3CsT3 Evaluation

1) How well does this course meet your expectations / learning objectives?

My expectations were quite low as I was not convinced I was going to get to grips with the course to start with and although the course objectives were very clear and straightforward I was a bit intimidated by it all. However………. The course exceeded all my expectations, I thoroughly enjoyed trying out the different resources and tools and enjoyed the challenge too. For my own learning objectives, which were at the very least to know what others were talking about, these have also been exceeded as I now feel confident enough to dive in and ‘have a go’.

2) What are the difficulties encountered in accessing the course materials on the Internet at your workplace which have NOT been reported before?

The main problem I found was not being able to explore the social networking sites as well as I would have liked. I was able to access them, but when I tried registering I never received a confirmation e-mail, so suspect that it was blocked. We also received this e-mail, Trustwide this week, which is unfortunate.

Dear Colleagues

Due to recently advertised security threats and identity fraud, the following two web sites will be banned with immediate affect:

You Tube
Face Book

These sites will be banned indefinitely while further investigate of these threats are identified.

This is being done to protect Trust staff, and we would like to thank you for your understanding and co operation in this matter.

Regards
ICT Services

3) Did you need to seek the permission of your trust IT before you accessed certain course materials on the Internet?

I didn’t need to seek permission, they were quite helpful if certain things like the Del.icio.us buttons needed to be put on the toolbar etc. Our IT were even interested in the course itself !
This is a revision to my original evaluation comment. All ‘social networking sites’ have been blocked by the Trust, and no exceptions are to be made. I can’ actually post anything on my blog, although I can still access it.

4) Do the readings meet the learning objectives of each topic?

I think the readings were quite adequate. It is interesting how quickly things move on, as reading around some of the areas, particularly Web 2.0 in general I found articles which were quite recent on the subject. Now we know about social bookmarking sites we can share all these !

5) What is the average amount of time you spent on the course each day?

It’s difficult to average it out as there were days when I did nothing as my training schedule was too busy, then I spent several whole afternoons catching up.

6) How do you find the interaction among participants of the course?

I thought it was a shame so many people dropped out as it left so few of us to interact ! Some of us interacted more than others and in the end there were about four of us who were quite prolific ! I enjoyed sharing ideas and reading the comments left by others, it was interesting to see how others looked at the same subject. I also enjoyed ‘meeting’ people I’d not come across before in person and look forward to working with them in the future.


7) Will you continue blogging and/or reading RSS after the course?

Most definitely ! We have a Blog planned for our library in the New Year and with the changes with NLH and the Core Content I shall be updating my users like mad in the Spring – bags of opportunity to introduce them to MyLibrary and RSS feeds etc. I may even set up one of my own !
Due to the Trust’s restriction of access to social networking sites, including blogging, I wonder if the Library Blog will get off the ground. I haven’t checked to see if I can still set up RSS feeds. This is very depressing as we were looking forward to our library blog.

Objectives Targets Deadlines
Get involved in getting the Library Blog up and running ? These will be decided at the next staff meeting, tbh on 19th December ? February, when the next Library Bulletin would be due ?
Look into getting an induction podcast set up to deliver via iPods, loaned from the library counter. This would be to catch individuals joining the Trust, or stragglers who missed the Trust Induction Read round subjectJan 31stExplore tools needed and find funding for iPodsJan 31stRecord podcast March 31st Podcast ready for 1st April 2008 ?