Today I have been asked to take part in an online chat session with students from Aberdeen College. The purpose of this activity is to inform them about life at DoJ, and most importantly the transition between college and university. As a direct entry student to the course I have previously completed my HNC and HND in Visual Communication at college. The years I spent at college were very enjoyable and I think they really helped me to develop a wide range of skills. The briefs we were given covered various topics including web design, typography and digital imaging. And even though there are times I feel that I have missed out on learning other disciplines by not completing the General Course I am pleased I have this background knowledge as I have found the assignments this year easier to tackle.
Graphic Design is a big part of my life now but just a few years ago, whilst I was at High School, I had no idea what it even was. The students I will be talking to today will know lots about Graphic Design but I think its a great chance to give them a little more information about the DoJ course. It is true that they could read up on the course structure, teaching methods and special features in a prospectus but would they ever know what the briefs were? Would they know what the night life is really like? Would they believe that all the student accommodation is as lovely as the photographs shown on the resident pages?
I never had a chance to take part in a web discussion like this but I think I would have benefitted from the knowledge current students can share. Even though I am enjoying the course, it is very different to college and to be honest I didn't expect this. I have had to adapt to a new way of teaching, a new way of researching and a very different approach to final products. Knowing this prior to starting University would perhaps have made the change over slightly easier.
Not only is this a good idea for college students I think it could be used for high school pupils also. Going back to the comment I made about not knowing what Graphic Design was; I was in sixth year trying to decide what to do with the rest of my life. On an open day to DoJ i was shown around the general course and instantly presumed that you had to be good at drawing. I wasn't terrible but the standards of my work didn't even compare to the portfolios that were on show. So I decided to go of in another direction, needless to say I quit and made my way here! But I wonder if I had been shown around the whole of DoJ that day would I have applied? If I had the chance to speak to students online would I know more about the options I had? Would I have applied to University after high school rather then working for a year pondering what to do? What do you think? If you had the opportunity to take part in an online chat would you log on? Or do you think its a waste of time?
I think it is good that schools are getting the chance to gain knowledge of what a course is at university especially in an area where they know very little about, my school never did anything like that, well not that I am aware but think that if they want to know about it and can speak to someone on the course without having to travel a great distance then an online chat with a student is a good way to speak to someone in the know.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to Dundee College tomorrow to talk about exactly the same thing! Hopefully will be useful. Well done, Karen
ReplyDeleteBefore applying I would have loved to know what the course was like. I didn't know much atal and I even came from the General course.
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