A Week Gone By...

Hello again!

So as you can see by the title of this post, I will be giving you an overview of the past week(since my last post).

The weekend went by and I was just busy working apart from Saturday which I had off for my friend's baby shower. It was so fun I've never been to one before so it was a nice experience.

Monday came quickly, I had been given a two week extension for my Children and Young People in the Digital Age formative deadline due to illness and bereavement which made my deadline for Monday just gone. I got everything submitted in time which was a bonus and I have also received my feedback from my lecturer.

For those of you that don't know what my 'Digital Age' assignments are here's a brief description... we have a 5000 word webfolio to produce and a presentation. The webfolio is made up of six tabs which are on a software called pebble, this is just where we store our work and where lecturers mark.

Here is a screenshot of the pebble page, as you can see the six tabs are Presentation, Learning Activities, Social Change, Literature Review, Digital Research and Risk.

The tabs I had to complete for my first submission date were Learning Activities which we did in class, Social Change which was a 300 word section and Literature Review, this is 1,500 on any chosen topic and it is also a first draft. On the far right are three tabs, the tick with the number 1 underneath is the feedback tab.



Here is a screenshot of the feedback tab, as you can see it shows I have one piece of feedback which is expected. I'm sure you can see the feedback is quite good, especially seeing as we have another formative deadline before the real thing.

Formative deadline: a deadline before the actual deadline to gain feedback to help better the final grade.

Personally I love formative deadlines because it means the more work you put in for the deadline, the more feedback you get and therefore more chance of getting the best grade possible.

So yeah, there's an insight into Digital Age seeing as that's been my main focus this week.

I also went out this week(Wednesday night is student night in Bedford) and it was such a good night, I haven't been out for a couple of months due to illness. It has been a fun week with friends and successful in terms of uni work so I'm very happy!

My other lectures went well, the usual.

Next week is going to be focused on Lifelong Curriculum and my first assignment as I will be handing that in next Friday(I had another two week extension). So I'll inform you all about this unit and what it entails.

The university offers extensions if you have appropriate mitigating circumstances which I haven't ever made use of until this year as my personal tutor advised it was needed. It is a really good scheme and has really helped me out.

Until next time

M

Undergraduate Year 2! First Blog Post(kind of)

Hello Everyone,


I'm Megan and I have been lucky enough to have been given the role of Education and Teaching blogger for the second year running.. YAY!


So I thought it would be best to start with an introductory post for those of you who need refreshing and those who are just starting to read.
A bit about me...


I am half way through my second year at The University of Bedfordshire and I am studying Education Studies. It is a three year long degree, which in my first year began with a huge spread of what Education Studies entails; history of education, inclusion in education, social constructions of education and finally, the young child in education. These units were fine, broad but fine for year one, however moving into year two I have seen a huge difference between being a first year and being a second year.


About my course...
I LOVE my course and I really enjoy studying at the uni, my second year has been so much better than my first for so many reasons.
Some of you may know the situation I was in first year, I didn't get on with my flatmates due to being singled out, I was so poor and just in general homesick. So now in my second year, I have moved back home and I commute to university three days of the week(which is when my lectures/seminars fall), I still socialise at uni as my friends are kind enough to let me crash at theirs for student nights and I am just overall enjoying the experience a whole lot more.


Why I chose Bedford?


I chose Bedfordshire for one main reason, it was close to home and after everything that happened I am so glad I did. I really liked the university itself but I probably wasn't ready to move away and that's why all I had in mind was being close to home.
Now that I'm settled at home I can appreciate the actual university so much more, the campus is great and so nice to study in. We've just had a new building open which is incredible, I can't wait to study in there in my breaks, and Bedfordshire is just a really nice place to study.


What I like most?


The people I've met and am still meeting. I have got a really great bunch of friends, most people chat on my course which is lovely. The choices I made this year. I got to choose two options myself this year and I chose Children and Young People in the Digital Age, which is SO interesting and the lecturers are so interesting. I really enjoy those lectures and am definitely going to take it again next year.
I also chose Lifelong Learning because I read it was the best option if you want to do a PGCE course after your degree finishes. This would have been ideal as that's what I thought I wanted to do but recently I have been researching and I think I've changed my mind(I mean recent, literally last and this week)! I won't reveal anything yet as I still need to meet with the careers team to make sure it's definitely possible. But, if you want to take a PGCE I would definitely recommend this unit.


What I'm looking forward to?


I got an A+ in my last exam which I am SOOOO proud of myself for, I was so over the moon. So as geeky as it sounds I think I'm looking forward to getting more grades back so I can see what I am on track to end the year on... I am also looking forward to a few nights out I have planned as I've had a long time off partying due to illness.


So, yeah there's a good update for you all. The posts will be EVERY Friday until the end of July!


M

Last Blog Post :(

Hello Everyone,

Yes, this is my last blog post of the year which is actually quite sad. I have enjoyed posting and reflecting back on the weeks gone by.
I do have some exciting news which is that I will hopefully be back next year! I'm over the moon about the fact that I could be carrying on my blog as I think it's such a benefit to both you all reading it, but also for myself too.

