Friday, April 26, 2013

Blog #8: Article Review

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Teaching with Technology / Technology & Pedagogy

The article I chose to read and review was entitled, “Flip Your Students’ Learning” by Aaron Sams and Jonathan Bergmann.  There were several reasons why I chose this article.  First, the superintendent of my school district e-mailed it to all of us teachers, so I thought it would be a good idea to share it will all of you.  Second, I am very interested in flipping my classroom, at least for one unit of study next year so I always like to get more information about it.  Third, this article definitely relates to what we have learned in this class. 
For those of you who don’t already know, a flipped classroom is where the instruction is presented to the students at home through use of online videos and practicing these concepts is done in class where the teacher can help.  The article explains that a lecture given by a teacher in class does not challenge students with higher order thinking.  A lecture, they explain, will lose very little if presented outside of the face-to-face meeting of the classroom setting.  Therefore, they argue that the delivery of new content should be done outside of the classroom, through use of instructional videos that the teacher can make, and the traditional homework assignment where students work on problems, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create, all higher levels thinking skills according to Bloom’s Taxonomy, can be done in class while the teacher is there to assist students.  Flipping a classroom, they also argue, inherently differentiates the lesson.  Students can move at their own pace and can rewatch the videos as necessary.
The second half of the article discusses suggested assessment methods for a flipped classroom.  The teachers in the article have students retake the assessment until the minimum level of mastery is achieved.  They offer alternative forms of assessment – the traditional test or quiz, a project, a presentation, creating a blog or videogame, etc.  I think the idea of having alternative forms of authentic assessment is great, but I think having students retake tests and quizzes until they mastered the material would be a challenge for me in my classroom, at least for now.
Throughout this course, we have discussed three different types of multimedia – still, audio, and moving.  This article focuses on the moving aspect of multimedia, videos.  On the last page of this article, the authors even go into detail about how to create an instruction video through the use of a screencast and what equipment is needed to create this screencast.  It brought me back to the MDMC project we did and the different multimedia tools available.   

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Blog #7: Reflective Freewrite


Graphic design and art have never been a strength of mine, but they have always been something I have had an appreciation for.  As someone who loves to shop and look through magazines, I have always been drawn to articles, ads, and websites that are aesthetically pleasing, but I have never been able to pinpoint why they look so good until learning about the different design elements and principles in our readings, particularly in White Space is Not Your Enemy.  Now I cannot help but point out well designed (and not so well designed) ads and websites.

            For me, the most important aspects of design that I learned about were regarding layouts and images.  I never realized how important cropping an image was until the 3rd Mini Art School (Blog #5) assignment on this topic.  I had a great time trying to change the focal point and orientation of the images.  My peers did a great job with this too.  I remember looking at Steve and Erin’s cropped images, which were fantastic!  Previously, I almost always took pictures with the focal point directly centered.  Through these activities and readings, I discovered the rule of thirds, which has been very helpful in changing the perspective of the images and making them less boring and monotonous (Golombisky & Hagen, 2010).  When reviewing still media tools for the MDMC, I discovered FotoFlexer, which I have used many times since to resize an image without distortion and edit or add certain features to the image.

            Layout was the other feature of design that I have never given much thought to but now is always in my mind.  The works every time layout has been extremely helpful for quickly designing something and making it look great.  I also always try to keep in mind using a good amount of negative space and breaking up large amounts of text with images or columns to make it more inviting.  The first Mini Art School assignment (Blog #3) was very helpful in forcing me to play with different layout options for the redesign assignment and my 90’s Toys Ad. 

            Getting the feedback from my peers has been extremely helpful.  Whether it has just been for reinforcement purposes and encouragement or suggestions that can help me with my Multimedia Project (or in general).  For example, Mae Lin suggested playing with the sidebar on my blog to group apps with similar content.  This is something I am looking in to. 

            My understanding of design principles and layout sins have definitely improved from the beginning of the semester.  I look forward to continuing to make my work better!

