Post Ten

Learning Module 6 Blog Post

This is an Audioboo I made for Learning Journal Six.

listen to ‘Learning Journal 6’ on Audioboo

Website Created Using Google Sites

Here's a link to a website I created for class. It is about web accessibility.

https://sites.google.com/site/dig110batleywebaccessibility/

Steve Jobs Animoto

I created this Animoto video of Steve Jobs for Web Lab 13.
I also plan to use it in my final project.

Post Seven

Learning Module 5 Blog Post

This learning module really got us into learning about some Web 2.0 tools that don't seem as mainstream and included things I never heard of or even knew existed. We began by discussing how images can be so important on the Web. I never really thought about this before. I always appreciated a good picture, and really believed pictures can say so much about practically anything in life. But I never thought about how every single image on the Web is so crucial to the Web's existence. Image the internet without pictures. Every single screen would be plain text- simple, boring, and uninteresting. Pictures help to enhance the web! they make it a much better place for people to share ideas, communicate, and collaborate. For instance, when you go to Yahoo.com or Roadrunner.com (to name a few) the first thing you are hit with is a picture about something that is happening in the news. That picture leads into a headline. People are naturally visual learners. Pictures mean to much so our society, and ever since the first camera was invented, people have been obsessed with taking pictures! We take pictures of everything. We document every part of our lives. These pictures are so important and the fact that we are now able to share all of our pictures on the web, it offers a connection with others that words alone cannot provide.

That is why optimizing images for the web is very important. You want your image to be displayed correctly so that people can not only enjoy, but understand what you are trying to convey with the presentation of your image. Whether in be a news article, blog, social networking site, or a web page for a business, your images have to work properly with the layout you have created. A great tool we learned about in class to edit and optimize photos is called webresizer.com. It allows you to edit, crop, and optimize images so you not only can have the perfect image for your page, but also have it use far less memory data. This can be crucial when using could computing where you are only provided a certain amount of free cloud storage.

Optimizing these images led into the use of another really cool Web 2.0 tool I had no idea existed. It is a website called Kizoa.com and it allows you to create free slide shows to share on your blogs, social-networking pages, and websites. As a class, we took our knowledge of optimizing images, and applied it to a project using Kizoa.com. We created our very own slide shows using a combination of music, effects, and optimized web images. This project was definitely really cool and fun and I love how one thing we learn in this class leads into the next. From day one, everything we have learned is still being applied in new and different ways. In other classes, you learn one chapter at a time and it seems that the next chapter has no associations with the previous ones. Not in the case of this class. Everything we learn falls back on the foundations we learned even from the very first learning module. That is what I would consider true learning, not just memorization.

The third project we did was really fun as well. We made an avatar using Voki.com. I've seen these avatars all over the Web before and I wondered where they came from. It's cool knowing that I can make an avatar myself and have it say whatever I need it to.

This module was really great because in the end, all of the resources we learned could be tied together. To use a hypothetical senario, say you wanted to make a website for your business. People don't want to spend much time sifting through text to find information. Instead, use pictures to showcase different areas of your website combined with small text boxes with short and easy-to-access information. This makes your website more enjoyable for everyone. Now, to get those images exactly how you want them, you need to optimize them. You can do this by using webresizer.com. Next, you can create a slideshow for your website showcasing your business, perhaps including photos of store locations, interior design, and the products you provide. It is much more fun and easy to watch a video showcasing products rather than to read a list of products. You can create this slideshow using Kizoa.com. Finally, want to make the website even easier for people to navigate through? Create an avatar! The avatars we created in class were basic ones, but you can go as far as to create avatars that can answer questions, and even set up a live chat between customers and business professionals. All of these things are a great way to expand a business.

Now, I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with the rest of my life. I don't know what career I'll have. I'm not even sure what I'm going to major in when I transfer to a new school. One thing I do know though is that learning these tools in this class have helped to prepare me for the future. One day everything will be online, and knowing how to use these tools to my advantage, no matter what field of study I go into, will be a crucial element in my education and success.

P.S. I would also like to touch on the Facebook discussion we had for this module. I was amazed at the wide spread of people who do so many different things when it comes to accessing music. I was almost sure MOST people would illegally download music. I though almost everyone did it. It was interesting to see that it was almost a 50/50 spread between people who use the internet for most of their music and people who still buy CDs and listen to the radio. I was also pretty shocked that less people downloaded music illegally than I expected. Maybe this is because it is becoming harder to access free music online and less people want to take the risk. Maybe the risk is no longer worth the reward. But as long as there will be music, I believe there will be people who want to share it for free. To say what is right or wrong isn't my place, really. All I can do is make my own personal decision and hope it is the best one.

