jobs and information all around, this way everyone will have had input and put in work so its fair.
Also looking at other groups who managed to complete the task in a good time and completed it correctly because they shared jobs and ideas equally.

P5 And M1 Using IT to aid communication

Using IT to aid communication

I looked at  the internet and problems people could have on them. A problem people could have is when they don't know how to increase the size of their font so they can read it a lot more easier. On the website 'www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility'  they have solutions to certain problems that people might come across when surfing the internet and how to increase fonts. Also I looked at forms of how I.T aids information. and lastly I talked about two specialist software's.

Changing your font:
The step of how to increase font is a good thing but it equally has it negatives.

Advantages:
  • Easier for people to see
  • Comes with all sorts of different browsers e.g. safari, internet explore 5,6 and 7, Firefox, chrome and Opera mini which is good for all different sorts of users
  • And above all its Aids communication with the aid of It.

Disadvantage's:
  • Might be hard to follow instructions
  • Certain websites might not allow it
  • Not on the latest internet browsers

Those are disadvantage's of changing your font but also advantages. overall its a good feature for people who struggle with their vision.

Microsoft word:
 is another program used to aid IT communication. Microsoft word has been developed over the years with better feature, graphics, fonts, minor improvements and loads  more all to attract more customers and make it interesting for customers who currently use the product to keep on using it. Microsoft word 2013 is the latest version of the series. they all have their disadvantages and disadvantages.



Advantages:
  • Most used word processing software worldwide
  • Easy text input
  • variety of text
  • variety of format
  • great menu options
  • different models with better features and upgrades
  • simple layouts
  • self explanatory dialogue boxes and options
  • can easily save as a lot of things e.g. PDF, Jpeg, word document and many more.

These are a few Advantages of Microsoft word but it equally has a few disadvantages

Disadvantages
  • Crashes
  • expensive to upgrade
  • newer versions are always more complicated
  • Not everything can be done in word e.g. you might need PowerPoint or publisher.

Microsoft word only has a few disadvantages which is why it is an exceptional word processing software and its one of the best ways that I.T Aids communication


Email:
 is yet another way which I.T aids communication. email is Commonly used all over the world today to transfer all sorts of information. people live sometimes depend on email due to either business partners sending emails to them or their business requires a high percentage of use of email. there are all sorts of email formats some are Gmail, outlook(Hotmail), Yahoo, zoho, aim and icloud mail are a few free Email services that are currently used all over the world. But Emails, as well as having advantages equally have their disadvantages.


Advantages:
Emails are delivered extremely fast when compared to traditional post.
Emails can be sent 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Emails can be sent to one person or several people.
Can be used to transfer important messages such as Bills, forms, certificates and awards.

Disadvantages

Have to have internet to receive mail
viruses are regularly sent to emails
no guarantee on the email you sent to someone that it will be read
receive regular spam and junk

Overall I think that Emails are equally another fantastic way in which I.T aids communication especially in this modern day life where technology is being more and more implemented in everyday life.

Specialist software.

Skype:
 is one of the worlds leading communication services.at the end of 2010 Skype had 663 million fully registered users. Millions of important conversations are held on sky everyday e.g. business conferences, meetings and loads more. Sky has its disadvantages but also it advantages.

Advantages:
  • free communication
  • can call across the world
  • cheap to use (if you are a subscriber)
  • brings societies together
  • has potential to be a great technology
  • on a lot of devices

Disadvantage's
  • need internet access
  • has a negative effect on outside world contact with other
  • no language translator

 I highly recommend using Skype because it helps keep in contact with family and friends.  It also helps businesses keep in touch with other companies over seas.

Facetime:
 is a video telephony voice ip software application. Facetime is a growing application as more people are getting apple products such as the iPod, ipad, iMac and iPhones these are the devices that you can access the Facetime application on. Facetime has its advantages and disadvantages.


Advantages
  • free with specified apple devices
  • good video quality
  • adapts if the connection is poor
  • tells you if the person you want to Facetime is available or not
  • calls last for as long as you want
  • can call any one all around the world
Disadvantages
  •  battery consuming
  •  requires apple device
  •  fairly complicated
  • only apple device to apple device
  •  requires fairly stable connection
Overall Facetime is a fairly stable software if your technology minded and its a great software in which I.T aids communication.       

