EvaluationQUESTION 2 ‘What have you learnt about

technologies from the process of constructing this product?’

Skill 1: One of the first skills I learnt is how to use a blog. The skills I have gained ranges from uploading and editing a blog post, changing the time of a blog post and how to embed a link from other software's such as Prezi and Slideshare. This enables you to view the presentation on the blog and keeps it fresh, it doesn’t look dull and boring. Obviously this means I have learnt how to use these software's too, for example: adding slides, adding and editing images.

Skill 2: Time management/ reflection on my work and planning through the use of my blog. For example on my blog I have kept a diary where I keep track of my thoughts at different points in the course, this may highlight things that I am finding quite straight forward and doing well with, however it can also include things I am struggling with or that are new to me. This way I am able to be aware of certain difficulties that I possibly need help with or need extra work on. Moreover it could make myself aware of work I still need to complete. The diary also helped with time management as I could see I was on track. Having all of my work in one place is also something that is new to me. This makes developing work (such as the student magazine) much easier, as I can refer back to my drawn drafts which as well as other online resources.

Skill 3: Photoshop. I have learnt various new skills on Photoshop such as adding effects to text and pictures, changing the background and enlarging an image without stretching it. One thing you can manipulate is an image, for instance, you can delete the background of an image or change the background of an image. This is beneficial when creating a magazine as it means you can change and edit the mise en scene. To delete the background you select the area, click inverse and delete. This gives the image more meaning.

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

Skill 4: Another new skill I have learnt is scanning paper documents so that I can access them on my computer and blog. Before learning this I would have maybe taken a photograph of the paper documents which wouldn’t be affective as its not as good quality and it doesn’t get creased. The scanning method works well when presenting my drawn drafts is a part of my blog. One skill also related to this is changing the scanned image to a JPEG so that it will upload to your blog; this is something I wasn’t aware of before.

Skill 5: Using the camera’s I haven't used before. Because there is more to taking photographs than just taking them, e.g. planning locations, planning props and planning models, I found it difficult at first. I learnt this whilst taking the photos, I took a few photos inside, in the library, and I don’t think that they worked as effectively as the ones taken in natural light. I realised this and therefore took more pictures outside as it made the photos look more professional. Also I had to keep in mind what type of shot I wanted, therefore I tried to avoid close up shots which I couldn’t edit to a smaller size unlike a long shot.

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