Eng W390 Group Project Reviews

It's clear that we've all been working hard on our group projects for English W390. Here's what I observed from the two other projects:

One group (we'll call them Group M) has a ton of content which they clearly spent a lot of time researching and a great site map, but their graphics and sounds could use some improvement. The other group (Group G) has great graphics and sound, but their project doesn't have as much content. Both groups seem to be aiming for the same audience, students and both have hit their mark.

Group M has a ton of audience choice and one can freely browse their presentation. As a note of criticism, I think the presentation is a bit visually overwhelming though. Group G has less choice, as the presentation is more of a commercial than anything else. Group G's presentation has a more professionally produced feel, though.

I think our presentation falls somewhere in between the other two. It has less choice than Group M's but more than Group G's. It definitely falls in between in regards to graphics and "fanciness", too. Ours has a more streamlined feel, but lacks sound except for the video. We are aiming for the same target audience, too and I think we hit the mark, as well. That is an aspect where we all succeeded perfectly.

Of course, I'm biased, but I think our project is the best. The slide share presentation below doesn't really showcase the interactivity, but it definitely shows off the attractiveness of our project.

The feedback we received was positive,for the most part, save one review that seemed to think it was lacking. Frankly, I disagree. The reviewers in general seemed to notice the lack of sound, with the exception of the video so I guess that stands out as a negative. I don't intend to change it though, because I think music isn't necessary and chimes when the slides change are silly in most cases. The feedback from the professor was the most helpful and we implemented those changes for the final draft.

W390 Team Project Uploaded to Slideshare

University writing center slide show

View more presentations from Kristen Nicoson.

W390 Final Project: 1st Draft FINISHED!

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Our final project is going well so far. After some early communication issues, we have managed to plan and execute a good project. My teammates were great about getting the video and photographs we needed and I'm putting them together in PowerPoint. The material is really good and my video editing skills have been effective. I found a handy video editor called VideoPad Video Editor that had a free 14-day trial and I used it to edit the video, taking out some things and adding text over the top so it had an FAQ feel. I didn't have these skills before, for the most part, so I'm very pleased. I'm falling short a bit because I can't seem to get my video to embed the way I would like. Hopefully we can figure it out before the final draft is due. In the meantime the video must be clicked to be accessed. I did remember, after going away from the project and coming back to it later, how to make links in the first slide to other slides. That made it more interactive. The user can now choose what to explore first. I hope this will make the presentation more enjoyable for the audience.

As far as my understanding of the course material goes, I'm getting an idea that this has more to do with web design and development than I originally thought. This should be useful as I pursue my career as a media specialist.
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Eng W390 Week 13: Cool?

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Considering your SL avatar, your blog, your wiki entries and the work you’ve done with your group project, do there seem to be aspects of your personality that are emerging as constants within your digital communications? Explain. Are you incorporating new elements into this emerging voice? If so, what?

Try to analyze this emerging voice to determine what aspects of it you might want to take forward with you and what aspects may still need to be cultivated for future digital interactions.

My SL avatar, blog, wiki entries and group chats for our project are all a reflection of my personality to some degree or another. I suppose the chats and my blog are the most descriptive in that regard. I'm pretty friendly and that usually comes through in most all of my internet communications. I'm hoping to develop more of a coolness that is a little less eager and I think that was evident in my Second Life avatar. It may also be evident in my forum posts. As of yet, I don't think I can be described as cool, though, so I'll have to keep working on it.
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Eng W390 Week 12: Being Heard

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Do you feel that your voice is being adequately represented in your group project? In what ways? Are there ways in which you feel your voice is being overlooked or is missing? Explain. How do you feel you might best assert that voice, or do you think your “voice” is incompatible with your group project? Explain.

I think that my voice is being well represented in the group project. I just hope I'm not being too loud with it if my teammates would like to do something different. Being assertive has never been a problem for me when it comes to working with a group. As for compatibility, I feel like the individual group voices sound good together. So far, sound pretty harmonious. I think the real test of our harmony will come when we are finished with the information gathering phase and we start crafting our product.
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