Peter Kogan, Work-based Learning Advisor, School of Informatics
I’d never used a VLE before I joined City in 2004, so CitySpace was my first…VLE. I thought it was amazing in many ways, but mainly in that its accessibility and usability were infinitely superior to the SPIN (spreadsheet + Post-It Note) systems I had used in previous jobs. So my memories of CitySpace are formed mainly by a combination of the initial awe I had at its capabilities and its overall usefulness, more than the intermittent frustrations it offered. I got used to the Tuesday morning “”maintenance period” when the hamsters on the treadmill changed shifts. And the now-and-again-ish freezing of screen and loss of data. None of us is perfect.
In my opinion, CitySpace has played an enormous role in the practices and experience of students and staff in the School of Informatics. We will be using it until the last moment for our placement students who are finishing this summer. We have successfully used the gradebook as a database for these students and their work-based learning, as well as for placement assignments. Much of the current IT talent out there owes a thank you to CitySpace. And the ability to share some fields with students while hiding others is a function that Moodle hasn’t yet quite offered us – I’m sure it will. So CitySpace, thanks for the memories and for helping us do our work better.
