Blog 3- The end of the year

Throughout my academic year at Bedford college I have been working towards my goals on my personal development plan, my first goal was learning to drive but I am too young to start taking lessons so that prolongs this goal, however I have started to put things into place such as a recommendation for a driving instructor and test driving my dads truck on private land. I have been keeping organised and keeping up to date on assignments getting good grades, my communication skills are greatly improving since starting the college course and when I started my Saturday job at 14 years old. Like i just said I have been employed since I did 2 weeks work experience when I was 14 so I believe my goal of gaining some sort of paid job is complete for now although I am always looking for better and more computing related jobs, having an income of money will help me fund my driving lesson and also my first car for when I finally learn to drive. i am good at saving money as I do not spend a lot of it so I already have quite a lot in my savings bank account, this will help me out in the future when funding things like driving lessons.

Towards the end for the first year we have 2-3 assignments due in every week so I think my goals of keeping organised and getting good grades will be pushed to there limits as it will be hard to keep up with work, but I am determined to try my absolute hardest.

Blog 2- Dec to Feb

Blog 2

Since my first blog I have learnt much more about the many subject I have been taking on my course, I now believe that I have some decent knowledge on the units specified in the last blog post and this blog post.

Unit 1 communication and employability skills

Like before I am still learning a lot about the real world and how to succeed in it, learning about important subjects like getting employed and body language, this lesson feels relaxed and helps me build up my confidence in real world situations like interviews.

Unit 2 Computer systems

I am still really enjoying computer systems like before, I am now much more comfortable with the practical side of computing as before I was a little nervous as it was a completely new experience to me, we have covered more advanced topics to do with upgrading computers and maintaining them and I really enjoy this subject.

Unit 16 Procedural programming

Procedural programming is coming to an end now as we move on to event driven programming part was through the first year, I am understanding it more as practise makes perfect, the more procedural programming I do the more I remember specific commands and code. I still prefer other subjects to procedural programming, but I feel I enjoy it a little more now that I understand it better than in my last blog post.

Unit 9 Computer networks

In computer networks we have started to make practise networks using CISCO packet tracer, this is easy to know the basics but hard to master, but with help form my teacher and from my peers I am manging just fine I believe, it helps to have a helpful teacher and helpful peers in a tricky subject like computer networks

Unit 32 Network system security

Like stated before I think Network system security is easier than Computer networks, although a lot of the information we learn in this subject can be transferred to computer networks and vice versa. Our teacher is knowable and knows how to explain things well, and the information learnt cab be implemented into our personal lives as for example we can keep our own computers and there networks safe from threats and security breaches.

Unit 18 Database design

At first most of my class was struggling with this subject and progression was very slow in the class as a whole, now we have started to create our massive database for the assignment due towards the end of the year, the practical side of database design is fairly straight forward but it is just very time consuming when entering all the data and making sure your database work properly to the standard of the assignment. Since my first blog post I feel much more confident in this subject after learning more and putting my skills to use on an actual database.

Unit 13 IT systems repair and troubleshooting

I am still enjoying IT systems repair and troubleshooting very much, I can be a little complex at times, but I feel I have gotten the hang of it since my last blog post, at lot of the knowledge learnt in Computer systems can be transferred to IT system repair and troubleshooting as having general knowledge of computer systems can help when fixing or upgrading computers. The practical activities really help me understand the subject more as I am a tactile learner .

PDP

Learning to drive:

I cannot start working towards this goal as I am unable to start driving lessons due to my age, however I have been recommended a driving instructor by employer and I also have plans to drive my dads truck on private land.

Passing my college course:

Throughout the college course I have been trying my hardest to achieve the grades I would like , I also make sure I hand in all my assignments and complete any resubmissions that are required, I believe I am driven and trying my hardest to achieve this goal

Gain a form of job:

At the moment I am working in a local hair salon on Saturdays, I achieved this job by attending 2 weeks of work experience at the salon first, they liked me and offered me a Saturday job. I do not have any intentions to loose this job but if I find a better offer I would probably take it.

Improve communication skills:

I am constantly trying to improve in this area, by attending my Communication and employability skills subject I am learning new ways to improve communication such as body language and a simple and concise point.

Keeping organised throughout the course:

Like stated earlier,, I am making sure I hand in all my assignments and complete any resubmissions that are required, I am also prioritising work over other activities I enjoy to make sure I do not leave it too last minute. I have also downloaded a copy of my assignment planner and printed a hard paper copy, so it reminds me of any up coming assignments and there due dates.

