Typing this post as I am waiting for the blackbloard to submit my assessment result, again! As stinky as it is, Singapore Polytechnic’s E-learning E-stinking week is merely a typical “monkey see monkey do” thing. Its not practical as our campus infrastructure (physically & digitally) was never designed with the e-mode in mind. In fact it’s more of a rather “Frankenstein like” segmented array of new & old study blocks joined together with no main concept in mind. Despite the rather negative feed backs by students & lecturers alike, it’s still a green light to it this semester on the reknowned & country-wide debunked failed project. A classic attempt to mimick what schools in the US do.
👿 For example, modules like Pro-Engineer CAD requires students to use the facilities in school to work, so there is nothing much like out-of-campus e learning at all. Dinky heads, unless they are willing to sponsor $6000 worth of software to each student to do it at home, they did better reconsider their options. So we have to come down to school during the E-Week to get the assignment done anyway. But wait, we have to do it the “E-Way”, having to take the “E-bus” from our “E-home” working in the “E-classroom” within school for the “E-learning“, then break for “E-lunch” in the “E-foodcourt” & do our business in the “E-toilet“. We can’t talk to the teacher directly (yup) & we have to use “E-mail” or “E-chat” (which the latter can’t be used due to MSN messenger ports purposely being blocked in SP networks cus of “bandwidth hogs”) .
Well done SP! You scored another in the Books! Introducing a system is as good as introducing a whole set of problems with it. Lets see another few complain letters in the ST Forums just like the last time in a few weeks!
🙁 Its not uncommon opening up the blackboard & surf on my other browser tabs while it loads, only to check back the next 5mins to see that the blackboard is “STILL LOADING!” I mean hey, I had like 9 other active fast loading surfing tabs on Firefox, couldn’t be that slow right? Furthermore school sites always look screwy in firefox, so much for compatibility. But things ain’t any better in IE anyway…
💡 My recommendations before embarking on such E-projects is to at least have a basic infrastructure & concept & not merely a force from the directors directed from our principal down onto lecturers who have to come out with something for us to do during the week, (which is so unconventional) just for the stake of it. Moreover, we do not have an integrated school network, a global nightmare for students having different passwords for over 4 seperate school facilities. Not to mention with the lacking of Wi-Max (so regular network disconnects are common when moving around campus). The CIS must be pulling their hair out on the scheduled crashing & overloading of servers this week.
