MSVCkesp2007 - Recently Updated Pages

KESP - An honest assessment... By Roy o' Leary aka {The Hoff }.

thehoff — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 18:37:20 CDT

After the initial "Christ, what have i gotten myself into" feeling, we settled down as we realised that we were all in the same boat really & that this was new to us all. In fairness, our tutor Peter made us all feel at ease by declaring that nobody was going to make a fool of themselves more than him & that he was quite prepared to do so as it wouldn't be his first time !! {we're still waiting on that one Peter !!}.

Course Content:
I have to admit, i personally found 95% of the actual course content very interesting {what an anorak!} the stock exchange section being the only bit i found tedious & boring as i have no interest whatsoever in this subject. Most of the content applies to our everyday lives eg.. internet, technology, business, banking etc.. It would have been great to have had the time to "drill down" deeper into the endless links to very relevant material,as it really is a bottomless pit of information at your fingertips, but alas, we were time poor & had to be very disciplined & not allow yourself to stray too far from the coursework for fear of never returning from cyberspace !!!

Negatives:
As we were the guinea pigs {oops, sorry} as this was the "pilot" run of this course, there were inevitable teething problems & glitches in the software, which i hope will be ironed out in time for the next batch of victims {oops again..bloody keyboard! } batch of eager students, as these can be quite frustrating & it's fairly tough as it is without them !! Also, i think the course should be run over a period of at least 6 months to avoid the feeling i had of being "up against it" all the time to get the modules & projects done within the designated timeframe.This pressure takes from the enjoyment of the course which is a pity. My final negative note,{i'll get off my soapbox then} is that our access to the course material & associated links will be denied as our logins & passwords will expire when we finish the course, which is something that i hope the NCI will reconsider, as i personally, would love to revisit the coursework & links on a regular basis in the future.

Well, thats it, just want to say a final thank you to our tutor Peter McGlinn, who was excellent, very easy going {unless you keep him waiting when he has a plumbing problem, which makes him turn a funny shade of green & his clothes start to rip & shred on his body !! } {ha! ha!}

Lastly, i want to thank everyone in our class for making it seem easier than it was by staying positive & humourous throughout !!! Thanks to my teammates "The Kespians", we defo had the best team !!! & thanks to Dukie for coming along & doing the course just so that we could all take the mickey out of him while he stuffed scone after scone after scone down his throat !!! :-).

Best of luck to the new kesp Recruits !!
Regards,
Roy.

Donals opinion of the course

garylane — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 06:58:41 CDT

When i heard about this course i was told by certain people that it was a wort while course to do so i decided i would do it .I said to Linda Harley to put my name on the list to do it what a mistake ,I had no idea what i was letting myself in for .Peter Mc glinn our teacher (more like a mentor)was as much in the dark as we were or so he let on,he was very easily approachable and excellent as a tutor if only all teachers were like this courses would be full all the time.The course was broken up into separate modules so as not to get too bogged down on certain aspects of technology,which was very well done .The pop-up pages were very interesting and informative especially in the earlier modules (nokia,Irish companies in the knowledge economy,and Amazon)were all very relevant to what we were researching.Before this course listening to the radio or watching the television you would hear certain terms but would not pay any attention to them because you would not know what they were talking about,but now due to doing this course i am aware of the knowledge economy and what it is.The course itself i felt could have been pitched better at the beginning,but in saying that i do not regret doing it and would recommend other people in my workplace to do it if they get the opportunity.The projects we were asked to do i thought were in the beginning a small bit hard(PEST analysis)but the further you went on doing the course the more sense they made,I had no idea of what wikipedia was but now i find myself using these information tools alot more ,and using them helps me to understand what the knowledge economy is about.The course was a great insight into the way industries are working today and the way they use modern technology to their advantage against their competitors,the way modern work practices are being turned on their ear to suit the economic climate they are involved in.Like i said the course was very interesting and well put together (except for the glitches in the software)which in time for whoever does the course the next time will hopefully be sorted out.In my opinion the course should have had a longer duration because some of the modules at the end were hard to follow and had little relevance to what i thought the course was about ie(setting up a company,stockmarkets ,bonds shares )I would also like at this point to thank Linda and Peter for their patience and understanding with my circumstances and it was greatly appreciated.So to finalise i thought the course was well thought out very well put together informative and a useful tool going forward for anyone who wants to explore the knowledge economy.thank you good night ELVIS has left the building.

