Author: Martin

Celebrating university life in all its diversity. Helping to achieve a full, entertaining, productive, and successful experience.

What Does Revision Really Mean?

“Revision is considered as ‘revision’ by teachers and lecturers, when a lot of the time it is ‘learning for the first time and desperately trying to remember’ for students.” – Rebecca Pickavance [Source]

This is a great insight into what many students don’t understand about revision.

Revision isn’t cramming. Revision isn’t learning new stuff a night or two before a test. Revision isn’t picking up a few essentials so you can pass.

The main purpose of swotting up before exams is to remind yourself of what has gone before. You should already be familiar with the content. As you learn over time, links are made and learning takes place gradually. But some of your knowledge fades away as you spend time on other things.

Revision doesn't have to be stressful.

Revision doesn’t have to be stressful.

To get back to optimum understanding, you revise.

Revision is refreshment. You go over the learning you’ve already done and bring it back to the front of your thinking. You may not have mastered the subject back to front, but you have enough understanding to have clarity and confidence when you need to use what you have learned.

Think of it as switching on a set of lights. You don’t install the wiring and fit the bulbs every time. You’ve done the hard work once and you’re left with the simple task of switching the lights back on. You still have to get out of your seat and press the button, but that’s all. And with enough connections, you’ll only need one switch to turn all the lights on at once.

When you revise, how much is new to you? How much are you properly learning for the first time here? The less it is, the better.

Time to Back Up – Hard Drive Review

Good, you’ve pressed save.

But have you backed up?

Chances are you have some involvement with computers at some point in your uni experience. Even when you limit access to writing up coursework and doing detailed research, you probably have a desktop or laptop that gets some use.

If your computer’s hard drive failed one day and you had loads of important files on there that weren’t anywhere else, it’s game over. Everything gone.

That’s why stuff needs backing up.

Now, you can keep some of your data online through services like Dropbox. I use it for some files and it suits me well for certain tasks and backups. If you’re still not using Dropbox, sign up here and we’ll both get some extra space. Result!

I’ve only got 7 gig of space to use at the moment, so it’s limited to relatively small backups. Also, some people prefer a physical backup in their own hands for both safety and privacy reasons.

Enter the external hard drive. Lots of space, in your own hands, and as private as you wish to make it.

The people at Tesco Compare home insurance asked if I would like to review an external hard drive. Under the circumstances, I was happy to say yes to a review.

A black box. Nothing exciting to look at, but it's all about the treasures you keep backed up inside it.

A black box. Nothing exciting to look at, but it’s all about the treasures you keep backed up inside it.

The Seagate Expansion 1TB they sent is quiet and uncomplicated. It came with no software for making regular backups, so be aware if you want extra software as part of the package. For regular and automated backup sessions, you’ll have to provide your own methods. A good place to start is the consistently useful TechSupportAlert.

Shapes and Sizes

External drives come in portable and desktop flavours. Portable is smaller and doesn’t require a power socket as it runs off power from the USB cable. Desktop versions are larger and need plugging in to the wall. The desktop versions usually have a fan inside and are suited more to backing up your files, as they are less likely to overheat. The Seagate drive here is a desktop one, so let’s do a backup!

The device works in a simple plug and play job that takes no more than a couple of seconds to recognise and be ready to take on whatever files you want to throw at it. The drive wouldn’t provide an icon when I installed it, but that didn’t make a difference to the operation of the drive.

The Seagate I’m testing is a 1TB, but they come in capacities up to 4TB in size, in case you keep an insane number of large files.

Luckily, I don’t have a lot to store, so the 1TB is fine for me. And then some!

No frills doesn’t mean no value. What it means is easy use and easy access. I have used drives with software for security and one-touch backup and they come in useful for some situations. But when you just want to make sure your files are in more than one place and aren’t going to change all the time, a large amount of storage like this is great, especially as it’s USB 3.0, giving better speeds than previous USB 2.0 devices could. If you don’t have a USB 3.0 port, you won’t get the faster speed, but you can still use it in older USB ports.

Use and Never Use

I can’t comment on the life of this drive, but I’m not about to put it through a huge amount of use. Think of it as a drive you hope you’ll never need to seriously use. And if the worst does happen and your PC or laptop fails or gets destroyed in an unfortunate accident, you’ll be pleased you didn’t keep your head in the sand.

