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I became a student again from 1996 to 1998 at Crows Nest TAFE in Sydney, for two years full-time, and one year part-time. I completed the Diploma of Information Technology (Business Systems), as well as the Diploma of Information Technology (Instructional Multimedia). It was lots of fun as well as hard work, and in addition to learning a lot about computers, I made some good friends there, with similar interests. |
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In February 1996 I started my first
computer course, which was a wide ranging introduction to different aspects
of computing. I had been using computers since 1986 but had decided I wanted
to know a lot more about them so that I could work in the industry.
In Semester 2 I was engrossed in Multimedia, a fantastic course, even though it did take over almost all of the 24 hours allocated for each day. The Course Project was to make a CD for a client. The class chose areas that interested us for making a CD, and then we divided into three teams of five students each, according to the CD that we wanted to be involved in.
I chose to go with the team that made a CD for a local private school. First we wrote a work contract outlining conditions and copyright details, which was agreed to by our client after several discussions and mutually agreed alterations. We had meetings with our client to find out what they wanted from the CD, and to work out what material was available. After much groundwork we started to organise the structure of the project. We looked through the available written material, videos and photos, took some more photos and videos ourselves, and towards the end, recorded students' and teachers' voices for use on the CD.
We used Authorware as our main authoring program, and Director for animations and other movie sequences. We also used Premiere for editing video, Extreme 3D for special 3D effects and Photoshop for editing the photos. We each had our own section of the CD as our main responsibility, but also gave feedback to each other as we went along. In addition, I edited the main written section and our team leader put a lot of work into the overall editing and completion of the finished product. On the whole, we worked together as a cohesive and friendly team, which is not always the case in this scenario. The CD was completed by the required date. We had a viewing of the final product for all interested staff at the school, and they were very happy with the finished product. We were pleased to get such positive feedback, especially from the Headmaster and the I.T. Department!
Unfortunately, the CD did not go ahead as a school product - by the time the school notified the team leader of changes that were wanted, the team members were no longer available because of other work and study commitments. Although it was good experience at the time it would seem that it is not wise to leave a project hanging for too long before final sign-off and production. Some details, such as copyright, were not fully resolved either.
In Semester 1, 1997, I
completed the PC Support Certificate. It was an interesting
course, and quite demanding. We covered the technical
side, pulling computers apart and putting them back together
again, installing hardware, software and peripherals,
troubleshooting, and even a bit of physics, electricity and
Boolean algebra thrown in for good measure! We studied
the fundamentals of operating systems, with emphasis on DOS,
Windows and UNIX . We learnt about working on a Help Desk as
well as dealing with clients and minimising possible
conflicts. For my Course Project I spent 30 hours working in
a computer shop practicing some of the things we had
learnt.
I took the final module
of the Diploma in Business Systems in Semester 2, 1997. I completed
Legal Aspects of Computing, and Java Scripting. The major part of this course
though is studied by working for about 200 hours FOR FREE for an employer. In
this time, the aim is to consolidate what has been learnt in the course so
far and to gain industry experience. Red Square, a company specializing in Web Page Design,
kindly agreed to take me on. I worked there for six weeks, and enjoyed almost
every minute of it! While there I did a lot of HTML coding using Allaire's
HomeSite, as well as Dreamweaver and Page Mill from time to time. I worked
on PCs and MACs, and used Photoshop and DeBabilizer to get graphics ready
for the internet. I also learnt a lot about how a business of this sort operates
on a day to day basis, with pressures of meeting deadlines, and the different
responsibilities and talents of staff. Overall, I feel that this was an invaluable
experience.
In my spare time I was also studying towards the Diploma
in Instructional Multimedia. I like the idea of creating enjoyable,
interactive courses for people to study at their own pace on the computer.
Authorware, which is the authoring tool taught at TAFE, is used mainly for
training purposes. I completed this Diploma at the end of 1998.
Present employment: Office Manager for a tree company. I have written a small web site for my meditation centre. I have also written a web site for Australian Urban Tree Services. I am available for small scale web site design and editing.
1998-1999: Technical Support for Telstra Bigpond Home. I wrote a comprehensive Knowledge Base for their intranet in August/September 1998. This covers problems and solutions, virtual operating systems to provide data not available at that time on the support staff's computers (Windows 3.1, Internet Explorer 4, Outlook Express, Macintosh Operating System) and other information needed in the job. It was well used by the staff and trainers, and was also my project for the Dip I.T. (Instructional Multimedia) for which I received an "A" and a Distinction overall.
Other qualifications: B.A. (Melb.) Dip.Lib. (R.M.I.T.)
Exercise is important too: Tennis, swimming and walking. I also practice some yoga. Does gardening count as exercise? Certainly the mowing does! I love to watch my herbs and vegetables grow, and eat them too!
A small piece of my philosophy: If you are going to put a lot of time and effort into anything, make sure it's something you enjoy, and hopefully it will be useful too!