Review

CarolineWalshKESP — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 05:50:02 CDT

Well, I've finally gotten round to doing this - its taken long enough!!

Firstly I suppose for the most part I really enjoyed the course.

On the positive side, the course was an eye opener into what is happening in Ireland and further afield. It highlight so many different organisations involved in developing Ireland. I had never registered the term Knowledge Economy prior to starting the course and had even less of an idea of what was meant by it whereas now when I hear government ministers speaking about it I know just what they are talking about.

It was also a great opportunity to learn about the direction the country is taking and I found it very interesting that as I was progressing through the course and reading more and more on the Knowledge Economy it seemed to be on papers and the news at least once a week. I also enjoyed the sessions and tasks (homework set) which gave me a chance to do things I wouldn't normally.

On the down side I found it, at time, very frustrating - at the start with the software issues and simple IT problems which couldn't be resolved. Futher into it I found that information went from very topline to very indepth in areas I didn't see as relevent. I understood the idea behind it but found it wasn't very consistant. It was also very evident that each section was responsibility of different people and it seemed as if they weren't cross referenced so the same info could be found in 3 sections.

Finally I found that at the start of the course I found it a lot easier to get through the information and to take it in as there weren't as many levels. By section 3 I found it much more time consuming. At this late stage due to a number of circumstance I am only halfway through section 4 and finding it very difficult to just have time to get throught it.

I currently don't have internet access at home and find without it its almost impossible to take time to do it. Internet cafes are not at all feasible so I think a CD rom to accompany the course would be a huge benifit. I also think an interacitve CD Rom would be of huge benefit after the course where in leisure time I could drill down through the course and also to go back afterwards to reread the information as there is just so much there.

In end I wish I had much more time to complete and was aware of just how much work there was involved to begin with. I think the information could have been relayed better but that it was very interesting to read and learn about the economy in Ireland and others like Finland, Singapore etc.

Few words about KESP

Maciej — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 07:44:26 CDT

I was very narvous when I came to Rochestown for the first time.As You all know my mother tongue is not english so I thought I didn't handle it but it wasn't that bad.It was the kind of test for me.Some of you will say that I don't know the language at all because I wasn't speak when not asked but the true is that I am shy.Enough about me,here is my opinion about KESP but don't laugh laud when reading this,grammar is my weak side :-)
When I started doing that course I was delighted because two first modules was allright but the stairs starts when I started the third one.There was too many pages in one topic.So in the beginning I was very interested about information in there but after few modules I became bored of that.It all was looked the same for me.I wanted to do everything but not the course.Eventually I finish it few days ago and I am proud of myself.Time to do that was allright for me because I don't have kids yet so I could focused on course.The exercises given by Peter was very good except the first one about P.E.S.T in Musgrave anyway he did a good job taking us through the KESP but he still don't know if I understand him so I can tell you now Peter that I did understand most of your words (80%).I must say that now I know a lot more about business,how companies prosper and I can open my own in Poland.If someone will ask me about that course if it's worth it I say 'yes it is' specially if you are single without kids,have a lot of free time and hungry of information 'go for it'.
That was my few words about KESP course maybe it's looked more like a blog but for me it's allright.
Thank you for reading it.
Maciej Czajka

Feedback on KESP 2007 by CHARLES HEGARTY

chashegga — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 04:39:10 CDT

My thoughts & feedback on KESP 2007.

Firstly i would like to say that over all KESP 2007 was a very positive & enlightening experience for me personally. It contained a lot of general information about companies & corperations which i found particulary interesting,( NOKIA ) being the obvious one. I think as a group we communicted well together,shared our ideas, thoughts & opinions in the classroom & communictated via email. we meet each other in small teams outside of the classroom dates & later in the course contributed to our own web page.I think it just goes to show you how resourceful a group of people can be in achieveing a common goal.

What have i gained from KESP 2007.

Several things, i am now much more confident of how to conduct a search for items or topics of interest on the internet & how to find what i am looking for much faster than before.A much wider understanding of blogs, wikis,threads & forums as a means of interacting with people.I now have a better insight into how companies run their operations & the different organisations that help & support them. The mental disapline required to work through the modules & complete the assesments at the end of each section.Also a much greater awareness that this country is advanceing at a rapid rate & we must constantly educate & update our own skills & qualifications just to keep up with what is happening on a global scale.

