The MGS Blog

Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Statista as a data source...

Note, I generally do not approve of the use of Statista as a data source. Statista is a data aggregator, not a primary source. It may be useful for identifying useful original sources but I do not regard it as an original source. 

To check if UCD has campus access (Campus License International).
Click on Login and select Campus Access, you then select "University College Dublin" from the box <Select your University>. Statista then logs you in automatically.

<from Statista's website>
On Campus
When you are on campus, and within the university network, https://www.statista.com/ will be available through an automated IP-activation which requires no further logging in.
Off Campus
If you want to have access to Statista off campus, from home, or a cafe, you can use Shibboleth Access or EZ Proxy. 
Use the dropdown box to check if your campus has Shibboleth Access:

DataCamp Projects

Complete the following learning goal "Introduction to DataCamp Projects".
This short introduction to DataCamp projects introduces you to Jupyter Notebooks. Notebooks are widely used and are a really handy way of playing with data, for organising and presenting research.

If you cannot find this activity, navigate via "Learn" > Projects > Introduction to DataCamp Projects (screenshot below).

Navigate to "Introduction to DataCamp Projects"




Monday, February 5, 2024

Group podcast activity

Group podcast activity

Sign-up to the "Peer Group Code of Conduct" (copies distributed in-class). You can also use this to record participation as needed.

The basics

To host a 20-40 minute podcast you will need to:

  1. Identify a guest to interview for the pod.
  2. Agree the scope: 6 questions.
  3. Arrange a date and time for the recording.
  4. Host and capture the recording.
  5. Edit and finish for the pod.
  6. Custom cover art, show notes (description), and announcement text.
  7. Polish the finished product and publish.

Note: Cover art requirement: "Podcast feeds contain artwork that is a minimum size of 1400 x 1400 pixels and a maximum size of 3000 x 3000 pixels, 72 dpi, in JPEG or PNG format with appropriate file extensions (.jpg, .png), and in the RGB colorspace. Aim not to exceed ~300KB size file."

In this example of a podcast cover-art file I deliberately included the dotted line as part of the art.

The live podcast format

Develop your own running order / show notes. The order of questions (and indicated responses) are merely a starting point. Include links to other material you might have referenced in the show or to point to additional content. Don't forget that the show notes will include acknowledgement for the music, images, clip art etc. (creator name url copyright/license).

The show notes / running order is merely a guide rather than a tight script and the show itself always takes its own course. Avoid reading word-for-word scripted responses - unless you have amazing voice acting skills it is nearly impossible to not to sound wooden. However the activity of preparing primes and enables you to engage nimbly with the flow of a discussion.

Your show-notes can be used to share links to online versions of visual elements, references to other material etc. For the final edited podcast, assume your audience is only able to listen to the audio file.


More tips:

What does the finished product look like?
Find inspiration in some of our other episodes on the Design Talk (dot IE) podcast.
Prep and activities:
Read, amend and sign the "Peer Group Code of Conduct" when your group is formed.
You should identify a guest to invite (let me know if you have ideas) but if you can't find a guest I'll help you to source one.
Arrange and coordinate the date/time and venue.
Up to two co-hosts assigned for the interview (review previous episodes to get a sense of the format).
Everyone to keep track of time, to prompt and track engagement during the conversation and to highlight comments or themes that arise on the group chat.
Each member to create their own edit, to edit the mp3 file down to a compact lively podcast with intro/outro etc. using Audacity.
Each member to create a podcast cover art version for the episode.