Website Favorites

The websites were really fun to see because it gave us so much insight into everyone's hobbies and interests. It was a great way to appreciate everyone’s individual creativity and wrap up the semester. I thought Joy Lin had an amazing site. She is extremely talented with Photoshop. I also really liked her page about the festivals from her home; I thought that was very unique. Casey Kay had a really cool website as well. His links were set up in a very organized fashion and he had great designs. I also thought it was great how he will be able to use the information we learned in class to improve his own existing website. I thought Ralph Petang’s site was very aesthetically pleasing. He had some great pictures. It was really neat how he set up a scenario with pictures of what steps he takes to pick a vacation. His links to the cooking website were fabulous as well. The entire class did a great job on this project and it was obvious that a lot of work went into the process, these were just a couple of my favorites.


You can check out my own website at www.cs.trinity.edu/~aedwards

Good Advice for Next Year

Keep in mind all of the ways you will be able to use the tools and skills you learn in this class later in your Trinity career and in the business world!

Expression Web

Expression Web and other web creator software is extremely important to have because it cuts out a lot of time in the web production process. I still think it is important to understand the codes and what they stand for. This way if there is a problem you are able to maually fix it or alter certain portions of the site with coding. It is fascinating to see what can come from a series of letters that compose the code.

Powerpoint Presentations

I really enjoyed seeing all of the different techniques and learning about the variety of topics presented on during the class PowerPoint presentations. Two in particular stuck out to me, Ralph Petang's PowerPoint on soccer and Ben Klimesh's on umpiring baseball. I really enjoy sports so that caught my attention at first, but my enjoyment went much deeper than just the level of topic. I really thought Ralph did a great job keeping the word's to a minimum and letting the slide's do a lot of the talking for him. His photographs were amazing. It almost seemed like it was professionally assembled because of the smoothness of the transitions between photographs or quotes. You could really feel the passion he had for his subject through his presentation and the content of the slides. Ben did a great job keeping his presentation light and made it fun to learn about the fundamentals of umpiring baseball. I really liked the photographs that he chose to illustrate where the umpires stand when they are working a game. I also enjoyed his background on criteria a person needs to have in order to umpire a game, it was very interesting. His slides were ordered in a very organized manner and it seemed to transition between his points well. The design also looked good, I thought he had a simple, yet fun font that he used through out the PowerPoint.

Chris Nolan

I think Chris Nolan had a lot of great information about researching online and through the Coates database. Something new that I found out was how to do an advanced search on Google. I really liked the capability of searching for certain types of documents and also how to search for documents if you don't want a certain word to be included in the results, like Chris' example of searching for Mexico and having many New Mexico sites pop up by default. One thing I found interesting was that most of the academic sites on Google do not show up until many pages into searching unless you do an advanced search. I always thought that Google would list the scholarly and academically credible sites first.

Powerpoint Tricks and Tips

I thought that the three different articles did a really great job both giving some background on the reasoning on why and how we use PowerPoint and I was surprised to learn that they taught me a couple lessons that I will now be able to use on my PowerPoint presentations in the future. I thought it was very interesting to learn that powerpoint was created by a group of engineers so that they could better communicate with their marketing teams. I also was surprised to learn rules such as standard backgrounds and graphics from powerpoint should not be used and bullet points are rarely needed. It just seems that based on other presentations I have seen people use these two techniques a lot. Two of the most important suggestions that I took from the articles were that texts should always be size 28 or above and the B key can be used to make a slide go blank so that the audience focus' on the presenter and iformation.

The Guidelines that I found most important and interesting were:

1. Keeping the PowerPoint simple. A very valid point was made in the "Top Ten Slide Tips" article was that the slides are not supposed to be the star of the show, the presenter and the information presented should be the main focus.

2. Limit transitions and builds. Everyone has sat through a painfully drawn out, over-animated presentation at some point during grade school because one of their peers was overly excited or just thought it would be funny to make a slide with a different transition for every single word on it. It is horrible to sit through and it is nearly impossible for the audience to listen to any sort of message or information presented because they are so distracted.