Is it what i thought it would be ?

To be perfectly honest i really did'nt know what to expect initally from KESP.I am glad i had the opportunity to discover it for myself. It covers a very wide spectrum of subjects & topics .

How can others learn from us in MSVC

As we were the KESP pioneers ,the first thing anyone interested in taking the course should do i think is to speak to the people that completed it . The website that was set up & is still growing is a wealth of information about what was achieved by the KESP 2007 class.It is a must visit for any one contemplating taking the course next year, or simply wanting to know what was involved.

Some teething issues with the KESP course.

The first thing to remember about KESP 2007 is that it was a pilot programme & it was inivitable there would be problems with it.Have always tried to avoid being negative in my personal life ,but some things about the course did frustrate me.Firstly it had to be the software i spent probably too much time repeating sections on different modules,due to the fact they were constantly being erased.the pictures frooze a lot particulary in the middle of presentations,& when downloading a sumary of the session.The only password that did work was the one to enter the modules for KESP.No access to the NCI libary was dissapointing.lastly the fact that our access will be denied when the course finishes ,which to me is a shame as there is great reading material in the modules.I am sure a lot of these issues will be dealt with in time,as it will make it a great experience for the KESP class of 2008.

Tony's Blog

tonypatterson — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 15:16:55 CDT

Well this is my first entry into cyberspace. On the spot to say something well, I hope people have time to chip in and build a new ark for the 21st century as the rain will engulf us all. What you think? Weather for ducks or what.

Course going well and really enjoying content but under estimated the amount of info in the modules requiring reading and review, learning a bit.

Well, I'll try and add links, bells and whistles to this blog. If I ever talk to any of the lads, a non KESP indivudual about blogs he'll point towards the loo.

Keep on blogging ......

Well guys ..... 2nd August finished all modules and just finished review of course.

Peter or anybody else are welcome to read. See link below as attacment.

Mary Horgan

Horgan — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 04:00:39 CDT

Hi, I'm working in Musgrave for nearly 30 years, so do the sums and you can take a guess at the d.o.b. I'll give you the day and the month, it's coming up 1st June...When I'm not working and not studying the K.E.S.P Course (thought I'd throw that in .....phew!) I like to curl up in front of Corrie and Fair City......sad aren't I......Love going on holidays to the sun......see I'm a despearate housewife.
I know I haven't been blogging for a long time now. I was bogged down with kesp modules.......swat or what.......I don't think so.
I've been on holidays as well since I updated my blog. Went to Lanzarote first 2 weeks in July. The weather was absolutely roasting......We stayed in the Fariones Playa Suite in Peurto del Carmen. I would reccomend it to anyone whether you have kids or not. The entertainment is superb at night and the food is fab. if you choose the half board option.

Useful Web Links

DellyBelly — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 10:48:46 CDT

http://course.kesp.ie/topclass/TopClass.dll?login (login to KESP course)

http://dirtyrobbinkespians.blogspot.com/ (The Originals Blog from Project 2 - get a pair of stilts and pop over there!)

https://webmail.ncirl.ie/CookieAuth.dll?GetLogon?url=%2Fexchange%2F&reason=0 (The link to check your NCI e-mail)

http://www1.tv-links.co.uk/ - totally uncourse related but you can get most tv series on this. You can also get movies-shrek 3 is currently on it. Just note it can take ages to buffer and not all the shows are in English.

http://www.blackle.com For those worried about energy consumption and all its downsides. When your screen is white, be it an empty word page, or the Google page, your computer consumes 74 watts, and when its black it consumes only 59 watts. Mark Ontkush wrote an article about the energy saving that would be achieved if Google had a black screen, taking in account the huge number of page views, according to his calculations, 750 mega watts/hour per year would be saved.

In a response to this article Google created a black version of its search engine, called Blackle, with the exact same functions as the white version, but with a lower energy consumption, check it out here

Setting up a MySpace Page

DellyBelly — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 16:21:53 CDT

Okay, as Peter requested, here's how you can all set up your own MySpace page. For Bebo, check with Colin. Facebook is a new set up - pretty similar but I don't find it as user friendly as MySpace.

