Technology What does it do?

How was it used?

Problems Solutions Lesson learned

Mac The Mac has all of the apps needed to make my magazine. It kept my progress saved and I used it for many research and planning posts, such as videos which couldn’t be done at home.

This is where I made my magazine and kept my blogger up to date. All of my magazine progress was made on here, as it has all of the applications necessary in order to create this project.

When I started this project, I hadn’t used a Mac before, so many of the apps and uses seemed more complex than they actually were.

I continued to use the Mac, as frequently as I could, and all of the skills I know now were self-taught.

I now know how to use a Mac properly and what is accessible for future creative projects.

DSLR camera – Canon 1000D

This can take either high quality photos or videos. It has a flash option to take photos in the dark, and several different modes to take different types of photos, like closeups and landscapes.

I used this to take every photo in my magazine, along with the test shots and shot types research post.

I hadn’t used a DSLR camera before, so I often needed help in setting it for certain photos and I had a lot of difficulty with manual and auto focus.

I took a lot of test shots before taking my official magazine photos, so I was able to get used to using the camera.

I know how to take several types of photos using the different options, and how to manually focus the camera for a photo.

Photoshop This is a programme which allows you to edit, add text to and create collages of photos and pictures.

I used this to put my magazine pages together, including testing out fonts and different photo effects. I also used this to make guides which made my magazine look more professional. Photoshop

I was very new to Photoshop when I first began to make my magazine, so I struggled to find a lot of the tools needed and took longer than I should have editing pictures because of this.

There wasn’t much I could do other than keep using Photoshop. Over time, I got better at it and quicker. I practised a lot and spent most of my time making the magazine by teaching myself different techniques.

I can edit photos quite well without much struggle, and I can also achieve professional finishes thanks to the experiments on different pictures.

was also used to edit my photos with tools such as spot healing, airbrushing and smudge, which help made my magazine look better.

Indesign InDesign is a similar programme to Photoshop, except it is used more for writing columns, as it’s more technical.

I did not use this programme for my magazine.

The reason I did not use this programme for my magazine was because I found it difficult to use during the trial. I didn’t know how to set up the columns properly, so I needed a lot of help.

I decided not to use InDesign in the end, as it would have wasted time.

I’m better at Photoshop, and I’ll use that more often than InDesign.

Blogger This is a blogging website which allows you to regularly post updates to blogs you have created.

I used this to keep my coursework up to date and also to do a lot of research before and during the making of my music magazine. This was also used to keep track of my targets to improve.

I didn’t have many problems with Blogger, other than the fact that I couldn’t be as consistent throughout the project when it came to updating my blog, as I often forgot to post.

I updated most of my blog posts at home, for the times when I didn’t have long at college to track my progress.

I know how to create and maintain a blog on different platforms of technology, like the Mac, my iPad and my phone.

PowerPoint This is a programme that lets you put together powerpoint presentations, with the ability to use

I used this to present my feedback results, such as embedding a slideshare post by me into my blog

It wasn’t easy at first to set up pie-charts and graphs, as it would open up Excel in order to do this. I also had

I used it as often as I could to present my results, and I gradually got better at creating presentations

I now know how to embed my presentations into my blogs and how to create pie charts and

graphs, pie charts and tables of information.

to compare and contrast the results from several questionnaires answered by my target audience.

difficulty with filling out the results of certain questions because of the complexity of Excel.

for my questionnaires.

graphs to compare information.

Survey Monkey

This is a site which allows you to create surveys for other people to answer.

I used this to ask my target audience different questions which helped shape the direction my music magazine was going.

I didn’t have many answers with my surveys at first, so I had to promote my magazine and my survey in order to get the results I needed. It was also difficult to set up the surveys, as there were many widgets which made the site quite complicated.

I promoted my surveys and music magazine and I eventually got the answers from my target audience.

I know how to set up surveys and how to get target audiences to answer them.

Tripod A tripod holds a camera to prevent photos from being blurry.

I placed the DSLR camera I used onto the tripod and took a few of my double page spread photos with it, along with contents page photos.

I couldn’t work the tripod properly when I was taking the first few photos because I didn’t know how it worked.

I had a friend help me set up the tripod and camera before I took the photos.

I know how to set a camera onto a tripod for further photos and projects.

Lighting The lighting helps either brighten a photo or make it dimmer in the photo studio.

I used filler and front lighting to create a professional setting before my photos were taken in the studio. I also used natural

The artificial lighting had a specific setup that I had to learn about before taking photos using it, and the setup was quite difficult to

I had one of the photography teachers assist me in setting up the lighting, and I also took natural lighting photos after looking at weather

I have learned about different lighting terminology and how to set up a studio, as well as how to plan a shooting day.

lighting when I was outside, which was on my cover photo.

understand. I couldn’t use a lot of natural lighting either, because of the weather which would have affected the shooting dates.

reports.

iShowu This application allows you to record your screen along with your voice for videos.

I used this to podcast some of my progress and to expand the technologies I used in this project. I also used it to commentate the reasons behind why some elements were used in the making of my music magazine,

I had a lot of background noise whenever I had to record a podcast, so I had to find time slots when less students would be in my class.

I went to my classroom at lunch breaks to record podcasts for less background noise, and I also prepared what I was going to present before starting a video.

I know how to take videos of my desktop in order to present my progress and I also know how to commentate it.

iPhoto or image capture

Image capture is where screenshots and taken videos are stored.

I used this as a file to store all of my progress and upload it to Blogger.

I kept too many files in this application so it was difficult to keep track of new and old progress.

I separated my pictures and named them individually in order to track my progress.

I know how to store my images to return to them for later use.

Prezi This allows you to make more high-end presentations which are more animated and interactive than regular powerpoints.

I used this during one of my evaluation questions to talk about the progress of my magazine and the changes I made, along with an analysis of my target audience.

It was complicated to use at first because of the different effects.

I eventually got used to the software and took on several templates to find which I thought was easiest.

I know how to make technical powerpoints and how to use different effects to make my presentation look better.

Social media Social media is I used social I didn’t get I did more I know what

a way in which we can interact through use of the internet.

media to come into contact with my target audience and receive feedback online as evidence.

immediate replies, so social media required a lot of patience in order to receive the appropriate responses.

coursework in the meantime until I got responses for my music magazine.

sites to use to get feedback for my projects.

Excel/Word Excel allows you to make powerpoints and graphs for your presentations. Word allows you to type up documents which can be printed.

I used excel to create piecharts and graphs for my presentations, and I used word to document some of my progress.

Excel, as mentioned before, was far more complicated than Word, and therefore took a while to create ways of presenting information.

I kept using the programmes until I became comfortable, and got help from my teacher when I couldn’t make charts and graphs.

I know the layouts of setting up charts and graphs now.

Question 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?