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Blog # 6: MMP Storyboard and Reflection Video

MMP Storyboard

For my Multimedia Project, I will be reviewing different apps to use in a high school math classroom.  Below is the storyboard outlining my plans for the blog I will be creating to display my findings.  It is a rough idea of what I think my blog will look like.  Some of the aspects of design I will use when creating my blog focus on text, color, and the use of whitespace.  I will mix in images along with the text to give viewers a visual representation of what the app looks like (note: I did not include pictures below because I have yet to finalize the 10 apps I am going to review).  I will also pick appropriate fonts that are easy to read and I will keep the size of the font in mind, making the headlines bigger and bolder than the main text.  I plan to separate my review as indicated below to make it easy to navigate the information: name of app, price, purpose, summary of its capabilities, positive aspects, and negative aspects.  I will make sure my images are of good resolution and will use my MDMC still media tool, FotoFlexer, to help edit them.


  


Concept Video

Below you will find the video I created of a slideshow of different pictures from my vacation in 2010.  My fiance and I went to Pittsburgh for my family reunion, followed by a couple days in Ocean City, M.D., then a couple days in Baltimore, and ended our trip visiting my sister and some friends in Washington D.C..  Because the video could only be 60 seconds (61 after I uploaded it to YouTube), it goes through pretty quickly.  I kept the transitions very basic, except for some more defining ones between the different cities we visited.  I created it using iMovie and used the template for photo album but put in my own title page, credit page, and transitions.  I hope you enjoy!  I had trouble posting the video here, so please use the link below.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Blog #5: Mini Art School 3

Task #1: Cropping

Here are six images, each of which I cropped two times, at least one of which changed the focus of the picture.

Forrest Fire:
Original Photo

Cropping #1


Cropping #2

The first image was cropped to change the shape and focus on the animals.  The fire almost looks like it could be the sun rising or setting.  The second cropping focuses just on the top of the trees and the fire coming from behind them.



Island Shot:
     
Original Photo
Cropping #1
Cropping #2

In this first cropping, the image was cropped to zoom in on the island.  In the second cropping, the island was taken out of the picture and the focus was on the interesting cloud arrangement.



Japanese Garden
Original Photo
Cropping #1
Cropping #2

The first picture was cropped to focus on the tree, the bridge being simply in the background.  In the second cropping, the bridge was prominent but behind the bushes.



Berries in Branches:

Original Photo
Cropping #1
Cropping #2

The first picture was cropped to zoom in on the berries and square out the dimensions.  The second photo was cropped to eliminate that focus in the photo.



Ocean Life:

Original Photo
Cropping #1
Cropping #2

 The first image was cropped to focus on the one bigger fish.  The second image was cropped to change it to a vertical photo, still focusing on the one fish.



Winter Wonderland:
Original Photo
Cropping #1
Cropping #2

This photo was cropped to first focus on the smaller tree in the middle of the original photo.  Then, the focus for the second cropping became the branches in the tree to the right.


Task #2: Typographic Conveyance 

Here are six typographic conveyances that I came up with.  I used four from the book and came up with two of my own.


I made two representations for brick.  I used the font Impact for both representations because it seemed like a strong font.  The first representation was made using PowerPoint with a pattern lettering and the second was made using FotoFlexer with a brick background.








I made the rest of the representations using PowerPoint.  I concentrated on using fonts, colors, and patterns that portrayed the feeling of the word itself.



































Task #3: Coloring

For this task, I made three representations based on the same photo.  I tried to incorporate some of the same colors for the backgrounds and fonts.  The colors in the third one are slightly off, since changing the colors of the background distorted the way the image was viewed.





Thursday, February 14, 2013

Blog Entry #4: Mini Art School 2

For the Mini Art School assignment #2, I decided to work on these two challenges:

Task 4 #1
I chose to compare the websites of the competing companies Target and Wal-Mart.  The grid structures of their websites are very similar.  Both websites have what looks like approximately the first quarter of the width of the page dedicated to a featured column.  For Target, this column contains the daily sales and for Wal-Mart, it is used for navigational purposes so that the viewers can click on which department they want to go see.  It also contains the current deals below the navigation tool.  Both companies also have navigational and search features horizontally along the top of their sites. 


