My Advice For Future Students

My advice would be to stay on top of the assignments given while not being afraid to ask if you don't understand something in class.

Top 3 Websites

My three favorite websites were form Chiara, Reuben, and Anna. Chiara had such a creative website with all of her drawings. Her website was colorful and really showed her personality.I enjoyed going through her art gallery. Rueben's website was great because he had so much information about himself. He even included a home video of when he was younger. I think that added a personal touch to his website. Lastly, Anna's website was very beautiful. I loved the colors she chose and her picture gallery was very cool to look through. These were my top three favorite websites. You can check my website out at http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~amozey/

The HTML Code

The HTML code is very useful for advanced web designers. Even though web designers know how to navigate and create elaborate web sites they still need to know the html code because sometimes the only way to correct a website would be to do it manually. The html code can be time consuming, however it is a sure way to get your website up and running. Another reason why web designers should use html code is because many search engines have to pass the code before opening the website. If your website won't open there there could be an error in your html code. This is when a web designer could look into the html code for that website and find the problem. The html code is quite complex and be considered the language of the Internet. For this reason web designers should know how to use the html code prior to using Expression Web and Dreamweaver for these reasons.

Navigating the Web

Chris Nolan's presentation was very informative. I learned many new strategies that I can now use when searching the Internet. The most important thing I learned was the academic search on Google. I didn't know that Google had this option. In the past, I would have to go through many pages in order to find an appropriate education source. Now I can simply go to more options on the Google website and find exactly what I need in a shorter time frame. After this presentation I also learned about how to tell whether a website is considered credible or not. There are many questions that can be asked when looking for credible websites. One thing that surprised me was the ability to be able to find the definition of a word by typing "define" and then the word you are searching for. This is a great tool that I know I will be able to use in the future. 

PowerPoint Helps Showcase the Star of the Show: You!

After reading the articles concerning PowerPoint presentations, I feel I am guilty of a few mistakes I have made in the past concerning my assignments. I found the "Top Ten Slide Tips" article to be very helpful. It had extensive information concerning what graphs to insert into a presentation. This article also talked about bullets and when you should use your own notes instead of putting it all on a slide. The second article titled "Recommendations for Faculty on PowerPoint" had a great deal of information concerning design. Design is important when it comes to a PowerPoint presentation because your design should complement your speech and not overpower it. Some things I find annoying about PowerPoint inserting video and sound into a presentation. I tend to get frustrated when I need to do this for an assignment. Here are some important guidelines to follow when putting together a PowerPoint presentation together. First you should keep your presentation relatively simple. This means there shouldn't be lots of pictures and text that cover the entire slide, but a simple slide that covers the main points and isn't crowded. The second guideline would be to use color to your advantage. By using color you can draw your audience in closer which is always a good thing! People respond to color so it is important to pay attention to this detail in your PowerPoint. The third guideline to consider is limiting what you put in your bullets. Often too much information is crammed into bullets on a slide making the overall presentation look confusing. Instead try to use just a few main points to keep it simple. The fourth guideline is to use better quality graphics rather than clip art. Many times clip art is easier ,however the results aren't the same. By using your own photos you can add a personal touch ,yet still look professional. Lastly the fifth guideline is to use the notes option on Microsoft PowerPoint. Using this tool will allow you to keep your ideas together without overcrowding your PowerPoint. Overall PowerPoint is a good tool where people can convey their ideas and data to an audience. The most important key to a good PowerPoint is how you connect with the audience. Your PowerPoint should complement your speech.

Using Excel: Now and Later

After using Excel in class, I learned many new features that I did not know about. The main component that I learned dealt with functions. I did not know how to use Excel and put in functions , but now I can see why it is important to know how to do this. I find functions in Excel to be particularly helpful when calculating large amounts of numbers in a chart or graph. Currently in my biology lab class we have been using Excel. Now I can quickly insert graphs that include my data. Excel has been very helpful for that class.  I definitely feel I can use this program in the future as well. When I enter the work force I will be better prepared to use Excel and all it can offer. I think it is a great program once you understand all the different options available. One academic field that comes to mind when using Excel would be accounting. CPA's deal with numbers and tax returns so they use Excel or versions of Excel every day.  Excel can be useful for so many businesses because most deal with numbers. I am glad I got to work with Excel. I feel I have a better understanding of the program now.

Is This Picture Real?

After looking at the Pictures that Lie on the CNet News website, the one picture that stood out to me was the University of Wisconsin picture. I chose this picture due to the controversy that could arise from this one image. The original picture was from a 1993 shot of a football game at the university. Later in 2000 the University wanted to show a picture of just how diversified the campus was. Instead of taking a whole new shot they decided to photoshop a picture of a black student. The student's picture had been taken in 1994. By photoshopping the image, the image looks as if the students were all at the same football game without any question. The whole idea behind the manipulation of the photo was to project an image of diversity and how it is seen throughout the university including popular school football games. The photo was not necessarily harmful , but rather deceiving. For future students making decisions on where to attend college, they expect correct information concerning the school. The school probably would have been better off taking a whole not picture instead of photoshopping a student into the image. Photoshopping is a great tool , however there are many instances where pictures that are created can become questionable.