Saturday, October 2, 2010

Week 8 - Your final class/essay options

We will be required to accomplish the following items in our final class (Week 8) this Wednesday:
  • Student Reflection Essay generated at home and 'brought' or uploaded to class for printing. I have even provided the option of printing this 'refection' at home, which is a consideration as well. Include your name and make sure to generate an 'opening statement' about something you've discovered or are working toward (goal development).

  • Student Response to Essay 2 (questions below) generated in class using notes, word processing software and printing. I will ask that you also provide me with a digital 'copy' of this file for part of my content development.

  • Student Personal Development Survey will be used as a primer to your reflection of this class in an assessment of your own learning. These WILL be handed back to me at the end of class as another 'method' of assessment.

  • Student Classroom Surveys You will be asked to give a review of this class to the administration, which I will NOT be viewing until after grades are posted. Someone will be responsible for dropping these off at Mineral Hall for me as to avoid my being 'influenced' in posting your final grade. Volunteers???


  • Closing for Week 8 - A reflection of things to come... (use this for Essay 1
    In these eight short weeks I have to admit that I feel I've learned just as much as you all were introduced to in regard to content.
  • Initially we explored HTML (as to) how Web Pages are generated.

  • We looked into image editing and resolution to resize images, not for print, but for uploading to the Interenet and incorporating in our own web page designs.

  • We looked into video and its ability to be edited using various software and compression techniques (interpolations) to resize and even reformat upload and download content to the web. Other various softwares (YouTube's 'VideoGrab', Adobe's 'Media Encoder', and even 'FLV Crunch' were all presented as options). What we came to discover was that its just as much about a 1) courtesy to the viewer as a download it is to 2) saving storage space on your own computers hard drive. Your efforts will be appreciated rather than someone needing to continually 'purge' their email or not require to download any additonal 'plug-ins' for viewing your content (especially if its in either a .mov, .api, or .flv format).

    For some of you this is a close to your experience with KCAI's Media Certificate Program. For others, a continuation - and yet, for some, this is just the beginning of your voyage to discovery - or as I like to term it "shakin' hands with the devil" that is technology. I wish you all the best of luck in the potential for its usage or direction in a future (career) path.

    - Alex

    Now on to the subject at hand...

    (Essay 1 - 'Reflection or Goal setting') Hopefully the paragraph above has served to inspire you regarding content for your 'reflection' paragraph. As indicated in class on Wednesday (week 7), I want you all to consider what has served you for inspiration over the course of the last eight weeks. Please write your answers checking for proper spelling, punctuation and (in bold - preferably) highlight your vocabulary that emphasizes the topic (or topics) on which you choose to reflect. Make an opening statement that is supported by one to two paragraphs (or more) and: email, post on this blog, or be prepared to print (or print prior to/)in class on Wednesday (week 8).

    (Essay 2 - prepare to answer one of the following questions in class on Wednesday (week 8)):
    These are also considered reflection questions to be answered in class on Wednesday (and not prior to). Notes will be allowed, but fully generated content will not! Be prepared to write on one of the following questions. Whatever length you choose in class, you will be limited to :30 minutes of class time. Responses will be both 'printed' in class and may count as a 'blog' posting, should you be able to access the web site/blog that evening. I would appreciate an electronic 'copy' of this file as well as the printed version.

    Answer one of the following:

    1) Please briefly describe the term 'Interactive Multimedia' as you've come to discover it through a 'comparison/contrast' to your former versus current understanding as a result of this class. Try and put all classroom vocabulary in bold if time permits.

    2) Please describe as many of the various uses of media in regard to 'video' that we explored in class:
  • IMovie (editing, transitions, titles, sound, etc.) / Final Cut Pro (introduction)

  • Flash Interactive GUI (graphic user interface)

  • Downloading/Uploading to/from YouTube ('Video Grabber')

  • Storyboarding a movie 'trailer' - describe what terminology/methods you discovered

  • Embedding 'links' (a href=) into an HTML webpage

  • Compressing video files into various formats (.mov, .flv, .mp4)

  • The importance assigned to (and consideration of) file size in generating content and storage.

