Task 3: Similarities and differences. Process comparison.

Kristo's process

Kristo has used a very clean cut approach to describe the process of creating his study plan. It's basically a visualization of the curriculum functionality. Activities related to personal life (e.g. work, hobbies, other commitments), have not been taken into account.

On the plus side, this is what the process of creating a study plan, should look like. If a person is not engaged with work or family matters, he/she has the ability to create a study plan according to the perfect scenario and this is it. On the minus side, this is usually not the case with master's students. Most of us/them have daily commitments (be it a child, a day job or even both).

The process visualization can be viewed here:

http://waher.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/planning.jpg

Maarja's process

Maarja has described her studyplan creation process in great detail. On the plus side, her approach is very focused on her person and her needs. Her process is a very good example of personal time management. On the minus side, it's not universal. The process can be used as a guideline, but the outcome will be different for every person.

The level on detail regarding the process of creating a study plan, is satisfactory. It takes into account small things like color coding and large things like the curriculum. What it (the visualization) lacks, is the description of other commitments (e.g. work, family).

The process visualization can be viewed here: http://maarjapajusalu.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/task2.png

Maibritt's process

I love the fact that Maibritt has it all figured out (in great detail). She has an overview about how she's bound to spend most of her weeks/days/hours. Maibritt also has to take into account other variables aside from school (e.g. work and family). On the plus side, she has described all her variables. On the minus side, her decision making process seems a bit vague and hard to understand.

The process visualization can be viewed here: http://maibrittk.blogspot.com/2010/10/new-interactive-environments-task-two.html

Norbert's process

Norbert's process is probably the one I can relate to. He has to take into account the same variables as I do (work, family, hobbies etc). The process description is fairly similar to the one I've described in my weblog. On the plus side, it's nice to see that there are other's who prefer the macro view of things regarding time management. On the minus side, this example lacks visualization. Not that it's necessary, but it would have been interesting to compare Norbert's process to mine.

Gert's process

Most of the participants have used a mindmap of some sort to describe show that "these things are connected" and "I make a decision based on these criteria" (as did I). What I really liked about Gert's process descripton, was the fact that he broke it all down to factors and priorities. It's a very clear way of expressing all the variables that need to be taken into account while creating one's study plan. The next step would have been to explain the personal priorities and how they affect the choices at hand. The level of detail may have been a bit greater, but other than that, it's very neat process description visualization.

The process visualization can be viewed here: http://zavatski.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/image3.png

Conclusion

After reading all the different process descriptions and looking at various process visualizations, I started noticing the things my initial mindmap was lacking. For example, I do describe priorities, but I don't name them clearly. Also, my process is considering the macro view with not enough focus on "how I decide which courses to choose." In conclusion, I've received a few great ideas on how to improve my mindmap and plan my activities more efficiently. I really liked that a lot of the participants used a structured approach (e.g. a mindmap or other visualization).