Q6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Blogger

Blogger is a blog publishing service that offers users to make blog posts. I used this service to upload all my work. I could have used wordpress.com instead but it is much easier and simpler to work with Blogger in my opinion. This is the first time I made a blog and I found that it is one of the simplest things a regular internet surfer can use. It was quick, efficient and easy to use.

ScribdScribd is a document sharing service that allows users to upload documents, in a variety of formats, for use of storing and sharing the documents. This is the first time that I have used this service. During my coursework I have used this service multiple times, uploading documents like my questionnaire and even some slide shows. All I needed to do was upload the file and copy the embed code onto the HTML code for the post.

Adobe Photoshop CS5Adobe Photoshop CS5 is an image manipulating software that allows users to edit images and adding effects to them. I used this software to create all my production work. I have used this program before in other subjects so I already had the skills that I needed for this task. This software was really important for me as it was professionally used software. I could have used Microsoft Paint or Corel Draw as an alternative but this software was recommended by my teacher.

Microsoft Word 2010Microsoft Word 2010 is a word processing program that allows the user to type digital text. I have always used this program since I started using a computer as it is a very useful tool for a person who uses the computer a lot. I have a lot of experience using this software so I did not need to familiarise myself with it. I have used it to type a lot of text like analysis and the questionnaire. One of the main reasons as to why I used this software before posting information to my blog is that It comes with a spell check feature that can show mistakes made in my text.

Microsoft Excel 2010Microsoft Excel 2010 is a spreadsheet program that allows users to input mathematical data perform calculations and produce the data in a graphical format. I already have used spreadsheets in the past so it took no time in getting used to this software. I used this program to create graphs from my questionnaire results by using formulas and the ‘Insert Chart’ option.

Microsoft PowerPoint 2010

Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 is a presentation software that allows users to display information in the form of slides. I have used it many times in the past. I also used it during my coursework for example when I created a slide show for the ‘before’ and ‘after’ photographs and the pie charts for my questionnaire data.

Camtasia Studio 7 Camtasia Studio 7 is a video

capturing program that allows users to define a recording area, based on their screen size, and record the screen area based on the user’s action. I used this to create several videos which showed my Photoshop skills. It took a bit of time to get used to it but eventually I learned that it was easy to grasp the basic skills needed to use the software.

Textaloud Textaloud is a text to speech

program converts digital text into an audio format based on computerised voice files. I used this as a voice over in my videos as I preferred it over my own voice. It was fairly simple to use – even a novice user would be able to work out how to work it. I had to type text (what the voice would say) and it would render into a sound file.

Divshare Divshare is a website that offers

users to upload documents and files of different formats. It works similarly to other document/file uploading services. You have to create an account before you can upload anything. It was quite easy navigating through the website. There are limits to how big files can be to upload them. Users are given daily upload size limits and likewise for overall upload size limits.

Flickr Flickr is an image hosting website

which allows users to interact with each other and upload images on to the web.It bares many similarities to social networking sites as it is integrated into the site. You can create an account and add friends. It was originally designed for use for professional photographers so that they can display their work in sets and groups. After uploading all my pictures I used a widget to display my images on the blog.

Adobe Audition 3 Adobe Audition 3 is an audio editing

program that allows users to edit music and audio files, offering the ability to manipulate these sounds. This is a software that I was not familiar with so I did need some assistance when using it. A friend of mines had used this software and he taught me how to use. By using this software, I found out how to edit my sound files. I used program for my interviews and audience feedback.

Slideshare Slideshare is a document uploading website that

allows users to upload documents but slide shows in particular. It is similar to other services like Scribd and Divshare but it was created more specifically for the uploading and sharing of slide show presentations. It was fairly easy to use. It was probably the most easiest to use out of the other document uploading sites. I could have used Slideboom which does a similar job however slide shows uploaded on Slideboom become videos that have to be paused so it was not convenient if you display a lot of information

SmileboxSmilebox is a downloadable program that allows users to create many presentational documents like cards, newsletters and slideshows. It was the first time that I used it and I saw it being used in another blog. The interface is very simple to use. I used this software to create my ‘rejected images’ slideshow. By using this software I have learnt that there is more than one way of presenting images.

Edirol Dictaphone

This is the first time that I used a dictaphone. In no time at all, I fiIt is a very simple device that records high quality audio by using its inbuilt microphones. This was provided by the Media Studies department and I used this for things like my audience feedback and audience profile interview. It was a very useful tool for collecting information and saved me time, instead of me typing everything.