Testing A Web 2.0 Application

Can voki.com Be Used For Educational Purposes?

Voki.com represents itself as an 'educational tool' that allows their uses to create and customise their own talking characters to look however they like, whether it be based on an historical figure, cartoon, animal or even on his or her self. The characters are completely customisable, whereby you can even use your own voice for your character by using a microphone, using the dial-in number feature or uploading an audio file. Once you are happy with your character and it is complete with its own voice and background you can share your voki character with the rest of the web by means of embedding it onto a website using the HTML code, sharing on social media or even emailing it to a friend! Here is a funky character I have created using the site:

This is Caspar, a friendly ghost in a top hat with a passion for teaching history to young children.
Voki.com is completely free, although it does require you to register and create an account in order to use the features of the site. As an educator voki.com can be a very interesting and creative way to manage lessons that children will find much more enjoyable through using Voki Classrooms. However, this area of the site require you to pay a subscription fee of $29.95 for one year and $49.95 for 2 years. Although it requires a payment, Voki Classrooms are extremely useful as children can see clear instructions on the tasks they as an individual must complete, as well as tasks the class as a whole must complete. Teachers can also place children into a number of different classes, which would be beneficial for comprehensive children as it removes the use of homework diaries, and instead makes it much more easier for children to see what work needs to be completed even when they have missed school. 
In addition to these reasons, voki is also extremely beneficial as it is a much more fun way to learn. Children can prepare for exams in a stress free environment whereby they can read out their notes to their character and have them repeat their notes back to them, which is a much more efficient way revising for oral exams or written exams because the children don't realise they're learning while they're having fun with their voki characters. 

Adding a Texture To A 3D Model (Part Two)

After creating a UV we opened it in Photoshop, making sure that the document dimensions were the same as the UV that we exported. We used a Bamboo Tablet and pen to draw the detail onto our UV and create a texture. The Textured UV can be seen below:

I personally found working with a Bamboo Tablet exceptionally difficult as I didn't understand how to line the tablet up with the computer monitor to draw. The task took a while for me to grasp, although I feel that the equipment would be much easier to use with a bit of practice. However, I can now understand why game designers prefer to use this tool to create textures and concept art as it is much easier to define shapes when drawing them rather than using a mouse, which seemed much more clumsy to use.
Notice how the feet, whiskers, tail, ears and bow do not fill the UV space, which is because the image will be saved as a .png file extension. The reason for this is because .png images stores transparency information meaning the black background will be see through when it is applied to the model.
After the texture was finished, we then had do go back into Maya and create a material, apply our texture to that material and set it to allow transparency. This was then applied to the model and 'rendered'. As seen in the previous model the ears, whiskers and tail were block shaped, whereas now they are more detailed due to the texture we created. The final product can be shown below as a result:

MEET CUBIT THE KAT!

Creating a 3D Object Using Maya (Part One)

As a fun little project, I set myself the task of learning how to create a 3D model within an application called Autodesk Maya with the help of Daniel (a link to his portfolio can be found here) , a second year student studying Creative Computer Games Design. The design of my 3D Model has been based on the creations found on the PopAPup website as shown below:

After opening the application we started with a basic cube shape, taking this shape we were able to insert 'edge loops' which would allow us to sculpt more detail into the model. Taking the newly created faces from the edge loops we then selected them and 'extruded' them outwards to create the feet of the PopAPup Model.We repeated this process in other areas of the model to create the ears, whiskers and tail. This was the outcome of the model:

As you can see the ears, whiskers and feet are not clearly defined and are shown as blocks, however these will be drawn onto the model later using a 'texture'.
For the next step we had to prepare the 3D model by projecting the 3D image into a 2D space by 'unwrapping' it so that it could be drawn on using a photo editing program, this basically resembles folding a paper block into shape. This process can be shown below:

This was done by taking each side of the model and 'planar mapping' it onto the UV Texture Editor. Taking these pieces we then 'sew UV's'  together to create a shape that looks like it could be folded and put together to represent the 3D version of the model. This is called a UV and can be taken into Photoshop that can be drawn on to then create a texture for the model.