First some notes:

There are a number of ways you can update your profile or "pimp your page" but this is where you enter HTML hell and my advice is to steer clear.
Also, beware of hackers / phishing on MySpace, my account was hacked / phished very cleverly too might I add, I was asked to log in and I never checked the address bar - where www.myspace.com was, the address read www.ryspace.com See the "r" used where the "m" should be? It's not as serious as getting your online banking account phished but quite annoying. Some jerk sent everyone on my friends list spam mail about voting for Hilary Clinton! I got a mail from a friend in the UK going "What the f**k are you on Delly?". I had to reset my whole account and send out apology bulletins. =-(

On the subject of hacking, the number one Thin Lizzy site on the net (the one I mod on - Rock Legend) got hacked by some Turkish extremist group and we lost everything. Gutted. Dirty barstewards! Turkey's a hole anyway!!! Especially Kusadasi - don't go there, ever, it's a kip.

Okay....where was I?!

Ah yes, MySpace! I can't get the images / screen grabs for this on this page (like the site counter thingie - very frustrating!) so it's a very basic to-do-list bit but I'll mail on the screen grabs with all the links - it's pretty self explanatory once you get onto the site. Go to www.myspace.com and take it from there. If you find me - say hello!

1. Sign up….
Go to www.myspace.com and click on Sign Up. Follow the instructions.

2. There are lots of security measures to cut down on hackers and spam bots…
Just key in the letters as you would on the Ticketbastard site. Sorry, TicketMASTER.

3. Upload some pics or leave it til later…
I would recommend leaving the pics til you get your bearings but do put up your profile pic straight away.

4. Invite friends to join…(or not!) I chose not to!

5. And you’re done! Check your mail and click on the verification link and you’re good to go!
Tom will be your only friend til you get off yer arse and go find some friends! (You're a loser if you keep Tom on your friends list but as Tom is the brains behind MySpace, he's the first to inform you if you've been hacked. They're very speedy at spotting the hackers.) Search for people you know that have a MySpace page (I'm there at www.myspace.com/dellzbellz) or if you've got any favourite bands or actors, you can add them. Everyone is there from David Jason to Sting. It's a bit mad and there are a few freaks out there (this bit is more for the girls) but if you receive any unwanted attention you can report them as spam and they get their ass kicked!

That's all folks! Any questions - holler at me y'all. Peace out!

Michelles KESP evaluation

mosulliva — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 04:51:36 CDT

THE BEGINNING, THE MIDDLE & THE END....

I think everyone can agree that KESP has been quite a journey... it became apparent the moment that the course started that it was going to be tougher than any of us had expected. I think it has alot of strenghts, in one sense it was tougher and has alot more information in it than expected but than this also broadened our knowledge. I am not a totally IT phobe but I am definitely not a super-user... in fact I would never normally have the patience to probe the internet and see what other tools are out there. It has proven a great opportunity for me, I have learnt so much about the internet as a tool for research... especially in relation to multiple user sites like wikis and forum and how these can be used within a business environment so as to capture knowledge. It has shown the progressive approach of some companies, and the results that they have achieved as a result of being so innovative and taking a chance. The business case studies were a great addition to the course, relating the information back to real cases in the business world like 3M. I think if every MD was to read a history of 3M they would quickly see the advantages of staff autonomy, and flexibility...

There were parts of the course that were quite repetitive of perhaps a bit too indepth. I do think that there should be some sort of manual aswell, for future reference for anyone who has given their time to do the course. There has been alot of effort put in as we are all so busy, and some people were on different shift patterns etc therefore we really had to liase with eachother. I think it is a waste that the log ins will expire and we will have nothing to reference back on in the future.

The IT aspects of the course need to be improved. It is a knowledge economy course yet we had so many IT issues, these were very frustrating. For example, you could complete a unit in a module, do the assessment and then the next day it is wiped.. this has just happened to me again... anyway.... I think MSVC could definitely gain alot from this course if more people were to undertake it in the future, it needs to be more clearly mapped out though with people knowing exactly what they are getting into. It is a waste to the business in the sense that noone is given reference documents for the future.

MSVC is an innovative company and I am sure with the right kind of analysis a system like a 'forum' on the portal etc could be set up.

All in all, I am happy with the extra knowledge that I have gained from the course however I think any suggested improvements that we the 'experiments' can give should be taken on board and implemented.

garys blog

garylane — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 13:09:34 CDT

How do kespians i'm the quiet one name's gary i'm thirtyish from cork single one child rachel have a ten year stretch done in musgraves which is harsh all i wanted was a job not a custodial sentence .I was the victim of a jedi mind trick(sorry mark )and got landed on this course it might as well have been the moon.P.S i cant stress my hatred for LIVERPOOL enough if you have an hour i might explain to you .If your wondering why this photo is back on and enlarged i was told by a drunkenmidgetonstilts to put it up or else......

