Our meeting in class was short. We were given this meeting for lab time. Today wiil be one of the first days that I will work from home. This semester is pretty much over. I will try to incorporate captions for Sergio. Hopefully it’s readable.
Apr. 29, 08 Week 15
May 6, 2008Apr. 22, 08 Week 14
May 6, 2008We had a brief discussion about creating PDFs. There is free software that creates PDFs. If we google CutePDF on the internet, there will be a download for free. There was a reminder about our reference paper.
Apr. 15, 08 Week 13
May 6, 2008Now we are receiving lab time to complete your portfolios. We are able to publish our presentation in pretty much any format we want. I think that this is a good idea. I usually get nervous and forget information that I was going to address. We have to answer some questions in our presentation to fulfill Ivan’s expectations. Evaluations are going to be based on the following; time, address all topics, maintain our attention, one topic of choice. Today was the first day to choose our time slot for our presentation. The review of MovieMaker, PowerPoint and Audacity.
Apr. 8, 08 Week 12
April 18, 2008HTML. The acronym for Hyper Text Markup Language. This language is easy to understand when someone enters the information manually. Ivan showed us a few examples of software that assist with entering the data. The software enters information, or code, that is unnecessary. Jack Fisher was my previous HTML professor. Jack also pointed out the extra code that HTML software produces. In Jack’s class I learned typing HTML code in WordPad! Knowing basics does help out. This is what I have learned about HTML.
HTML is much like BIOS. They both work by reading characters. I no proper code is entered, there will be no page to view. Certain characters represent commands that a computer follows. With HTML the commands are enclosed with < > on each side. Within these characters there is information that the computers read and project. The basic code that will give us a web page would be: <html>, <body>, <font>, <h1>. This can give us the most basic page. We can start getting fancy by adding <div> (divides information for different format), <a name> (anchors that navigate web pages with a click on a link), <img src> (adds pictures to web page), and the list can go on. Basic understanding is needed to modify changes to code when the software that is producing unwanted results. After using Dreamweaver I realized that modifications do have to be made manually to get sought out results.
CSS. The acronym for Cascading Style Sheets. This method runs parallel with HTML coding. With CSS further design detail can be applied to the existing code. If for every paragraph the code <p> was used then in CSS p {background-color: #FFFFFF; another code;}. CSS can help separate the data that will be displayed from the data that will design and layout the web page. CSS coding can also do exactly what it stated in its name “Cascading Style Sheets.” There can be menus that will show additional information when the mouse hovers around the menu groups. There are many benefits that CSS can provide, too many to list and I’m not knowledgeable with the majority of them.
The information presented in class helped enforce methods that I previously learned. Since I am not producing web pages directly from typing HTML from the beginning, I need refresher here and there.
Apr. 1, 08 Week 11
April 9, 2008Ahh, Tuesdays. We started class with review of links from Perdue Univ. (OWL.) The presentation that Ivan offered from Perdue’s writing labs was interesting. We touched on the process of perusing a degree (Pd. D, Master, etc.) and the amount of research required for each educational path.
We have to be careful when we choose our references for our Webquest. This is very understandable because it’s the foundation that will form our Webquest. The following are the types of web pages available to the public with a search engine: Informative pages, Personal web pages, Political/interest group pages, Marketing-oriented or “infomercial” pages, Entertainment pages. This information was taken straight out of the presentation from OWL. One thing that I learned was the use of our library database. I knew that we have access to an additional database. What I didn’t know was that we have access to the Trubune and Sun-Times! A week ago I wrote a paper and this database would have made my search easier and reliable. I don’t have this type of problem where I include unreliable resources for references. I usually read more than one reference to understand topics better. I usually have trouble retaining knowledge from one source. This is when I usually find discrepancies with the information that I read. By reading at least two public web pages I run into contradicting information. Ivan recommended that we check the web site’s mission statement to validate the reference. Another topic that Ivan touched would be our method of researching. Using solely popular search engines is an unpredictable method. Since we are college students we are provided with access to larger and more reliable information through our library search engine. Our school pays for access to databases that are not available to the regular public. A membership would have to be paid to access these databases. We would have to talk to our librarian to access the databases from home.
Our schools search database is almost unlimited. With the inclusion of three newspapers, the data is endless. This will be a great tool to have for future reference.
Mar. 25, 08 Week 10
April 1, 2008Today we discussed the approach that each individual will talk toward his or her teaching career. Our discussions always seem to hit my concerns right on! Included with our discussions was a couple of reference web pages. http://www.electronicportfolio.org and http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloom.html.
We have to select a level of education that we want to teach. In order for us to better our proposal we need to focus on a group of students. We have to understand their needs and support our theory. Understanding what our students’ need will help us reach a better descriptive proposal.
We also reviewed our Webquest artifact. There was a bit of misunderstanding about how to put this artifact together. We are not supposed to create a Webquest on their webpage! We are mimicking the layout with Word. This makes sense because we are just developing our Webquests. I think that our information should be reviewed, critiqued and then submitted to Webquest. This artifact is very interesting. I will chose a topic that I will post on my online portfolio webpage. I think this is a great way to pass on information and techniques that has helped us in our college experience.
The ending discussion for the day was our final portfolio. This portfolio will have to be submitted in a digital format (PDF). I think I have a really good understanding of what Ivan is expecting for our final. Our professor is concerned with our overall composition as well as our information that will be included. I will be looking forward to my presentaion.
