E-Portfolio - Final Project

Here is the link to my final project. http://sites.google.com/site/sherrybatesportfolio/
I really enjoyed planning and producing my portfolio. I hope you all enjoy it.
I have really enjoyed working with all of you. You all have some great talent. I wish everyone luck in the future.

Thanks Alex for all your guidance for all the projects. I enjoyed your class.

Self Reflection on E-Portfolio

Sherry’s Self Reflection of my ePortfolio.

I had a lot of fun creating my ePortfolio. I found using Google sites to be really easy. I had no problem adding pages, editing html and designing it to the way I wanted it to look. I did change my logo and the coloring of the pages about three times until I was happy with the coloring. I wanted colors that wouldn’t be too feminine. I wanted to make it visual pleasing to both males and females. Therefore, I went with purple and grey. I designed a logo because I did not like how my heading appeared on the portfolio. I found the heading to be too small to make an impact.
I organized my portfolio like a resume. I started with the home page which welcomes people to my site. The next page is about me. This tells my goals and my experience. I followed this page with my career objectives, which allows future employers to view my intent. I also did a page for my education, my networks, and a contact me. The important page is my work examples, these is where I will showcase my designs and projects. A broke this page into several links. Each of my projects is linked to a separate page that will open the design. On the page that it is linked to, I told about the projects process by including my FATP and why I choose the theme I used.
Also under my designs I have additional projects that I have designed. I included a page for my graphic designs, photography, memory videos, and websites that I have designed. In addition to my projects, I also included a page that links to all the learning resources I used to become proficient in my skills. I will keep this page updated as I learn more skills in the future. Another important page is my skills and tools page. Here I linked the tools to the website of the software and to my blog so that the viewer can see my experience using the software for the first time.
I found that keeping up with the organization was the most important step in this process. I did this by updating my ePortfolio every time I finished a project. I created the page and linked it to the main page. This made the process a lot easier than waiting and designing each page at the end of the semester. I wish I had done this with the personal learning tools. I didn’t realize that this was going to be a page that we needed for my site. Therefore, I had to add each one separately. This was the most time consuming part of the whole design process. If I had to do my portfolio over again, I would add each of my learning networks every time I used one. This would make the process smooth and not as stressful at the end.
The most difficult challenge of my ePortfolio was figuring out the html. I did not see the small html button until midway through the process. Once I discovered it, I enjoyed adding my projects because I could manipulate the html. I like designing with html, I feel it gives you more freedom over your creation. Overall, I am very happy with how my ePortfolio and all my projects came out. I learned a lot about creating podcasts and animations in this class. I only wish I would have taken this class before I took all the advanced classes. It would have made that learning process a little easier.

Video Reflection

This project was very easy for me. I have been designing videos for the last 4 years.
However, this was the first time I used Windows Movie Maker. This software was very easy to
use. It was very easy to manipulate the timings and the voice over and to add text to your image. I feel it is very limiting on the transitions and effects. I like my movies to have lots
of transitions and different effects, like 2 pictures merging into one. Overall , I did enjoy working with this program but I will probably continue to use the more elaborate programs to do my videos.

I found producing a mindmap made it easier to place my photos where I wanted them to fall in the story. However, it didn't help with trying to get the photos in the right timing with the music. This always takes a lot of time to do the adjusting. I like my photos to fall where the music is talking about that image. I know after this course I will continue to use mindmapping. I find it very useful to organize you thoughts.

My most perplexing decision was to find what video to use in my movie. I decided on using my daughters cheer leading routine to show how girls fight for their teams. This is the only part of my movie that I am not 100 percent happy with. It came out alright but not it was not what I wanted it to be. I wanted to have girls doing Karate, but I was unable to make a class to do the video, so this substitute for it.

Overall, I like how my video came out. I enjoy making these kinds of videos. I hope to open my business making memory videos. I love placing photos to music and see the story come alive. Its makes a great keepsake and family treasure.

Video

This movie is about how women are fighting to achieve success and acceptance in the world.

