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

Samantha King

The software that I used during my project

• Photoshop• Internet Explorer• Microsoft Word• Microsoft PowerPoint• Survey monkey• Slide share• Blogger

The hardware that I used during my project

• Camera• Memory stick• Memory card• Video camera/recorder• Computer• Laptop• iPhone

Research and planning Production Evaluation

Software • Internet Explorer• Microsoft Word• Microsoft PowerPoint• Survey monkey• Slide share• Blogger

• Photoshop• Internet Explorer• Microsoft Word • Microsoft PowerPoint• Blogger

• Internet Explorer• Microsoft PowerPoint• Blogger

Hardware • Camera• Memory stick• Memory card• Video recorder• Computer

• Camera• Memory stick• Memory card• Computer• Laptop• iPhone

• Memory stick• Computer• Laptop

What pieces of technology could I have done without?

• Blog – I could have produced my work in a hand-written format rather than electronically if absolutely necessary, although this would have been more time consuming and harder to manage.

• Survey monkey – I could have distributed my questionnaires in a hand-written format rather than electronically, although this way it was easier to distribute and enabled me to receive a faster response, also it saved the cost of the paper/ink etc that would have been used if it was decided they were to be distributed in a hand-written format.

• Photoshop – there are other programmes available to use in replacement for the Adobe Photoshop CS3 software, however by using this I had the ability to have access to a wide range of different professional tools allowing me to produce an identical product as to how I envisioned it to be.

• Slide share – I could have distributed my progression via other means of presentation for example in essay format, however I decided to use slide share as it is presenting a range of multi media on my blog and is more appealing and aesthetically pleasing to read.

What pieces of technology couldn’t I have done without?

• Internet Explorer – I needed this software to research the codes and conventions of specific genres of existing products in my research and planning stage, so I could identify what elements I needed to contain within my own final product. By using the internet rather than recently published magazine products it allowed me to find more of a range and gain a further insight to the varied products available for analysis. In my production I had to refer to the appearance of existing products to gain a supplementary insight as to what is associated with particular genres and what colour schemes, photography etc are opted by particular genres or which elements subvert the usual codes and conventions within their product. For my evaluation I had to compare my final product to that of professionally published existing magazines, using the internet to do this was a quick, useful and easy way to gain access to multiple different magazines within different publishing brands, to make my perception of the codes and conventions of a particular genre more reliable and to compare my product to the elements of existing products.

What were the positives of using technology?

• By using technology I was given access to create a blog, by doing this I saved a lot of valuable time that would otherwise be wasted by producing my work in a hand-written format. It is also freely available and vacant to the public, this means that I can gain constructive criticism to help improve my final magazine product, research analysis, planning or evaluation of my product.

• By using technology I was given access to create a Survey monkey account, by being able to distribute questionnaires electronically it enabled me to receive a faster response, also it saved the cost of the paper/ink etc that would have been used if it was decided they were to be distributed in a hand-written format. Also by this software, I was able create a chart displaying my results in an aesthetically pleasing imagery format, which was pleasant to display on my blog for the affect of different multi media to create a more satisfactory post rather than the form my results would have appeared if perhaps this was conducted in a hand-written format.

What were the negatives of using technology?

• However because it is freely available and vacant to the public, this means that there is the potential it is vulnerable for useless exploitation.

• Also, being reliant on a memory stick to transfer data and information essential to make progression was a defective way of working, as not always did the computer allow me access to the data or information of the memory stick contents and then I had to resolve unnecessary problems before making progress with my product, meaning valuable time was wasted.

New skills• Different aspects of technology was new to me and therefore by doing this, I have developed the

understanding as how Adobe Photoshop CS3 itself functions as well as the tools of which are available to use. This means that I can come across this software in the future and be more aware of different possibilities available to gain a satisfactory result.

• Also, I have never created, read or posted a blog before and therefore there are skills such as importing images and videos which I have learnt and will become useful for me to know for future reference. Also, importing html links in the correct way in order for software’s such as Slide share to function properly and to be displayed correctly on the blog itself.

• During my blogging experience I learnt how to display by work in a more presentable, approachable way of which was so much easier to navigate for myself and other viewers.

• In addition, I had never constructed an online survey before, so by using Survey monkey I have developed the skill to be able to construct a questionnaire and distribute the link to online social sites and collect the feedback and form an appropriate display of results, i.e. In the form of a pie chart, bar chart, graph etc. I was able to have access to display my results in a whole range of more extravagant multi media foundations rather than in a long winded essay format.