Project Three: Independent Learning Technology Post Four

For my fourth post for this project, where we had to use the website wordpress.com I will talk about the  components of the website that I was unfamiliar with. First with when working with Wordpress, I was unfamiliar with the theme selection process. As a group member I took it upon myself to start designing our website for the redesign of Kingston Pizza, the first step in that process would be to pick out a theme for the web page. The selection was narrowed because some of themes needed to be purchased to be used. I decided to pick a rather simplistic theme because for a pizza place we thought that as group, the webpage didn't need to be cluttered with any extra information or "stuff". After picking the theme, working with editing all the aspects of the theme was different for me and for us as a group.  To make the webpage represent our idea of our redesign we started editing all the basic components, before adding in all the information actually needed for the website. The basics involved changing the title of the webpage, also adding a sub title, fixing the color schemes of the pages, assigning tabs the proper labels, and adjusting page measurements. while trying to find the editing option for the basics I was able to find all of the listed above along with some other components of the webpage where we would need to go back into to add information. Being unfamiliar with the website was time consuming and sometimes frustrating. Eventually were we able to edit all of the basic components of the webpage and also add in all the information we decided to include in the redesign. When adding in information and picture there were certain parts that we needed to fix after the first upload. For example, after uploading information we had to adjust the alignment of the text and the pictures so that they would align correctly with the rest of the page. By working and adding information to Wordpress, each member of the group was able to explore the program and learn how it works.

Project Three: Independent Learning Technology Post Three

For my thirst post for project three, I'm going to talk about the components of our website. Our redesigned website for Kingston Pizza. We decided to arrange our information in a  number of page tabs. The tabs were the home page, the menu tab, the location tab, a tab for URI, and the about us tab. We thought as a group these tabs appropriately displayed the information included. We thought the original website had to much going on, there was too much information for a pizza website. We narrowed the information and only displayed the information we thought the website needed. We edited the about me section the most. For a pizza place all the background knowledge about the website is not what the audience is looking for. For the menu tab we decided to take the uploaded picture of the menu out, and write out the menu. The uploaded menu was unclear and some items on the menu were unreadable. It was hard to make out most of the items. Our menu consisted of all the items, prices, and descriptions. The URI tab consisted of deals offered to URI students, and information about kingston pizza for URI, also had picture of the Kingston Pizza mascot actively involved with students.
The locations tab had all of the locations of kingston pizza along with the addresses and phone numbers. The home page had Kingston Pizzas' main location information, which is located on the URI campus. Also a picture of some pizza for attraction for the audience. The home page was very basic, but we wanted to get straight to the point. The main goal of a pizza places website should be to gain more costumers, not over crowd your website with information they are not interested in.

Project Three: Independent Learning Technology Post Two

For project three as a group and an individual we were required to use the program Wordpress. Generally I got a hold of how to work the website but there were also a few confusing elements. There were also restrictions on certain elements in the site since we are using the program for free. Another one of the problems we were having as a group was dealing with the pictures we wanted to add to the site. It was difficult working with word press in this case because we weren't able to get the spacing and the sizing correct for the pictures. We tried many different things to try to get the image on the home page to a certain size and were unable to edit the format. All we were able to do was adjust the alignment of the picture to either the left, right, or center. Unfortunately we were unable to depict the design we wanted but the design we decided on we thought was the best for the settings we were given. Adding pictures to certain tabs and pages took some playing around with. It would have been better if we were able to adjust a picture to the background but the program didn't offer us that option. It either offered for one picture to be in the background stationed in the left corner of the page and stretched to as big as the original picture, or it offered the option to block the image which made many duplicates of the image as the background. As a group we did not think that blocked imaging looked good for our website.

Project Three : Independent Learning Technology One

For project three we were put into groups, and in the groups we were to decide on a website that needed help in redesigning. We chose Kingston Pizza and redesigned the website on a program called Word Press. With word press there were some difficulties. Since we were using this program for free we were not able to pick the theme that we would have liked to. With the theme we picked we were limited on the font style and color, which was a problem since it didn't rely the exact image we wanted to show our audience. It was difficult to figure out where to put certain words, and when we were able to figure out what wording went where, it was set to a certain font and size that we could not change. For example in the heading, the Kingston Pizza, we deliver on time heading we were un able to change the size of the font, we wanted a bigger font and wanted to be able to make the Kingston Pizza and the We Deliver On Time different sizes and colors. This theme limited us to not be able to do so. We had to keep the size provided and the sentences had to be the same color. It would have been nice to make certain words, tabs, and heading different colors but keep the same overall font for the page, but we made due with what we had.

Response to readings By: Lance Bennett and Danah Byod

Bennett's article talks about the changes in citizenship styles over the past few years. He talks about how children now a days and people now a days are less motivated by a sense of civic duty, referring to being motivated my their own self accomplishment then in the past. I feel like this statement is somewhat true, you do see more people now a days wanting a reward for completing an assignment rather then completing it for their own personal feeling of success. He argues that becoming an effective citizen comes from being in a formal setting such as a school and a type of education. The article also talks about what schools do for the growth of an individual and how it helps them. Then Bennett talks about informal learning environments for the youth where they can receive the same lessons of civic learning. 
The second article by Byod starts off by talking about youth and their involvement in social media website like Facebook, and how they are important to the world wide web. Then the author talks about how these social networking sites attract young mind when advertising information to their interests, typically information not relating to what shapes and motivates a citizen. Political information when put on these social networking sites does not attract as many young individuals as some thought. Byod talks about how social networking sites mirror and magnify how our society really is, showing us that our society is "status-obsessed and narcissistic". Byod also states this following statement, "perhaps we need to focus on the causes of alienation and disillusionment that stop people from participating in communal and civic life."  This statement is probably the most important sentence in the article I believe, because, many people try to focus on other things that people hope to come true or work, rather than the reality of how it actually is involved in our society.