Besides for the top row and left column of the website, both companies use the remaining space for the main ads.  Target’s main space is constantly changing.  They have five different advertisements for the different departments within the store.  Sometimes the ad is up for about 3 seconds, while other ads are up for about 10 seconds at a time.  Wal-Mart on the other hand, chose to highlight one department, babies right now, as their feature main advertisement on the main page.  Both sites below this main visual have other, much smaller.


Other design features that stand out to me about these two websites are Target’s use of color.  The navigation tools along the top are in bright red, Target’s signature color.  Some of their main alternating feature ads are bright and bold, while others are smaller and contain trapped white space.  Wal-Mart, on the other hand, uses a more subtle blue color.  Their main ad is what really pops on the page but there is so much going on in the ad that it seems very cluttered.  There is not one focal point.

Here are the two websites if you’d like to take a look:



Task 1
 Here are twelve different fonts each with two words whose meaning is amplified with the font, and two words that seem to be contradicted by the choice of font.



Friday, February 8, 2013

Blog #3: Mini Art School


Task 1: Required Design Critique


Hawaii Honeymoon

As you may know, I am getting married in a little over five months, and therefore, I have many wedding magazines.  While reading about possible honeymoon locations, I can across this article/ad for a Hawaii honeymoon.  I found this page aesthetically pleasing and decided to break down the design elements I read about in the articles and in White Space Is Not Your Enemy.  



1.     Layout – The layout of this page reminded me of the “works every time layout” (Golombisky & Hagen, 2010, p. 21-31) but with an extra picture.  The visual is at the top of page, where the reader first looks.  This is followed by a headline, text with columns, and then a tag at the end.

2.    Visuals – The visuals on this page are beautiful, very enticing, and directly related to the purpose of the article/ad.  The beautiful beaches and gorgeous waterfalls make me want to book my honeymoon right away (if only my fiancé wasn’t afraid of getting on a plane).

3.    Audience – The audience here is engaged couples looking to plan a honeymoon get-away.  This ad attracts its audience particularly through the smaller picture, a romantic visual of a couple at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa enjoying themselves in paradise.

4.    Headline – The location of the headline right below the picture and above the text is good; however, the overlap of the headline and the visual makes reading the headline a little difficult, especially since the font is white and the background is at times light.

5.    Fonts – The fonts were well chosen for this page.  The page designer stuck to one or two normal fonts that are easy to read.  The size of the text is good as well.  The headline is the biggest size and the other important features of the article are slightly bigger than the average text, drawing the reader’s eyes to the important features.

6.    Columns – The text on this page is split into two columns, which makes it not seem overwhelming for the person reading it.  I must admit, I will often skip over a page with a lot of text when flipping through a magazine, but a page layout like this makes it much more inviting.

7.    Colors – This page is not just plain black and white; it has inviting colors without being hard to look at.  The designer’s choice of introducing the color orange may be used to evoke happiness and adventure from the couple as mentioned in Graphic Design Basics.

8.    White (Negative) Space – This page has the right amount of white space, not too much that the page looks empty, but just enough so that the page is not cramped and is easy to read.

9.    Tags – At the bottom of the article is a tag for The Knot, the company that made the magazine, along with their website URL where the reader can obtain more information about honeymooning to Hawaii.

10.  Busy Backgrounds – To fill some of the white space, the designer of the page used vertical lines.  I do not think this was needed, although I do not think it takes away from the page either.


Task 2: Before/After

I am an advisor for the National Honor Society at my school.  In the fall, the organization collected school supplies for lower income districts.  One of the officers created the before flyer, and I redesigned it.