Mar. 11, 08 Week 9
March 12, 2008Quiz. Wow that’s a first! It is odd to start class the way we did. A surprise quiz is what I think we do need. It forces everyone to keep up with the reading material. I understand that this is not the way Ivan approaches his lessons. But some funk mixed in with the liberty that Ivan gives will not damage anything. We reviewed Raster and Vector files today. As part of today’s assignment we have to go back and revise the week 6 blog entry. In class we also received feedback from our midterm. Ivan gave our class an extension to modify our trouble areas in out midterm portfolios.
We have to confirm our entries for validity. One of the reasons why we should make sure that our information is valid in our blogs is because someone might use it as a resource. Everyone does this. We read from the internet and trust our references. So in order for people to read and trust our blogs they have to be accurate. This is exceptionally understandable. Web crawlers is a type of software. Search engines send out software to find and index key works from web pages on the internet. So if our blogs have the key words that someone searches they will get our blog. So if our blog is incorrect, people will receive incorrect information. Imagine how bad that would feel if you are working on a school paper and you read a source from the internet. After you turn in your paper you find out that the information is wrong. You place the energy but the source was wrong. It’s something to think about and is very true.
Another topic discussed in class would be webquest. We need to find out what is the purpose for the information included in webquest. After we inform ourselves with webquest, we need to find three web pages that can be used as sources for our own webquest.
I have a lot of work ahead of me for EDUC 102. I have to restructure every blog entry to meet Ivan’s blog standards. It needs to be done. I guess this will keep me busy through my spring vacation. Well everyone enjoy your spring vacation!
Mar. 4, 08 Week 8
March 5, 2008Midterm. How do midterms and finals creep up so fast? Well midterm is here. Today we spent the whole class time polishing up our midterm portfolios. Ivan eagerly waited to give feed back so we can complete our portfolio. I’m in good shape this midterm. Although I dedicated the majority of my weekend for my online class, I was able to keep my head above water. I was able to complete all of my other class assignments on time. I am going to turn in my ECON 102 portfolio via PDF. I took the time to convert some files so I can ask Ivan for help. One thing that was covered in class today was the midterm rubric. It was clear and understandable.
Feb. 26, 08 Week 7
March 5, 2008Copyright Laws. I understand the reasoning behind copyright laws. They are needed for protection of ideas. It is very simple, you an idea away from becoming famous. Who ever thought that “The Simpsons” would be on the air for this long?! They have been on the air since 1989. There have been thousands of action figures that have been sold. Ideas have to be protected so that the creator can benefit from their creation. If laws were not in place there would be no protection for anybody’s work. If there’s no protection for peoples creation they would not get money, therefore no one would create. There would be fines and penalties if you were to decide to charge for a movie without consulting the owner. If profit is going to be made by charging to view a movie, royalties would be paid to the creator. It is against the law to copy pages from a book when a profit is being made or when over 10% of the book is copied. The only time that the law permits to make a copy of my friends cd is when permission is ask prior to the copy. If you make a copy of the cd before asking permission the law has been broken. It is wrong to sharing mp3 files because it is stealing. Installing software that has not been purchased is stealing. In order for companies to keep producing and further advancing software programs it needs to gain back money invested in the creation of the software. Creative minds benefit from copyright laws. They gain profit from creation which the keeps the artist creating. For the most part copyright laws are there for protecting. They were created for good, and that’s mostly what they do.
Feb. 19, 08 Week 6
February 22, 2008Today we reviewed our assignments. Generally spoke about what needs to be met before we can consider our midterm complete. This midterm showed up quick! I guess this is where the pressure starts to build. Our discussion in class really helped me out. I’ve heard of raster and vector. I really never took the time to read and understand completely. I was trying to get away with knowing the bare minimum.
Raster (bitmap) is what I am familiar with. I have been working with raster for over 5 years. Raster is made up of dots (pixels) per inch. Raster is always measured in dots (pixels) per inch and resolution. The image cannot be expanded beyond its original state. The reason being is there are no additional pixels to fill in the extra space. If raster is measured in pixels per inch, what happens when those pixels are stretched over tow inches?! The computer will try to fill in the extra space with existing pixels. What usually ends up happening is the pixels are stretched then the pixels start projecting their individual edges and start to dominate the image. If an image looks good on a monitor, it does not mean that it will print out clear. A monitor projects a picture at 72 ppi (pixels per inch). What I didn’t know is in order to print; images have to be at least 300 dpi! I always thought that if they look good on my monitor, they’ll look good on paper. I was totally off!
Vector files are made up of paths. Paths are made of dots that are placed together to create a line. So vector is made with thousands of dots (pixels) that project a line. If using a vector based software, in this example I used Illustrator. In Illustrator a click with the pen tool will place a dot. When another dot is placed in a different place in the document, the computer places a path between the two points. With vector images require mathematical calculations with every stroke that you make with any tool. Because of the mathematics required to make the picture, the file size is small compared to a raster file. In a raster file the computer has to store pixel by pixel. With a vector file it only stores locations on the document that take up less space on a hard drive. Vector art minimizes download time when working with the internet. Vector can make the wait shorter so web surfers can enjoy the internet.
After reading the two web pages that Ivan gave us, everything came together. Understanding the differences is vital to my studies. I have converted raster to vector via Illustrator. I have also converted vector to raster via Photoshop. After reading the two web pages, I was unable to confirm the Cartesian coordinate system. It does help to visualize and understand the concept at hand, not sure why they didn’t mention it on the links. I will design my cover page with Photoshop; I’m more familiar with that software compared to Publisher.