Blog 1 - My start at Bedford College

Since my last post I have learnt all sorts of things. When I first started my course I didn’t know a lot about computing as I had only done ECDL ICT at upper school so I have really taken in all the information so far.

Unit 1 communication and employability skills

In this unit I have learnt all sorts about communication and skills valued by employers, this unit has taught me all about concepts such as Physical and mental barriers, body language, correct choices of language and interview skills. Although I’m already employed i now I feel a lot more confident if I was trying to get a job and had an interview.

Unit 2 Computer systems

Computer systems had been a great lesson other the months, in this unit we have learn a lot about computer systems within hardware and software, The practical side of things was daunting at first but after a few lessons we all got the hang of it, to begin with we were learning all the different parts that we would be handling and of course we also learnt about health and safety when building a computer. At the start of our hardware lessons we were learning the basics such as taking the computer apart and rebuilding it to a working standard. The software side of things in computer systems mostly consists of learning about the different parts of a computer, although I prefer the hardware side this is defiantly still interesting.   

Unit 16 Procedural Programming

Procedural programming can be very difficult as I have had zero experience before this course, I have less of an interest towards procedural programming but it is still interesting to see how this stuff works. Our teacher isn’t the best at explaining things as it is a difficult unit and sometimes her example code doesn’t work, this is probably the case as I remember her saying that “I’m not a programming teacher” during our first lesson.

Unit 9 Computer networks

Computer networks can be complicated at first but once we have gotten used to the terms and processes of computer networks it becomes a little easier to understand. The concept of topology and such can be a little unclear but I think I am making good progress in this unit. Our teacher is great at explaining things and he relates them to real world things to make it easier for the class to understand.

Unit 32 Networked system security

Networked system security has a lot in common with computer networks, I feel keeping networks safe is fairly easy and that I am doing okay in class, our teacher is good at explaining things and makes the lessons enjoyable but implementing things like Kahoot.it. In this unit we have learnt about the different types of viruses and malware. All of this information we learn could also come in handy with protecting our computers at home on our home networks.

Unit 18 database design

Database design was very hard at first as almost all of the class had never used Microsoft access to make databases, when going through the power points on oracle I learning I was very confused but after making our first database it is starting to make a little more sense but I still wouldn’t feel confident making my own one just yet. Although it’s challenging I’m still enjoying it as I learn a lot from each lesson. 

Unit 13 IT systems repair and troubleshooting
IT system repair and troubleshooting has been a lot like computer systems due to the hardware side of things, many skills learnt in Computer systems can be transferred to IT system repair and troubleshooting as having general knowledge of computer systems can help when fixing or upgrading computers. IT system repair and troubleshooting has been a great lesson and has been very interesting. in IT system repair and troubleshooting we will firstly learn about how to fix a certain fault and then we will often try to fix that fault ourselves in a pracical activity.

So far i honestly think everything is going well, sure there is definitely room for improvement but i feel i have made great progress since i knew almost nothing the about the unit before college as all i did was ICT ECDL at upper school which was very basic. In particular i feel the hardware side of things has gone well as I previously had zero experience in the field of computer hardware but now i am able to build a computer from scratch and fix any basic issues i may come across. On the other hand i feel that Procedural Programming has not gone as well since it feels like another language. coding is very hard and on top of that I do not have any experience in programming so it is a little difficult to learn to begin with but i feel i will be able to get the hang of it after some practice.

Since the start of the course i have felt very motivated as i am able to learn my preferred subject instead of being forced to do things like geography,math and English at upper school. Everything i am learning is interesting and this course is the stepping stone to my future career or education. i would like to good in this course to be able to choose which ever path i may choose to take and to be able to compete with people who will have the same qualification as me by the end of the course.

There are many ways that i can improve such as, self study, practice questions and assignment work, doing these will help expand my knowledge on the different units on my course. It is really important to revise and self learn as if i do not understand something during class i can always do some extra work on it to help myself catch up on the topic.

I feel that college has helped my communication skills to develop as i think communication is a big part of bedford college, some of the things that has helped my communication is peers helping and explaining things each other,  group tasks and the fact that all teachers and students feel approachable and friendly. Bedford college has also helped with my English skills, although i passed my GCSE English i have always thought my English and writing was not that great but my weekly English and Math workshop helps a lot while still being able to focus on the other units on the course.

Overall i do not feel there is any issues that are affecting my motivation or ability to achieve the teaching, i am enjoying my time at Bedford college and i am learning a lot so far.