System Design

I have just submitted my final assignment for FIT2001 - System Analysis and Design. I enjoyed designing the user interface for my system - God knows whether I am on the right track or not, but seeing as this is my first time I can only hope. It was fun anyway, and really I am a bit beyond worrying about marks.

I still struggle a bit with class relationships etc. and I know there's probably a lot I have missed, but I am really glad to be done with it.

I submitted my last assignment for my other unit on Friday so all that's left now is study for exams. Once again, I'll panic about that for a while and see what I can absorb over the next few weeks.

On another note, I have just reached 30 weeks of pregnancy, which is the magic number where I can finally start 'counting down' to B-day! This poor little person doesn't even have a room yet, so hopefully in a couple of weeks I can concentrate on preparing for that event.

My so-called 'friend' dobbed me in to hosting a Tupperware party this week. Honestly, I am definitely NOT the party plan person so I am looking forward to that like I would a dental extraction (minus the laughing gas). However, having these assignments done means I can get my house into some sort of respectable order before people from the outside world come in and see what a hovel I have been residing in lately. I might even feed the kids something decent for a change....

I know my posts haven't been very relevant to my study, but I am not one who can easily put into words what I have learned and what I understand - maybe I'll improve on that one day. All I can say is that I have learned a lot this semester, and most of that can be contributed to the effort that the unit lecturer, Peter has put in. Thanks POD!

I have been called away to help put the Barbie furniture together - important stuff, I must go.

Nearly there....

My two assignments have been returned and it is with great relief that I announce passes in both! I am very happy with my marks - my mind has been on quite a few other things this semester and I feel proud to have achieved satisfactory results. I now have two more assignments to submit, but I am feeling slightly more relaxed.

Ta da!

Woo hoo! Two down, two to go! I have just submitted my second assignment for the semester, my first for my Systems Analysis and Design unit. I have not yet received any marks for my first assignment so I really have absolutely no idea how I'm travelling. To be honest, at the moment I really don't care. My thoughts now are concentrated on how I'm going to get two more assignments done in the next three weeks without really having read any of the notes.

My brain has gone on holidays. It's a little early, I know, and I am really not sure when to expect it back. I hope it is soon.

I am looking around my house and I can't see a clean bit anywhere. At least there's no bad smells.....yet. (Or maybe I have become immune.)

I cannot think of anything else to say. I have sat here for five minutes and drawn a complete blank. I think I will go to bed, take the night off. Sure, that leaves only two weeks and six days but, really, how difficult can it be? No worries, not a problem. She'll be right mate. I shall be in touch...

Time is flying.

I'm so sorry, I missed yet another week! Where has the time gone?!

I am busy attending to my first assignment in the FIT2001 - Systems Analysis and Design unit. I know that managing scope is very important, but when I read the notices on the newsgroups I wonder if I am managing the scope of the system a little too well. I am treating this as a very simple design and trying to concentrate on getting the techniques right to a reasonable level. We shall wait and see...

On a lighter note, my family and friends staged a remarkably surprising surprise baby shower for me the other day. I think the last time anyone surprised me like that I was about 8 years old, so well done to you all! I had absolutely no idea - I honestly thought my mother was simply taking me to K-Mart for the afternoon! A wonderful day was had by all I think. My friend even flew down from Cairns to see me - I feel so honoured. Lots of laughs, lots of presents and a fair bit of champagne (sorry to the unborn, but the nerves had to be settled..)

Anyway, that's enought frivolity for this semester - so much more work to be done. I'm off to continue with assignment 1. Wish me luck.

She's baaaccck!!

Okay we're up to Week what? I have absolutely no idea and I really don't care. This is such Deja Vu for me. Every semester I vow I will stay ahead of all my reading and plug away, bit by bit, and have everything done in plenty of time - no pressure. Every semester I end up realising 'oh my God! I have two assignments due very soon! They are not done! I haven't finished my reading! I'm so tired! When am I going to fit it all in?!!' I know, it's all going to be okay. I just need to calm down.

What have I learned this week (or these past weeks)? Not much associated with this unit I'm afraid. My other assignment is due earlier so at the moment I am learning about Net Present Value, Payback Period and Return on Investment. Fortunately I am a golfer so that will make our assignment easy, right?

We've had a lovely Easter. The kids were still finding eggs days after the hunt, although I don't know if I would encourage them to eat them! We saw 'Meet The Robinsons', and my two girls trained with the Collingwood Magpies. Now that is education at its best, is it not?

Everyone is now back at school and work and whatever, so my head goes back down and all my work will be done. Wish me luck....

Serious stuff.

Okay, back to the serious side of unit FIT2001 - Systems Analysis and Design. I am a little bit behind on the reading because I have decided to focus on using the Visual Paradigm tool for use case diagrams and the like. I am beginning to enjoy this stuff, which is scary. I love the way it draws little stick figures for you - I was wondering how I was going to manage those! Everything in this subject seems so logical, which can't be right. Aren't we supposed to be perennially confused? Maybe as I continue I will enter the foggy cloud.