3. Use high-quality graphics. I thought it was interesting that the point was made to use photographs always, and never clip art. I have seen many of my teachers, professors or professional presenters over the years use clip art in their presentations. I think it is a valid point though, clip art does look a lot less professional than a high-quality photograph.

4. Avoid PowerPoint templates for a visual theme. I would not have thought about this either before reading the article "Top Ten Slide Tips." I always thought it was semi-professional to use a standard template from PowerPoint but using an original background would definitely better captivate the audience and make it easier to remember in the viewers head because of its originality.

5. Use color well. I love that the article spoke about color linking to emotions. I find that to be incredibly true. I have so much appreciation for a slide show that uses a combination of colors wisely. It helps me relate to and appreciate the information and the slide so much more than a standard black and white slide would. I also found the information about cooler colors being better for backgrounds and warmer colors being better for foreground text and objects because it pops out at you very beneficial and interesting.

Experience with Excel

The most important and useful thing I learned in Excel was definitely how to use equations and cell references. I will be able to use that in any career I end up pursuing, but it should be especially useful since right now I am majoring in accounting. Until we get to upper level classes a lot of our work is done on either word or excel. I wish that I would have had the Excel knowledge I do know for my past 2 semesters of accounting, it would have saved me a lot of time. The most interesting part of Excel that I learned how to use though was how to merge cells and how to decorate and format documents to make them more aesthetically pleasing. This is just an anal-retentive issue I have with organization and presentation of projects, they are minor details but I really appreciate how much nicer they make a document look.

Pictures That Lie

I chose the photo taken by Hany Farid that spliced Oprah Winfrey’s head on the body of actress Ann Margret. I chose this picture because it reminded me of when I was younger and my cousins and I would use photoshop to splice each other’s heads and switch the bodies. The picture was first published on the cover of TV Guide in August 1989. The picture was manipulated by splicing and placing Oprah’s head onto the body of Ann-Margret. The photograph of her body was taken from a 1979 publicity shot. The picture was manipulated probably because sex sells and this photograph of Ann-Margret’s body sitting on top of a pile of cash would sell more copies than if it were Oprah’s real body, American’s have gotten so used to seeing perfect bodies on the covers of magazines that a normal shaped body sticks out. Also the posture and dress Margret is wearing in the photograph looks very glamorous and the cover title is “Oprah! The Richest Woman on TV? How she amassed her 250-million fortune.” The manipulation can be harmful to both Ann-Margret and Oprah Winfrey, neither gave permission to have their pictures altered. It is unfair to use Ann-Margret’s body because she should be getting paid for the use of her photograph and Oprah is being falsely exposed to the public with her head mounted on a body that isn’t hers.

CLT Blog

On Thursday when we went into the AT&T Center for Learning and Technology I was amazed that we had such a huge resource right under our noses and I had never seen or heard of it. I really liked the media conference room that we were shown that is used for meetings among the staff, but it can also be utilized by students for group meetings or practicing for presentations, you only need to sign up. My favorite part about the CLT center was learning that we have the capability of burning VHS tapes and video recordings straight to DVDs. I have taken multiple movies that I recorded in high school to Walgreen's and payed $20 each for them to be converted to DVD format, so that was great to learn that I had the capability to do for personal use. The best thing I learned for school related projects was all the software I have available to do video or multimedia projects whenever I want. The software they had available to use there was very high quality and could make my school projects look like they were professionally done. I also really love Imovie, but have a dell and this way I can create videos for personal use on Imovie, which I am really excited about. I think this grant was used very wisely, students have a very wide variety of resources they can utilize both for scholarly and personal gain.

