Exploring Photoshop

     Photoshop is great to create and alter images because it works on a professional level and it’s really easy to use. I don’t know much about Photoshop but the basic tools I know can take me mile; imagine being a professional with Photoshop. I have nothing against the program and I think it can be used for a lot of things except for altering models on the cover of magazines. I feel accomplished and happy when I use Photoshop because I feel there is so much you can change on one image and I’m making those small changes. I sometimes use it on my own images when I want something changed.

     I feel that the six workshops went well; everything was really easy except for the workshop with the woman and the eye patch. It was quite hard to make the eye blend in because tools such as smudge and blur are very distinct and the viewer can clearly tell that something is not right with the eye. After much exploring, I discovered the Dodge tool which helped blend the eye in with the rest of the face. Another thing that bothered me was that when we flipped the eye the woman’s wrinkles on the side of her face were on the side of her nose but I soon fixed that after great difficulty. This problems also come up when I was trying to give the bald man new hair. It wasn’t quite blending into his head. In the end, I found the solutions and the workshops proved not to be that hard.

     Photoshop can help me in the production of a website because I can alter and create images that would suit my website whether that’s in size or color. I could crop images to fit in certain places or even play with the brightness and the saturation. There are a lot of things I could do to an image to make it suitable to my website.

     I can relate Photoshop to my to my Digital Portfolio because I can use it create images such as banners and logos. Also, as discussed before, I could use it to alter images to fit them into areas I need to. Photoshop would allow me to make images more interesting and fun.

IB Learner Profile Poster - Reflection

   I think that my plan for making my poster wasn't well thought out and very efficient. I originally intended on brainstorming templates then choosing the best and from there on just changing the picture and text. I was supposed to find pictures for my posters but some issue would always come up because I hadn't thought very well into the future and when I said that I would work on that particular image or poster next week, there would be another issue I didn't think about. This threw my plan off-track and I was doing other things when I was supposed to be working on different things. In the end, I ended up with a single template and really bad pictures because I hadn't planned ahead. I should have seriously sat own and thought about what I was going to do and maybe write it down on a piece of paper; brainstorm ideas for each trait and how I would accomplish what I wanted. Planning for the poster was supposed to have helped me but since I didn't really think it out very well, I didn't benefit from it as much as I could have. Although, I didn't plan very well I still had a vague idea of what I wanted and how it would all pan out. If I planned it out more maybe I would have better and more posters.

     My poster could improve by using more text to elaborate on what the trait meant so viewers could really grasp the meaning of the ‘IB Learner Profile’ and let the picture and words sink into their heads so they remember what the IB program is looking for. I think that my poster with the word cloud could use a border so it helps the text stand out more. Another way I could have improved my posters is create new posters to complete the set so I didn’t have one random trait and a word cloud with all the traits.

     If someone were to do this in the future I would definitely recommend planning and brainstorming. For example, they should write down all the traits on a piece of paper and brainstorm picture and word ideas for each trait. Also, it would be easier to have a template so they can just place images and text onto it without wasting too much time.

My work on MYP Computer Technology – Grade 8

     My Digital Portfolio is designed well and I find it very easy to navigate. I also think that the overall look of it is pretty good; I have heard from friends and family that it is an attractive website. I think that my website could improve in terms of layout; I feel that the content is stretched too far down the page forcing the viewer to continuously scroll down. Other than that, I think the website is pretty good. The Digital Portfolio could impact my friends and family with accessibility and a sense of knowing. With the portfolio my parents and friends would easily be able to access my school work and look at how I’m doing; they would also be able to know what I’m doing at school making them happier that they know what’s going on.

     Throughout the year I think I worked well except for this semester where I could feel my motivation and work ethic slope downwards and was very unproductive during class times. In the beginning of the year, though, I felt quite accomplished because I managed to finish my work and produced decent products. I think towards the end I began lacking in organizational skills and lost a sense of time which caused barely any productivity and lack of motivation because I was slightly disorganized. If I were more organized, I would have felt a need to work more because I knew what I would need to do as everything would have already been planned. This is something I plan to begin to focus on next year so I don’t lose track of what I need to do.

     I used most parts of the Design Cycle except for one-planning. I always researched before beginning a project but spend a bit too much time on that sometimes which usually makes me feel like I’ve wasted time. When I work on a project the designing phase is ongoing; before I begin a project I always have a vague idea with what I want to do but details and other ideas always pop into my head while working. Personally, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this but I feel this could disrupt the planning phase because if you suddenly feel you want to do or add something but you’re supposed to be working on something else; it could throw you completely off schedule. This is what happened to me and I found it rather frustrating but know I’ve learned what I need to do next time.

     After completing this MYP course this year I’m kind of dissatisfied. This has nothing to do with the course because I really enjoyed the activities – except for creating the posters – but I’m unhappy with myself and my performance. Other than that, this was an enjoyable with great activities and I hope there’s more to come.

Exploring Dreamweaver - Reflection

    Dreamweaver is a web editor, a web editor is software used to create a webpage without having to use an HTML code. It’s a tool for people to enable them to create websites without having to use HTML at all. Although, not having the basic HTML skills could lead to problems. Adobe Dreamweaver was formerly Macromedia Dreamweaver it is an application originally created by Macromedia, and is now developed by Adobe Systems. Dreamweaver has several features that make creating websites easier. On Dreamweaver you can insert multimedia, write text and do many things without knowing HTML code. I can also set paths that help me navigate through the computer and easily add files into Dreamweaver.
     We need Dreamweaver because it's an easy way to create websites and choose different color palettes and create different designs without having to know and the many complicated codes. Also, Dreamweaver isn’t time consuming you can easily create one web page without taking great amounts of time. You are able to work without having to write tones of HTML code. Dreamweaver is a great way to create websites without knowing HTML.