Past present and future

Past, Present and Future.

Past


When I was younger I dreamed about having all sorts of jobs e.g. footballer, games designer and sports journalist. I went to Wallisdean primary school for a year having just moved to the UK from Nigeria where I was originally born. When I was younger I had a talent in running as well, being the fastest kid at school and always collecting gold medals in all sorts of sprint races. after a year at Wallisdean primary school I moved to Neville Lovett secondary school one of the best schools in Hampshire and now has gone on to become an academy. at Neville Lovett I achieved all sorts of achievements e.g. a lot of merits for good behaviour, letters from the headmistress home telling my parents about grades achieved in tests, winning a tournament with my school team in my first year and most above all great GCSE grades to get me where I am now Fareham college doing IT Practioneer level 3.

Present


Now I am at Fareham college I am furthering my education in something I've always enjoyed, computing. Technology is effectively a big part of life in the modern day when you look at things like iPads, iPhones, Androids, Electric cars, Electric bikes and loads more amazing inventions all through technology. I will be studying at Fareham college for the next two years where I hope to aim for the highest possible grades to better my future. I am on a full time level three IT course where I learn interesting things such as computer components, more about game consoles and even making my own game. all of this has been started in the 4 weeks that I've attended the college for and Ivey enjoyed it throughout. In the next two years I hope to have achieved qualifications worthy of putting me into any university in the UK, that will be my future.

Future


In the future after completing my course at Fareham I would like to attend a university and do computing science at that university. I haven't picked out a university yet due to it only being my first year but some universities that I have in mind are: Southampton, Nottingham, London and Manchester. theses institutes are some of the best for computing science so I hope to get admission into one of the which is what I will be focusing on my second year of college when I'm approaching the end of my course at Fareham college. After completing university I would be looking at all sorts of jobs like software development all around the country and hopefully get one of these jobs and then build on from there. Plans for my future might change in a couple of years from what I  have in mind now but for the moment in time this is my play for the future.





P2 Effective comunication

Effective Communication P2


Communication: is exchanging information between groups or individuals, giving and receiving back clear information listening, understanding and responding appropriately I have picked three types of communications that we use in them modern day life and expanded on them. .


What is general Communication?

General Communication is the transmission of information or a message from one person to the other or among individuals through the use of the various techniques such as sending emails, letter writing radio among other to achieve mutual understanding feedback.

when would you use general communication
most people use General communication in their everyday lives in instances such as adapting to cultural differences and Engaging audience.

Adapting to cultural differences:
Is a way in which people in the modern day use general communication in their modern day life. the most common example is with business men who travel abroad to increase the growth of their company will have to adapt to cultural differences, ways they do this will be they will have to use terminology that the potential investor understands, e.g. if a business man from England travelled to the USA for business instead of using words like crisps, football and pavement he would have to use the words that American's are used to e.g. chips Soccer and sidewalk. this shows that you can adapt to different cultures well and it shows great respect to the investors.

Engaging audience:
 is equally another very important form of General communication. when talking to a group of people its always important to make them feel involved. For example if your talking to a large group of kids its very crucial to make them feel involved, because if your just talking on and on they will get bored and loose focus in what you're talking to them about. ways you can make them feel involved is use of technology if you're showing the kids pictures and videos of the topic that you're talking about it will keep their attention stable and fully interested. another way TO keep them interested is by constantly asking questions and receiving questions this keeps them thinking constantly and more important it makes them fully involved.



What are Interpersonal skills
Interpersonal skills are the life skills we use every day to communicate and interact with other people, both individually and in groups.  People who have worked on developing strong interpersonal skills are usually more successful in both their professional and personal lives. Examples of Interpersonal skills are:

Verbal communication:
is the main way of communicating face-to-face. Among the key components of the verbal communication are words, sound, speaking, and language. verbal communication is equally used by every human being everyday because we all speak face to face with at least one human being a day. Clarity of speech, remaining calm and focused are skills we use when using Verbal communication.