CHECK OUT THE (IT.EDU.INVENTION )SITE AND THE GET (THE MOST OUT OF YOUR MOBILE) SITE FOR SOME INTERESTING TOPICS

SUMMARY.......When i first heard about this course from the internal notice boards in work i thought it was a computer course of some sort(how wrong was i ).KESP turned out to be something completly different,but suprisingly enough it was different in a good way ,for someone who up until march of this year had never even sent an email i thought this was going to kill me but i found it very easy to access and use the setup that was used by the N.C.I scrolling through pages and pages of ,in my opinion were very interesting topics.I now know alot more (alot more)about certain government agencies and what they do,the knowledge economy would have been something now and again i would have seen on tv chatshows but i now know what they are talking about and find i can relate because of this course .On the first day of class Peter said this course is all about thinking outside the box well to be fair the box will never look the same again ,everyday problems could now realisticly be buissness oppertunities ,what do people need what would people pay for and is it on the market already this is the way i will be looking at everyday problems from now on .The course in my opinion is all about how to get the most out of existing technology the future of the workplace and adapting to it so as not to become obsolete how to set up your own buissness and how to use existing channels of information to achieve your goals.If ever the oppertunity arises where i have the chance to do this and set up a buissness venture i now feel confident that i would not fall flat on my face in trying it. I would recomend this course to anyone who is realisticly in the not to distant future thinking of setting up their own company(if anyone follows in our footsteps it will benifit them and it will broaden their horizons ).Sort out the software issues and keep this course running just pitch it better to anyone who shows an interest in doing it .GARY

Ken's Blog

Kencro — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 06:47:41 CDT

workplacestrategy.iehttp://www.manutd.com/ Ken here or the nutty one or the moan .I am married with two children I live in pouladuff road which is in togher and I am not ashamed to say that . I support the red devils and hate the scum . More importantly the GREATEST band in the world will be playing cork on July 5 .That is of course is MADNESS. 35 in July married 10 years in August what more is there left to say. I have added a link to Manchester Uniteds website because unlike the Jews{spurs} or the scum{Liverpool} they actually won something. Well they came they played they blew the tent away.What a concert .LEGENDS.Just finished KESP its Monday night tired and wrecked . SUMMARY: My overall opinion of the course was i am glad i finished it .I'm only joking well maybe just a small bit, four months ago i would not have known the difference between a blog and a wiki.But now not only do i know the difference i actually have a blog.this course has opened my eyes to what is required to move on within the company.the strengths and weaknesses of this course balance each other out.We knew that there would be teething problems as it was a pilot course.some people did not get their passwords for a couple of weeks.I feel 100% more confident on my computer after this course,logging onto sites that i didn't think existed {not porn} like google earth ,picasa etc.The course was very informative on a variety of things .Setting up your own business,IT,E-commerce and so on.I think module 4 and 5 were better presented than the other modules,the stock exchange exercise was also very interesting.At the start the project work seemed a bit hard,but i think we were trying to impress Peter too much and spending more time on them then we should have.Some of the classes got a bit side tracked as well.I think more time should be spent on the upcoming module what to except and so on.The course should also be spread out over six months to give people the time to really enjoy the course.Most of us did not have Internet access at work,which did not help us.I have been on to Linda about upcoming courses and i would feel confident in doing any course after completing this one.I would hope the company will keep running this course.A final if and when we pass this course maybe a group photo and some scones for Dukie.I have also added the workplace strategy link to my page.PS could someone please show Eugene how to use spell check.As you can see i have also added some lovely pictures for our new society SAS {stop all scum}.

Eugenes blog page 3

coffeymax@yahoo.ie — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 08:25:43 CDT

	City of Culture Fireworks	Type your photo caption or credit here.
Sports day Winner on the right Laurens First Holy COMMUNION.	Two of my girls playing dress up again.	Type your photo caption or credit here.
Oldest Daughters Confirmation.	View from Sheehan Falls Hotel .	Type your photo caption or credit here.

Eugenes blog page2

coffeymax@yahoo.ie — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 06:03:25 CDT

, .

