Blog two: reflections on working collaboratively using Google Docs.

Through doing my project, I haven’t had access to a computer/laptop whenever I required it. Not having the luxury of the access to my documents wherever and whenever I need them usually means I’m rather stressed about finishing work, as well as losing sleep trying to get work done and to a decent standard. Now like anyone in a similar situation who has found and been using Google Docs, I am very happy to report back it has been a god-send for me!

Google Docs has allowed me to access my documents from any computer easily and with organisation and clarity. As well as this, it means I can just forward my documents to another person, and get feedback straight from them in the document rather than in a new file. I haven’t used the services to its full potential and allowed people to view my work as really anything saved using Google docs is unfinished when I save it, and there for me when I next need to pick-up the work where I left it. If I got to the stage of viewing other peoples work on it and allowing my work up on it, I can see how this would be very beneficial to help each other out with tips on improving others work, as well as receiving ideas from class-mates as to how to progress your work.

Networking and sharing ideas and tip’s on work is a part of Google Docs service which I am yet to really properly experience, but I definitely will keep it in mind for future potential opportunities and projects worked on in and around a group environment.

blog one: commentary on sharing resorces using resorces using delicious.

“Delicious” is a bookmarking web services, which you can share with friends and work colleagues, like a social networking site for sharing websites you have tagged that are of useful to your work or interests.
Having used delicious only briefly during my project, I mostly used the service to merely collect useful websites for my own project towards the appendices. I found the service very useful, as I could save the bookmark and write notes on the content as briefly or detailed as I wanted. Then when going back to my bookmarks, I could view who else uses the same bookmark and see if they had saved any bookmarks/sites of a similar nature which I could find of interest to my project.
In previous projects, creating an appendices has meant copying and pasting every site mentioned in my work which can be quite time consuming, and equally has taken up the same amount of effort, stress, and time as writing the work due to having to back-track through every saved website without the helpful notes you can make with delicious.

Delicious has also allowed the class to view what each student is working on, and to the extent the individual has been researching for their project. As the class are all working on completely different projects we have a variation of websites, which can over-lap when two or more students have a similar area of study. With this in mind, it means we have been able to help each other out with sourcing certain aspects of our examinations and studies. At the best of times, it is hard to find the ideal website for exactly what you want to say with your reasons, in the past it has taken me days to find a site that links immediately with my work and the point I want to make, or to find the précised knowledge I need to acquire to gain an understanding of a particular aspect of my work. This allows us to find them and share them with each other, and also search to see if any have found what were looking for.

In general, I found using delicious made the collecting of research easier to obtain and maintain for my work, as well as making the implementing of an appendices additionally far more organised then in previous projects.
I will definitely keep it in mind for any future projects I have as it makes the aspects of retaining information from the web plain and simple.

learning diary 1

Hello everyone! I felt I should just give an update as to how my project is going and a small run-down to remind you all of what exactly my project includes.
I have felt for a while that theatre has explored a lot different issues that are apparent in society as of late. The theatre I work in, for example, has produced pieces such as “crime of the century” in which through different characters looks at topics such as gang culture and knife crime. “Hairspray” is a well-known musical which, as well as being loved for its catchy musical numbers, looks into racism during the 1960’s and body image issues. An issue that has not been delivered by many theatres is alcohol awareness/abuse which is on the up-rise, particularly in youth. “There is a sharp increase in drinking from the ages of 11 to 15. In 2004, 4 in 100 pupils aged 11 had drunk in the previous week compared to 45 in 100 15-year-olds.”
I feel it’s a strong issue that, through being theatrically workshopped with 17-25 year olds (people about to embark into the world of alcohol or already drinking), could develop awareness to youth.
After liaising with the head of education at my work placement, I developed a workshop to be delivered to the Btec second year students in the building (17+ years) and foundation degree first year (18+ years) including activities on the lack of brain development on underage drinking, manipulation on the body, and text about the subject creatively talking about the point of view of an individual with a hangover. This morning (Tuesday 2nd November) I delivered, with a small team of students, the workshop that I produced from my preliminary research (questionnaires and interviews) to the Btec second year students in the building. It went really well, and I will be uploading pictures very soon! Some activities were better received by the students than others, but for the slightly older students in the foundation degree I will be re-working the activities that didn’t go as well as they were quite confusing.

learning blog five

its last week leading up to handing all the work into the university. i have touched on all the work in each part of the portfolios, but i feel i am still being too vague with my information and need to go into that extra bit of detail with all of it. a small group of us met with paula this week, talking through any problems we had with various aspects of the module. i feel doing the work and liasing with others in the year has been a very positive part of completing pieces, as well as, understanding why its part is vital.



everything is starting to fall nicely into shape.i feel the work is like a cake and i jsut need to put the icing and cherries on top now!



i have found some really interesting research on the internet about alcohol abuse which has made me feel like its very important for me to go ahead with this project.



if anyone is interested check out: http://www.alcohol-stuff.co.uk/ www.mentorfoundation.org/brain www.niaaa.com

learning blog four.

Having just had a feedback session with a small group of professional practice students I feel there is room in my project proposal for a lot of improvement.

After re-reading and analysing it, I see how vague I have been with details which are very important and need to be further explained. My title is a question which I feel is a positive thing, I would like to answer it in doing my project, and however, cam a title is a question? Does this make my project too vague, and without statement can the title seem not to have a point to prove?

I want to look into bring teenagers into an inclusive environment where they can take part in a workshop and possible watch a short piece all on the theme of alcohol abuse.
After re-reading my project proposal, I have noticed I don’t recognise what subject I want to look at with the students until later on in the proposal, which makes it very confusing. I need to make the piece overall have a lot more clarity.

Still not entirely sure what I want to make my award title as it has to link with my project and my future. Want it to have something to do with musical theatre and inclusive development. Need to think about this further!

learning blog three

after campus sessions and various meetings, i feel alot more confident with my project proposal. i want to look into bringing alocohol awareness to the students i am working with. i am using the question: can creating a piece of theatre enable the youth of today to gain an understanding of an issue?

i want to look at wheather by teaching a subject in a practical setting the students find the tasks more interesting and an easier learning situation.

chickenshed already teach the students on the btec mostly practically, but i want to lead them in a workshop and then allow them to watch a short piece i will devise about the same theme.

learning blog two

I was unable to attend campus session two, however, I have read the handbook on research glossary terms and it has been very helpful. As well as this, the group of us situated at chickenshed theatre have met up and through our conversations on the activity I feel I have made positive start.
Through the handbook, I found some interesting and new ways of researching. One way that I have used, but not often, is closed questions.

Closed questions- definitions:
Questions that only require a response from a range of answers.
Questions that require you answer from a pre-defined list of responses.
Market research questions which offer the respondent a limited list of alternative answers to choose from.
.
The advantages of using this form of research is that, by giving people a choice of answer you can then make these into percentages of people and the information collected can then be made into graphs and charts to compile you facts.
This way of researching enables the questioner to stay in control of the answer given, thus setting up the answer closure for a desired negative or positive.

The disadvantages of using this style of research is that the questioner loses out on getting an original and one-of-a-kind answer, the questioner forms the answers that they might what to hear or extremes for the question at hand. Therefore, the questioner loses a more personal answer.

This form of research I will use in collecting data as the questions I want to ask might be too personal and, through questioning this way, I can get an impersonal answer and look at figures rather then personal answers.