BTEC National Certificate

Blog Post 2

In this blog post I am going to write about how well I have been learning in and performing in my classes since my last blog post, and how I could Improve my performance in the lessons.

Advanced Database Skills

I am slowly getting to understand this lesson as john has adapted a slightly different teaching method using more visual teaching aids such as power point presentations and detailed handouts, I am finally able to make progress and catch up with the work in this lesson.

Programming

Not much has changed with this lesson, I am still finding this lesson very easy and enjoyable, and I’m getting along with the assignment with no problems, but I need to complete the work on time and finish work that was due in some time ago.

Website Development & Management

I am still finding this lesson easy and enjoyable to learn, I am mostly up to date with this work and it will be no problem to catch up and hand in all further tasks on time as I fully understand how to complete the tasks for this lesson.

Key Skills

I have managed to complete all outstanding work in this lesson by focusing completely on my work allowing me to be fully prepared for the new task we will be starting in the next few weeks.

Computer Systems

In this lesson I am falling behind due to lack of concentration during lessons and not completely understanding what I need to do for the tasks, my goal is to attend catch-up sessions to complete all outstanding work and concentrate harder in future lessons.

Networking

Although being behind with the assignment tasks, I fully understand this lesson and what I need to do to complete them, catching up will be no problem and I aim to keep to the hand in dates for all future tasks.
Communication & Employability skills for IT
I have found it very easy to catch up in this lesson, I was able to easily catch up due to the detailed notes I had taken on the handout sheets due to the teacher’s teaching method, in the future I will complete all tasks and hand them in on time.

What is a Blog?

A blog is basically an online diary that is viewable by the public. As well as a diary it can act as a public discussion board, as it is publicly viewable you can post on any of your viewpoints and opinions, and other members of the public can respond by leaving comments on your blog.

What does Blog mean?

Blogs were originally called Weblogs, the word weblogs was invented in December 1997 by a man called John Berger, it was then shortened to Blog by Peter Merholz in May 1999.

What is a Blog post?

A blog post in an entry to the blog, like an entry in a diary. Any blog post can potentially turn into a group discussion which anyone can join. It can also act like a 2 way news board, where the readers can ask questions and express their views and opinions.

Blogs are about connecting people from all over the world to people who share the same beliefs and interests and to discover knew things. They allow you to connect by being able to comment on blogs and communicate to other users and add them as a friend if the site allows it.

Why is blogging popular?

Blogging has rapidly increased in popularity over the years, this is because it is very easily done and anyone with an internet connection can do it. You can write about literally anything you want, from your daily life, to a professional news blog, some people tune into blogs for their daily news rather than buy newspapers or watch the news on TV.

My opinion of blogs

I think blogs are a very good thing to write or read, they are a very good and usually reliable source of information on almost every subject you can think of, you are able to expressing yourself and your opinions to others all over the world, and make new friends and discover online members and communities you can relate to.

The advantages of having a Blog

There are many advantages of having a blog, for example, using a blog rather than a diary means you are able to manage it a lot more, such as delete or edit previous posts rather than tearing pages out or crossing out unwanted text, people also find typing much easier and faster than handwriting.
You can also add images or links to other websites/pages, make friends or a group of regular readers, and the potential to become an ‘internet star’ which you would not be able to achieve using a regular diary and a pen.

Blogging is cheap and effortless, most blog websites require a subscription where you will have to pay a small amount each month/year, but if you are unwilling to pay there are hundreds of blog websites out there that offer their service absolutely free which includes full access to all features and tools on that site.

The disadvantages and dangers of blogs

As well as advantages, there are disadvantages as well, and some are potentially dangerous.

One of the biggest dangers of blogging is ‘Trolls’, whether your blog posts are very political, or not at all, there are bound to be people that disagree with you, this attracts trolls.

Trolls are usually immature people who’s goal is to disrupt and cause arguments within an online community, other trolls will try and find anything they can about you and expose it, and as you can express your opinions fully on blogging, this can be very dangerous if you are posting racist or anti-government propaganda, you could even lose your job as a result of trolls.

Blog Post 1

In this blog post I am going to write about the units I am currently studying on my course and what I have learnt so far in those units, how well I am learning in the classes, how I could Improve my performance and ability to learn in the classes based on my SWOT analysis and reflection on my current progress.

Advanced Database Skills

In this lesson I am finding it hard to understand and learn how to use and create databases, I am more of a practical learner and this lesson involves mostly talking so I struggle to take on board what the teacher is saying, but after talking to the teacher and asking for help I am slowly beginning to understand and get on with the work.

Programming

I am finding this lesson very easy and enjoyable, I find the work easy to understand and complete as I have knowledge of visual basic programming from my course last year.

Website Development & Management

So far in website development I have learnt quite a lot of things that I didn’t know before, such as how to hand code tables in HTML, setting the amount of rows and columns they have. So far I have found it very easy and enjoyable learning in this lesson and I am highly motivated to complete all the work.

Key Skills

In this lesson I have been working on a CLAiT plus qualification which involves working with Microsoft Word and Excel, although I knew how to effectively use both of these programmes, this lesson as continued to teach me how to use the programs more efficiently and taught me various functions and features I didn’t know before.

Computer Systems

In this lesson we are learning similar things as we did last year, but in much greater detail, such as how all the computer components communicate to each other via the system bus, and how operating systems work.

Networking

This lesson is mostly practical which is my preferred learning method, although alot of the time we do theory and using computer systems, we eventually put that theory to practice, for example we built a network in a program called packet tracer, once we got it working we went onto building a network using real computers, I am finding this lesson very enjoyable and the work easy.

Communication & Employability skills for IT

I am finding this lesson enjoyable and easy to understand, although I am slightly behind with my work due to forgetting my blog.co.uk password, I feel I will be able to easily catch up as I fully understand the work and what I have to do to complete it.