Copyright Laws

I thought that most of the information we learned in the copyright lecture was interesting for the most part and could be very helpful to protect ourselves against a copyright lawsuit or sharing or pirating media through out the next couple years of college and then on into the business world. One piece of information that I found very interesting was that it is legal to use a piece or clip of a certain work of an author, but there is a lot of gray area there. For example, it is legal to use a quote or part of a paper or poem, but not to use a measure or any length of song clip. Many people involved in the creation or assessment of these laws though advise others not to fight these matters because the more laws the stickier and more complicated the copyright world will get. The two sides on this issue are, on the pro, it should be illegal to take bits of a song clip because songs are such short pieces of media that taking a clip of any length, no matter how short is still borrowing a large part of the media and for the most part the beat of the song is constant so it is kind of like you are taking the majority of the song. It would also be hard to set a limit of how long is acceptable to take, since again the average song length is not that long. Making it legal to use part of the song would also probably only add to the song pirating problem that already exists, it would be very hard to control. On the con side, if a person is using the song for educational purposes it should be allowed, or even if they are just using it for pleasure to get an idea of what the song sounds like it should be legal, they are not taking the entire song, just a clip. In my opinion, I think that it should stay illegal. I think it would be much harder to control the use of the clip than it is worth. It would add many unnecessary problems and I think that artists already have a tough enough time trying to make money off of any of their songs as it is with the extensive pirating/downloading media world.

How I Utilize My Internet Time on One of the Top 10 Wireless Campuses

I love having the capability to go almost anywhere on campus and be able to access the internet. I think that, myself included, too many of the students take this privilege for granted. I don’t even think about what it must be like on other campuses to have to go to certain spots on campus to get online. I use the internet everywhere. One of my favorite things to do is find a spot outside and do my online homework on a nice day. I have even used the internet as I was walking to class reading an assignment that was due.

I don’t think that having such a wireless campus is a distraction at all. I think students will get on facebook and gaming sites or whatever they’re into no matter where they are. A lot of kids have that capability on their phones now so they can literally access those pages anywhere. It is really convenient to be able to pull out your laptop and play a game or check your email if you are outside an office or somewhere waiting.

It is definitely an academic help as well. I have been able to get on blackboard all over campus and access teachers notes if I am doing an assignment or studying somewhere else and don’t have my notebook. I also really like being able to get on blackboard really quick and look at the class rosters if I have a question to get a hold of someone in my class. However, one academic disadvantage is that it gives you even less of an excuse to say you didn’t get that email or haven’t checked it yet because it can be accessed virtually anywhere on campus. It just puts that much more pressure on us to stay on top of communication with the faculty, professors and peers.

I found an interesting article titled, “Totally Wireless on Campus,” from the USA today website. Two Ball State students discuss their experience being part of the first generation of students to grow up with computers and their wireless experience at other colleges and their own.

Introduction Blog

My introduction blog begins back in a lilac-clad hospital room in the heart of the Midwest, Lincoln, Nebraska, on the beautiful summer morning of July 26, 1989. My birth name is Alexis Jordan Edwards and I liked it so much that I have gone by it my whole life, the only people who have nicknames for me are relatives. I have lived in Lincoln my entire life. I grew up attending Catholic School from preschool through my senior year of Pius X High School. My first day at Trinity was the first day I had ever gone to school with out wearing a uniform. I have since then found multiple ways to fulfill my uniform hunger. I get to sport a maroon and black volleyball uniform as part of the volleyball team here at Trinity. I am an outside hitter and defensive specialist on the team. I also get to rep a green uniform or jersey on campus as a member of Gamma Chi Delta sorority. I have recently been working with many members of our club on the Concert for the Cure board, which is a Concert that our sorority puts on during the fall semester to help raise money to go towards finding a cure for Cancer patients. And finally, I also have the privilege of wearing my blue uniform every Thursday as a member of the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps. However, unlike my extensive experience dealing with uniforms for so many years, my experience with computers is much more mild. I should be much more knowledgeable in the computer world than what I have to show because of my upbringing. I grew up around computers and design software. My mom basically raised my brother and I in her computer-stocked classroom where she taught CAD, architectural drafting and design. She teaches many different programs within her classes and had me using Corel Draw by the age of 7 when other kids would play on paint. Shortly after my computer knowledge plateaued and I resorted to learning about different tools or techniques on the computer through various websites, AIM and Facebook. I am really excited to learn more about using programs such as PowerPoint and word for school and eventually work-related affairs but also photo shop and others for personal use too. My only concern for this class is that I will not be able to retain all the information and utilize it after I'm done. If learning software is really like learning a language I'm going to need a lot of practice to be able to actually use any of it.

Alexis Edwards

aedwards@trinity.edu