THE DARK SIDE OF THE CLOUD Week 2
In our family, we did have a computer in the late 90’s; however it was only to play a few games on. I wasn’t really introduced to the internet until high school, and I started high school in the year 99. While I was in high school, they introduced a computer lab and that was really my first taste of the internet. We mainly learned typing skills and a few other computer tools. Nothing compared to what kids are learning nowadays, and at such an early age. Now they are introducing kids to computers in middle school and my sister who is in high school has her own ipad which they give out to all the students.
The internet is sort of taking over how we are used to living. We no longer write letters to people because it’s so simple just to send an email and it will be received in a matter of seconds. We don’t even have to have face to face conversations anymore because you can have a chat with someone through the internet, and they could be thousands of miles away! Now, we don’t even have to buy things that we used to buy, such as cd’s or books. Now, everything is available online to download. I think in this aspect it is probably taking profits away from people selling the cd’s, books, etc… But, I think that there are many more positives than there are negatives. For example, if it weren’t for the internet, I would not be able to pursue my education like I am doing now. In my life right now, that is the biggest advantage of how far the internet has come. I am very grateful for that.
Like we talked about in class this week, the copyright laws being broken could result in a huge problem. But, to prevent this from getting worse, the population really would benefit from being educated on the laws so that everyone is aware of what is okay and not okay to do.
WEEK 3 WEBSITE REVIEWS
Here are my websites:
http://hannahhartmanswebsite.weebly.com/
http://www.wix.com/h_hartman00/hannahhartmanspage
http://hannahhartman.yolasite.com/
The first site that I tried was weebly, considering that I have never made a website before it was pretty easy. I liked how you could just drag a text box where you wanted it or place a picture wherever you want it to be. This site was easy to use but the designs didn't really wow me, maybe it was just the one that I picked but it didn't seem that I had a lot of creative options.
The next site I used was yola. I liked this site quite a bit, it was simple and set up similar to weebly. It was nice that you could add multiple pictures at the same time. I noticed that some people had mentioned they didn't like the fact that there weren't many pics to choose from unless they upgraded... I didn't have this problem because I thought it was better to just upload my own for the backgrounds.
I was going to use google as my 3rd site but after reading what I nightmare it was for others I didn't even bother. Instead I searched for a different site and came across wix.com. I was pretty pleased with this site. It had many different options and again, was similar to the others. I liked how my site turned out using wix and it didn't take long at all.
I found all three of these sites to be very sloooow when it came to uploading pictures, but I did like how you could upload more than one at a time. Another thing that I tried to do on all three sites but failed was to upload a video. Every site wanted me to get a video from youtube, but I just wanted to upload one from my computer.... I'm wondering if you can't do that. Or maybe I just couldn't figure it out... Anyone have any tips? All three sites that I explored had a few pros and cons but I'm not sure which one I prefer. They were all similar but I do wish I could find a site that uploaded pics faster. Did anyone find one? So, I'm really not sure which site I'm going to choose to use.
WEEK #6 PHOTOJOURNALISM ESSAY
I’m really not sure where I stand on the topic of straight photojournalism or photo manipulation. I can see the good in both. There are some photos that just speak for themselves and do not need alterations but then on the other hand, there are things that you can do with pictures that are just so neat. I guess it just depends on the photo and what type of photo manipulation you are doing.
As I was watching the Ted interview with David Griffin, it really swayed me to think that straight photojournalism is the best way to go. The pictures that were shown were just so beautiful, they didn’t need manipulation. The pictures that were taken of the elephants that were killed for their husks were so strong on their own that it would’ve been a shame to alter them. And also the pictures of the seal were also really great.
Photo manipulation is a great tool that allows you to add different backgrounds or to crop out certain things but I think in today’s world it is used for the wrong reasons. Many times magazines will photoshop images of actors to make them have a slimmer body or to make their bust size bigger or even paste two pictures together to portray a lie. They will alter an image so that it makes their company look good. For example, there is a picture of Taylor Swift where her eyelashes were altered to look double in size because that’s what the Nature Luxe mascara is supposed to do. Photoshop should not be used in this way and actually it’s used much more than what you think it is. I think that as long as photo manipulation isn’t used to tell a lie than it’s a great tool.
The use of photo manipulation is going to become even more common and also much more advanced in the future. We are probably going to come across more problems and I would imagine a lot more lawsuits dealing with photo alteration. I also wouldn’t be surprised if laws came into place to regulate photo manipulation. I think that photo manipulation just needs to be done in a way that doesn’t ruin the picture of make it into something that it was never intended to be.