 These two articles talk about the youth and the involvement in citizenship, and how it is not what it used to be. How youth now a days are more consumed in different situations and information then to be concerned with the important factors that a citizen should be aware of. Situations that are important in this society, and information individuals should know. 

Independent Learning Technology Project Two Post Five

For my fifth post I will talk about how well I believe I contributed to the Wikitravel page on New Milford, CT. I believe that adequately contributed to the site, providing new information that was not previously contributed. Also, I was able to restate and confirm already existing information. I also believe there is more information about my town that I did forget to mention. After looking back on it I realized that there is so many different things that appeals to many different people. I also did realize that other information will be self discovered when visiting the town, so I did not want to seem over barring when describing my town, I wanted to offer the basics plus a little more. I did not want to state every little detail about New Milford, and from living there I know just by traveling around town one is able to discover more on their own, and I wanted to leave that to the traveler.

Independent Learning Technology Project Two Post Four

In project two I had some difficulty dealing with the pre existing content on the New Milford, CT page on Wikitravel. The pre existing information gave me trouble with my post, I tried not change the information other users had posted, but some information was incorrect and I removed it. Some of the information was out dated and locations in the town are no longer around. The other information on the page that was still accurate I left up, and didn't change the forma of. This was a challenge for partially because two different types of formats were on the page, which I thought showed inconsistency. Also included some of the same things or places in my descriptions of the town that were previously mentioned. I didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing. So I didn't want to not include information that was important. I knew we weren't supposed t be repetitive, which I wasn't in my own work but I was in the content of the page since it was previously posted.

Independent Technology Learning: Project Two Post Three

When working on my Wikitravel site I wanted to incorporate pictures when talking about certain locations in my town, to give my audience a sense of the home like small town setting.  I went out and took pictures of my hometown when I went back for a weekend. I thought that picture would really be able to show the true beauty of some of the places in my town, and instead of bragging and selling the place I wanted to provide picture for my audience to determine that for themselves. They would be able to see what area that would want to visit. I took pictures of a few different places. The town green or Main Street and two different hiking areas. I picked the two hiking areas in my town, rather then the surrounding ones even though they are just as good, if not better, so that before even visiting travelers would be able to see where they would want to go to first. Then I picked the town green because it is one of the most known places in town, so I wanted the travelers to be able to know what it looked like before visiting so they would know what to keep an eye out for. Unfortunately I was unable to figure out how to post a photo to Wikitravel. I tried many different ways, looked up how to do so on Wikitravel, and even on the internet to try and figure this out. Whenever I tried and uploading a photo it either faulted the existing spacing and font on the page and also did not show up. The outline of the picture showed up but the picture never appeared. This would have been helpful for my page on Wikitravel, but I removed the picture so nothing was unorganized. I did include the pictures in my final draft submitted in Sakai.

Independent Learning Technology : Project Two, Post Two

For my second independent learning technology on project two I was going to talk about the form of writing I used when adding to my travel site. Figuring out the correct wording was one of the most time consuming parts of this project, reading over sentences over and over trying to make sure to follow the rules, and still provide important information in a non advertised way. Also I  had to void using such words as "I, Our, We" to avoid bringing in personal experiences and preferences into the site. Also when writing about my hometown, I tried not to be too formal or too relaxed. I attempted to have conversational writing when talking about what to do in the town. I was more formal then I would be when talking to a friend of mine about my town, but was not overly formal to where the town ended up seeming boring or that the information was hard to interpret. Having to use conversational writing style was sometimes difficult, I found myself either being overly or under informing. I went back and fixed many sentences to make them see more like everyday conversation, but doing this while also trying to inform an audience about information was tricky. Using when informing someone of something it is in a formal context and not conversational. Before this project I thought using conversational writing would not appeal to the audience but now after I see that is is helpful because it relays a relaxed setting for the site. Since it is a travelers site, I find that important because one does not want to feel overly informed or pressured into or about a place they would want to visit.

Independent Learning Technology: Project Two, Post One

For project two, we were to post or edit a page from Wikitravel. Wikitravel is an internet traveling site, that offers information about locations that people are typically looking into to travel to. The website is used more as a travel guide for it's audience. This was our goals when making a wikitravel site or editing a wikitravel site. I decided to edit the wikitravel page that already existed for my hometown of New Milford CT.
 The goal for this project was to serve as a tour guide and to not to advertise the town. For me this was difficult, because when you are talking about your hometown or a location that is a place to visit, I always want to talk about what is fun, but I need to remember that all the same things aren't fun to all the same people. When contributing to my page I needed to keep that in mind. I was hoping to give an overall broad description of what goes on in my town and what there is to do for everyone. Just thinking of all the activities that everyone would like to do in my little hometown was difficult, I could not imagine doing it for an actual city. After going over everything that there is to do in my town for everyone, I had to try and not sell it to the audience when describing my hometown. I avoided talking about my personal experiences on what I've done, rather offer what there is do and why it would be a good thing to do. What certain activities would appeal to certain people. I tried not to repeat myself talking about the town, and certain locations, and avoided using cliches but that is also hard because that is the language one talks when interesting someone to go somewhere.