If you never need to use the drive, be thankful for that!

As a test, I transferred 327GB of data over to the drive, comprising mostly of photos in RAW and JPG formats. I also tested read and write speeds in CrystalDiskMark.

The 327GB transferred in 1 hour 6 minutes and 5 seconds. From comparative reviews of speeds when running at USB 3.0, this was pretty good. Given that this was a collection of photographs going back to around 2004, an hour of time is nothing for some extra peace of mind.

The benchmark testing was generally respectable. The CrystalDiskMark results (for those who like the numbers) are as follows:
CrystalDiskMark Test

Summing Up

Here are my general thoughts on the hard drive:

PROS

  • Plug and play, ready in seconds
  • Fast (especially if you have a USB 3.0 port available)
  • Quiet, no loud fan noises or clunky operation

CONS

  • No backup software with the device (although you may prefer to use your own choice of software or use nothing at all)

While I can’t vouch for its longevity, my oldest external hard drive is from Seagate too. A portable that I used to take around with me when travelling. It’s been going strong for years, with regular use. I’ve upgraded in the meantime, but I still use it for some older files and photos and it’s still whirring away like a champ.

All in all, if you’re looking for simplicity and pretty good speed for an external hard drive, the Seagate Expansion 1TB ticks those boxes.

Be safe. Press save AND back up.

What it means to work well on your own and as part of a team

“I work equally well on my own and as part of a team.”

This type of sentence features on so many CVs. If you haven’t used it yourself, I’m sure you’re aware of it. But what does the statement really mean? Is it simply a generic way of saying that you’re great in all working situations?

Working

Before going any further, the best way to demonstrate is to give examples and tell stories. Don’t just tell everyone you can do something. Go further. Prove it!

Before you do that, check out the following 8 ideas behind what it means to work well, no matter what your circumstances are. Work out what it means to have the ability at both ends and demonstrate how you achieved these things by using examples. Use the ideas below as a framework to your own stories.

  1. You understand different needs – Some tasks are all about YOU. The less you can bother others and interrupt their day, the better. Other tasks are joint efforts. The point is to include and to allow everyone a say. When you can comfortably assess what is required in each situation as it comes up, you’re moving towards great things.
  2. You know when to delegate – “If you want a job done well, do it yourself.” – This comment won’t win you a prize on a team effort. First, you’re (hopefully) not arrogant enough to think that you’re better than everybody else. Second, if you keep all the work to yourself on a joint task, you’re liable to burning out and not being appreciated by anyone else in the group. When you know how to work to your strengths and encourage others to work to theirs, that is a leadership quality right there.
  3. You can deal with many personalities – Working with others can be colourful at times. Rise above petty arguments, calm situations before they get heated, and happily handle difficult characters so that people want you on their side.
  4. You are self-starting when working alone and empathetic when working with others – The way you work as an individual is different to how you behave within a team. When you say you’re equally comfortable working on your own as you are with a group, that doesn’t mean you act in the same way. Far from it. It’s not about consistency, it’s about adapting to specific needs.
  5. You don’t always need your hand held – When you can be trusted to deliver without constant checking, you’re doing something right. People don’t want to have to chase you up every few minutes. They value a self-starting attitude that looks several steps ahead and predicts what people will want from a project.
  6. You stand out without relentlessly stamping your own brand on to everything – Teams may have a leader and that leader may not always be you. Can you deal with that? And when a team has no direct leader, would you rather take control or help everyone play to their strengths? If you’re an invisible leader who brings out the best in everyone without anyone noticing (perhaps not even yourself), then all the better.
  7. You acknowledge your weaknesses as well as your strengths – This helps you delegate where necessary, ask for help when needed, and show that you’re serious. Admitting you don’t know is not a weakness; acknowledging the weakness is a strength that can help you grow stronger each day. It’s easy to bluff your way through, but that doesn’t help anyone. At best, you’ll learn nothing and get away with a poor decision. At worst…well, all sorts can happen and it could impact more people than just yourself.
  8. You’re willing to engage, not argue – By accepting others and maintaining an open mind, there is no harm in questioning other people’s decisions, so long as you question your own and take on board anything that you hadn’t considered. When you realise that confirmation is a danger we all have to overcome, you’re in a much better position to fight it. You’ll be surprised at how freeing it can be to notice new things that have the power to change your view. Help others to realise that where you can. It’s difficult, but doable. Don’t let uphill struggles put you off!

