1. Evaluation question 6 What new technologies have you learnt in the process of constructing the product?
2. Blogger I learnt how to use the website blogger.com. I had previously never used this website before so was wary of the new technology however picked it up swiftly thanks to its friendly user interface. As the weeks progressed, I learnt how to do more advanced tasks such as upload videos and how to used embed links in my blog. I now feel that I would be able to create a blog in a matter of minutes and do many things with it.
3. Microsoft Word We had to used Word throughout this coursework, from creating questionnaires to writing our main articles, the majority of our work. This software allowed me to check my spelling, do a word count and edit my font to my liking. Also whilst creating the questionnaires, I had learnt how to number my questions automatically as I had originally struggled with. Word is very easy to get the hang of and was soon manipulating my documents with great ease.
4. Microsoft PowerPoint I had used PowerPoint to create my questionnaire analysis and many of my evaluation answers. As I had to use PowerPoint often during this coursework, I learnt many things. I learnt how to animate my presentations and also learnt how to apply themes onto my presentations. I also had difficulties with creating charts on PowerPoint which I overcame and with a little help from the internet, I learnt how to create charts on my presentations.
5. Dictaphone During the beginning of this monumental task we were required to get information from fellow peers about our ideas and queries for our music magazine. For this we used a Dictaphone. This is a recording device which initially records the conversation and can then be connected to the PC via a USB cable. Initially I did not know how to use the Dictaphone however after 10 minutes of fiddling, I managed to get the hang of it, and began recording.
6. Adobe Audition This software is used to edit sound files. And that is exactly why I had used it. I had never used any sort of software like this so this was a first for me and it showed. My interviews had to sound professional and Audition enabled me to do that as it allowed me to edit my sound file to remove any ‘um’ and ‘err’ moments. I learnt a lot after fiddling with the software. By the end of it, I was able to remove parts of the file I did not like, I could manipulate the sound file by adding effects such as amplification and I also learnt how to join two sound files together.
7. Adobe Photoshop Adobe Photoshop was a big part of our coursework as it was what we would be using to create our magazine. I had very little experience with Photoshop however as I had downloaded the trial at home, I was able to get some practice in, and slowly but surely, I was able to do simple but effective effects to make my magazine look professional. A good way to see my new found skills is to see my preliminary task compared to my final task which is a substantial difference.
8. Uploading I used many websites to upload my work. These consisted of: Slideshare, Divshare, Slideboom and scribd. Once uploaded to these websites, I had to get the embed to code and put it on to my blog. This had required me to create an account with each one.
