Preparing for TM470

Well it's almost that time again; new year new module! This will be my penultimate module of my degree!! This one's rather different to my previous modules as there's next to no learning materials since it's an individual project on a subject of your choosing.

Preparing for this project is proving more difficult than usual. Not only am I fighting another decline in health (after a period of improvement it's plummeted again!) but due to the nature of this module and a change in household routine since I last studied it's proving hard to know where to start.

I've started reading through the resources provided on the module website and have come up with one project idea I think could be viable. The problem is I can't start on that project until I get the go ahead from my tutor, who isn't assigned until the last week of January so what do I do in the meantime?

I've been trying to come up with alternative project ideas, just in case this one isn't actually possible but so far I've been unsuccessful. I bet once I start the module and get stuck into the project I'll see potential project ideas everywhere! But for now I'm struggling rooting around looking for problems which I.T has the potential to solve and I have enough knowledge of and interest in to make a project.

Without developing my project idea too far I'm trying to get as prepared as possible. I've installed a program, recommended to me by the forum moderator of TM470, which could help me if I go ahead with the project idea I have. I'm hoping in the coming days I can have a play and get to know how to use it so I haven't got that steep learning curve during my project.

I've also made a note of all the key dates in my diary and on my calendars (both electronic and paper) so anything else can be planned around those. I'm planning on researching Project Life Cycle Models as one of these will need to be used whatever project I do and despite reading through the resources provided by the module I'm still at a loss as to the benefits of each one and how they work.

I'm setting up my android tablet to help with studying and planning. Mind mapping, referencing and note taking apps have been installed and I'm slowly learning how to use them. The ones which also have desktop applications and synchronise between devices will probably be the most useful but I won't make that judgement until I really start using them!

As part of the project you're encouraged to keep a project log. This is another thing I'm not sure where to start with but I have a diary dedicated to study related things so it might get kept in there. But I also hope to keep some kind of record on this blog as I progress through the course. We'll just have to see how much time and energy I have to dedicate to it!