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

While creating the final products, I used a wide variety of software including Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft word. Most of my work was posted on Flickr and then posted across to Blogger, where all my final work is. Whilst using Flickr on the college network, I often experienced problems with uploading or analysing. This meant using Mozilla Firefox to upload any images but switching back to Internet explorer to analyse. This method was very time consuming and confusing but had to be done to complete the task. Throughout high school, I learnt basic skills and tools regarding Photoshop. This project has helped to develop and improve this. The thing I have learnt most about would be using layers. Before, I only ever used 3 or 4 to separate text, images and background where as now, I can confidently use up to 20/25 layers. By grouping, merging, linking and renaming layers, I found it easier to navigate through these layers. Technologies used included a pen drive to transfer my work from home to college, and back again. The use of Photoshop, Flickr and blogger at home helped to stick to deadlines and extend time for creativity and experimenting with images and layouts.

I had never used blogger or Flickr before this project so everything I have learnt is new and a challenge to understand. After this project, I feel confident about the controls on both websites and the capabilities. I know how to change the layout of my blog, but am still unsure on how to make images fit 'square' to the text on a blog post. Instead of the text running beside the image, I normally had an empty space so I kept to the same layout for all blogs posts instead.

Half-way through the project, I personally invested in a new camera, Lumix-G2. It was a new toy for me and because of this ongoing project; it gave an excuse for experimenting. I learnt many new camera controls such as the rule of thirds and how to use macros. This all helped when framing my images, and choosing a camera angle.

Whilst researching and planning my final products, I used a website called survey monkey to carry out an online questionnaire. It was a simple and easy to use website. When evaluating, I used Flickr to upload images. I would use Flickr again as it is fast, efficient and limitless. On the other hand, it is not very reliable as it took a long time to upload images using Internet explorer and sometimes failed to post notes to the images using Mozilla Firefox. Blogger was used to analyse my final work. This is more efficient than writing an essay and a lot less time consuming as work can be uploaded and viewed instantly. It also allows for quick, anytime editing and comments. I was able to upload pictures to my posts to assist the text. This was a lot more effective than just referring to my products and images. Web 2.0 allows me to get instant user feedback from a range of audiences. This was helpful when creating surveys and collecting user responses.