  • Tonight's introduction to IDVD for offline content


  • 3) Formulate a direction (goal) based on both your classroom experience and area of interest utilizing 'Interactive Multimedia and the Web' that you may wish to pursue in the next year. Is it animation, graphic design (online) through website development, or multimedia video editing? Is there something I left out as an option?

    4 comments:

    1. Alex,

      Here is my response to Essay 1. I'll also bring it to class in case I cannot retrieve it from the blog.

      Alicia Soliz
      Essay 1 (Reflection)
      HTML sourcecode, along with, image and video resizing and reformatting were outside of my basic knowledge for user friendly media posting for the internet. Everytime I would see “rebuffering” when attempting to watch a video or when an image file would go unseen due to image size or format, I would just get frustrated and move on. This class has given me a reason to sit down and figure out why that has happened in the past.
      This has been my first attempt at creating a web page, so I decided to focus on the basics of HTML since other CSS programs were too expensive to purchase or not always available to me. It was a big step to learn that there was a method to the madness in all of that coding that popped up when looking at any webpage’s source code. Just now knowing what and where the Title, Heading and Body are for and are has given me a beginner’s roadmap to how I might figure out how other people have created certain items on their webpage. Also, I now know to pay closer attention to my file saving ways. Resolution, lenth of video and format are important in getting right to best suit the person intended for. I will definitely take more time for trial and error for my work in the future to take into consideration the frustrations that I, myself, have experienced with other people’s projects.

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    2. My essay --
      Reflection – Sharon Mitchell

      This session has been a challenge for me with my new work schedule, teaching middle school for the first time, and taking care of my dad. I have not dedicated the time that I would have liked to for this class, but I have learned a lot that will take me into my future endeavors. I am in the Digital Desktop Publishing Program and took this class because I want to be able to assist my students in creating an online resume/portfolio that they can send to colleges. Before this class, I was web illiterate, now I know that html is not just the ending of a URL. I have learned how to upload a video to YouTube, simple for some but something I had never done before. Because of my acquired knowledge of YouTube’s VideoGrab, I can now show my students videos and tutorials I could not show them before because of my school’s blockage of the site. I knew about image editing and resolution for print and now I understand the importance of this for the Internet.
      My goal for the immediate future is to create my own online portfolio (I would love to produce a web page for my Graphics class but my school district makes that difficult). The idea of just copying and pasting the source of html content is very exciting to me. It’s not as hard as I believed it would be. I know I still need to learn more, but this class has given me a starting point and a deeper understanding into creating a web site. I have just received the book HTML, XHTML & CSS, you recommended, which should also assist me in my goal. There was much content we covered, but the language of HTML will prove very beneficial to me – coding that is - head, body, a href, bgcolor, etc. I am also looking forward to our last class to discover I-DVD.

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    3. Response to Essay 1

      My intention in taking this class was to expand my basic knowledge of coding and interactive media. I had no experience with Flash, video editing, or much in the way of file compression. I think one of the terms that has made an impact with me during this class is the concept of a GUI (a term I had not heard before) – a graphic user interface. “GUI” has served as a reminder that web design is about creating something for the user, not just something you, as the creator, like to look at. It has to be functional and intuitive – which doesn't preclude some style or design intention – and it must be accessible to the user.

      Through learning more about CSS and video editing, I feel I'm on the path to making my goal of being able to create a compelling and practical web interface a reality. I had never edited video before, and recognizing how similar it is to audio editing made it feel more familiar than I expected. CSS is a new venture, but I've been enjoying discovering web designers' use of CSS on my own and taking in the multitude of ways CSS can be used. My final project has served as a good playground in which to test and manipulate basic HTML with CSS.

      ReplyDelete
    4. Thank you, ladies, for your reflection comments. These ALL pass the essay 1 requirement and will serve as one of your posting requirements. I am unable to comment individually through this blog, but will look forward to making personal commentary regarding your efforts in class tonight and toward your final grade.
      Please be prepared to answer one of the essay 2 questions using notes, which you will have 30 minutes to 'type up' during class, likely prior to our IDVD introduction - as this is our final required 'content' for this class.
      I would like to allow at least 45 minutes toward completing any final project work (tonight) and would encourage, if you are able to stay any later than the 8:30 dismissal, you can have that time to 'wrap it up'.

      ReplyDelete