Opinion of the Kesp course

coffeymax@yahoo.ie — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 09:57:35 CDT

Page1

The strenghts of the course is that it encourages people like me, who would not normally sit in front of the computer at home and use it to find out information ( Google). I have learned so much from the course. Not only have i learned all about the Knowledge Economy but i have also learned how to study again and how to use my computer.The course has given me more confidence about going on line and using the technology available to me to gain more knowledge and experience.
The fact that there was so many of us from the same company helped also. Not only did Peter give us the confidence and encouragement to persever at the start with all the teething problems ,but we were able to give each other help and encouragement also. Not only were we able to communicate directly with each other at work but the texts and phonecalls we also in constant use then we progressed onto the Blog for communicating.
Before the course I would never have been able to sit down and write this never mind add a picture or create a Blog and create a link to it. So from my perspective the course has been verry sucessful .The information in the course has been very interesting it has expanded my knowledge on some areas of the knowledge economy and also thought me lots of new information. I now take alot more interest in new depelopments in technology. when i hear people talking about the knowledge economy i listen as i know what it is all about.lThe exercises were quite challangeing but were a great source of satis faction when they were completed.They encouraged you to use the technology to complete the exercise and so gave you confidense to find knowledge in a new way.

opinion of kesp course page 3

coffeymax@yahoo.ie — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 09:47:45 CDT

Oppurtunities to improve
I understand that this is a pilot course and there is always going to be problems with its first run out. Most of these problems will be solved through feed back from the people taking part in the course. So by reading all the feed backs that Peter is collecting and Peters own opinion and feed back .All the problems will become clear .
1 Improve the technology
2 Improve the communication
3 Improve the time frame for problem solving.
4 Allow acess to the site after people have completed the course this will keep people interested in the course.

Relevence to my company and my personal life in the future.
The course has given has given me a greater understanding of how my company operates and performs in the knowledge economy. I can now understand the way the company is structured ,how and why it operates the way it does. I now have a greater insight into the all the information the company needs to operate sucessfully , keep the company growing and improving its service and customer relationship.
At the start i failed to see the relevence to my personal life but now i have a greater understanding of Nanotechnology , Biotechnology and how companies are strutured and operate . I know about finance, starting a buisness product development and whats involved in patents.There is so much that i have learned and more surprisingly to me that i have rembered that it can only make me more confident and knowledgeable. Hopefully it should help me improve my personel life and my understanding of my work and what the futher may hold in terms of technological advances.

Suggestions for next group of people.
1 Start with an open mind.
2Find someplace quite to study and allocate sufficient time to comlplete each module . Dont let it to the last minute to complete the modules a few hours here and there is a lot better (work out a schedule).
3If problems crop up persevere as we did it will be worth it at the end of the course.
4 Help from Peter or from people in your team or group will always get you through.
5The next groups first exercise should be to set up a Wiki,Blog or Forum so they can help each other with problems and they wont feel they are alone.
6 Dont start the course if you are not willing to put in the time. It does take time and lots of it. The course time is a bit short so you have to keep working at it. The more time you are allowed the more you will keep puting off siting down and doing the work.
7 So start with a positive mind and attitude and what you will learn will make all the time invested worth while.

Next plans for gaining knowledge.
Complete the E.C.D.L. course. Hopefully start the second part of the course i did last year on Wharehouse Managment and teamleading. I will also be looking for a new course to start so i can expand my knowledge and experience.I will also make use of my new found confidence on the computer to search for knowledge on the Internet.

So thanks to Peter my teamies Edel,Dave,Majiec and all the group for the. help and encouagement during the course.I hope everyone has learned alot on the course and feel it was worthwhile .
Eugene Coffey

Opinion of Kesp course page 2

coffeymax@yahoo.ie — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 07:55:48 CDT

Now for the weakness of the course .
THE Collage Of Ireland left some of the people on the course down verry badly. 1 People could not acess the course after the course had started.
2 Some people never got there passwords so they dropped out of the course.
3 Peoples scores dissapeared off the site and they had to repeat module assesments again so they were not at all pleased.
4 People lost there passwords and had to wait for an overly long period for there passwords to be made available to them.
5 Some of the questions gave the wrong awnsers as correct.
6 On some of the summarys you could not print off the information which was a pity as you had nothing to go over later on.
7 A hard copy of the information would have been verry useful as you could take it anywhere with you and have acess any time anywhere.
8 When the course is over we have only a limited time to acess to the site which is self defeating for the course.As we cant go onto the links in the modules and read up on the information available . Whats the point making the infomation available and then denying acess.

