The student learned several skills from using various software and hardware during their media studies coursework: - They greatly improved their Photoshop skills for image editing and design work. Photoshop was very useful but file sizes were too large for their blog. - They learned how to use WordPress for blogging, including embedding content. However, WordPress also had file size limits. - PowerPoint and Prezi were effective for presentations, and the student learned how to upload these to SlideShare and embed them. - Their digital camera allowed them to take high-quality photos needed for their magazine, improving their photography skills. Without these technologies, their work would have been of lower quality or

1. Question 6
What have you learnt
about technologies from
the process of
constructing this product ?

2. Software
• Adobe Photoshop CS6 + CS5
I had previously used Photoshop before this media studies course. I believe that I have greatly
developed my skill in the area. In the process of the preliminary task I further developed this
knowledge as I was able to create different patterns and process to create my title. I currently
have Photoshop CS6 at home meaning that I was bale to continue my studies and editing after I
had left the classroom. I found that Photoshop was brilliant at creating mock up versions of
different ideas that I had when I was producing my magazine. Photoshop was very useful in
making my designs for my Music magazine as without it I would have struggled to create
something of the same quality on software like Microsoft Publisher. One problem that I had with
Photoshop was the sheer size of the files. If I wanted to save the files in a suitable quality then
the files would be in an excess of 1mb which is the maximum file size for my word press Media
Blog. Unfortunately to overcome this I had to lower the quality of the files when saving them
into JPEG. This allowed the image to be uploaded onto my blog. If Photoshop was not at my
disposable then I believe that my Media studies coursework would have taken a lot longer than
it did and would not be of the same standard. Due to the fact that other programs would have
to be used which are not in my opinion as good and as effective as Adobe Photoshop

3. Software
• WordPress
Before my media studies course I had not previously used the WordPress blog system.
By using the blog I learned how to embed using website codes and developed my
knowledge in the blog area. The Wordpress format was useful as it was easily
accessible and easy to modify and add new media images and files to my webpage.
However the wordpress software was not completely reliable as it once went down
and we were unable to access the site from the network. However this was due to a
scheduled maintenance and was quickly sorted out. I believe that my coursework and
blog could have been created without wordpress as there are other blog software's
that could have been used to do the same job. For example Blogger could have been
used instead to upload our work to. From using wordpress I learned how to embed
other files from different websites for example Prezi and slideshare. Using Wordpress
restricted the quality of the images and screenshots that I uploaded as they had a data
cap of 1mb for each file. This meant I was unable to use full quality resolution when
uploading JPEG files from Photoshop documents .

4. Software
• Slideshare
• Powerpoint
Powerpoint was the program I had the most experience on. This is as PowerPoint comes on
most computer with the office package and was easily accessible to me both now and
when I was younger. Powerpoint is seen as a simple piece of software as it is easily to
manipulate and create everything form text boxes to slide transitions and custom
animations. Powerpoint has proved to be extremely effective in the creation of this project
as it is simple to put all the information that I have found into a file which can be easily
viewed and is more aesthetically pleasing then a word file with huge chunks of text
together. Without using powerpoint I think I would have been able to create my
coursework as I would rely entirely on prezi to present my work in a similar way. I learned
how to upload the powerpoint to slide share so that I would be able to embed it onto my
blog. By uploading the powerpoint to slideshare you can receive the code which makes it
accessible to put onto the blog. An alternative to this is to save the powerpoint simply as
jpeg files and put the powerpoint on as individual images. So if slideshare was not at my
disposable then the powerpoint file could still be put onto my word press blog.

5. Software
• Prezi
I had previously used Prezi before my media studies project as an alternative to
powerpoint presentations when set a task of creating a presentation. Prezi did not
cause to much of a problem besides the slight obstacle of creating new frames and
making sure that the animation path was in the correct order. I had to learn how to
embed the code onto my blog but this was simply done by copying the code when you
press embed on the prezi itself. I could have created my coursework without the
involvement of prezi. However I believe that it is useful to use as it allows me to
present information in a much more flowing way that’s easier to read and obtain.
While I was constructing my analysis of magazines task in which I used prezi I found it
more accessible and easier to modify, as once I had embedded it into my Wordpress
blog it could easily be modified without having to re embed it or start again; a clear
advantage of powerpoint which would have to be re-uploaded if any changes were to
be made.

6. Hardware
• Lumix Panasonic DMC-FX33
I have used this camera in other subjects before i.e. taking pictures of
my final projects in technology. This product was extremely useful as
it allowed me to take high quality photos for my contact sheet to
allow me to have a range of good photos to choose for my actual
magazine. Without this camera I would have struggled to create my
coursework to a similar standard as I would have had to use my
phone camera or my iPod camera which have a resolution
significantly less then this 8 Mega pixel camera. From using this
product I learned how to take effective images that would be suitable
for a media magazine. I was able to take a range of photos using
different camera angles and lighting techniques in different settings.