Welcome to the Wagga Information Communication Technology (ICT) department. The following information is very important and will help you to get started in your course. Please take the time to read through this information carefully and ask questions if you need any further information.

Our courses provide excellent pathways to exciting careers and we are confident that you will enjoy the challenge of studying in the Wagga Information Communication Technology (ICT) department.

Staff

Head Teacher:

George Holt

6938 1290

george.holt@tafensw.edu.au

Full Time Teachers:

Dan Winson	6938 1285	daniel.winson@tafensw.edu.au
Rod Owen	6938 1287	rodney.owen@tafensw.edu.au

Part Time Teachers:

Ian Carruthers	6938 1283	ian.carruthers@tafensw.edu.au
Grant Higginson	6938 1283	grant.higginson1@det.nsw.edu.au
Casey Callander	6938 1283	casey.callander@det.nsw.edu.au
Nathan Carroll	6938 1283	nathan.carroll5@tafensw.edu.au

IT Support:

Damian Cross

6938 1284

damian.cross1@tafensw.edu.au

Contents

Evacuation:

Safety Procedures:

Essential Links:

Expectations of Students

Essential tools for students

Study Hints

Course structure, planning and assessment

Appendix A – Campus Map

Appendix B – Evacuation Plan

Evacuation:

In the event of an emergency in or near the ICT Department in D Block you will be guided to the nearest safe exit by your teacher, the class group must remain together under the direction of their teacher for the duration of the evacuation procedure. You are to leave the building in an orderly fashion using the stairs and assemble in the designated area. Under no circumstance is the lift to be used during an emergency for any reason; this includes those with disabilities. Evacuation plans are displayed on the back of doors in the Computer Lab, Classrooms and at the back of this guide in appendix B. Exit points from the building are clearly marked and if your teacher is not available you are to exit via these points.

The evacuation assembly point for the ICT department and D block is the car park on Coleman St in front of the High school sports oval.

Safety Procedures:

Students should use care when using all TAFE equipment and facilities.

Ergonomic chairs and tables should be adjusted for comfortable and safe use.
All electrical equipment should be used carefully and safely, consult with your teacher before using any electrical equipment to ensure you understand its safe use.

Student Services:

TAFE NSW provides support services to students. Enquiries can be directed to your teacher/assessor, administration support or directly to the service provider.

Library: Located upstairs in K Block. http://www.rit.tafensw.edu.au/library/)
Counsellor’s Office: Located upstairs in K Block (http://www.rit.tafensw.edu.au/counselling/)
Student Services Officer: Located downstairs in K Block (http://www.rit.tafensw.edu.au/studentservices/)
Co-op bookshop: Located downstairs in K Block. http://www.rit.tafensw.edu.au/studentassociation/bookshops
Canteen: Located downstairs in K Block, also contains a public phone, drink and snack machines, hot water point, ping pong tables and microwave
Drink and Snack Machines: Level 1 D block
Student administration and cashier: located in the foyer on the ground floor of A Block fronting onto Macleay St.

Please see appendix A for a campus map.

On-Campus restaurant: Students may be able to purchase food cooked by hospitality students from the on-campus restaurant located on the ground floor in D-Block usually for $1-$4. Entry is via the service entrance located in the hallway closest to the back of the building. Please be courteous to hospitality staff while in this section and DO NOT enter the kitchen area under any circumstances – please wait patiently near the cash register and staff will serve you as soon as they are able.

Computer and Internet Access: Students are required to use all equipment and furniture in an safe manner. This includes connecting personal equipment to power and adjusting chairs and tables for comfortable use. Students should ask staff for advice before proceeding.

All students, new and returning, need to fill in a form requesting access to WAGGIT before access to the system will be granted. A copy will be returned for your reference.

Students will have user accounts with passwords.

