What have you learnt about technologies from the process of

constructing this product?

The Software and Hardware I used...

Research

•Google•PowerPoint•Blog•Survey Monkey•Computer

Planning

•Photoshop•PowerPoint•Microsoft word•Blog•Computer•Camera•Memory Stick

Production

•Photoshop•FontSpace•Google•Computer•Camera•Memory Stick

What I have learnt...•At the beginning of my project, during the research stage, I learnt how to use a blog. I had never used one before therefore I learnt how to start it up as well as how to upload my work on to it. I have learnt how to upload PowerPoint's onto my blog using slideshare.

•I have learnt how to use Photoshop, as I had never used it before this project. I learnt how to use a variety of the tools effectively in order to create my final magazine. Some of the tools I used are; text tool, gradient, shape tool, free transform, curves, stroke, drop shadow, paint bucket tool and background eraser.

•I have learnt how to make a survey on survey monkey which helped me with my audience research. I learnt how to create a link to my survey so that I could post my survey onto relevant websites so that people could answer it. I liked this form of remote research because the answers came straight back to me and I was able to get my results from a variety of different people, including some from America. I liked how you could see individual answers or as a whole presented by graphs.

Could you have completed your project without using any technology?

YES? NO?

Yes – What pieces of technology could you have done without?

•Survey Monkey – Instead of using survey monkey I could have produced my own written survey. However this would have taken more time and would have been harder to get results. I would have been limited to who I got answers from as I would have got answers from family, friends and people that live in my area. I wouldn’t have been able to get answers from people in America. It would also have been hard to collect the results as I would have to take the time to receive them from people. However, although it would be harder and take more time, it would have been possible not to use survey monkey.

•Google – Instead of getting my information from Google, on the internet, I could have got my information from books and got my pictures from magazines. However it would have taken more time and wouldn’t have been as easy.

•FontSpace – I could have designed my own fonts or used or used the ones available on Microsoft Word.

•Blog - I could have presented my work on A3 paper in a folder.

•PowerPoint & Microsoft Word - I could have uploaded the information straight to my blog instead of using this software before hand. Also, I could have hand written the information and created my project on A3 paper instead of using a blog.

No – What pieces of technology couldn’t you do without?

•Memory stick - There wasn’t enough memory on the computer to hold all my work at the same time therefore I would have had to delete some of my work in order to save other stuff. This would have put me at risk of losing my work. A memory stick also enabled me to be able to complete my work on different computers without the hassle of sending my work to myself through email.

•Photoshop - If I didn’t use Photoshop my final magazine wouldn’t have looked as good and would have taken more time. It was a necessity in order to make my final magazine look as professional as possible.

•Camera – Without a camera I would not have been able to take my own pictures, therefore it was a necessity.

What were the positives of using technology?

• Using technology made the project easier and quicker. For example when using survey monkey I posted my survey onto websites, if it wasn’t for this technology I would have had to given out written surveys and then collect the data myself as well as produce my own graphs. This would have taken a lot longer and I wouldn’t have got a wide range of results.•Using Google as an internet search engine was much easier than finding information using books as this would have limited my sources and availability of the sources. It was simple to copy and paste images from the internet as that way I could get any that I wanted whereas if I were to get my images from magazines, my choices would be limited.•Using a blog was a much easier form or presenting my work than on A3 paper in a folder. If I went wrong I could go back and edit my posts whereas if it was on paper it would be much harder to change little bits of my work. •A digital camera is easy to use and allowed me to take multiple photos in which I could choose the ones I liked best. It meant I didn’t have to keep all the photos and if the photo went wrong it wouldn’t have been wasting a shot.•Photoshop is a good way of creating a magazine as it has lots of tools which other software doesn’t, e.g. Microsoft Word. It made my work look professional and was a much easier and quicker way of producing a magazine than by hand.

What were the negatives of using technology?

There are very little negatives of using technology as it makes things easier and quicker to complete. However, it can be easy to rely on technology too much, if all your work is saved on a computer and then the computer breaks you could lose all your work. Memory sticks can be easily lost which is another negative as again all your work could be lost. Computers can be slow and inefficient at times with could cause you to be less productive with work.