This blogging stuff is great, but I am not getting any work done! The chillun will be home soon and I'll need to get the dinna cooken.

Styling up!

You may have noticed I have decided to post a photo. My stylist was unavailable at the time so this is pretty much the best I could do. Of course any woman in my situation - 3.5 kids, single income family, very part time job, very part time study - could look just like that, right?!! It's a simple case of resource management, right?!! Or is it project management? Now that's the other unit I'm studying at the moment - brilliant isn't it! I'll just apply all the theories of project management to the elements of my life and I will become Lynette Scavo.

Hmmm....

Does anybody have any idea how one can become addicted to Minesweeper?!! This is a game I was hooked on, gee I don't know, maybe ten years ago! You'd think I could find something a little more techo than that but no, I see it there and I have to play it. I will disable it soon or no work will be done!

What have I learned this week? I dunno, not much. It has been such a busy week. I am trying to concentrate on the assignments, but now I am falling behind on the reading - I need to coordinate the two and get them working together for me. I reckon I'll have this time management thing worked out by about June....

Saw 'Walking with the Dinosaurs' yesterday - now that is quite amazing. The technology used to make those creatures seem so lifelike is mind-boggling. How does one come up with these ideas? It was a bit funny to see the little glitches that caused little men to run out in the dark and take away those offending pieces of equipment that weren't behaving as they should. I'm sure they, too, saw the lighter side once it was all over. You just can't trust these modern gadgets.

I have come to a mental blank so there is no point sitting here any more.

Until next week...

Mandy

False Sense of Security..?

Well, I really can't believe how easy this blogging stuff is! To think when I first saw that this was an essential part of my Systems Analysis and Design unit I went into a complete panic! This is something that I have indeed enjoyed learning. As for my other studies.... well......

Once again I seem to have taken all the reading material for this week in my stride - I seem to be understanding it all easily. I wonder if it is because deep down in the far reaching depths of my mind I actually recall learning stuff like this before, or whether I have finally learned the art of actually absorbing what I read. I hope I am not being lulled into a false sense of security. It is a refreshing change though, to not have to go over something ten times before any of it sinks in.

I have noticed in the newsgroups that a lot of other off campus students are meeting up to discuss what they have been doing etc. I think that's great and my hat's off to you, but really, where do you find the time?

I upgraded to unlimited broadband this week (I study purely from home) so I can now get to all the podcasts and lectures etc. without spending all my hard-earned (and believe me, there's not much of that!) on excess downloads! So this week I am going to concentrate on listening to a few lectures and sorting out the best way to tackle the assignment.

Until next week...
Mandy

Still struggling..

Another week has past and I don't feel like I have totally wasted my time. I have completed most of the required reading for my two units, but am yet to tackle the tutorial exercises.

Today was going to be my 'big day' of study, but my four-year-old son decided to start throwing up everywhere this morning, so that means everything else gets dropped while I sit with him and pat his back and wipe his forehead. He seems to be much better now and there's still 12 hours left of today.....

The two units I am tackling this semester (Systems Analysis & Design, and IT Project Management) seem to run on similar themes so far which is making life a little easier, and I seem to be refreshing some of the information from last year's studies. I am a bit concerned about the tute tasks, but I am confident that once I get over the hurdle of actually making a start, it will fall into place.

I am beginning to wonder if I am the only OC student that is not gainfully employed in the IT industry. I took on this study in the hope that I will obtain employment in the future - I hope I am not at a disadvantage because I do not have practical experience. Although I'm sure there are many full-time students in the same situation. Once again, I will muddle on and see if it's all worthwhile.

Until next week,
Mandy

Week One Blues

Well, my first week of official study is drawing to a close and I must say that I wish there were many more days in a week at the moment!

I have taken on an IT degree, not because I am employed in the field of IT, but because I have always believed it to be a field I could succeed in. I must say, though, that this first week of FIT2001 -Systems Analysis and Design has left me somewhat overwhelmed.

I have tried to get my head around on-line unit books. Where in the past I have enjoyed flicking pages back and forth, I now have to scroll to my desired location. I seem to be constantly switching between web pages to find study guides, tutorials, podcasts, discussion groups, and God Himself only knows what else I'm supposed to look at to get through this unit!!

I am not new to distance education, and it is definitely not unusual for me to panic during the first few weeks of a new subject, and somehow I have always managed to get through to the light at the end of the tunnel relatively unscathed. So I will take the recommended deep breaths and muddle on.

I understand that to all of us attempting off-campus learning, as I believe it is now called, there are many obstacles to be faced as we combine further education with our otherwise already busy lives. So many people from so many different situations. I wish you all good luck and understanding in your studies - and I hope that when it all seems impossible you can be comforted to know that there are other people just as tired and frustrated. I know from experience that everything seems much easier after a good sleep and a little bit of fresh air!!

Until next time,
Mandy