AS Exam question 6

1. Devices and Technology
Evaluation question 6
What have you learnt about the technology you have used in the
process of constructing you product?

2. Firstly a list of the types of technology include
• Devices
• Web browsers
• Search engines
• Websites
• Programs/software
These technological resources have aided me in organising,
developing and researching for my media product. I have
been able to edit photos and search for existing examples of
media products to compare and analyse in order to produce
an evaluation of my own work.

3. Devices
Devices are technological resources which can be used for different purposes for example a
memory stick is self-explanatory, it stores information which can be transported and transferred
between computers. Other devices include cameras and computers such as the Acer laptop
5320, the dell OptiPlex 360 and the I Mac pro, all devices which have aided me in the creation of
media product.
The computer/laptop/mac was an extremely important device because it enabled me to access
to the internet in order to upload all of my work and edit my photos on free websites such as
Pixlr.
Camera’s enabled me to take pictures and store all my work whilst allowing me to transport
these pictures to different locations as it was portable. I used a camera borrowed from school to
take pictures which I would later edit for my school magazine front cover. This camera allowed
me to take standard pictures with an auto focus. A friend kindly let me borrow her cannon DSLR
camera which is of a higher quality than the schools cameras meaning that my pictures would
be easier to edit and when I zoom in the picture won’t pixilate as much because they are able to
capture more of the light.
I can organize my files, images and videos into separate folders so that I can find what I want
quickly and easily so that I do not to waste time.

4. Web Browsers
These give me quick and easy access to the internet and have helpful extensions or
tools to help me save pages and find what I need quickly.
I used three different browsers depending on the device I was using as school
computers only have internet explorer and the macs only use Safari whereas at home
I use chrome.
Chrome is a browser created by Google. I use this at home because it is fast and has
reliable tools for example it can link with my Google account so I can save pages I may
want to re-read. Therefore if I see a previous students work I can save the page and
come back to it to see what they have done and compare it to my own work, later on.
These browsers have enabled me to access different search engines and websites in
order to find existing examples of work or other secondary resources that I can use
when it came to creating my own media product. I was able to view ex-students work
on this browser which aided me in deciding what I wanted to include in my music
magazine. I viewed someone's blog page where I saw their finished product and I
could see what they did and how professional it looked and then make my own
decisions on how I wanted my product to look.

5. Search Engines
Search engines are extremely useful as they gather information
relating to the topic that I type in and offer a wide range of data
from a range of sources some reliable and some not.
Google is as ever a very useful search engine, especially when
searching Google maps for possible locations in the area. It means
that I can print screen images to upload to my blog and it is also
useful because it has helped me with searching for existing music
and school magazines to see other peoples work and to see
professional pieces of work and compare them to mine. A final use
I had for Google was to search for alternate words that I could use
to make my posts sound more sophisticated and knowledgeable
which I have also done using media terminology.
Although there were other search engines that I could have used, I
found that Google was the easiest to use.

6. Websites
At the start of my course I was introduced to Pixlr. As I have been progressing in my editing of my front page,
contents page and double page spread through the use of Pixlr express which is free and easy to use. Pixlr has
different editing options set out as editor, express and o-matic. Express is the easiest and best option for the
beginners or if you want to edit quickly but professionally. I have learnt to use the different adjustment
techniques like air brush, doodle, splash and contrast to improve the overall look of my image. Another thing I
have learnt from using pixlr is to stick to an order of adjust the image first then add effects, overlays, borders
and stickers before finally adding on text on top. It is best to use this order because if you add the text before
the effect or the overlay so that you can stick to your specific colours. Pixlr is a photo editing website where you
can alter the colour, hue, style, size and add fonts etc. for free with little hassle and was very useful.
Blogger was also introduced to me at the start of the course and so far I have learnt to use the three columns
technique like a newspaper article, to add images, videos etc. and how to add PowerPoint's to blogger which has
to be done by turning them to images and then adding them on. In addition I have learnt how to change the
date of my posts to keep them in chronological order so I can find them easily. I also learnt how I can change the
visual of my blog so changing the fonts, colours, font sizes, background image and the overall style of my blog.
SlideShare was yet another new website for me to use and I still haven't got thoroughly to grips with it yet
however once I have got used to it I think that I will find it easier. This presentation website allowed me to have
access to see other peoples presentations for example other people's AS media work. One thing I have learnt
from this website is to share my ideas with others so they can see my presentations and I can upload my slides
quickly and easily. It also enabled me to upload my own presentations before inserting those into blogger.
Prezi. This website was new to me when I began the course and at first I was hesitant to try it because I didn't
really understand what Prezi was. After I found out the basics and experimented with Prezi I learnt how to
create a presentation and change the arrows, layout and the order of which the surrounding information. I
learnt that Prezi is like a mind map and I can adjust the size of the bubbles or objects in which hold the text of
images. This was useful in displaying my work in a variety fo different ways.

7. Programs
Publisher is a program I used to edit the front cover of my prototype music magazine. However
it was probably not the best option I could have taken and in future when I create my personal
music magazine with my own images I will use Pixlr instead as it will probably easier and quicker
to use.
I have used this program mainly for helping me spell check my work because blogger does not
have a spell checker but I should think about maybe typing what I want on Microsoft word and
then highlighting and moving the work onto blogger.
PowerPoint and keynote are similar programs that enabled me to create a presentation. I used
keynote only once because I could only access it from the media studio and this room wasn't
always free. Therefore I mainly used PowerPoint and then uploaded these presentations onto
SliideShare where I could insert them via embed code in my blog posts.
Excel was mainly only used to create tables for purposes such as to choose my name for my
prototype magazine. Microsoft excel was used to create my table for my tally of names for my
magazine front cover. I could have created the table on Microsoft word but excel allows me to
take that information and create graphs without having to go back and re-enter the information
and results. I can't learn anything new from this program because I have been using it for a
while and understand all that I think I ever will.