It also is about struggling to survive when faced with a setback such as cancer.

Credits :

• Songs: Intro and Ending song piece is by http://www.soundjay.com/ - Heart of the Sea

Main song is by Bomshel called Fight like a girl.

• Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimberleyan....37030/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seth/244344740/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/judybaxter/4540997/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattcoatslo....81454/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/magannie/276639239/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zen/879933/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/74207111@N0....06952/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/markybon/14794758/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tgifullzum/....20007/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarah606/2396170395/

Additional photos by Sherry Bates Photography and clip art images.

F- Video

A- Classmates and Family and Friends

T- Fight Like A Girl

P - To educate that women need to fight for what they believe in and not back down

The first step in putting together this project was to design my mindmap. I had to decide on what songs I was going to use. Then I had to organize my photos and download ones off creative commons. Then the next step was putting it all together with the music, photos and transitions.

Another Animation

GoAnimate.com: All Work No Play by angels6889


Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

Animation

GoAnimate.com: I want to be beautiful by angels6889


Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

F- Animation
A- My classmates, family and friends
T-I want to be beautiful
P- To inform and educate women and children tat we don't have to be thin
to be loved.

I really enjoyed this assignment. It was a lot of fun to create an animation.
The program was realatively easy to use. It was easier after I watched some
of the start up videos of how to produce an animation. This made the set up easy.
The next thing was choosen my characters. There was so many to chose from.
Then I had to decide my setting. I decided to use a restaurant for my story.
Then I had to decide what actions my characters were going to do.

I really like how my story came out. This project was a lot of fun to do.
I really enjoyed doing this animation. It is very addicting. I plan on making more animations
in the near future.

Comic Stip

F - Comic Strip

A- My classmates, friends and women

T- I want to be THIN

P- To inform and educated women and children that they

don't have to be thin to be loved.

This assignment was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed making my own characters.

It helped with my stress from my other classes. It did take me alot of time to

plan my storyline. I chose the beach scene because that is where woman usually

feel the worst about their bodies. I hope to have women realize that not everyone

can be thin and we should enjoy the beach when we get a chance to go.

Podcast Review

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus 5:35 4/11/2007 An excerpt from Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus by John Gray. For more audio tailored to the lifelong learner, please visit www.learnoutloud.com

I reviewed the podcast Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus by John Gray

This was an excert from the book. This was a very interesting podcast. It was about the differences about men and women.
Womens main complaint about men is that they don't listen. Men only listen for a few minutes and then they offer a solution. Women don't want solutions they want empathy.

Mens biggest complaint is that women want to change them. The try to make the man into
something that they are not. Women feel that it is their job to make the man be responsible
Men feel that the women is controlling.

The author then goes on to explain why men and women feel and act these ways.

I felt it was a very true podcast. I hope you will all enjoy it.

PODCAST Time -- The Thin Society

However, this time was easier. After all my problems with the software and finding the sound files I wanted to use, it came together well. I am very happy with my final output.

The program Audacity was not cooperating with my computer, therefore I had to use the program AVS audio editor. I have used this program before to mix music for my videos.

It was interesting to figure out how to place all the clips together. This took some time and patience.

I would like to thank www.soundjay.com for the use of heart of the sea music file.

I also used two audio clips from the sound effect cd that I had already installed on my computer.

I hope you all will enjoy my first podcast.

Podcast Planning

My podcast is going to be a continuation of my slideshare.net series.





F - Podcast - Using http://www.houndbite.com/


A- My Classmates and Women and Children


T- The Thin Society


P- To inform and educate women and children that we


don't have to be thin to be LOVED.





The next thing I did was to design my mindmap of how


I wanted my podcast to look like. I did this with Mindmap.








Then I designed my flow chart for my podcast using www.gliffy.com

Then I recorded my podcast, using AVS audio mixer. I tried using audacity and it keep

crashing my computer. So I used the program I had previously installed on my computer.

