Skype Discussion 3/3/15

This was my first experience of a group skype call and I have to admit I was a little nervous about it. I would say that usually I am confident when meeting new people but I was worrying about things like what if the internet connection goes wrong and if I was under prepared for the discussion. We started off by introducing ourselves. The group consisted of Adesola, myself and three other students who are on Module 3. The conversation started off a bit slowly, I found myself nervous to pipe up in case I was talking over someone. Then Adesola pointed out that these sessions were not there to discuss one specific topic or just for getting answers from her but rather to connect with others on the course. We should use these sessions to start discussions and see how we could help each other. Once I understood the purpose of the session I began to feel more confident and I thought I got a lot out of speaking to students who have already been in my position.  The main things I asked them for advice about were:

 Referencing - This is something I do not have a lot of experience in as my course at Italia Conti was very practical. I don’t think I can remember referencing properly since high school, 8 years ago. So I need to get my brain in gear again. I think it was Pip who recommended to look at websites online such as www.citethisforme.com. I have also written some notes on referencing taken from the guide on myUniHub, this has helped me to make sense of it. Now I need to put it into practise in my forthcoming blogs. Someone also asked about how to reference from a podcast – that got me thinking as I do listen to podcasts regularly so that could be a good source that I have not thought about before.

Time Management - I asked the girls about their experiences of fitting their university work in around their work life and personal life. Julia mentioned that the Journal writing experience really helped her to get a structure in her thinking. I am just about to begin this part of the course so I will bare that in mind. She suggested to take notes throughout the day, the other girls agreed that they always kept a notepad with them as you never know when a good idea or line of thought will come to you. Someone else mentioned being aware of where you are on the schedule. What working week are you on – they talked about knowing they were going on holiday for a week so having to allow more time in the weeks before or after so that they don’t fall behind.  

Connecting with other students - They stressed the importance of connecting with other students and suggested that we (those of us on Module 1) should start a Facebook group. Let me know your thoughts on this? I don’t mind setting one up if people would think that would be an effective way of keeping connected.

 The inquiry - I enjoyed hearing about the girls chosen lines of inquiry. Julia brought up that she was worried about translating her interviews (from Portuguese to English). She didn’t want anything to get lost in translation. I think it was Pip who then realised this thought was relevant to her. She planned to record her interview so she could quote people correctly, but she also began to wonder how easy it will be to get across the correct tone when the interviews are written down. An example I can think of this is when people text message each other- sometimes people can confuse what you actually mean because they can’t see your body language or hear the tone of your voice.

 I learnt that Pip’s inquiry is to do with drama in education. Something that I am very interested in. So I think it will be good for me to start following her blog and learn from her experiences. As hearing other people’s experiences may help you deal with problems or situations that arise in your own work place.  

The discussion has encouraged me to think about my plan going forward. My university work will be done in the evenings and on my days off from teaching. I have marked the teaching weeks in my diary and written in the skype/campus sessions and deadlines that the tasks should be done by. I think that by keeping organised and being realistic with my schedule I will be able to keep on top of things.

 Bernie, Pip and Julia are also going to post some tips in their blog posts.

http://berniebellp.blogspot.co.uk/

http://pipspalton.blogspot.co.uk/

http://julia-v-gil.blogspot.de/