Project 5 - KESP Course Evaluation

DellyBelly — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 07:49:42 CDT

Project 5 – Course Evaluation

Pros:
A fantastic, informative course.
This is like the Arts Degree for students that have no idea what field they want to go into! I would recommend this course to everybody but more so to those with itchy feet, looking for a career change. When I left school I studied Montessori Teaching, I then moved onto Child Psychology and Play Therapy. I worked at the Cork Regional Hospital (now CUH) in the children’s ward as a Play Specialist. I also spent a bit of time in Temple Street Hospital in Dublin. After a year I had enough – watching children suffer and die is something you can’t just switch off from when you go home. I needed a career change. I signed up for an Arts Administration course with FAS – was living on zero money for about six months, then got a graduate placement at the National Sculpture Factory. I worked with them for two years – one year contract and one year freelance. Then decided it was back to college with me and I did a Diploma in PR, Advertising and Marketing. Scariest thing I ever did – big risk – but it all worked out in the end. The KESP course would’ve been an ideal option for someone like me at the time. It covers so many subjects; it would really give you a feel for business and maybe spark an interest in a certain area.

Meeting my fellow KESPians
It was toward the end we began to really get to know eachother and bond, it was a lot of fun. They’re all a bit mad in the head (which is the best place to be a bit mad – going a bit mad in the leg could cause fierce damage) and a right shower of messers. I was an innocent bystander in a lot of the sweet throwing and dismantling of Rochestown Park Hotel pens. I swear.

Our course tutor Peter
Didn’t know a blog from a blob, but made us laugh and made us feel at ease from day one. Even more so on day two when we were all on the verge of throwing in the towel. Sowed a few seeds and gave us some stuff to think about.

I found a new love for scones.
Nuff said!

Cons:
The time!!!
This course really needs to be spread out over six months at least. A month per module would also give enough time for project work and for teams to meet up over each module. I finished my final module assessment to coincide with the final class cos I just wanted it to end. I am mentally and physically drained from it. I need a holiday or else some drugs to get me through the day!!!

IT Issues
As it was a pilot programme, there were bound to be teething problems and IT issues, these were very frustrating. The gobbling up of assessment scores and having to do the same assessment six times is enough to make you chew off your own leg.

Module Set up
Module Four should follow Module one as it gives a great overview of business. It throws you a bit when you finish module three and click into module 4 and you’re greeted with “Welcome to the KESP course” eh wha?! Hello? I’ve been here weeks!

Last but not least…

I am now allergic to scones.
I have a scone intolerance. My face breaks out in sultanas. I’m devastated.

So where next? Right now I’m thinking I’ll never do another course again – just cos this one drained the life out of me – plus I don’t think I could cram in any more knowledge. But I know, come September I’ll be itching to go again. I say it after every course that challenges me.

Project Management, Train the Trainer, maybe learn a new language? I have a little Italian and right now I would like to say I am truly FOTTUTO! ;)))

Ciao bella,
Del

webwise/how to get the most out of your mobile

garylane — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 10:53:40 CDT

The big problem with surfing the web using your mobiles is not all sites are designed to be viewed on such a small screen .The opera mini browser gets around this you can download to your phone free from www.operamini.com .this site employs filter technology to strip the page to fit your screen.Last week youtube launched a mobile friendly version the address is http://www.m.youtube.com/ now this piece of software is the biz,Orb its clever free software that you download on your pc once installed it allows you to access all video,audio,photos stored on your computer or any document on your pcwww.orb.com. You need a 3g phone and a near perfect connection but it does work.If you have a webmail account such as hotmail,yahoo!orGmail you can moniter your inbox by downloading a free e-mail tool to your handset .this will automatically access your messages and format them for your phone.hotmail users can get it frommobile.live.com,Gmail accounts can get it fromgooglemail.com/appand the yahoo version can be downloaded fromuk.mobile.yahoo.com.As an alternative to e-mailing these providers also offer free instant messaging software for phones-cheaper than sending texts.Well these are some new things for your phone try them if you want .Shamone mother f........rs.

//www.m.youtube.com

garylane — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 10:51:12 CDT

m.youtube.comwww.m.youtube.com youtube to you mobile