The final step which was more difficult than I thought it was going to be was to mix my recording with the music and sound clips. I had to do this step 3 times because my computer keep crashing. I finally was able to finish the product after spending my whole Sunday afternoon playing with the program.

Podcast review

The podcast I reviewed was black in America .

This was part of the series put on by CNN.

It shows a black mans struggle through out his life.

The problems he faces being black today in America.

I thought it was a very well produced podcast.

The whole series is pretty interesting.

The transitions from slide to slide and effects are

very easy on the eyes. I enjoyed listening and watching

this pod cast.

Slideshare Show : Sexism in the Media

Sexism In The Media

View more presentations from angels6889.

I really enjoyed putting together this slideshow. I hope you will like it.

Here is my final production of my Sexism in the Media. This show is to inform men and women how images in the media hurt our society. We think women have to be skinny and beautiful inorder to be accepted. I hope this show will show you that this reality is very harmfull to our culture.

A study was done on the Island of Fijji about the effects of commercials and American Television. Before TV hit the island, women were happy with who they were. It was considered normal and wealthy to be heavy on this island. Three years after TV and media arrived, Women are experiencing anorexia and the suicide rate has increased. This is because they want to look like the models they see on TV. This is not reality. Only 5% of women in this world will every look like them. Women have to learn how to love themselves and be happy with their body they were given.
We have to start to fight back.

Designing my Slideshare Slideshow

The first step I did to design my new slideshare was to make my FATP Analysis.
F: Slideshow made into a video by Slideshare.net
A: Women and men and high school students.
T: Sexism in the Media
P: To inform the public on how the media portrays women and this affects our society and our culture. It also hinders women from becoming an equal in society.
The next step was to plan how I was going to organize my data. I already had done the research for my Race, Ethnicity, Gender study class. I downloaded photos from Flickr.com. Then I took some pictures of my daughters Barbie dolls to use for one of my sections. Then I organized the photos in categories.
Then I designed my mind map. This helped a lot with the organization of the power point presentation.


After My mindmap was designed I developed a flow chart for my presentation.
I used gliffy.com to design my layout. This was a very easy program to use.

An example of Good Visual Design Slide Show

'Sunset Ceremony'

View more presentations from John J.

I chose this example as really good design.

The photos all use the rules of thirds, leading the eye, Simplification,

filling the frame. The color of most of the photos is warm colors.

The photos show texture of the water and movement. All theses

photos make you feel very serene. I love sunset's so this was very interesting

to me. My favorite thing to take photographs of is "sunsets" I used to go

chasing them everynight before I started back with school. That is the one

thing I miss the most about not having any spare time. I do on a occasion take

a break and go sunset searching. I haven't missed many sunsets this summer

because all we have had is rain.

SlideShare Productions

The Truth About Puppy Mills

View more presentations from angels6889.

I became interested in this topic when

one of my Co-workers explained how she is involved in rescuing pugs.

I was told horrible stories of what these poor little dogs have been through.

I decided to help spread the word on boycotting buying animals from

Pet stores. If a person wants to get a pet, they should check out

their community Humane Society .

Timeless Treasure Marketing

View more presentations from angels6889.

This is a presentation I did for my Marketing Class. We had to

put together a marketing plan for a new business. I did all

the designing of the background and images in this presentation.

This show tells my vision for my company I plan to open after

I get my degree in May 2010. I have been designing this company

for the last 3 years. I have a vision I hope will come alive in the near

future.

The company is called Timeless Treasures by Sherry. It will be a

place where people can bring their still photos to life, by incorporating

them in a memory video. I have produced several memory videos in the

past. I became interested in making these videos when my daughter started

high school. I turned all the photos of cheer leading into a production. I

then gave each of the cheerleaders a video, so they could remember their life.

Rhythm/Action

DSC_0093, originally uploaded by sherrysdesigns.

This is a shot I took at the Chittenden Dam of a puppy that was comingout of the water. Using rhythm correctly can give your image the illusion of movement, and help to draw
the eye. Rhythm can be repeated shapes or actual motion, like capturing the streaming
lights of a moving car. Shapes and line can lead the eye towards an area of focus.