My Voki

Here is the Voki I created for Web Lab 12

Slide Show

So I made this slide show using Kizoa. The pictures are of my favorite band, Slow Club. Sadly, they are from Sheffield, England and aren't very mainstream so my chances of seeing them live are pretty slim. They have come to the States before though and if they ever come again I plan on taking a trip to see them. They really are incredible musicians.

Slow Club SlideShow - picture slideshow

Post Four

Learning Module 4 Blog Post

Learning module four only had a few assignments, but each of the assignments were really fun, interactive, and allowed us to be creative. All of the students in the Web Technology class, including on-campus and online students, came together to share ideas on tools that could be used in future semesters of the class. I really liked that each of us were able to share our opinions on what aspects of the class we liked, and also suggest new ideas to be used in future classes. We did all of this through Google Docs, a web tool we learned about earlier in the semester. After learning all about Google Docs and what it is capable of, it was really awesome to see it put to use, allowing every student to contribute to a page that, in the end, was full of new and smart ideas. I also liked the fact that this assignment allowed us to choose what we liked best out of the course, and also be creative by challenging us to think of new ideas for future classes.

The second project we did was by far one of the most fun projects I've done for a college class. A lot of times in college you are forced to write a paper, read a chapter, or take a test. But through my experience, many times the information leaves students' minds shortly after the assignment is completed. Instead of being assigned some sort of a standard educational tool such as tests, essays, and reading, we were assigned to create a Glog. I never heard of Glogster before and I expected the assignment to be a bit complicated. I was surprised to discover that Glogster is extremely simple to use, and also very fun. It is really neat that you are able to start from a blank slate, choose something you wish to make a Glog about, and watch it come to life as you literally design a fully interactive display that people are able to take part in and learn from. Glogster is definitely one of my favorite tools and I'd like to see it be used in every class! If I had to present something to a class, I'd much rather make a Glog than a Power Point. I feel that because Glogster is so interactive, and that you're not just writing the material into bullets or paragraphs, but actually designing a layout that displays your material in a creative way, it is much easier to retain the information. All teachers should take advantage of this tool. I'm really glad I have a class that allows me to do something like this. 

Another thing I would like to comment on is the Facebook discussion group. We've been having discussions on Facebook as a class now since the beginning of the semester. In the beginning, it seemed like everyone was doing the discussions as required and I'd feel safe saying everyone thought it was a cool activity for the class. But now that we're into our sixth discussion, it seems like people have really opened up and everyone is going beyond the requirements. It's pretty cool seeing that I am mentioned in someone's post. I can check to discussion group, and respond to that person, not only from my computer, but from my iPod as well. It really makes it easy to do the homework. It's not that the homework is easy or that this class is a breeze, believe me, I've definitely put in my fair share of work to get good grades in this class. But the fact that I can check in on our discussion group anywhere at anytime is really cool. It makes the homework feel less like homework, and more like talking with fellow students and friends about topics covered in class. It's kind of like if everyone were to meet in the lunch room, sit down, and have a good time discussing all of the different types of technology we learn about. Facebook discussion groups are a great thing I'd like to see in more classes. (One class that comes to mind in particular is philosophy class. Imagine all of the ideas people could share through discussion groups, class blogs, and Glogs.) I also feel that the more we use discussion groups, the more information you are able to learn, and the better you can do in the class. 

Even though this module wasn't a long one, only consisting of a few assignments, a quiz, a discussion group, and this Blog entry I'm currently writing, I never felt bored with it or that the class reached a low point. All of the assignments were really fun, the discussion groups are a great thing I wish every class had, and even the quiz wasn't so bad, because everything on the quizzes we take has to do with the tools we implement in the class assignments. This is really such a well-balanced class, easy to learn from yet able to retain a level of difficulty, enough so that when you complete something and get a good grade, you feel not that it was handed to you, but that you earned it. If all classes were like this, I don't think there would be any excuse for anybody not to do well. College shouldn't be a walk in the park, nor should it be an impassable obstacle. This is a great class because when you apply yourself, you do well. That is how college should always be. If every class were like this, more people could succeed and  accomplish so many more things during their time spent in college.