I have created a new blog as part of one of the challenges that have been set to me in my class work. We had to make up 5 challenges for two different levels of bloggers; beginners and veterans. The five challenges I made up (in a nutshell) are:

Challenge 1

Three options both for beginners and veterans:

• Write a post about how you will use your blog.
• Add 3 widgets to your blog.
• Write an ‘About’ page or post.

Challenge 2

Three options for both beginners and veterans:

• Set up a blog theme.
• Set up a blog roll to 10 other student’s blogs.
• Write a story as a post.

Challenge 3

Two different options; one for beginners and veterans:

Beginners: Visit three other blogs, outside of this school or country. Write a comment on one of their posts and talk about:

• How they could make that post and the rest of the blog better.
• Write a challenge or task that you think they should do to make your blog better.

Veterans: Use a music website to add three tracks to your blog.

Challenge 4

Two different options; one for beginners, one for veterans:

Beginners: Write a post about one of your favourite areas from New South Wales.

Veterans: Write a post on one state of Australia.

Challenge 5

Two different options; one for beginners, one for veterans:

Beginners: Write a post about one of the areas of your class studies.

Veterans: Make a wix website to provide an in-depth description of what your school is like, and set up an interactive tour.

The new blog is BRILLIANT, if I don’t say so myself.

So go check it out at http://httpsamsbloggingchallenge2011.edublogs.org/

HAVE FUN!

This weeks’ challenge was to categorise your posts. There are many different categories that you could use, including fun, hobbies, information, entertainment, rubbish, humour and so on… However, it is best, as said in the challenge, to use ones that cover the different features of your posts as much as possible, because if you have 8 posts and 8 different categories, the purpose of categories, really, goes to waste. The purpose of categories is to immediately give a broad idea on what a post will be like, or the target audience it may be aimed at. It may give a purposeful definition of what the post will include, why it will include it and the way that it should generally come across.

The categories I have used, as you can see on my blog, are fun, inbetween and informative.

Fun: This is for posts that I want to be fun and entertaining to read, not necessarily information that is suppposed to go into your head for you to process. Things like this may include posts on what I did in the holidays, what I find the most fun thing to do in life, or descriptions of things that are fun. The main purpose of this category…to have fun!

Inbetween: This is for posts that are both informative and fun. They are equally distributed and have a good balance of both concepts. They may come across as funny, but informative at the same time, kinda like a comedy film that makes you cry of laughter, but also has a moral or reality facts included in it. The purpose of this category…to give you intelligent knowledge at the same time as giving you a laugh or smile!

Informative: The main purpose of this category is to inform. It generally may not be entertaining or funny, but will be interesting and give you knowledge on a subject. This may include things like posts on certain subjects/issues i.e. global warming, information on areas and their history (Port Stephens post) or facts and figures to make you think and generate a feeling or response. These posts are not necessarilygoing to be funny, however, by reading these types of posts, they can improve your knowledge of a subject or make you learn something you previously didn’t know about.

These are the categories on my blog, so watch out for them and may they be fun, inbetween or informative for you to read!!

Blogs I visited for challenge 6.

1. http://tyko2.edublogs.org/2010/10/13/i-wont/comment-page-1/#comment-12

This is the comment I left:

“Note: this is a comment for the whole blog, not just this post. I like the setup. There is quite a bit of useful info. However, I would try to fix up the colour balance of this page and the text. I think that for some it may be a little hard to follow. The other thing I would suggest is that you add a few widgets to your site. This will help make it a bit more fun and interactive. Apart from that, good job! If you would like to comment on my blog, go to http://sammoore.edublogs.org.”

I chose to visit this blog because I felt I needed to inform on the colour balance, which was what I first noticed on the site. Then I started to read the information, it became interesting as well, and hence I left a comment.

2. http://laynemitchell.edublogs.org/2010/11/03/a-day-at-the-jr-high/comment-page-1/#comment-22

This is the comment I left:

“This is a really good blog. Really good and interesting information to go with it, and it is easy to read and follow. The only criticism…the nu,ber of widgets! I think it would help your blog to be more fun and interactive through the use of widgets. Apart from that, job well done! By the way, comment on my blog at http://sammoore.edublogs.org”

I chose to visit this blog because it looked interesting and when I began to read the first post, I really wanted to comment on the site.

3. http://literacy44.ca/benm/2010/11/02/school-kids-putting-real-pic-of-each-other-and-what-do-i-think/comment-page-1/#comment-25

This is the comment I left:

“First of all, this is a really good post. It is really well set out and easily justified. As for the rest of the blog, it is really good with well-balanced use of images and text. My only criticisms…add a few more widgets to your site to make it more interactive and fun! By the way, comment on my blog at http://sammoore.edublogs.org.”

I chose to post a comment on this blog because I felt I needed to inform the person of the need for more information on the blog. Apart from that, I wanted to congratulate them on the use of color, as well as encourage them to put a few more widgets on there.