A DEC username and password for accessing the internet as well as any computers outside of the ICT department. This DEC username and password will be provided to you at enrolment. Your DEC username and password is used to access the Internet and also the Moodle learning Management system. Please ask student administration or your teacher if you have any concerns or if you need your password reset.
A WAGGIT username and password for logging onto the computers in Bays inside the ICT department within the main computer barn (D2.13) only, Waggit may also be accessed wirelessly. This is a network which students use for their course work and research. WAGGIT usernames match DEC usernames in the following format: <first name>.<lastname> (EG – joe.bloggs) .
Note: students will need to manually update their WAGGIT password to match the DEC password.
Students are not to store their work on the local hard drives; a network Home Folder (U:\ via Windows Explorer) is provided as a courtesy to students for the storage of their work. Students must backup their own files on a regular basis to an external device. Eg. USB drive or ext HDD. Students files are their own responsibility.
Students studying IT Support or Networking in the IT Bays and the Networking lab will have other usernames and passwords for their computers giving them special privileges to install and maintain computer systems within the networking bays only.

Training Lab Equipment:

Certain equipment is marked with a yellow special label (See below). This equipment has been designated as “Training Lab Equipment” and designed to be used in the student Lab areas located in the Networking Bays. These machines may be modified for class use (at the direction of the teacher). Workstations without the yellow sticker below are not lab equipment and ARE NOT to be opened or physically modified for any reason. This also includes monitors, keyboards and other associated peripherals.

Essential Links:

http://learn.rit.tafensw.edu.au/ - Moodle - Online Learning Management System(LMS). Moodle is an online tool available to all students. It contains learning resources, activities and assessments for courses.

http://www.rit.tafensw.edu.au/ - Riverina Institute webpage. Contains detailed information on the Riverina Institute and its campuses. Provides course information and links to enrol in courses online.

http://ict-wagga.riverinainstitute.wikispaces.net/ - ICT Departments wiki with departmental and course information.

https://portal.det.nsw.edu.au – Provides filtered and authenticated access internet resources for students. Provides common links as well as an email account.

Expectations of Students

Students Rights and Responsibilities
When you complete your enrolment you agree to abide by the regulations relevant to TAFE NSW and declare that the information you supplied is true and correct.

TAFE NSW provides all students with the opportunity to study, learn and develop skills in a safe and healthy adult educational and social environment. http://www.rit.tafensw.edu.au/student/rightsresponse

Due Dates: Complete activities and assessment tasks by the due dates assigned by your assessor. Extensions must be applied for prior to the due date to be considered. Late submission without prior approval will result in an Event Fail or Penalty.

Personal Presentation: Because the Information Technology, Digital Media and Graphic design industries are professional industries you will be expected to present yourselves in a professional manner. Students are expected to attend classes clean and neatly attired.

It is mandatory to wear closed in shoes (for OHS reasons), open toed shoes including sandals and thongs are not acceptable. The following clothing is not considered to be acceptable; football shorts, tank tops, tee shirts that have offensive graphics or slogans on them, jeans with holes or clothing that is in a generally run down or in an unwashed state. The following attire is not permitted at any time; caps, sunglasses, except where medical exemption is given. Proof may be asked for if you require this.

Punctuality: It is expected that students arrive to class on time and not leave until the class is completed, unless special permission is granted before commencement of the class. All attendances are recorded by your teacher including arrival and departure times.

Non attendance: We request that students phone in or send a message via email or SMS if unable to attend classes. It is in your best interest to do this, as all attendances and absences are recorded in the roll.

Mobile Phones: Should be turned OFF during class times. If you have a requirement to accept a call during class times, organise it with your teacher before class starts and have the phone set to silent/ vibrate. Please take the call outside of the computer lab area (foyer near main entrance or stairwell near the mac lab).

Food and Drink: Are NOT allowed in either of the theory rooms D2.03, D2.04 or in the Computer Lab D2.13 and D2.18. You are permitted to eat and drink in the foyer area. If you enjoy chewing gum place it in the bin when you are finished with it, the bottom of the desk is not a gum receptacle.

Computer Lab opening hours: The computer lab is open during scheduled class times, from 9:00am to 10:00pm most days; however the lab may be closed for a period between 3:30pm and 5:30pm depending on staff availability. If there are staff members present outside your class times, eg night classes, you may be allowed (space permitting) to use the facilities. You must enter your name and class in the ‘Visitor’s Log’ book. It is only necessary to sign in when you are using the facility outside your normal class hours.

Printing: Only class assignments and exercises should be sent to the printers. Print previews should be performed on screen and only the final copy sent to the printer. Please help us to use our resources efficiently and minimise wastage. Print monitoring software is in place to identify over use and abuse of the system.

