CST 300 - Week 2

 Part 1: Learning Strategy

When it comes to effective study skills, the top three things that I do well are setting a schedule, taking notes while reading in a notebook, and setting a space for studying. I keep a Google Sheet to help set a schedule for the tasks I want to complete each day. I take notes in a notebook while reading or watching lecture videos to make sure I grasp the topic of the material. I also have the luxury of having an office space that I work in so that I am not distracted by others. The three areas I need to work on are reading aloud to myself, gathering materials before I write, and keeping a quiet study space. I tend to read aloud to myself when I do not understand something I am reading. It does take longer to read, but it is beneficial for me to understand the topic. I also tend to overthink the sources and materials that I need to write an essay. I get in my head a lot and it takes me longer to start. When we wrote the outline of the essay, I had trouble deciding on sources and starting the essay as I kept changing the sentence structure of each sentence. In addition, I also listen to music loudly. I could try to give silence a try. 

Part 2: Time Management Skills

Below is a schedule that I have planned for this upcoming week as well as how my time is scheduled for yesterday and today. 

Part 3: Project Management Basics

This week we had to watch three videos regarding Project Mangament. Project management is a temporary project created by a team. Their goal is to bring an idea to life so that the product can be produced, making it an operation. In order for this to happen successfully, a skilled project manager is needed. Having a project manager can determine if a project is successful. They possess six main strengths: Leadership, Communication, Information Technology, Accounting, Purchasing, and Problem-Solving. In addition to a strong project manager, creating a Work Breakdown Structure (WBD) is also needed. By creating a WBS, teams are able to see the whole scope of the project and tackle different areas of work to get the job done. The project is broken down into phases, deliverables, or subprojects. From there, each part is broken down until the work packages that need to be completed are visible to the team members. From there tasks are delegated, with the scope in mind, so that each member is on the same page. Teams can support their WBS by using a Gantt chart, which is a timeline of elements involved in the project. This chart will help the team know their deadlines and the expectations of the work that needs to be completed. It also makes notes of tasks that need to be completed before another begins and how long each task will take to complete. Being able to complete a WBS and Gantt chart along with a skilled project manager can get a project approved and created in an efficient manner. 

Part 4: Capstone Review

After reviewing the CSUMB Computer Science Capstone Projects 2020, there were three specific capstones that stood out to me.

 The first capstone that stood out to me was Mirrored Fantasy by Andrew Bell. This project is a ompetitive Multiplayer Online Battle Area which is played on a website. It involves web development, networking, and game design. This presentation really stood out to me due to the research done on other mobile games. It was designed to stray away from the popular MOBA today. It was great to see how the game was developed on the front end and back end. Andrew mentioned that he could have improved the communication between the client and the server. It would be great to see this game in its completion. The presentation was detailed in the development of the game as well as the challenges that came about while developing. 

The second capstone I found interesting is Culture Connect by George Blombach (2:11:06 on CSUMB Fall 2020 Capstone video). This project is an app that allows users to find cultural and historical interests. The presentation starts off by identifying the obstacles with current apps, such as Google Maps, that allow a user to search for a cultural or historical point. It is very similar to the framework of Google Maps and uses a Google API. His app has options for users to search such as forests, landmarks, and beaches, giving users more options to choose from with a greater search radius. His presentation was very detailed and well done. His passion for this topic shows in the presentation. 

The third capstone I viewed was Stuff Ride by Christopher Caldwell (1:55:13 on CSUMB Fall 2020 Capstone video). This capstone is a mobile web app that helps people find other people who can help transport large items from one place to another. Christopher used his own personal experience to introduce how his app can help people who buy and sell large items. This app has a rating system for users as well as a delivery tracker. He was descriptive about what services were used for his app (here for distance tracker, docker for development and production servers, etc.) and how he tested his app with an automated browser test. His presentation was great as he gave good reasons as to why his app is relevant and made reference to his personal experience. I hoped that he would have gone more into the workings of the app on the backend instead of listing them on one slide. 

Part 5: Weekly Summary - Lecture and OLI

This week our lecture consisted of three videos. The first video titled "The future is faster than you think", describes how quickly technology is changing. Peter Diamandis, co-founder & chairman of Singular University, describes 7 aspects of our world that contribute to how fast our world is changing: Computational Abundance, Time Abundance, Captial Abundance, Deomitization of Technology, Communications Abundance, Increasing Genius, and Increasing Lifespan. With the technology we have today, we are quickly growing and evolving in our society. The computational power we have saves us time to work on improving areas of our lives that matter. More and more companies are investing in ideas now more than ever to be a part of the next best thing. With technology and communication accessible to everyone, more people are able to share and work with others without being in the same room. We are currently set up to change our society at a rapid rate. In addition to the video, we were also given an article to read titled "Software Engineering Trends for 2023". This article describes upcoming trends in technology such as AI products and popular computing languages such as JavaScript & Python. The last video describes product management (summarized earlier in this week's post). All three items from this week's lecture support each other in where we are now with technology. We have the ability to grow rapidly in society with technology, especially with AI. In order for this rapid change to happen, we need to have skilled project managers to allow those products to come to life. Poor skills in project management could mean a delay in products that can continue to shape our world. 

The last item to be summarized is OLI Module 2. In this module, we learned about what makes a team perform well. As a team, it is important to create an environment where everyone is respected equally. This includes equal representation in group discussions as well as team norms. It is also important that we are socially aware of how others are feeling in a group. We want to create productive meetings, which means we need to focus on building trust and community within our group. This will make a big difference in the support each member will receive and the productivity of the group overall.