After checking through this list, I’m sure you can think of some great examples from your own life to tell your story effectively. What stories are you going to tell?

How Will Students Live and Learn in the Future? #HEFutures

Last week, I attended the launch of “Living and Learning in 2034” [PDF] about the future of higher education. I was part of the project team, so I didn’t want to miss the event!

The report looks at how the student experience could change in coming years and considers the future wants and needs of students under a number of scenarios.

Visions of the future. Not quite like this... (photo by seemann)

Visions of the future. Not quite like this… (photo by seemann)

There was loads of great discussion on the night, including a great question and answer session that you can see highlights from below.

Student Living

Mark Allan, Chief Executive of UNITE Group, kicked off the evening by explaining why student living is at the heart of HE. Why not simply the student, as the government’s 2011 White Paper suggested? Because the experience is broad and all-embracing. Allan said that it’s important to try to understand and interpret future student interests, especially since students are not all the same.

While there is a current trend of seeing university as a necessity for employability and future success, that doesn’t mean everyone looks to higher education in this way. It also doesn’t mean the future will play out this way. However, this document does recognise current trends coming into play and uses them as a base (ten key trends are described in the report).

Study Patterns and Ethos

Paul Harris, Group Strategy and Commercial Director at UNITE, then talked about the prospect of new stakeholders making a huge impact on the higher education sector in coming years. It is not clear where that will take matters, he explained, because there are already fundamental uncertainties that will make an impact on HE futures.

He also questioned whether shorter and more intensive study patterns were on the horizon. Three year degrees may be the norm now, but shifting needs may speed development of 18-month and two-year courses.

Harris concluded with a strong point on ethos. While general attitudes within society are not always the most obvious consideration, they are a key issue that can make a huge impact, both nationally and globally.

We respond to each other and are aware of opinions that are forming. As such, a local economy could be booming or busting, but the final say on how that is perceived could be down to how the public react and respond to the circumstances. Even a bleak economic outlook can be played positively, so it would be wrong to ignore the ethos in society.

Ruled by Technology

One highlight from the event was one student’s dystopian vision of what could occur if technology pushed our minds (and our time) further away from our control. Does technology drive people or do people drive technology?

An abridged version of the student story can be found in the report. I told Cameron, the author, that I found his portrayal vivid and amusing. However, I continued, I’d stop laughing if his story became a reality.

Continue the Discussion

The end of the evening saw some brilliant questions from the floor. It helped the idea that the document is very much a living discussion. Among the questions and subsequent answers on the night were:

Might students in the future want to study in more than one place in the world?
Climate change may force people to stay closer to home in the future, forcing the hand on this one. But if travel continues to happen as it is, some students may prefer to get a range of experiences nationally and even around the globe. What we see as modular today may expand to single modules in several different institutions, but all part of a particular qualification.

Which scenario is currently most likely to play out?
We have no reliable crystal ball. Even as the report was being researched, opinions on the most likely scenario seemed to be changing. In addition, there’s nothing to say that different parts of the country could see different scenarios based on local circumstances.

These scenarios each impact attitudes to education and lifelong learning. Will universities plot out possibilities based on each scenario?
The hope is that the conversation will continue and expand. We must be prepared for many outcomes and it would not be sensible to assume a single course, no matter how obvious it appears to someone. Ignoring possible risks is a risk in itself.

Students discussing accommodation on TheStudentRoom focus very much on value for money and location. How will this change in the future, if at all?
If environment can bring more success, value will be drawn out and noticed. Success means different things and that can be drawn out from a person’s environment. That hasn’t been cracked yet in this country and there are many opportunities.
With £9k fees, students are now looking much more closely at what type of experience they want. Is it employer based, international, lifelong and learning focused, or something deliberately unique to a person? Universities in the United States are focusing on the student experience a great deal at the moment and some pointers could be taken from there. However, with spiralling costs, it is important to also be careful.

Your Thoughts?

A blog has been set up for the report, which will feature more ideas and content, over at hefutures.wordpress.com. There is already a graphic showcasing four of the possible students of the future.

What is your vision of the future? Leave a comment here or tweet your thoughts with the hashtag #HEFutures.