Evaluation Question 6: What have you learnt about new technologies from the process of creating this product?

During my project, I learnt how to use several different technologies available both on the Internet and built in to the computer. For my magazine, the technology that I used for the majority of my magazine was Adobe Photoshop.

I used this technology to create the full designs for my front cover, contents page and double page introduction to the interview. I had used Photoshop a little in the past, so I had an idea of the basics of the platform. However, this project allowed me to explore the platform deeper and use new features. For example, on my front cover, I was able to adjust the opacity of the eyes so that they were more visible which created a more mysterious feel to the image. Tools such as the Text Box, the Paint Bucket and the Smudge tool were also incredibly helpful and effective for attempting to create a realistic final product.

Another platform that I used was InDesign. Unlike Photoshop, I did not have any previous experience with InDesign. However, I was quickly able to learn  the basics of it, such as placing an image and adjusting the size to match my interview page.

In terms of technologies on the Internet, I have successfully worked out how to use Blogger effectively to display my work. This is an incredibly useful tool because it allows teachers and also other students to easily look at my work to either look over it or take notes from it. Along with Blogger, I have used several different websites in order to present my work on the blog in different ways. These websites are SlideShare, Prezi, PowToon, Emaze and SurveyMonkey.

SlideShare gives you the ability to upload your created PowerPoints to the website and then use them in your blog or another form of display. I had a small experience with this website, so uploading my presentations were a breeze.

Prezi is a website in which you create presentations in the form of flow charts or spider diagrams which can display all information on a topic or different sections of an answer to a question. I had no experience of using Prezi before this project, but the website is easy-to-use and presentations are quick to make.

PowToon is a website where you create a presentation incorporating cartoons to make them more entertaining. There is also  a timeline so you can add features of a slide one at a time which can be very effective. Again, like Prezi, I had not used this website before this project, and it was harder to grasp than the other.

Emaze is a website where you can create simple presentations with certain themes, whether it be the colours used or the backgrounds used. For someone with no experience with this website, it was extremely easy to grasp, as it contains no gimmicks like PowToon for example.

Finally, SurveyMonkey is a website in which you can create your own questions and answers in the form of a survey and post it online. I used this website specifically for my questionnaire concerning the readers of the magazine and what they want in it. Creating the survey was easy and free, and I have no complaints about it.

Overall, through this project, I have learnt that presenting your work can be a lot more interesting and refreshing by using these websites and programs that I have talked about. Not everything has to be typed up with absolutely nothing else to make it stand out.  These technologies can really up your presentation game and achieve more success.


I FORGOT TO MENTION in the podcast that I used Youtube to upload my video response for Question 1 as well as using Adobe Premiere to edit the video originally. Premiere was tough to use at first as I had no experience with it, but after about an hour I had learnt the tools that I needed to edit efficiently. Youtube is a site that I use everyday so it was very easy to go onto the site and upload the video. I also used Google for any research that I needed. I had no issues with Google as I use it multiple times a day.