Up and Coming Project

I am a slacker for not having posted yet; I apologize. Something about a 10 page paper and three midterms just tends to distract from the smaller stuff.

I've actually been really grateful for what we've learned thus far in this class. My 10 page paper is a misleading term - we actually had to create a paper that was the equivalent of 10-12 pages in a different style or form. I chose to create a website using GoogleSites, and it has been so great. Although the website is still under construction, I've been pleased with how its turning out - check it out here if you're interested.

For my Project in this class, I've decided to become familiar with Photoshop, Illustrator, and Picnik as the tools to create the final project. I want to have the assignment be to create a cover for the student's history book. They need to find images on the official public domain sites (discussed in class) or take their own, and then manipulate them in Photoshop, Illustrator, and Picnik to create an aesthetically pleasing potential book cover. They would be required to include something like 1 American symbol, 2 famous people (in statue or picture), 1 national site like a battlefield or the White House, and create a name for their text (The American Nation is the title of their book, so they can springboard ideas off of that).

I think this project will be really cool because they can incorporate history with technology and see how they can come together here. I imagine this as an end of the year project where we've learned about people, places, and symbols already.

Copyright Laws

I find copyright laws to be occasionally frustrating. I liked our conversation in class about the details of copyright on the internet, but in some cases it left me with more questions. How do I know what the public domain is? If I do a Google image search, and use a picture I find is that okay because you've put the picture in the public domain? Can I cite it and be done?

I've always wondered how a copyright is obtained, as well. My sister-in-law wrote a message on her blog that all of her images were copyright so you couldn't copy and print them, but is that real? She owns the photos because she took them, but by placing them on a public blog she makes them public domain, correct?

As a student, and as a history student, every idea or fact that we use has to be cited. History professors are all about citations. I think this is a good because you are able to differentiate between the author's original ideas and the already known content. It's a hassle to properly cite with the commas, periods, and colons, but I understand its uses. I just don't like having to find a citation source for knowing the year of the War of 1812.

Helps, Week 2

This week I finished my website, and am actually really impressed at how cool it is that I created a website. I mean, a blog is a website, but this is one with pages and different things and lots of information - so cool. I will definitely be using this "make your own website" feature for my own classroom.

As far as creating went, everything was pretty easy. The hardest part was the calendar - I learned that you can attach the calendar easily enough, but it won't work unless you have events scheduled into your calendar. Good thing to know.

For my optional add-in, I did a Picnik-ed photo collage of recent pictures of me. I don't ever get just my photo taken, so that was kind of boring that all the pictures are of me and my husband, but its okay. I love picnik so much - when I take pictures for people I typically do most of my editing there because it is so easy and so nice! For all of my pictures I use the Levels tool to get the lighting right - enough darks and lights. I also use a mixture of Ortonish, Cross Process, and Vignette-ing to make the pictures look the way I want them too. I also love the new seasonal features they put up - makes doing photos SO much fun and really easy.

Basically its been a good technological week!