2. Macs
We are provided with Mac’s at school in the media
room where they are situated which is extremely
helpful. Firstly I did not know how to use a Mac
efficiently therefore it was hard to get used to this
piece of technology, after I had spent time on the Macs
and played about with creating things on there I soon
got the hang of how to use it. I used the Macs several
times to create my magazine Prelim, to blog posts and
various other tasks that we had to do for AS Media. I
feel that perhaps the only down side to constantly
using a Mac was that your work would save on that
particular Mac only or a memory stick.
3. School & Home
laptops/PC’S
The School laptops and PC’S were particularly helpful due to the
fact that I already knew how to use these items of technology and
did not have to figure out how they worked. Also especially the
laptops were easy to get hold off as there is a cabinet full of
laptops in which you would just ask for and you could sit and do
your work. Moreover I preferred to use the laptops over the Mac’s
because all of the laptops/PC’s provided all word documents which
I rely on as I like to create my blog posts in Microsoft word first or
on PowerPoint if it is a slide share and than I will post it onto
blogger, I do this to make sure that I do not loose any work that I
had produced along the way. Lastly these items provide internet
therefore I am able to create my media products on websites such
as: Pixlr, Prezi, Slide share etc.
Secondly I have my own laptop at home which is exceedingly
helpful in the construction of my media product as I can continue
to create and produce things at home as well as in school.
4. Internet
Explorer/
Safari
Internet explore and Safari have both helped me enormously
through the construction of my media product. I used Safari when I
was on the Macs but I mainly used Internet Explorer as I was on the
both the school laptop and my home laptop consistently. Internet
Explorer/Safari have allowed me to do extensive research in order
to help me construct my magazine as I was able to research the
history of music magazines, do textual analysis of existing texts,
research audience and genre, discover about ideology, media
institutions, UGT and the Active vs. passive theory etc. I has
provided me with Pixlr which I used repeatedly used, Prezi and
slide share to display my work in a creative way and much more.
Also they allow you to open various tabs so that you can have open
various different pages all at once which is useful as you are always
at least doing two things at once or transferring on page to another.
Overall I am thankful for this technology as I feel it would have
been a struggle without it.
5. Pixlr
I have used Pixlr continuously whilst constructing my media
product. Pixlr has three different compartments, Pixlr editor, pill
express and Pixlr o’matic. Although I did not use the last one ‘Pixlr
O’matic’, I did use the other two. Pixlr express was the main one I
used as it was easy to use, it provided me with various fonts,
effects, positioning's etc. in order for me to create my media
product. Secondly I occasionally used Pixlr editor as apart from
also providing all of the above it also allowed me to layer my
image so that I could have my title behind my image if I wanted
that, I could have either my background a different colour to my
model or vie versa. I used Pixlr to create my Prelim front cover,
contents page and DPS and also my final finished front cover,
contents page and DPS as well as all the drafts that came along
with it. Therefore I feel that Pixlr played a significant role in the
construction of my media product (music magazine), I found it
easy, diverse and professional to use, I would thoroughly
recommend it to anyone.
6. Prez
i
I had never used the software of Prezi before therefore this was
another piece of technology I was not familiar with but I did
some research about it in a media lesson as we had to present a
piece of information about it to our fellow class mates, as a
result of this I understand more so what Prezi was about. After
trying out Prezi and using it for the first time after that I was
completely comfortable with it and was extremely fond of the
way that Prezi allowed me to present my posts/information
onto my blog interestingly rather than just paragraphs of text.
You can choose out of a variety of templates from Prezi or even
insert your own background, you wrote your information in
texts boxes on Prezi which were all different shapes and colours,
I felt that by using Prezi is brought creativity and a professional,
efficient look to my blog. I have now used Prezi several times.
7. Slide
Share
Slide share was another software that I was not familiar with
yet it was exceptionally easy to understand, all you have to
do is create how ever many slide you wish to on
PowerPoint, with all your text/images on, you than save
them and upload them onto slide share and copy the link
that it provides and past that same link into the HTML onto
‘post’ on blogger. Slide share is quick and easy and granted
me with presenting my information in a different way, with
colour and proficiency.
8. Blogge
r
Blogger was new to me therefore I did not know much
about it, although I have previously had a blog before and
am familiar with the concept of blogging consequently I did
not struggle with how to use blogger and I could start
posting straight away. I soon figured out how to post texts,
images and videos onto blogger. I feel that the only thing
that took me slightly longer to figure out was how to get
Prezi’s and slide share into my posts because they were
from different websites, but I soon realised that you just
copy the link that both Prezi and Slide share websites will
provide you with and paste it into blogger. I really like the
way that rather than doing my coursework through a
written way that we could just post our work onto blogger
and present it in various way, it also made it easier and
more accessible for you to construct your media product
through websites such as Pixlr and than easily post that
onto your blog. I feel that this has made the course so much
more interesting.
9. IPhone/
Camer
a
I used My own Canon Camera to take some of the
images of my model for my media product. I used
my camera to take the photos for my front cover
and contents page so that I could have better
quality photos and it would provide me with better
lighting as the camera can make adjustments. After
taking these images I could just use my USB cable
to transfer the images onto my laptop and than
start producing my media product.
However I used my I phone to take the photos for
my double page spread as I felt that the flash was
actually better on my IPhone and the idea was to
shoot these photos outside in the dark therefore I
needed flash to bring light to my image. Also I felt
that using the camera may have been a quicker
process that taking them on my camera as I would
need to set up the tripod and positioning for my
Canon camera, where as with my IPhone and can
move around on foot to find the perfect position.
My IPhone was also a very useful
piece of technology to have as I
downloaded that app of ‘Blogger’
onto my phone so that when I was
out and about I could blog posts
from my phone, I felt this was a
good idea due to the fact that my
phone is always with me therefore
I could always find time to
start/finish posts on my phone.
10. Memory
Stick
My memory stick was the easiest way to save work and
be able to work on the same piece either at home or at
school. It allowed me to save image, text, videos etc.
Therefore if I had done work at school but wanted to
continue with that specific piece of work at home I
could save it on my memory stick and it would allow me
to carry on at home on my laptop.
For example; I had created most of my prelim double
page spread at home however I wanted to finish the
last bits off at school, consequently I saved my work
from my home laptop on my memory stick and just
continued it at school the next day. I feel without my
memory stick it would be hard to get work done in a
quick amount of time.
11. Pro’s and Con’s to
technology
I feel that the pro’s of technology is that
things such as the internet; provide with a
variety of different things in order for you
to create a tremendous media product
and present your information in creative
ways, by using things such as ;Pixlr, Prezi
and Slide share. The internet also allows
you to browse and discover so many
things about the media in order for you to
understand and grasp the meaning of
things, it shows you previous magazines
made and can give you inspiration, it
provides you will all of this through just
one piece of technology.
The con’s to technology may be that you
can not carry what you have created or
what you may be looking for in your literal
hands, it is all through the use of a
laptop, PC, Tablet or phone which you than
have to charge up now and again. Further
more the concept of having to save your
work and transfer it from one place to
another may become tiring and
complicated for some people. Lastly whilst
using technology there may be issues as it
may freeze or loose your work due to the
fact that it may be having technical
problems which is always frustrating for the
user.