Rule of thirds

DSC_0107, originally uploaded by sherrysdesigns.

Here is an example of Rule of Thirds

By locating a subject at one of the four intersections—as opposed to nailing it squarely in the center of the frame, for example—you give it added emphasis.

Framing

DSC_0123, originally uploaded by sherrysdesigns.

This is an example of Framing.

Framing is another technique photographers use to direct the viewer's attention to the primary subject of a picture. Positioned around the subject, a tree, an archway, or even people, for example, can create a frame within the picture area. Subjects enclosed by a frame become separated from the rest of the picture and are emphasized. Looking across a broad expanse of land or water at some object can make a rather dull uninteresting view. Moving back a few feet and framing the object between trees improves the composition.

Contrast

DSC_0140, originally uploaded by sherrysdesigns.

Here is an example of contrast. The covered bridge in the background againstthe green trees creates a contrast. Contrast in photographic composition is an effective means of directing the viewer's attention to the center of interest. Positioning of subject elements to create contrast gives them added emphasis and directs the viewer's attention.
When we speak of contrast as it relates to composition, we are referring to both tonal contrast, as in black-and-white photography, and color contrast as it relates to color photography. In black-and-white photography, contrast is the difference in subject tones from white-to-gray-to-black or from the lightest tone to the darkest tone. In color photography different colors create contrast.

Depth of Field

panarama city_edited-1, originally uploaded by sherrysdesigns.

This is a panoramic image I took of the city of Rutland. This was done by

stitching several shots together to make a panaramic. I used photoshop to

stitch the images together. This is an example of Depth of Field because it shows the

mountains in the distance along with detail in the foreground.

Texture

DSC_0108, originally uploaded by sherrysdesigns.

Here is an example of texture composition. This is a tree I thought was

very interesting. It leads you to the sky when you look at it.

Texture – the visible surface quality of an object adding character to your picture.

Texture can be smooth and shiny like a new car or rough and edgy as in the tree bark

or cobble walkway.

The texture rule adds a great amount of interest to this photo. When people see

texture in a photo it can spark their imagination and make the photo more real to life.

Contrast/Complementary Composition

Complementary colors, originally uploaded by sherrysdesigns.

Here is an example of a Contrast composition. This photo was taken in a garden.

It uses the complementary color scheme. The background is blurred since it was

taken in macro mode with my Nikon D50.

Editting with Picnik

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sherrybatesphotography/3710026779/

Rainbow creation, originally uploaded by sherrysdesigns.

This is my before and after photo that I editted with picnik.
I choose this program because it is web based and I didn't need to install a program to my computer.
I usually use Photoshop to edit my photography.
I have found using this program to be alot of fun. There are so many things you can do with it and it doesn't take alot of time.
This first thing I did was upload my photo from my computer.
Next I cropped my photo to remove the power lines.

Then I adjusted the saturation to bring out the rainbow colors.

Then I used the effect Posterize to make it look like a painting. Then I added a poloroid frame to my image.

Then I used the sandbox effect and choose circle splash and added it as an overlay to my image to give it the final effect.

I had alot of fun changing this image, so I chose to do 2 more photo creations.

Copywright

Creative commons is very interesting. It is a great place to get ideas and

to share your work with the world. Work (photos, songs, writings, art and ect.) are

freely shared with whomever would like to use them. One can make their own

copywright license to allow their work to be used or editted by people who veiw it.

This could lead to great things. Maybe an artist would become very popular.

I can't wait to share my work on creative commons.

Camstudio

I tested Camstudio. I found this screencasting tool very useful.

It videos your whole screen or just a portion of your screen so you

can use it to demonstrate how to use software or to teach a skill.

It was a very easy program to learn. It has 6 buttons to use. The first 3 are the primary

ones. The red button starts the recordings. The blue button is for stopping the recording.
and the black button is for pausing your recording.
You can chose to video with voice or you don't have to use voice. It will just show the mouse movements then when you edit it you can add screen anotations.

