This seminar is timetabled for Room 204 in the Senate building - which has only recently been turned into a classroom. For the first few weeks the activity was a game, discussion or case study and instead of using the classroom, we used the comfortable seating area outside - a relaxed yet private space for discussion.
For the last 3 weeks though, I needed to use the PC/Projector. The first week there was a mobile projector and laptop, projecting onto a damaged whiteboard, and the projector had lost it's red pin so showed everything with a green hue. The second week, someone had also written on the whiteboard and not cleaned it (there was no eraser, I had to go and get toilet paper to try and clean it up) the projector still shone green, I rang IT support beforehand... they couldn't fix the colour problem.
This week I was due to run a mock test ahead of this group's Multi Choice Test next week. I had a powerpoint presentation with just the answers on, and also a folder with the register, and the question paper.
I arrived 15 minutes early. When I walked in I saw that the laptop was unplugged and there was a spaghetti of cables on the table, also the projector and OHP were jumbled up at the front - looked like a dumping ground. I also noted that an IAW had been installed. As it was nearly 5pm and IT finishes at 5, I called the helpdesk, concerned that it was not connected. The Tech arrived and we established that the new lectern had not been networked in, so I could not get at the test (on the central directory). At this point I also noticed that I had picked up the wrong file and did not have the register or the test with me!
This was a really bad situation. The students were all waiting. If they didn't get their mock test they might be disadvantaged in their MCT. If I went back to Cottesbrooke I would have wasted another 20 minutes.. I called Gil and Grant to try and get them to email the test to my iPhone, hoping I could read the questions off it.
Luckily the Tech managed wire up the lectern, I managed to log on, and figured out I could hack my Uni mail account via the internet. I managed to open the document and quickly save a version without the answers showing and used this with the students.
They never knew how close they were to a screw up and the session went well.
Lessons learned: - when traipsing over to Senate or the Mobiles be ABSOLUTELY SURE that I have the right materials with me, also hard copies and any vital files on memory stick.
Upside: so relieved I was able to think straight enough to log on to the email over internet.
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