Lego Digital Designer

So during the Christmas break I thought I would get a little creative and build a VIRTUAL LEGO MODEL using an application called Lego Digital Designer (LDD), which is a completely free computer program created by the LEGO team. The aim of the program is to allow users to use their imagination and build LEGO models using virtual LEGO bricks designed within a computer-aided manner. It is designed to run on Mac or Windows platforms, where the screen loads up with a clean LEGO board as shown below:

The beauty of the program is that it isn't age-based, and therefore means children and adults alike can share in the building experience and follow their interests. Children can also use this to develop their imagination in a way that is not lead by adults, without the stress of mess, while also developing their computer skills. Using the different range of tools building becomes easy and using the Save Tool allows you to close the program and come back to it again later, allowing you to add more and more to your model until you are completely satisfied with the outcome or want to start again on something new!

You are also able to share your mode with the rest of the world once you have finished, as stated on the LEGO website 'when you are finished with your amazing creation, you can upload your LEGO Digital Designer file to the MINDSTORMS Community. Other LEGO MINDSTORM fans from around the world will have access to your instructions to build your new robot! You can also read comments and feedback'. This is an interesting feature as those who share a love for LEGO can easily go online and view what their friends have created and then get ideas from their designs, or can proudly show their models to others as well. 

I myself have tried using the program and decided to build a simple red brick house with a white picket fence. At first I found the program rather difficult to navigate and needed my more experienced friend, Archie (a link to his portfolio can be found here), to show me the ropes and find my way around the LEGO board so to say. I would therefore suggest children who want to use this application be supervised by an adult as it can be quite mindboggling to a new Virtual LEGO Builder! Its fair to say that I'm far from becoming a Master Builder, but I am rather happy with the overall result of my house design as shown above! 

Using A Wiki Website

Today in our VisCom lesson we were asked to try out a new website called http://es1a2014.pbworks.com, which we used to create a WIKI page within a group of friends in order to test out whether we could easily share and edit ideas within our group successfully. I personally found the website very interesting and easy to navigate!

Here is our WIKI page, that we created all by ourselves, and answered a series of questions on the subject of how will technology affect education in the future. The website was particularly useful as we could focus on different questions, which meant everyone could equally contribute to the task instead of one person typing while the others huddle around one computer. However one thing we found particularly annoying was that when one person was editing the page they would 'Steal Lock' which meant that no one else would be able to edit the page without overwriting someone else's work.

Facebook Versus Twitter

WHICH IS BETTER?

Okay, so a few friends and I were having a long winded debate on which was a better social networking website: Facebook or Twitter. They are the two most popular social networks in the world, although there is a great deal of arguments on which website is significantly better than the other. I personally am not a fan of Twitter and much prefer the look of Facebook, however many of my friends would disagree - so why is that?
As a result I have decided to construct a balanced argument, outlining comparisons of the two considering their strengths and weaknesses, user base and features.

As of March 2014 Facebook has over 1.28 billion monthly active users since its launch in February 2004, whereby over half of whom use the mobile app devise. It is founded by Mark Zuckerberg and is owned and operated by Facebook, INC, who base their headquarters in Menlo Par, California, United States and has 6,818 employees as of this year. It is available world wide with the support of 70 different languages installed onto the system, which is written in C++, PHP, D. Facebook is a multi-purpose platform that allows users to post photos, instant message, post comments and play games.
With over 500 million users Twitter is an online microblogging and social networking service that was founded by Jack Dorsey and launched on July 6, 2006, basing their headquarters in San Francisco, California, United States and have 3,000 employees as of 2014. This social networking site is available in 29 different languages and is written in JavaScript, Ruby, Scala, Java. The purpose of Twitter is based on enabling users to speak their mind by writing short text-based messages, also known as 'tweets' of up to 140 characters.

There are a number of similarities and differences that connect and identify both social networking sites as they are both used for different purposes. Facebook is mainly used stay connected with, or reconnect with people you know in real life. Users can communicate with others by posting messages on other peoples 'wall', as well as maintain a personal profile that others can view and comment on things that have been posted. Twitter is mainly used to post short up-to-date statuses and follow others with similar interests regardless of whether users know one another offline. It enables users to follow updates from celebrities as well as friends and send private messages to people they follow. One similarity both sites share is that they both require you to Register an account using your email and create a username and password. They also both allow users to upload photographs, post updates, reblog posts, share links and 'follow' people.
Another feature that both sites share is Privacy, Both Facebook and Twitter allows their users to make their profiles private or public through going on the privacy settings. However Facebook's privacy settings is a little more advanced as it allows individuals to change the privacy settings of each individual post, allowing individuals to choose exactly who sees what they are posting, from friends only, the public, private or they can even 'custom' who views their posts. Whereas the privacy settings on Twitter are rather basic, whereby if their profile is private posts can only be viewed by people you have accepted can follow you and public profiles can be viewed by everyone. Twitter does not have the feature that allows individual posts to become private. Furthermore, both sites can be integrated. Tweets from your twitter account can be posted onto Facebook using the Twitter App so the two can be connected, as well as other sites may allow you to use your Facebook or Twitter log in details to set up accounts and some websites, like blogs, allow you to place a Twitter Widget onto the page to connect the two this way.