Before
After


When redesigning this flyer, I tried to use the techniques I read about it White Space Is Not Your Enemy.  I used a layout based on the works-every-time layout.  I placed the picture at the top to draw attention to the flyer followed by a big headline.  I tried to limit the text and place it in columns so that it is not overwhelming the space.  In addition, I included more white space and less colors for the text, as to not take away from the colors in the picture.


Task 3: Toy Store Ad


This was by far the hardest task for me to complete.  Here are the two 90's Toy Sale ads that I came up with.

Highly Structured Layout
Loosely Assembled Ad


I modeled these advertisements off of the examples in Design Basics Index.  Along with one add being more structured than the other, I tried to incorporate other design elements into the ads.  I put borders around the visuals and stuck to text in only two fonts and colors, one for the border and tag and another for the rest of the text.  White space was used to separate the different elements in the ad.


Friday, February 1, 2013

Blog #2: Joining Communities


For my MMP project, I chose to join the following three communities:

·            iPad

I joined the Thinkfinity community iPad.  Since all of my students have iPads, I have been looking for creative ways and interesting apps to use in class.  When checking out this community, I found discussions that were specifically related to great apps to download, discussions on general ways to use the iPad in class, and discussions on subject specific ideas with the iPad. 


·            Project Based Learning Group

I joined another Thinkfinity community called Project Based Learning Group.  Along with establishing a classroom with a twenty-first century learning environment, I also want to create more authentic assessments and discovery learning activities for my classes.  Within this community, there are discussions posted by subject.  I am very interested in looking for some ideas about project based learning in math classes and bouncing ideas that I come up with off of other members in the group.


·            Edmodo – Math
http://www.edmodo.com/home#/community/math

The last group I joined was through Edmodo, a content-based group, Math.  In this community, other math teachers have posted questions and ideas about good mathematical problems/applications to use, good apps or other technology questions/ideas, and games.  I am interested in collaborating with other math teachers about different ways to create interesting learning experiences in my Algebra II and Precalculus classes.

Friday, January 25, 2013

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The Cîroc Commercial


In Cîroc’s “The Art of Celebration” commercial, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Frank Vincent, Eva Pigford, Michael K. Williams, Aaron Paul, Dania Ramirez, Jesse Williams, and others (all up and coming actors and actresses) are enjoying a night out in Las Vegas, celebrating with friends and drinking Cîroc’s Ultimate Premium Vodka. 

Analysis: 
The purpose of this commercial is to make Cîroc come across as a high-class vodka, an ultra premium brand, that even the stars of present day and future Hollywood (portrayed as the modern day Rat Pack) enjoy.  They are portraying Cîroc Vodka as the perfect drink for celebrating special occasions, a way for the average person to feel like a star.  As Diddy says, “The Rat Pack defined the art of celebrating in style.  I cannot imagine a Spirit more suitable for commemorating life with family and friends than CÎROC; a brand that has become synonymous with celebratory occasions.” 

Audience: 
The intended audience for this advertisement is young adults (of drinking age).  Through the eyes of Diddy, a modern day Hollywood star, the audience gets a feeling that Cîroc is hip, cool, contemporary, yet classy. 

Representation:
The actors and actresses in this video are portrayed as Hollywood stars, people of taste and elegance, friends of Diddy.  Diddy is being singled out because he is the face behind his brand of Vodka and the biggest star or them all.  The rest of the cast is having a great time celebrating with him.

Design:
There are two design elements of this commercial that stick out to me.  The first element is the location of the events in the ad, Las Vegas.  “Sin City” is known for being a place that people party, have a good time, and celebrate, a feeling that Cîroc would like to portray to its audience.  The second element was the Sinatra song, “Luck Be a Lady” that was used in the video.  Sinatra, another iconic star, sets a classy and elegant mood to represent this product.

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Resources:
Gallagher. (2008). Diddy/Sinatra Ciroc Video. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF3G7vdM2UI

Diddy and Friends Take Vegas by Storm With New "Luck Be a Lady" Ad Campaign. [2013] Retrieved from http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/diddy-and-friends-take-vegas-by-storm-with-new-luck-be-a-lady-ad-campaign-135745658.html