I think this program is great for helping a person or class learn a software. It is very user friendly. I will chose to use this program over screentoaster. I didn't find one fault with this program. It saved the file very fast. I was able to veiw and edit my video without any problems.

You can download this program at http://camstudio.org. I would recommend this program to all teachers. It would be a great learning tool. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.

Here is an example of the screencasting video I took.

This is a test I did with camstudio. I show you how to download the software.

Then I give a demonstration on Adobe Illustrator. I walk you through how to make a

flower. I will be using this tool in the future. It was a lot of fun to use.

The only thing I did not like doing is recording my voice. I have always hated

to do that. This was easy because its like talking to your self.

FREEWARE -SCREEN TOASTER

This is the welcome screen for ScreenToaster. Before you are able to use the software you have to set up an account. You do this by the log in in the upper right conner .

Once you set up an account. Log in with your user name and password. Accept the certificate and then click on start recording

The red arrow is the recording button . You can also use Alt-s to start the recording of your screen show.

The black arrow gives you different options: such as record whole screen, record a part of the screen. If you record part of the screen a rectangle box appears and you can resize it to the portion of the screen you want to record.

The orange arrow shows you can record audio- so if you are giving a presentation. You can also record your web cam.

When you are done recording you hit Alt-S again to stop the recordings.

Then go back to the screen toaster page.

Once you did your recordings. Go back to screentoaster. and hit the playback key. It will take a few second to do the buffering. Then you can edit you movie. You can ad subtitles and make the screenshot interesting.

Then after you edit your video. You can share it with the world. You can save it as an AVI file or a SWF file. You can also upload it to Youtube or Screentoaster.

The uploading is the important part of the process. It saves them in a very low file so they don't take up much space on your computer.

I think this could be a very usefull application. Since you don't have to download any software. However, I haven't had problem doing the recording. My own issue with this software is that it takes forever to make the movie preview. I updated my java and it should work. However I haven't been able to successfully produce a movie. I don't think this will be a software that I will be using. I prefer to use my Adobe products.

I will continue to play with this software. But as of this minute I am very frustrated at how long it is taking to make a 2 second video.

My E-portfolio and mindmapping experience.

I found that using the mindmapping for the layout of my

E-portfolio helped a lot with keeping the design in order.

Sherrys Mind Map

I found that the software x-mind was very user friendly and easy to use. I probably will find myself using this software when I start my website design company.

Here is the link to my E-Portfolio

Sherry's Portfolio

This week we also learned about wikis. They are a great tool for coolaborating. It is different from a blog because it allows other users to make changes (group) where a blog is only 1 user and other can leave comments.

I am trying to convince my manager to allow us to start a wiki a my place of employment. This will be a big challenge to convince him of how it will help with the communication in our office. I think it is a very usefull tool. It keeps all the documents in one place where they can't get lost like e-mails can. If something becomes deleted you have a trail. When I start my own business, I plan on using wiki's to communicate and train my employess.

My E-portfolio and mindmapping experience.

Reflection of E-portfolio

Here is the link to my e-portfolio.
Sherry's E-portfolio
It was a lot of fun to put together.
I found it very easy since I am used to designing my own sites
using HTML. This was very simple and easy to do.
I am still trying to figure out how to add my videos that are not on youtube.
I will continue to work on this.
I am not sure if I'm going to keep this color scheme, but for now it looks
pretty professional.
I also added my own logo to the site, to make it look a little more creative.

Reflections on Mind Mapping

X-mind I thought was a very useful tool. It saves you from drawing it out on paper and then forgetting where you put the paper. This way you can save it on your computer and refer back to it when needed. It the more green way to accomplish your task. I find it very usefull to help organize your thoughts. I think I may try to use it with my report writing. I am in report hell right now and this may keep me organized. I let you know if it helps.
Mind maps can be used for:-
Problem Solving
Outline / Framework Design
Anonymous collaboration.
Marriage of words and visuals.
Individual expression of creativity.
Condensing material into a concise and memorable format.
Team building or synergy creating activity.
Enhancing work morale.

