Search This Blog

Monday 31 January 2011

the New WBS3835 is on the Libguides

Everyone  - you should have been sent the Eraut Chapter 6 - but the Handbook and the Readers for WBS3835 BAPP are on the Libguides 

Sunday 23 January 2011

Personal sites using Web 2.0 but a older issue - New starters... What do you think?

Headteachers use the internet to check up on staff, say union officials
Teachers who post photos of "inappropriate behaviour" social networking sites could face disciplinary action

This is an issue that a number of professionals on the course have mentioned - but here it is again about personal sites... The question is, can professional sites have an opposite effect? Comments please...

Saturday 22 January 2011

Creative business

Looking for information if you are thinking about a small business... or are freelance in a creative industry.

Creative Choices

Business links

Lists of like minded  do you have a professional organisation?

Web 2.0 

Tuesday 18 January 2011

Getting online Middlesex University - Library



1. How do I log onto the university network / computers?

Your IT User ID is printed on the back of your student card.
Your default password is: Student number+month of birth (eg M0001234jan)
You will be prompted to set a new password on first logon.
Once these details have been changed they will also allow you to access Athens the electronic resources portal for online databases and the download server.

2. How do I access via Athens / E-resources?

Your athens Username is your IT User ID.

Your password will need to be set for you if you are accessing off campus and have never logged onto the university network, as the same details are also used to access your Network account and VPN.  

If you have your password please see the following instructions,

If you are searching E-journals and then logging into each database via thens select ‘alternative login’ then ‘Middlesex University’ or ‘Take me to the Middlesex University login page’  to be redirected to the URL below;


When accessing from outside the university you will need to set the institutional cookie, click on the words 'click here' (link opens in pop-up window), then login using the details provided.

If you have a specific article that you looking for, rather than using Athens, check in the Library Catalogue (http://library.mdx.ac.uk) and the electronic journals list (http://atoz.ebsco.com/home.asp?id=1647&sid=57276607&cmbScope=AA) to see whether Middlesex hold that journal. If we hold the title online, there will be a link to take you through to the full text (once you have entered your username and password).


3. How do I access my library account?
Click on 'My Account' tab;
Your Library Borrower ID is your student number (User ID is case sensitive so type with an UPPERCASE M)
Your password is your date of birth in the format DDMMYY

4. How do I log onto Misis?

Your MISIS USER ID is your student number (User ID is case sensitive so type with an UPPERCASE M)

Your MISIS PIN number is your date of birth in the format DDMMYY


Saturday 15 January 2011

Seeing Gauguin

Over the Xmas break I went to see the Gauguin show at the Tate. I had seen another blockbluster show years ago at the National in Washington D.C.

Washington. National Gallery of Art. "The Art of Paul Gauguin," May 1–July 31, 1988

and was interested to see how the two shows compared.

The Tate themed the show to include Gauguin's perception of his subjects, especially Tahiti, and also included more of his carved and clay pieces. That goddess, for example, that you can see in many of his paintings is actually a clay piece by Gauguin; by the time he got to Tahiti the French missionaries had converted many of the population so indigenous gods and goddesses were not around as visual elements. I have always liked Gauguin's use of colour, his purples and greens are used as both colour and tone, and the post-impressionist imagery was influential to a wide group of artists. His weaving together of reality and myth in a seamless style is very convincing. The exhibit also discussed his professional practice, if you want to call it that, because historically and personally his version of life was quite questionable when compared to a study of colonisation during that period. In pursuit of his art, he also left his family in search of a paradise to paint during a period when artistic success did not necessarily bring wealth. I thought the show was well put together, 11 rooms with two 'historical rooms' that explained the history of the artist's work and the places he worked in, and I wold recommend a visit. Interestingly the business of art, the Tate, also sent 2 followup emails about the show with a Twitter facility. I passed these onto my daughter who had to review the show for an application...

Wednesday 12 January 2011

Presenting for 3861

Here is a light website that I found for presenting... more to be added...

We are trying something different this time round that hopefully will b e more beneficial as a way to describe your professional practice degree to others as well as to tell your colleagues about the research you did in your workplace.

Any questions or run-throughs - ask your advisors... Powerpoints are quite easy to do.

Rules of thumb:
1. 1 minute per slide - so if you have more or less time in the 5 minutes - think about how that is going to work - so 30 slides packed with text are too much - fewer slides and less text - simplify
2. Try not to use a font of less than 18 for visibility
3. Some of the text right toward the edges may be difficult to read - but it is good to fill the slide.
4. Images and diagrams work well with speaking
5. You don't need to write down everything on a slide that you are going to say.
6. Remember your audience - what will they be interested in - you have professionals and academics represented on the 20th Jan.
7. Yes some questions will be from people that have read your 12K word project - so yes be able to answer about the literature, findings and conclusions - so this 'viva' gives evidence that you have done a lot of hard work. Explaining your project will be at the heart of the presentation.

I could go on...

We will be trying to tape on audio or video a few of these for other BAPP students but the emphasis will be on your learning.

Wednesday 5 January 2011

Submission and getting ready for the next module

The deadline for work is the 6th Jan by 4pm - you should have had emails from Avni - a written copy sent in or delivered to Cat Hill (student office if delivered by hand) and digital copies to Avni and your Advisor.

For continuing students who will now be doing BAPP WBS3835 - your materials will be put up on LibGuide soon (we wanted to wait until the other coursework was completed). They are different than what students have done for 3835 in the past. For the Campus Sessions you will now be continuing students - but this will be confirmed in an Avni email.

Handing in a submission is always a bit stressful if you care about the work that you do... try to find some calm after you complete the process.  I try to get some sense of closure so I can go onto the next thing. Maybe someone out there has some suggestions?

Remember you can keep blogging during the interim - tell everyone what you are doing or about some interesting events or thinking that you are doing - as a public conversation you may not want to mention names etc. - up to you- but try to keep some aspects of the course open until the first Campus Session the 8th of Feb. I will do the same.