Audio Assignment

Description of how you used Audacity:

I have been using Audacity for a few years for a podcast that my friend and I used to do. Since we have different segments in our show coupled with music bumpers, I have a skeleton Audacity file of our bumper music saved in a file. I used that file to create our 8th show, the one that is posted. In this show, Cara and I discuss our training techniques and woes for our upcoming triathlon in Arizona. We conclude each show with a "Pump Up Song of the Week".

What obstacles you encountered:

Initially when using Audacity, it took me a while to edit out all of the pops and level out our voices where it doesn't peak into the red, deafening zone for the listener.

How did you overcome these obstacles?

I just practiced and practiced with it and eventually editing became pretty quick and easy.

What successes you experienced (what you learned):

I learned that I say "umm" way too much, so after a while, I became more aware of it and corrected it... at least a bit. I also learned how to do an RSS feed in order to connect the archive to iTunes and actually podcast all over the world. Pretty cool stuff.

Ideas about how you can use an audio recorder/editor for future projects:

I think it would be super neat to do a audio recording and put it on my website that I created for my classes. That would cover another dimension of learning for students who might learn better from listening combined with reading.

Full Web Assignment

Description of your instructional Web site:

After many, many long hours of working with html, css, and Dreamweaver, I FINALLY completed my project. I would have liked more time with it, but with this whirlwind course coupled with other summer classes, I just couldn't manage more than what I did. Although, I do plan on utilizing it more to assist my teaching. Very exciting! For this assignment, I wanted to make a site that my students could visit and reference throughout their time in my class. I only listed the first three class sessions, but I'd like to do more later. My index page informed the reader of the content pages. There were three lesson pages: Understanding Risk, Types of Data, and Survey Construction. I also included a reference page that identified all of my sources and identified myself. A contact option is also available in case the visitor wants to contact me for some reason. Basically, this website is designed for students in my class, but I think it could be useful for anyone interested in research basics.

What obstacles you encountered with the technology or with creating instructional content:

I pretty much had the same issues that I've been having with html/css coding. I wanted to do so much more with my pages, but I just needed more time to mess around in DW and get it figured out.

How you resolved these obstacles:

I used the same CSS coding for all my pages and changed the features within them. This cut down on the amount of individual time I had to fix each page. I think it turned out to be pretty cool... but I guess that's just my opinion. :)

What successes you experienced:

I DID IT!!! That in itself is an accomplishment. I learned how to publish the site onto the web and finally started decorating the way I wanted to. I feel like I'm getting the hang of coding SO much more than before.

What Dreamweaver features would you like to use that you have not yet used?

I'd like to use more of the template varieties more. I'd also like to link Photoshopped pictures into my DW pages and really utilize all that Adobe has to offer. I also started watching videos on the features offered on the right column of the homepage in DW, and those look really neat too.

Asssignment 4

I created two very simple websites on the topic of my garden. One site explained what is in the garden and the other site showed pictures of the garden.

HTML and CSS have been a challenge for me all around it seems. So, as suggested in the videos, I started my websites using the templates provided. I modified them to fit my needs so it worked out pretty well. I'm still having trouble with the formatting of my own hand done coding. This was extremely helpful.

I had a really good time playing with and getting much more comfortable with CSS and HTML using Dreamweaver. That program makes life much easier! I got prety quick with edits and restructuring.

I think this program would be awesome to use and personalize all od the different courses I could potentially teach. Linking back and forth between classes and such would be a really easy way for my students to utilize the web for educational purposes. Good times!

Assignment 2

Description of how you used HTML and CSS:

I am very new to the HTML and CSS lesson. I remember doing this in undergrad for a class, but I haven't really touched it since then. So, with that, I just did very basic edits to the codes that were provided.

What obstacles you encountered:

I encountered MANY obstacles unfortunately. I was confused about the layout of the lesson plan. I felt that I was going back and forth and skipping over parts that I somehow later reached and realized I should have read that long before what I just read. I had a very difficult time with this assignment all around. The major obstacle was primarily my navigation through the lessons, which, in turn, made this material very difficult to understand.

How you resolved these obstacles:

I'm not really sure that I have resolved those obstacles. I just went through and through them until I got a little understanding of what I was supposed to be doing. I haven't had any problems with previous lessons, so I'm not sure why I was having such a hard time this week.

What successes you experienced:

I think I finished the assignment correctly. That's a bonus! And all in all, I do have a better understanding of CSS.

Ideas of how you can use HTML and CSS in future projects:

This could be used for so many different things. I could definitely use this as a resource location to organize my journal articles and also a resource for my students to access outside of class.

Class Project 1

Description of how you used MS Word and PPT:

I used MS Word to complete an instruction manual about how to download PicPick onto a computer. It was a step-by-step process that instructed the user on how to access the software and download it onto their computer. I used MS PPT to instruct a college-based audience on how to create a study design and how to conduct a survey. The PPT included links to outside sources and pictures to facilitate learning.

What obstacles you encountered:

The primary obstacle that I encountered was finding enough material the supplement my lesson on PPT. (i.e. External links, etc). I sort of felt like I was making things up just to fulfill the requirement, even though they really weren't necessary.

How you resolved these obstacles:

I found some words on the PPT that I thought might need some clarification or further explanation and created hyperlinks to those words or ideas. This allows the reader to access more information on those topics.

What successes you experienced:

I learned what ALT Tags were and that I'm doing them incorrectly.

Ideas about how you can use this application in the future:

I use these tools every single day. I do believe that I'll start hyperlinking more within my PPT presentation to my students though.