Readers are able to get a real inside scoop on what their university life will bring for them and even better if you're hoping to study teaching at the University of Bedfordshire! Those of you who are have been given a real good head start in a way as you know in some respects what to expect from your first year and I would love to be able to carry on and tell you all about how you second years will pan out.

I'd like to thank everyone who read any of my posts throughout the past year and also the people who gave me the opportunity to start this blog. It's been a great experience and I will hopefully get to speak to you all soon!

Good luck to everyone getting their results this month, I hope you all get what you achieve and maybe see those of you hoping to attend UoB next year!

Video blog of my year at the University of Bedfordshire

This post is going to be a video presentation showing an overview of my first year of university. I hope you all enjoy it!

Review of First Year from meganloveys1234

Birthday Celebrations and Another Holiday on the Cards?!

As you may have already guessed it was my birthday on Thursday! I had a wonderful day and got spoilt rotten! I have been celebrating, I went out last weekend and last night I went to BBQ with some uni friends which was nice to catch up and see them, it ended up to be a really good night!
I turned 19 which is a boring age I suppose, I had my big 18 last year which was a very big celebration and to be quite honest I didn't want to stop being 18 ha never mind!

Some more exciting summer news, my cousin and I might be booking a last minute holiday at the end of August. We had always planned to go away together and we both really want to go on holiday so fingers crossed that all comes together and we actually go!

I've started my reading for next year, and by started I mean very briefly, but still it's not just sitting there! I can't really give you an insight into what I'm going to be learning about be the books are about a lot of things. However, if I do get to study the two options I've picked I can tell you that I will not have any exams next year, well none that involve sitting in a cold hall for two hours writing non-stop and coming out with a cramped hand and a rumbling stomach... Yeah, none of that kind!
As you all know I've done that deliberately because I am the world's biggest exam hater and I can't bear to sit another endless exam next year, I'd much prefer to have coursework and assignments as it means I can work on them for a long period of time and don't have to use my useless memory to do well!

I hope all of your summers are going well, I bet you're all off on party holidays(I was in Magaluf this time last year) celebrating the end of A-Levels before you all separate and head to university for your new adventures!

Well, have fun doing whatever you're doing and I shall speak to you next week in my video blog... Exciting!!!

I can't wait for you all to see it, I've worked hard on it and hope you all enjoy watching something a bit different on my blog!

Speak to you next week!

I got a puppy!!

Yep, this is a picture of my new puppy, bit of a different way to start the blog this week! She is the cutest thing I think I have ever seen! Four days before my birthday as well, is there anything better?!

Add caption

At this point I am waiting on a lot of things. Timetable for next year, whether or not I've been given the choices I like and just an insight into what second year is going to bring!
I've got an update for you all this week;

• I am going to be posting my last ever blog post for the year on the 4th August 2014 so look out for that one.

I can't believe I've already finished my first year of university. It has gone so so quickly it's untrue I feel as though it's flown by and I can barely remember back to my moving in day...scary! 

Everyone always said uni goes quick but I guess you never really know exactly what somethings like until you try it! 

I'd like to encourage all of you to start your own blogs just for your own benefit as I have spent the day reading over all of my posts and it's so interesting to read back on, it's like a diary of my whole first year which is so interesting! 

If you enjoy writing and using your imaginations definitely give it a go and maybe this time next year you'll all be in my shoes reminiscing over your first years at university! 

Need to get motivated!!!

I have got plans to do some university work soon as I am feeling like I have neglected it a little up until now, so I shall tell you all about those!

Now, I don't want you all to think that I'm being lazy and not doing anything...I just haven't had time. We got our reading lists through for second year a couple of weeks back but I've barely had the time to even look at it I've been working so much! However, it's not as though I've left it months and months to start planning for my second year, I'm very dedicated to university and that is why I am working so much, so that I can save my money for petrol as I am commuting next year.

I got a new job about a month ago and even though it's only a small contract I have been given hours nearly every day which is great, I can't complain about extra money especially as I would hate to be sitting around at home all summer.

My plan is to get all of my reading done before I go back to university because we have been given the reading list for next year so I definitely think I should get a good head start and be ready for university this time. I honestly did not feel ready for uni last year and I don't know whether that's something that all freshers feel but anyway.. I did!
So, I'm going to get my head into the books and hopefully then I will feel ready to start my second year and as I have most probably mentioned before do better than I did last year, because although I was happy with my results last year I do still think if I hadn't been as wrapped up in nights out I would have done that bit better, even though they weren't every night I admit I got talked into going out sometimes when I really didn't want to!

I doubt you'll get to hear about what I'm going to by studying next year as I'm not sure if the blogging will be carrying on. I will let you all know as I would love to carry on posting as much for you guys as for myself.
At first I didn't think doing this blog would benefit me that much however, I was very wrong. As much as I hope it gives you all a good idea of university life and studying teaching etc, it allows me to reflect back on my weeks at university and I am really excited to finish my blogs for the year and then read back over them all, I have stopped myself from doing so and I have mainly been posting and not looking back because I want to leave it all for afterwards so I can look back and remember my first year.

I will let you know before I finish blogging if I will be carrying on next year, fingers crossed!

That's all for now, next week you will have my video post so look out for that!