This was a very creative assignment. I must admit, when it comes to creating a text design, I'm limited, especially when I have to create the project from scratch. I decided to do the CD cover for a new musical group and launch of their first album. The groups' talents are much better than my CD cover design and I hope their sales are not dependent on my visuals.
For my required piece, I decided to provide a page from my Wiki space and Blog. I made simple, but significant changes to my Wiki and I'm glad that I did. What was I thinking? The changes to my blog were small, but effective for my learning process. I'm still not happy with one or two areas, but I will continue to work on them. Before this project the changes intimidated me and I kept delaying making the changes.
My screencasts of the revised works is a link under the "Internet Cafe" in the next column.
Hi De Bora,
ReplyDeleteDid you create your CD cover in Word? I'm comfortable with PowerPoint because I've been using it for a really long time, but with both of them, you can insert Word Art. Word Art can be usefulfor making titles: The New Learners.
Your screencast turned out well. I could hear you clearly. I was having trouble with mine at first; the volume on the mic had to be reset, and it took a while to figure out.
Hi De Bora!
ReplyDeleteI think it's great that you described all of your projects utilizing Screenr so that we could see what you were specifically referring to as you went through your thought processes in applying changes to your wiki and blog sites.
I find the background of your blog a bit confusing in terms of what message you're trying to send. I understand that you aren't really a fan of the Blogger templates, so perhaps you could choose an alternative hosting site such as WordPress to create your blog in. I realize that you were working in WordPress previously but had some trouble with Customer Service for obtaining additional space (for video uploads, etc.). Perhaps you could look into finding another blog hosting site altogether, or select a background via Blogger that may not be as "attractive" to your personal tastes, but may be more fitting for your blog content.
I think it's great that you archived your previous blog posts from the previous class, and that you made your font and font color uniform - that really helps in terms of being able to read your posts without eye strain.
I understand that you're a fan of the apple with the orange inside of it, but I'm trying to figure out how that image connects with the message you are attempting to convey. I saw that you also utilized that image in your CD cover. I think that without your commentary via the screencast, it would be quite hard to determine what message you were attempting to convey with the images you selected. I understand the transformation aspect of education between forty years ago and today, but I think that perhaps some text to accompany your images may have been helpful as well -- just a thought for future reference!
As far as your wiki is concerned, I appreciated your frank commentary on how your contact page was set up before reading the White Space chapters. I found myself laughing when you specifically targeted your "flashing" image no-no. I think that your revised contact information looks much less busy than before, and is a significant improvement upon what you posted previously. Nice job!
The purpose of these assignments is to take you out of your comfort zone. Clearly, we educators aren't often developing CD covers or concert posters, etc., but it puts you in the same position as your students when you assign them something that they are unfamiliar with. It's good to feel that awkward struggle with an assignment because it really makes you understand where your students are coming from. I appreciate the amount of effort you put into this first Mini Art School module. The texts seem to be serving you well in terms of how you can improve your works in progress (such as your e-portfolio wiki and your blog).
Keep up the good work!
Hi De Bora,
ReplyDeleteI also liked that you used the screencast to walk us through what you did. I notice that your website is different now than what it was on the screencast. I have to say that I think it is a great layout now. The background and color clearly reflect the social studies theme and it has a professional polished look. You have inspired me to work on my blog design now!
Jess