Mind Mapping

Here is my mind map for my e-portfolio.
F- My form is going to be a website
A- My audience is going to be my potential employer.
T- My topic is going to be my work I have created and my experiences.
P- My purpose is to market myself as a qualified employee who is will to take challenges to get a great job.

Here is the link to my mindmap

http://share.xmind.net/angels6889/portfolio-1/

Social Networking

This week I set up my Linkedin, Diigo and Netvibes account. I didn't have any trouble setting them up. The first one I set up was my Linkedin account (http://www.linkedin.com/in/sherrybates). This application is a professional Facebook. Here you are able to set up a resume' of all your accomplishments in the hope that one of your connections will view it and offer you an incredible job. My only thought while I was setting my account up was I don't have a lot of different jobs. I have been at the same job for 16 years which is about 1/3 of my life. I have accomplished alot at my current job, but I feel that my skills seem quite boring.

The nect application I set up was the Diigo account. I installed the tool so I can bookmark sites and RSS feeds and blogs without adding them to my favorite list. This makes it much easier to keep track of the things I am interested in.

My favorite application was the netvibes account. At first, I didn't understand the process. I kept playing with it and now I LOVE it. I also showed my daughter and she is setting up an account. It is great to have everything you use on one page. When I turn on my computer I know my updates from Facebook, My Blog, My email, the Weather. I also get the local news and the news from around the world. It is great.

My Experience with Tagging

I just needed to tell you my experience this week with Facebook. I went to my daughters recital last Sunday, and I took around 289 photos. When I got home I uploaded them to my Facebook account and tagged them with my daughters name and her dance teachers name. The next day, I checked my e-mail and I had 100 emails. This is the most emails I have ever received in one day. They were all requesting to tag my photos. Some were comments on the photos. I also had several friend request. I have now learned the benefit of tagging photos. Once you tag a person, it spreads through all their friends. Photos are the one thing I have found that grab peoples attention.
I just had to share this, since we are learning about tags this week.

Is Blogging the same as Facebook?

When one thinks of putting their opinions and feeling on the web, they assume you mean Facebook or MySpace. However, no one ever mentions a Blog. A blog is a more formal way for one to express themselves. A blog very rarely uses slang words. In Facebook and Myspace, the writing is often in code or slang.

Both Blogs and social networks allow one to upload videos, music and photos. They both are used to collaborate and to form a network of communication.

Blogs are used to help keep one informed on education, job and hobbies. Blogs are more in depth than the postings on social networks. They go into more detail. They can give specific instructions on how to do something, like setting up a blog.

Here is a quote I came across that I think is the real definition of a blog.

For centuries, writers have experimented with forms that evoke the imperfection of thought, the inconstancy of human affairs, and the chastening passage of time. But as blogging evolves as a literary form, it is generating a new and quintessentially postmodern idiom that’s enabling writers to express themselves in ways that have never been seen or understood before. Its truths are provisional, and its ethos collective and messy. Yet the interaction it enables between writer and reader is unprecedented, visceral, and sometimes brutal. And make no mistake: it heralds a golden era for journalism.
by Andrew Sullivan

My Reflections on setting up my Blog

This is the second blog that I have set up. The first one I did was for my Digital Photography class. This time I learned that I could link the 2 blogs together. My first blog, I really didn't like the style, so this time I found a style that I liked better. I like to design my own layout, but I still haven't figured out how to do that with Blogger. Therefore, I searched the Internet for blog templates and found several I like. I will probably change my style every couple of months.

This will keep my blog fresh. I am going to still try to play with designing my own site. I would love to have a unique style that no one else has.

Here is a video that helps change the templates. I hope you like it.

Welcome To Sherry's Blog

This is the Blog I designed for my multimedia class.
I am still in the process of designning it.
I hope you check back soon.