Alan Longley
Reflective Journal · FdA Web Design · University Centre WakefieldLO4: Evaluation
Having a prior experience of self-learning in year one I began this module feeling confident in my ability to on a self-learning basis. What I did not anticipate for was the responsibility we had to define our own learning objectives and assessment criteria.
Having to define our own level of learning and what we would have to technically produce to be assessed on has been the most difficult task so far. When I originally decided on what my learning objectives would be and what I would do at each stage to create an assessable piece of work, I did not believe I had set my self more than I could cope with. However, when I then added a creative brief to the work load, I now realize I was probably asking more of me than I could really achieve.
Because of the task I had set myself in the creative brief I was beginning to find less time to produce the assessable work. One of the deliverables I had set myself was to produce a 10 minute presentation that would show my understanding of PHP and MySQL. This unfortunately was sacrificed because I had not given myself enough time in my learning contract to gain a level of understanding that would be sufficient enough to present to others.
I also struggled with the material I had obtained to aid in my learning of PHP and MySQL. I purchased two books online that covered both PHP and MySQL, the first was ‘Build your own database driven web site’ by Kevin Yank and the second was ‘PHP & MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites’ by Larry Ulman. The first book by Kevin Yank is a Sitepoint book which I have used before and I assumed it would be easy to pick up and read. So without checking any reviews I purchased it. When I eventually got the book I found that it was for a more advanced user of PHP and the language used was hard to follow. Luckily the second book I purchased by Larry Ulman which I had read reviews of and made sure was for beginners was a lot easier to learn from.
After settling into a book I could understand and was able to learn from, I began to build my PHP site and my database in MySQL. As the site slowly progressed and my knowledge of PHP grew I felt confident again in my ability to self learn. I am happy with the product/site I have created and look forward to using my new found knowledge in the future.
If I were to face a module or situation like PPD3 in the future I would certainly be more modest in my expectations of what I can achieve. I believe this experience will certainly prepare me for the impending commercial work. If there comes a point that I may need to pick up a book to learn something new I will be able to reflect on this experience and avoid hopefully avoid any issues that may effect other jobs or assignments I have.
