What it is: It is a journal-keeping application that allows you to have a private journal with online submissions.

Why it’s interesting: It is interesting because it is a reward-based journal keeping system that makes it easy to save and upload daily journal writings. The different ways that you can earn rewards, such as doing all your writing at night, make it an interesting and unique website for journaling.

How you would use it: I like to journal, so I would use it to help me keep up with journaling because sometimes it is difficult to keep up with it every day. There is a reward system and it keeps all the information private, so it would be ideal for a journal. Also, it is much faster to type than to write with a pen, so it would be great to have a quick way to record thoughts.

What I did: Today I added on to my blog more about the affordances and constraints of the site that I am using, Easelly. I also started on the PowerPoint for my project because I want to make sure that my presentation to the class is very organized and thorough.

Why I did it: I wanted to get a head start on the PowerPoint for my project as well as work on more of the pages for my blog site. Although I have completed most of the general comments and main page for the site, I did not have very many detailed pages dedicated to this site. I want to make sure that I have a good balance for the person viewing the review of the site so that there aren’t too many words and pages, but so that there is still enough information for them to learn about Easelly.

What I still need to do/ To-do list: I still need to go through my site and make some last minute tweaks and updates. I might create a couple more pages for the site and also add more to my PowerPoint.

Presentation.

With my own application, I don’t see much use in the near and present future but I’ll revisit the idea of using it once I’ve graduated from school. The application that I found most interesting was the PicMonkey app. The user friendly interface appealed to me because the last time I knew how to use Photoshop was circa 2009. The iPhone has some handy applications available that do the same thing as this application but for the sake of working on Project 3, I’d like something a little more in depth without causing me to flounder through countless options and ill defined tools.

What I Did

Today I reviewed a few of my classmates’ Project 2 drafts. I learned about a few websites and also picked up some tips on how I might make my project better. I have only worked on the Writer/Designer Analysis Questions and my PowerPoint Presentation, so I chose to review projects that had work completed on their web essays. I found that using screenshots on the blog page can really help the user get a better understanding of how the website works and what the author is trying to explain to the reader. Also, I saw that Tinny used a screen capture program to take a video of himself interacting with his designated website. I thought that this was an excellent feature because he was able to accomplish 50 screenshots worth of information in 30 seconds.

Why I Did It

I reviewed the projects that I did because I wanted to see how my classmates’ were going about their web essays. I have completed my Writer/Designer Analysis page and my PowerPoint presentation and feel confident about both, and wanted some direction on my web essay. I also looked for sites that dealt with forms of media because my site, PopcornMaker, is designed to produce videos that incorporate multiple types of media into one finished project.

What I Have Left to Do

I have completed my Writer/Designer Analysis Page and my PowerPoint Presentation, so the next biggest task I have to complete is my web essay. I have taken around 20 screenshots and have already gathered information in my analysis, so I think that writing the web essay will be fairly easy as I have completed most of the work already. I will have to just take my analysis and put into essay form and choose the appropriate screenshots to accompany my analysis. I also have to make index cards and rehearse my presentation, but I am very happy with how my presentation turned out and think that this will also be a straightforward process.

What I did

Most of the work I did was to start writing out my web essay. I wrote out the introduction page, the first impressions page, and the interrogating the basics page. I took screenshots and incorporated them into my text.

Why I did it

I did these so that I would have concrete information for a peer review today. I wanted solid feedback about the work I’ve done so far and the improvements I can make.

What I Still Need to do

I need to finish my affordances and constraints pages. I have the basic outline for these pages in bullets, but I need to expand them and add images. I also need to make sure I address the modes of communication explicitly. I need to figure out if I need to reorganize my essay to specifically focus on the rhetorical situation and design choices. I have a lot of work and editing left to do.

What I Did:

I worked on my Affordances and Constraints page, and I’m almost done.  I want to include one or two more screenshots, and maybe include a conclusion weighing the two.  I also included some critiques on how the interface used various modes of communication.

Why I Did It:

I wanted to finish that section because it was the last part (I think) that I needed to work on for the essay.  I wrote about the modes of communication because I wanted to relate it back to the chart, and critique it by that rubric and not just my own judgment.

What I Still Need To Do:

I’m thinking about writing a conclusion to the Affordances and Constraints page where I summarize the arguments behind both and come out with a conclusion of my opinion.  I also need to work on my presentation now; I’m thinking of using the video I embedded along with some screenshots, so I might have a head start on it.

What:

Today, I posted what I had so far for my rough draft on to my site page for project 2. It is incomplete and still in the earlier stages of development.

Why:

I did this so I have at least something up on my site to show that I have worked on it and that how far I still need to go.

What I need to do:

I have a lot left to do for this project. I still have to finish my draft, insert images and other media, proofread and edit, create my presentation and practice it, and finalize my report and give it a final overview. I should be able to accomplish most all of this by Monday morning, so no worries! ha-ha.

What I did:

Since we last met, I’ve been working on transitioning my answers to the Writer Designer Analysis google doc, to my actual webpage. I’ve also uploaded some screen shots and am working on the layout of my essay.

Why I did it:

I think its important to start looking at the design of the essay because then it will help me figure out what content I still need. By creating subpages for affordances and constraints, it reminds me that I still need to write about them.

What I have left to do:

I need to finish answering all the questions from the google doc. I need to edit my answers so that they are in essay form. Take more screenshots and make my essay more visually appealing.