We should make sure we use images for our blogs for many reasons. First of all, some people find it easier to relate to things and evaluate and think about things that are visual, and images are a way to do this, for example instead of putting up a big philosophical question that could confuse some people, you might put up an image and ask, what do you think of when you see this? Both ways are just as good, and by using different presenting methods, it can appeal to a much wider audience. It can make things more fun, more interactive (hyperlink the image) and easier to interpret. The way you can add images to a blog site such as edublogs is through one of two methods:

1. When writing a post, you can upload an image to the gallery, and then insert it into your post.

• First of all, you click on the first icon in the image below. To upload an image, it must be JPEG format.

• Then, once the image is loaded, you click insert into post in the picture below (circled red). After this step, your image will be seen in the text box section and when you upload your post.

Most images are found in Google Images and other websites. However, it is important to acknowledge where you got your images from.

Overall, and as you can see with this post, using images can make things clearer, easier to follow and appeal to a wider audience.

Visit this URL http://ignitetowrite.blogspot.com/2010/09/just-wondering.html to answer a very good question. It is:

The best thing I can do for the world is____________________.

It is in fact a good question. It is a challenging one and it has other interesting entries from other people. You may view my opinion there as well. It is an anonymous one, however my answer is to love other people. View the site to see more of my opinion (and an interesting quote)…

Have fun!

• I think, personally, it is fine to use a picture of yourself on the Internet. This is because it is down to the person and what they want whether they do it or not and some people like sharing photos. Facebook is one of the biggest photo sharers in the world, and hardly anything happens in regards to the use of photos on that (if you look at it as the number of offences in comparison to the number of users).
• Here is a quote from another person on the Internet, who posed the same question on their blog:

“I think it is appropriate to use a real photo of yourself if you have your parent’s permission and you are not identifiable from that picture i.e. no surname, address etc. In other words the picture is ‘safe’. I feel that it is inappropriate to put your photo on your blog if it is silly. Others could use the photo against you by adding it to Twitter or Facebook or something like that.”

•  This opinion is justified and has good reason behind it. However, the likelihood of others using the photo against you on Twitter or Facebook is low.
• In the end, it depends on the person, their situation, their family background and opinion and so on.

Three interesting things about me:

1. I play soccer all the time. I really love the game and I watch a lot of it on TV. I follow the teams and scores really closely. I am a mad Man United fan and I really hope to go over to England sometime and see them play at OLD TRAFFORD…THAT WOULD BE SICK!!!!

2. People don’t know me very well, even though I know lots of people. I am really intraverted.

3. I’m good at Maths (not to blow my own trumpet), which everybody else seems to hate. I study and work really hard at everything I do.

You should visit my blog for many reasons. First of all, it has a very nice set up, and is easy to read. It is extremely informative and useful to all. It has some fun widgets and links on the website, plus it has a very fun setup. It attracts visitors from all over the world, as you can see on my Clustrmaps. It has information on all sorts of things including:

1. Info on Port Stephens

2. Climate Change/ How I Will Use My Blog In 2010

3. My Interests

4. About Me

5. Design Produce Evaluate

So, as you can see, it has information, lots of it, that can be used and related to anyone while still having a fun and interesting setup!

Geography

Included in Port Stephens is a narrow strip that is between a used-to-be volcanic area. The south head, known as Tomaree Head is 120m above the average sea level while the northern head, Yacaaba Head, is 210m above. Even though a majority of the harbour is shallow, it still has sufficient depth to home large vessels, being home of RMS Queen Mary during World War II. Its area is approximately 119 square kilometres and is bigger than Sydney Harbour. It is approximately 24km from the Tasman Sea, and is 6.5km wide at its widest point. The narrowest point is only 1.1km wide. Its two most well-known areas are Nelson Bay and Hawks Nest. The following link shows a map of all the areas of Port Stephens:

http://www.portstephens-australia.com/ 

Port Stephens has around 19 miles of beaches. The beaches provided a hotspot for tourism, attraction, and beachfront homing. There are many restaruants and beachfront appartments located in the areas along the east coast.

History

Port Stephens is named after one of Captain Cook’s dedicated Secretary to the Admiralty. In 1971, the first British ship took port in Port Stephens. It was called the Salamander. This was used to form the name for the area Salamander Bay. After the HMS Providence found a bunch of missing convicts with the Aboriginal Worimi people in 1975, Port Stephens became a popular haven for escaped convicts. During WWII, the remoteness and lack of general population lead to the establishment of the HMAS Assault by the Australian navy. The area of Nelson Bay in Port Stephens became a land training establishment. The Sick Bay of the HMAS Assault is still standing, and is used by the Port Stephens Community Arts Centre as a popular tourist attraction.

Flora and Fauna

Flora and Fauna of Port Stephens

Design, Produce, Evaluate

This is a method which is helpful to use when assigned tasks, as you will be required to process different steps when using this method. It can result in a better end project, and can easily be used and followed.