Problem solving:
 is equally another exceptional use of Interpersonal skills. when problem solving In a group you have to be able to listen to other peoples ideas, gives positive feedback or negative criticism if needed and share your ideas also. to do this you speed of response must be quick and smart and you must not lack concentration.


Communicate in writing
 Is one of the most common forms of technology in the modern day. examples are:

Key messages:
is a very important way of communicating in writing. Emails and mail that you receive daily are written communications, files like emails and documents that you receive in the mail could be life improving documents of files so they have to be Written with the correct grammar, punctuation must be correct, they must be proofread and the structure must be presentable and smart.

Technology communication:
 is equally another important way of communicating in writing examples are twitter, Facebook and such on theses social websites Emoticons and smileys tend to be used due to making your written text look either funnier, more interesting or just stand out. Many emoticons and smileys are used in millions of tweets and millions of posts.


P3 comunication barriers

Communication Barriers and solutions

Physical Barriers: Physical noise interferes with a speaker's ability to send messages and with an audience's ability to receive them

Speaking too fast: An example of physical barriers is speaking too fast is a physical barrier because when you speak too fast there's little chance of the person you're talking too will understand you and its vital that they understand you especially if your giving vital information to them.

Solution: speak an understandable pace and make sure your audience fully understand you.

Distracting gestures: is also another example of physical barriers because when you're talking directly at someone you don't your hand movements to be weird and distracting, if they are it makes it harder for the listener to concentrate because they constantly have hand gestures that they don't understand confusing them from what their listening to.

solution: maintain face to face movement and prevent yourself from performing any distracting gestures and make sure your audience understood you well.

Perceptual Barriers: Perceptual barriers are barriers that may not actually exist in physical form, but the barriers do exist in the mind of the person perceiving a situation examples are:

Stereotypes: Being stereotypical can be a perceptive barrier at times because people tend to judge people without fully knowing them which is a negative thing e.g. some might be when some education sense isn't above average and they're considered dumb or stupid but that person might have a different talent which people don't know about.

Solution: never judge anyone before you get to know them well, get to know the person well first.

Opinion: being opinionated can equally be a perceptive barrier at times because its like being stereotypical you might not always be right an example is that if you have two friends with similar qualities your opinion might be that one is better than the other because of certain reasons but you might not be right because you might not know the other friend as well as you think you do.

Solution: always get to know the person well.

Untrusting: untrusting is equally and yet another  perceptive barrier because trust is something very important to have at times but if the person you want to put your trust in has been guilty of doing actions in the past that make you consider trusting him with something important to you.

Solutions: Don't do anything that makes people not trust you e.g. lying or stealing.

Cultural barriers:
A cultural barrier is a tradition or a practice that often comes in the way of success of a business. examples of cultural barriers are:
 
Religious beliefs: is a cultural barrier because in business it involves working with all sorts of traditions and religions. and example is if you were doing business with a Muslim family a way of respecting them and their religion is to not drink and form of alcohol around them or eat any form of pork around this shows you respect them and the religion.

solution: Fully respect their religion and adapt well to it.
 
Different generations: is another cultural barrier and a common example is old and young people with all forms of technology. If a young person wants to communicate with the older generation most forms of technology never tend to be the answer due to the older generation lack of technology education. A solution to this might be the younger person talking to the older person vocally or the older person taking interest in technology.

Solution: fully adapt to ways which other generations will understand you more.


The use of Jargon: is equally a communication barrier. examples are :

Over complicated words: is a type of use of jargon, an example is if your talking to a group of kids about football you have to use word that they understand and not things like formations, gameplays or  use of possession, young kids wont be familiar with these terms yet so you have to use words like pass the ball to your friend when you can and try your best, this will; make the task interesting and more understanding for the kids.

Solution; use the correct terminology depending on the type on people you are talking to.

unfamiliar words: is another use of jargon an example is if your pitching an idea to American business men and you're from England you have to use words that their familiar with examples are English say- pavement, crisps, lift, football and car park but in America they say- sidewalk, chips, elevator, soccer and parking lot. you have to use words that they understand to keep them interested in your business idea.

Solution: adapt yourself to how different people talk.

These are all forms of  communication barriers that we come across in our every day life and how we can fix them or adapt.