Tech Support Office: This is a Staff Only area. The Tech Support Officer provides technical assistance to classes and teachers. Due to the limited time available it is important that you recognise that:

· where possible requests should be made in advance so that jobs can be scheduled ahead.

· the Tech Officer cannot help students with any personal computing problems.

Noise: The computer lab is a shared work environment and can become noisy when a large number of students are present. You should keep your noise down as much as is practically possible at the direction of your teacher. If students wish to use sound or listen to music on their computers they MUST provide earphones. If your music is able to be heard by other students or teachers you will be asked to turn it off.

Course Related Charge (CRC): The Course Related Charge (CRC) for your course pays for the consumables and some equipment that your class uses. This fee should be paid before the end of the first week.

Distance Education and Students studying flexibly

The ICT Department has a wide variety of distance education and flexible options for its students. It is common that distance education students will come to our campus and the induction is important to all our students. In addition to the above expectations students should:

maintain regular contact with your assessor via email or a general discussion forum
take part in regular forum discussions
use Moodle as the only recognised form of assessment submission. All assessment tasks and activities must be completed and submitted via Moodle - not email. If you need help with this, contact your assessor.
utilise all provided resources including essential reading for activities and final knowledge tests. You are also encouraged to conduct your own research in addition the resources supplied.

Essential tools for students

These are a few handy hints on what items every student needs to study:

Many courses will have a required or recommended textbook
Earbuds or headphones for listening to audio files
USB drive or external hard disk drive. Students are responsible for maintaining and backing up your own files
A book to take notes and pens and pencils. Yes even in out “techy” clever world productive people still take notes and sketch out their ideas. An A4 spiral bound Lecture book works well.
A bag of some kind to carry and organise your books
A filing system to keep your study space at home or work organised. Even better find a bag that has partitions so you can be mobile with your filing system.
A diary to record due dates and plan your time. Many students are opting to use online diary systems but whatever method you choose you must have the ability to plan ahead and meet due dates.

Online tools

Diigo – www.diigo.com this site will help you to manage all of your bookmarks and links no matter where you go.
Online dictionaries and encyclopedias

Study Hints

Use Moodle and your teachers wiki or web sites to keep up to date.
Use an RSS reader or alerts to track when webpages have been updated.
Ask your teachers good specific questions
Form study groups with other students so you can support each other.
Take notes – experiment with different note taking styles to find one that works for you. Eg mind mapping
Read back over your notes as soon as possible after your class
Use the 5x5x24 memory technique – Practice a new skill 5 times within 5 minutes of first being shown the new skill. Practice 5 times again within the next 24hrs. The improvement to your long term memory is huge.
If possible come to TAFE and study here – You will have less distractions and you have access to the same facilities you use in class.(depends on availability of computers and rooms)
Analyse your study time to see how you are yielding as a percentage – ie: effective study time/time spent trying to study
Use a video camera or an MP3 recorder to record notes and discussions from class. You can even record your own summaries from your text or notes.
Take photos to keep notes eg. Whiteboards, error messages etc
Eat good healthy food and remember you need to allow time to have FUN and get exercise. You have to find a balance in life that works for you.

Course structure, planning and assessment

The structure and delivery of your course is outlined in the following documents that are stored in your Course Moodle. Moodle is an online learning management system. http://learnonline.rit.tafensw.edu.au

Course student assessment guide(SAG) – Describes the structure of the course and the core and elective units that comprise it.
Course timetable – shows the units that have been selected for your course, the name of your teacher(s), the days of study and the start and finish dates.
Pre-Course survey – Students will be asked to complete an electronic survey about their needs, motivations and skills. This will help us to plan and support you in your learning.
Course survey(s) – Students will be asked to complete electronic surveys that will help us to analyse our courses and plan for supporting our students in their learning. This is an important opportunity for students to provide their opinion on the course and how it is delivered.
Student Training plan – is a template document that students will manage to enable them to plan their study time and commitments. This will become a very detailed plan that shows tasks, resources and due dates.
Assessments: Are to be submitted as requested by your teachers. No late work will be accepted without prior arrangement. A ‘Request for Assessment Extension’ MUST be completed at least one week prior to the due date if an assignment is going to be late.
Late work without an extension being granted may attract a penalty or an Event Fail.
Assessment Plans – show the key elements and performance criteria of the unit(s) and how you will be assessed.