Chart to Show Growth in Worldwide User Base for Twitter v.s Facebook.

One of the major differences between Twitter and Facebook is that they are aimed at different groups of people. Those who actively post statuses on a regular basis would most likely favor Twitter, whereas those who want to chat with family or friends may opt for Facebook as it provides an instant messaging feature that Twitter does not have. Additionally to this the terminology for both sites are different, whereby those on Facebook can express their approval of content by 'liking' 'sharing' or 'commenting' on a post, whereas Twitter users can 'retweet' or 'favourite' content shared. Mentioning other users on the site is also different as Facebook requires you to only type the users name, while Twitter uses the @ sign before the individuals name to mention them in a post. Both sites, however, both support the # feature. Advertising is also portrayed differently on both sites as Twitter supports adverts through promoting tweets, while Facebook support adverts in the form of banners, ads or referral marketing. Finally, it is important to note that Facebook also supports a range of different games, while Twitter does not support this feature, while on the other hand this is due to Twitter being a much more useful resource for following trending topics and staying up to date with recent news, a feature that Facebook does not support.
All these reasons has lead to the conclusion that it depends on the personality and interests of the user regarding which site they find more useful as both sites serve different purposes. A quote I found particularly useful in describing the main difference is:

"People say that Facebook is for connecting with the people you went to school with and Twitter is for people you wished you had gone to school with". - www.diffen.com 

Inspirational Educational Video

Montessori Madness!

I was on YouTube researching videos for an assignment when this one in particular captured my attention and drew me in. The video is a debate that argues why Montessori Schools are much more beneficial to young children as they are more stimulating and encourage children to explore their interests, rather than focusing on a set curriculum. This video in particular is extremely influential as it provides the person watching to have a clear visual representation of what the person speaking is trying to portray to their audience. The animation within the video is fluid and continues to keep the watcher engaged in the matter, while using a different colour pen to stress certain areas that require more attention. In the description I found a link to the creators website that allows you to view more of their examples and explains why they choose to portray their message to the viewers in this way. The creator has stated clearly that 'you only get one shot, and one shot only' to get your message across and attract viewers attention, which PowerPoint presentations that are long and boring just doesn't do any more as they say we now live in a 'world of instant messaging, fast track communications and multiple stimuli hitting us 24/7 at every turn". This is why they have chosen to use their method of drawing 321 images onto a white board in order to capture the viewers attention and keep them engaged with fast and easy to understand images throughout the video. The creator cannot stress more on their website that it doesn't matter who you're presenting to, whether it be an individual friend or within a conference meeting of a large group of people, you need to excite your audience and do it fast as first impressions are everything. A quote I found interesting on the website was:

"What really sets 321 Fast Draw, Inc apart is that beyond the technology and creativity, they have a strong sense of story. They understand pacing and how a segment unfolds for the viewer. Their best work has a way of cutting through the noise and resonating with viewers."

- The Kauffman Foundation

Testing The Authenticity Of A Website Of Our Choice

During one of our sessions in class we were given a task to research the authenticity of a website of our choice in groups. The website my group chose was:

One of the reason we decided on this website was because it was very useful as it is relevant and specific to the needs of any individual who wants to learn how to do origami, but mainly we decided on it as a bit of fun and wanted to bring some creativity to the classroom by introducing something new. The website is also authentic and easily accessible for everyone varying from adults to children. Adults in particular who are hoping to learn the craft would find this website aesthetically pleasing. When looking into the authenticity of the website we found the author, Fumiaki Shingu, and typed his name into google using "site: Fumiaki Shingu" to find out what links came up in relation to his name to make sure that the site was appropriate, we came up with the search results that Fumiaki Shingu can be seen as an authoritative figure in the making of origami as he has three books published in the subject that can be bought on a number of sites like Amazon.co.uk. Some other results that came up can be seen in the example above.
Additionally the authors authenticity can be backed up through using research where I found information regarding the author such as he graduated from a design college and founded the company CITY PLAN Co., Ltd in 1984, where he then produced products in origami called “JOYD” which were successfully sold in major shops such as Toys R Us and Tokyo Hands, Loft. As well as this he has also done business overseas with clients in New York and Paris and then set up this site in 2002. Although the site was set up over 12 years ago the style of origami hasn't changed and therefore still makes it useful for everyone. Furthermore those with children will be pleased to know that the content of the website is completely appropriate, which can be checked and analysed by typing site: http://en.origami-club.com/fun/index.html on Google as well. We found when checking the authenticity of the website using this method that nothing other than origami links could be found. All in all we found this a nice little site to use if anyone reading is interested in origami as there are a different range of toolbars and buttons that redirected you to areas of the site that showed different types of origami until you found the model you wanted to create specifically.I personally would give it a massive thumbs up as the instructions included are very easy to follow, where you get a choice to either follow a diagram or an actual animation of someone folding the paper step by step which I thought was pretty cool!

Evaluating An Animation Website

 During class we were were given a task in groups to evaluate the usefulness of the website digitalfilms.com by creating an animation, which can be found here: Our Movie!
We were asked to consider the age, range and suitability of the website, as well as other factors such as whether it is easy to navigate.

We have come to the conclusion that the target age group of the website would be older primary school as the animations are colourful, however the website can be difficult to navigate and we would therefore suggest that children should be supervised while using it in order to get the most out of the website. The website was also very basic in the range of different scenes you could choose from or the characters you could create and the guidence given is easy to follow, however it can take a while to get used to. In order to create a movie you do need to register onto the website, which is completely free to use. There were some features of multimedia, which were pictures, animation, text and music, but you could only use the features already provided on the website, rather than being able to upload your own images or music.

The members of our group included Shannon Stevens, Rita Callaca and Jo-Beth Vearncombe

Story Telling Project Portrayed Through Images

A Woolly Expedition! 

Today I embarked on a dangerous adventure to find the Demon Sheep that has made its home upon a mountain in one of the well known valleys of South Wales. This sheep has adapted to fit in with the poor unsuspecting flock that inhabits these mountain woods and with my lovely brave companion, Daniel, we were so unfortunate to come face to face with this dreaded fluffy menace and escape with our lives to tell the tale.

My Reflective Process

Why Am I Studying At University Again?

Hello, my name is Shannon and I am currently studying my first year of Education Studies at UWTSD Swansea. The website link to the university can be found by clicking on the image below:

The primary reason I am studying this course is to get a degree however I also hope to gain a great deal of new experiences and meet a diverse range of new people. 

I decided I wanted to go to university to study education because I am unsure which area to venture into in the near future or what career I eventually want to pursue, although I know I am very passionate to work with children and hope doing this course will help me to decide what area is most suitable for me. The whole process of applying for university was absolutely mind-boggling and practically had myself and my parents pulling our hairs out from the stress and anticipation of waiting for a response of UCAS and eventually applying for student finance and accommodation. But I guess all that was worth is because now I'm here and I couldn't be happier! When I'd received my acceptance email from UCAS I can tell you, its no wonder my mam says I have a bell in every tooth! I'm pretty sure I scared the life out of her while screaming with excitement!

Seriously, I must have walked around with this cheesy grin plastered all over my face for days! But who could blame me? I was now a university student!
Eventually as the days neared when I would finally move out and arrive at my new home in Swansea, which is a good hour away from where I lived with my parents, the realisation that I would have to leave home become more and more real (and maybe a little bit more scary than I would actually like to admit!). When the day came for me to move out I was filled with all kinds of emotions. I was excited and pretty much terrified all in one. After the stress of unpacking all my stuff (and trust me, I had a lot of stuff!) I said the dreaded goodbyes to my family and sat down in my room to let it all sink in. There was pretty much no turning back now, and hopefully in three years time when I have my degree after constantly studying, studying, studying I can look back on all the memories I've created here and laugh at those last minute nerves with the reassurance that this was the best decision I've ever made!

THANKS FOR READING GUYS! I HOPE YOU ENJOY MY BLOG!