-Identifying and Analysing the Problem

Before we can begin using this method, we must first do this step. It involves identifying the need for a solution or exactly what the problem is. Or does the problem even need a solution? If you were called by a friend and asked foor you to do his homework, you would first want to find out the reason behind him asking you. This is an example of this first step, and after doing this you then have the ability to identify the problem. After doing this, you can decide what you are going to say in return. Four categories are used to distinguish between types of factors that may impact or shake the planned solution. These are:

Technical

These factors can be things like whether the hardware is adequate for the task, like whether it has enough memory to save the project you are doing.

Operational

These are things that may cripple the planning towards the solution. If you are working on a project and start it in three days, you may have a great schedule where you have different staff working on different things, bu tthen turn up on the day and they may not have the experience to work the machines that are being used to solve the solution. So, an exmaple of an operational factor may be training?

Financial

This one is simple. It is based on the costs of the things needed to solve the problem, and can impact the designing of possible solutions. Such as you may need at least 10 computers to design a main database which will sort the problem, but can you afford that many?

Ethical

These would be things like data access and marketing prices. If you are going to have 3000 people storming through the gates of a circus that is raising money for starving kids, will one computer with one persosn working it really be efficient in entering the names of the attendees? Unless they have 10 million coffees beforehand, it is extremely unlikely.

-Designing Possible Solutions

Designing ideas for a possible solution can be hard work! But documenting them can be helpful. Concept maps can be used and observing other people’s solutions can make it easier to create ideas. You may also have something in fornt of you that could easily help you as well. If you are working on an advertising project at home, just flick on the tv and you can get heaps of ideas. Using a website to gain ideas from people who want to assist in the project is also a great way of observing other people’s solutions to collate a great set of ideas. Once you have quite a few ideas in front of you, you may want to try them out, which may involve drawing storyboards. This can be helpful, and it is another great idea to use a prototype that software developers often use to see how the real thing would go. A storyboard is a more basic way of doing this, with a set of images to give an idea of what would happen if you were to go with a certain idea.

-Producing Solutions

After spending time collating ideas, we move on to the next step, which is producing a solution. Early on in this stage, there will need to be an agreed style for the finish project if working in a group environment. These are called criteria, and used to make sure the end project has the certain aspects that it was designed to have in the first place. It is recommended that these be recorded, as they will be needed again in the evaluation of your project. Another thing that will need to be thought over is the target audience, like age bracket and things like that. If some of your ideas do not meet the criteria set, it is recommended that these ideas be forgotten, or at least enhanced so they do meet the criteria. The last thing, which is one of the biggest and most obvious things when designing a project, is copyright.

-Evaluation

Here we are at the last step, evaluation. This is not only a verbal step, it will need to be documented and recorded as well. The criteria that was set before must be brought out, and then the evaluation begins. There are three different areas of evaluation. They are:

Evaluation Criteria

The first thing to do is to make sure that the criterias is met, and if it isn’t, it is recommended that this be recorded for the next project, so you can see where you made your mistake and try to not make it again.

Functionality and Quality

The next thing to evaluate is the functionality and quality. Some more specialised criteria may need to be developed to be able to  be able to do this easily. Functionality means whether the project/application works to a satisfactory level. If it doesn’t work, it can cause a lot of frustration, as it means that there was a clear mistake in either the designing or production of the solution as well as the fact that you have to go back and try and fix it. This is the reason why it is extremely important to perform many trials after the solution is formed and produced. Hence the recommended use of a prototype. Quality of information is also important. It must be accurate. If it isn’t, it can result in errors during the processing of the data or the making of the decisions. This is especially prevalent in a bank or medical database service. Clients can suffer if the data is incorrect or not updated, so things can and should be put in place to make sure that this does not happen. Information in the project or application must be relevant to the project. There is no point putting game cheats in a mathematics program!! It can be confusing to the user and take up space. Integrity of information is a measure of the information’s reliability. Information should be collected only from a trusty source. You should make sure that the websites that the information is gathered from is up-to-date, reliable and correct. These precautions are extremely important.

Ethics and Environment

Ethics and environment are also important in the evaluation of the project. Ethics may include putting your project in a place where it does not fit. Environment may include putting your project consisting of solar panels in a dark room. These are simple evaluations, as you will probably have a project that does not work if the ethics and environment is all wrong.

There are different methods of evaluation. We can use different groups of people to test this criteria. Although, it is extremely vital that the project-maker is the frist to step back and take time to evaluate their project. You can ask for feedback from peers, you can reflect upon comments and modify your work to meet the criteria. It would make sense if the audience gives feedback because it would probably be more accurate than someone who only saw it and did not experience it. The last thing you can do is write down some specific questions for them to answer, rather than answering the questions yourself. That would not be very good!!!!!!

Hope this is helpful to the people who need it.

Cristiano