WEEK 13 FUTURE OF COMMUNICATION I enjoyed all three of these videos. They all talked about things that were so true but nothing that I had really given much thought about. What really stood out for me was that kids are facebooking during class. It's so true, anything that can be taught in a classroom you can look up online in a matter or seconds. Kids are just so involved in the media and online world now that going to class almost seems pointless. I think that for a classroom to be successful, it really needs to incorporate these things. It hasn't been all that long since I've been out of high school but with as much that has changed it seems like it's been forever. I never had the type of access that kids do these days and when we were in class, we were actually in class and not on facebook or something. But now, it's like kids are being taught by the internet, the internet is the most relevant thing and sitting in a classroom just isn't as relevant anymore. The world is changing very quickly and we have no choice but to change with it. |
The Big Picture
Week 1: BLOGGING. This was my first experience with blogging. Never had I read a blog and I especially had never written a blog. I didn’t even know how to go about writing a blog. But, I soon learned that there were different sites that hosted you to blog and now I am quite a pro at it. I now have 14 weeks of blogs.
Week 2: PLAGIARISM/COPYRIGHT LAWS. This week we learned about copyright laws, the same thing they teach you all through high school. Only, it’s a lot more complex than it used to be. It’s not just copying someone else’s writing anymore; the internet has opened up many more copyright issues.
Week 3: REVIEWING WEBSITES. This week was the start of our Eportfolio’s. We got to try out a few website building sites and pick the one that worked best for us. It was important to pick the one that felt the most comfortable and fitted our needs. I ended up picking Yola because it was very user friendly and I just felt like I was able to use it well.
Week 4: CREATIVE COMMONS. This week we learned about a really neat thing called Creative Commons that allowed users to use music, artwork or other works without having to worry about if they were breaking a copyright law. Everything here is free to use as long as a profit isn’t being made. It’s also great for the artist because they get their work out into the world for people to see.
Week 5: TECH TOYS. This week we learned about some new and exciting toys that have been introduced. Technology has changed this so much; kids aren’t limited to toys like dominos or Legos anymore. There are so many new and innovated learning toys available now.
Week 6: PHOTOJOURNALISM. This week we talked about how people take something and turn it into their own, such as the Obama Hope Poster. There is a very thin line when it comes to this because if you don’t alter it just enough than you could be breaking a copyright law. However, some would argue that it is still someone else’s work no matter how much it is altered.
Week 7: FONTS. We explored different types of fonts this week. There are so many different fonts and there continue to be more and more. As cool as some fonts are though, you have to be careful because some are very hard to read and take away from the writing. Some fonts you spend more time trying to figure out what it says than actually reading it. But they are very cool to explore.
Week 8: PRESENTATIONS. This week we tried out different online presentation building sites. We also learned some about what makes a good presentation, and that more is not always better when it comes to slide shows. A lot of the times less is better. This week we started to build our presentation using the site that we liked the best.
Week 9: VLOGGING. There have been many firsts for me in this class and vlogging was one of them. Instead of blogging we were assigned to do a vlog, which is a video blog. We made a how to video and then used editing tools on the video. It was a very neat experience for me and I was very happy with how my video came out. My daughter was the star of my video and I also added music to it which gave it a sentimental feel.
Week 10: ON THE ROAD VLOG AND SCREENCAST. This week was a continuation of last week because we did another vlog, only this time we were to take the camera on the road with us. I again used my daughter and it also was a fun experience. We also used a neat online tool that allowed us to teach something that we do online; I taught how to buy something on Ebay. This was really neat because we were able to record our voice and it recorded every click we did and even where the mouse was on the screen, very cool!
Week 11: PODCAST. This was another first for me, a podcast. I was very nervous about this assignment; I fretted all week about it but finally decided to just use the podcast as the intro to my website. I have a voice recorder on my computer and I used that and then added it to my site. Was actually easier than what I made it out to be.
Week 12: XTRANORMAL VIDEO. I was really nervous about this assignment, we were asked to make a public service announcement using software that allowed you to make an animated movie. I thought about it all week and decided to do it on smoking. I made up a script, chose the character and background and it was actually really simple. I was able to make the characters move; give them different facial expressions and also different voices. It actually ended up being pretty fun and not that difficult.
Week 13: GENERATION FACEBOOK. This week we talked about how different communication is than is used to be. You don’t just pick up the phone when you want to talk to someone now, everything is online. Facebook, almost everyone has an account and it is checked nonstop all day and that is how many people communicate now. If it’s not through Facebook its text messaging or even video chatting. Technology is changing in so many great and amazing ways!
Week 14: ANIMOTO AND WRAP UP. This week we were given a really simple and easy assignment to make an Animoto video. We just uploaded a few pictures, picked out a background and song and then a little slide show video was made. This was really neat and I will be using it again.
This class has been such an abundance of information every single week. It has been great and frustrating at the same time. I have learned so much and I really feel like I am sort of tech-savvy now! J It has been a lot of work but it also has been very fun and interesting. I really have enjoyed this class!
