I have tried to design a class webpage before. I used Proto Page. You can visit it here, although, I must warn you that I have not kept up with it. I felt that creating this site was very easy and straightforward. I did not like that I could not customize it. I could not make it look the way I wanted or have some of the things I wanted. I looked at other sites to create a class website, but they seemed a lot more difficult to create, although the other sites did allow for more customization.
I have also created a blog on Blogger. I had to learn a little more about HTML and embedding media in order to create this. I liked that I was able to create this blog and customize it the way I wanted. I liked that I could add tags, media, links, have followers, readers can see older articles, and I could make it suit my taste. I do not think I would use this as a class web site because it does not have a homepage with the most important information right up front. Also, I feel that it is more difficult for parents and students to navigate. I am looking forward to designing a class website that allows me to customize it to fit my needs and is easy for parents and students to navigate.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
603 LT1_Act 3
Defend or argue the following:
Designing/writing for a web audience is more different than similar to designing/writing for a paper audience.
Defend
When writing a paper, whether it is for a class, newspaper, or book, one needs to be very detailed and wordy. On the Internet, nearly the opposite it true. It is suggested to create headings, subheadings, and bullet point when writing for a web audience. This is something that I have never been encouraged to do for a print audience.
In both situations, the writer needs to give the most important information in the beginning. This allows the reader to decide if the current information is relevant. In printed text, it is more difficult and time consuming to find sources, so the reader is more likely to give your writing a chance and dig deeper for information. On the web, more sources are only a click away. There is so much more competition for keeping an audience while on the Internet.
I know that when I am on a website, I read the title, the sub-headings, and then the side bar. I figure that these are the places that will get me directly to the information I am looking for. This way I do not have to look through and/or read the entire page. If I do not find what I am looking for, I move on to the next source. The way I search fits exactly into the F shaped pattern.
When I read a print article, I still skim it, however, I skim more thoroughly. I tend to look for more information from the print source than I do from the web source.
It comes down to quality verses quantity when comparing a reader’s use of print and web sources. The Internet is full of sources and if someone does not find what s/he is looking for they move on the next. Quantity is key for a reader’s use of web sources. Print sources are not as easily accessible so readers spend more time with a single source and dive deeper into that sources become moving on. If for no other reason, it is for pure convenience. When readers are looking at print sources, quality is key.
We must remember this when designing for a web audience. We need to make the important information where the reader will see it, we can not simply ramble on and disguise information within the body of the page when we know that the next source is just a click away. Writing for a web-based audience takes a lot more planning and thought than writing for a paper audience.
Designing/writing for a web audience is more different than similar to designing/writing for a paper audience.
Defend
When writing a paper, whether it is for a class, newspaper, or book, one needs to be very detailed and wordy. On the Internet, nearly the opposite it true. It is suggested to create headings, subheadings, and bullet point when writing for a web audience. This is something that I have never been encouraged to do for a print audience.
In both situations, the writer needs to give the most important information in the beginning. This allows the reader to decide if the current information is relevant. In printed text, it is more difficult and time consuming to find sources, so the reader is more likely to give your writing a chance and dig deeper for information. On the web, more sources are only a click away. There is so much more competition for keeping an audience while on the Internet.
I know that when I am on a website, I read the title, the sub-headings, and then the side bar. I figure that these are the places that will get me directly to the information I am looking for. This way I do not have to look through and/or read the entire page. If I do not find what I am looking for, I move on to the next source. The way I search fits exactly into the F shaped pattern.
When I read a print article, I still skim it, however, I skim more thoroughly. I tend to look for more information from the print source than I do from the web source.
It comes down to quality verses quantity when comparing a reader’s use of print and web sources. The Internet is full of sources and if someone does not find what s/he is looking for they move on the next. Quantity is key for a reader’s use of web sources. Print sources are not as easily accessible so readers spend more time with a single source and dive deeper into that sources become moving on. If for no other reason, it is for pure convenience. When readers are looking at print sources, quality is key.
We must remember this when designing for a web audience. We need to make the important information where the reader will see it, we can not simply ramble on and disguise information within the body of the page when we know that the next source is just a click away. Writing for a web-based audience takes a lot more planning and thought than writing for a paper audience.
603 LT1_Act1
I never would have thought to compare the Gutenberg press and the Internet. They are so different that I did not see how they are at all related. I now see that the Gutenberg Press could have been considered the Internet of the time. The Gutenberg Press was created as a way of spreading information. Its first printing was of the Holy Bible. The press was used for a positive and spirititually educating purpose. Prior to this press, the spreading of knowledge was a lot more time consuming and tedious. Once the first mass production press was created, others began to duplicate. As more people gained the ability to print, they amount of information being shared increased. This soon lead way to “secular” or “negative’ knowledge being shared.
Like the Gutenberg Press, the Internet began with very few people being able to use it. It was also invented for a positive reason; to aide the US Department of Defense with the sharing of information. The Internet was then adapted by scientists and educators continuing its use in a positive manner. Anyone who published anything on the Internet had to have a great deal of knowledge about computer coding. As the Internet grew, the ability to publish became much easier and no longer required knowledge of coding. This opened to doors for a lot of negative knowledge to be shared just like the Gutenberg Press. While the Internet is still used for positive reasons and the sharing of knowledge, it is full of negative possibilities. One can now search on the Internet to find sexually explicit material, personal information about anyone, and even falsified lies about people.
Both of these inventions began with the ability to enlighten and spread positive knowledge, yet the more people who had access to them, the more questionable information was being shared.
• Why is each invention heralded as a societal and cultural change agent though they are mere tools?
The Gutenberg Press changed society by creating the ability to mass-produce text. It also allowed more people to have access to important information such as The Bible. Once this ability was created, it does not seem logical to go back to the old way. The Internet is no different. Information is now at our fingertips. Information that may have taken days to share now takes seconds. From this point on there will be no turning back. Each of these inventions changed to way people live and how they share and access information.
• What do these statements have to do with a web design course for educators?
As educators, we must realize that while we may be using the internet and designing a web page to aide our students’ learning, it is very easy for someone to change this positive into a negative. We must limit the amount of people who have access to and the ability to share information on our web page for students to see. We must also remember that once information is on the Internet, there is no deleting it.
Friday, September 2, 2011
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