     Dreamweaver was a great way to create my Digital Portfolio because, like I said before, it’s not time consuming. Anytime I would need to update my Portfolio I could easily do it without feeling burdened of the fact that I am about to spend a lot of  and constantly have to write HTML code every time I need to update the portfolio. I also won’t need to know all codes in order to keep my Digital portfolio running in case I need to add something new; something I am not familiar with.

     The relationship between HTML and Dreamweaver is that they both utilise HTML. Dreamweaver is an application which is based on HTML. While someone is working on the application and creating a webpage Dreamweaver is basically writing the code as you work. The one and only difference between Dreamweaver and HTML is that when using HTML you have to write the actual code, it’s the actual language-it’s not an application like Dreamweaver but whereas Dreamweaver the code is being written and recorded for you as you work. Dreamweaver is built on HTML so not knowing HTML could lead to some problems. When there is an issue like you don’t what to do for layout or how or to change the size of the text on Dreamweaver all you need to do is go back to the basics and look a the HTML code and if you know the code and you can add what you need. Sometimes Dreamweaver may not be doing what you want it to you can always check the code, find the route of the problem and fix the issue. Not knowing HTML can lead to problems when you are using an application like Dreamweaver.

     The final product of my Ugandan Website was pretty good and I was pleased with it. There were some unique aspects to my website and there’s always something I would like to improve. The first thing I like about my website was my choice of colors. I thought my choice of colors was really good because my text was really visible because there was a significant contrast between my backgrounds and my text. I also thought that I chose my colors well in terms of organization. I was able separate certain parts of my page from others by using different colors-an example of this can be seen with my table. I basically used colors to help with organization so people would know that which pictures and text belonged to each other; people wouldn’t be confused and they’ll know which text belongs to which picture. I also thought that my pictures and text were organized and not all over the place. The aspects I would improve would be the uniformity. I want my website to feel put together next time by adding a similar border on each webpage so that the website looks as one. I don’t want to have the same colors on each page because it looks boring and there are some colors that look good on certain pages. For example Green looks good with food, it makes it looks appealing. Overall, I think my website looks good and even though there are some minor improvements it still is pretty great.

Sorry that my Reflection is late but I don't have internet at home right now so I'm doing this in school.

Krakatoa

Exploring Web Editors

     A web editor is a software used to create a webpage without having to use an HTML code. The relationship between the two programs, web editing and HTML, is that they both are used to create web pages. One example of a web editor could be Adobe Dreamweaver. This program was designed by Macromedia to create websites. It has some great features such as being able to manipulate pixel-level design, you can drag and drop files from other programs such as photoshop, you can also upload FLV files onto dreamweaver and you can do this without typing in an HTML code. Other examples of wb editors can be CoffeeCup and Namo.

     A website and a web page are two different things, a web page is one, single page in a whole website. Let's say that there's a website about tea, there are many different categories about tea such as the flavour, the fields etc. You can put each subtopic on a web page such as have one page on flavour another on the fields etc. Web pages are many in a single website and there are usually many links leading up to different web pages.

     To view a website you need a browser, a browser opens up websites. Like internet explorer or Mozilla Firefox, this is what we usually use to open up websites, browsers are the only progarm that can open websites.
    A web server has two definitions, it can be a a computer and a software. A computer web serever basically refers to the computer or virtual machine running a program. A web server software is a computer program that delivers content, such as Web pages, using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) using the internet. We use servers to create web pages because it sends our information to the internet and creates a web page.
     A domain name is used to find organizations and computers and addresses on the internet, basically IP addresses. Domain names are used in  URL's to identify particular web pages. For example if the URL is www.shreyareddyiscool.com the domain name would be shreyareddyiscool.

Exploring HTML

     HTML stands for Hyper - Text  Markup Language. HTML is basically a computer language created to allow website creation. Later, anyone connected to the internet can view your website. HTML involves special codes and punctuation, it is relatively easy to learn.

     The reason HTML is used to create websites is that, a website can't be created using Word, it's a bit more complex than that. With HTML you can upload pictures, draw tables, write lists and lots of crazy things. It's also a way of communicating to the computer telling the system what to do.

     I think HTML, in my opinion, is one of the best options if you're making a digital portfolio. This is because you can control what you want to do: determine positions of content, color, font, the general look of the website, things you can't do on blogger. Also, when compared to a normal blog an HTML website looks more professional than an ordinary blog. It's also fun, i like love working with HTML.

     I like my very first website, I like the colors I used, the color combinations, the placement of the content, the general look of the two pages looked pretty good to me. I have my pictures and did basically what was required. I felt that I could improve the picture I used on my first page, I used a picture of a dolphin, i love dolphins but I still felt a picture of me would have been better. I wanted to change the colours of my hyperlinks but for some reason, i didn't. I feel that one thing that I would really like to work on next time is using multicolors, different fonts and different styles, like transitions. One thing that I thought I did well was color combinations. Overall, I think I did pretty good but  I still feel that there's always room for improvement.