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

What have you learnt about technologies from 

the process of constructing this product?

I used the iPhone 5 to take my pictures as it contains an 8 mega pixel camera, with face detection, which is better than your average camera. This also made it very easy to email, upload the pictures to photoshop via apps. It was also handy because they were ready available, in your pocket all the time, and could use a USB to upload them too. Although using this was good, it took a long time for the images to send via wifi, plus you needed 3G to send the images immediately, which could cost money depending on how much internet allowance you have.
I also used Super cool lite 4 lighting by interfit  which projected nicely against my subject. I used this because it was placed on a tripod and a rotating head which allowed me to manouvre the lighting easily. However the glare from the matte black background became a chore to remove  on photoshop.

I used   photoshop to edit my photos, which was very hard at first but step by step I learnt how to create text, add effects to pictures and pretty much know most things about photoshop, in the end becoming very time consuming. However the range of things you can do to edit your photos is unbelievable!

To upload these pictures I used flickr  when analysing and annotating. It was good because it was very simple, drag a box and click note to annotate. I can't fault flickr because it's just simple and easy, anyone can use it.

I used ISSUU to upload pdf files of word documents. This presented very nicely on my blog, but was very dificult to use, firstly you had to change files into pictures via pdf, then to find the embedded code was more complicated than at first seems, because you actually have to open up the file first then find the embedded code, (not the one from the library home screen) which was a pain to do, especially seeing as I had never used it before (I think I skipped through the tutorial which didn't help).

I used prezi to upload presentations, just like flickr but more animation involved, enabling you to show off presentation skills, it was also very easy to use yet had great effects, and just the animation alone keeps the viewer interested, as you fly across the screen discovering new things. It was limited in some areas, i.e. no range of fonts, slow to upload, and frustrating when trying to keep text the same size and move the text to where you want.

I used to upload powerpoint presentations, easily to my blog. This was a great tool, it does all the work for you and looks smart on your blog, not very time consuming and all I had to do was upload it.

I used  to upload all of my content on to. I used this because I could use various embeded codes to upload different animated presentations to my blog. Plus it's linked to googlemail where I could transfer emailed photos directly! On the other hand, I couldn't arrange my uploads in the order that i wanted them, plus the background looked slightly bland, but I think that's due to my lack of understanding.

I used  to create an online survey, this was very helpful as it wasn't very time consuming compared to making a physical survey I.e paper, than a virtual one. The virtual survey was easy to use, with a variety of selection boxes, containing multiple choice question to comment boxes, this was extremely helpful as it also gave me ideas of other ways to present my questions within the survey! It also presented my data in a chart as well, so all I had to do was analyse the data presented. There was only one draw back, which was that I was only able to ask a certain amount of questions, but meant that I had to ask my surveyors more specific/related questions.

I also used to upload pdf versions of my word documents, this was very hard to find the embedded code, because I couldn't upload it straight away, or upload two documents at a time; I had to go back to the library then do one at a time, then get the embedded code, plus it didnt allow you to upload it to blogger straight away, which could have made the process much easier!

Overall, I think that using technology such as blogs/prezis/online surveys to cumulate all of my research and analysis was a much better way in which to gather my information. This is because I had the internet at my fingertips, with explanations and tutorials on how to make graphics on photoshop, to presenting data accurately on graphs. I believe it is a better way to present my work rather than using traditional educational methods, such as writing/drawing and storing in a folder or book, because all the different methods online are certainly more interactive; you see your work transform and unravel into an animated world, with millions of forms and effects. You are able to keep focus on the work you are producing, due to using different conventions, whereas, writing a long essay on A4 would become long, boring and stressful, unlike using various different presentations and techniques to present your work like flying across prezi. Using flickr and prezi to analyse my work was very easy and enabled me to zoom in and out of different representations of my work, highlighting key areas of which to analyse, also enabling me to delete notes in which I could proof read and that could be changed and analysed more. Using such technology also became less time consuming as creating surveys and charts where completed within a matter of moments. On the other hand, using traditional methods, would have been somewhat less worrying, as I could easily manage my work, knowing what I have and haven't done, with easy organisation i.e. moving paper in different orders with a contents page, whereas online, it became complicating and confusing when not organised, for example, knowing which labels to categorise your subjects. Plus, on paper I could write at any time possible, anywhere I wanted to to a point) whereas, using technology cannot be done i.e. using blogger to upload all my information etc. in an offline mode- not connected to the internet- this was a major disadvantage, as the internet can sometimes disconnect, or your computer/laptop/ipad can crash, lag and be unreliable, therefore causing problems; usually with saving work, yet, most online work pages such as prezi automatically save, which backs up your work, becoming very helpful! Also, using such methods as a laptop or ipad can run out of battery when not on charge, also delaying you, unlike paper. Then again, when all your work is on the internet saved, it's pretty much impossible to loose it, however, if you have a folder you could leave it on a bus/ could get soaked in water, or even your dog could eat it, which shows it isn't the most reliable method either.

On the whole, using online technology was better in my opinion, because I was able to create and show off my work a lot more, not only creatively but impacts on the reader so much more than using traditional methods, moreover, held my attention and was easier to analyse than other conventional methods. I therefore believe that I will use blogger, prezi, flickr and other forms of technology- that I have used on my blog- in the near future, either at college/university or in work, because there are so many ways in which to present my work in different and interesting ways, rather than in the typical dull fashion.