Blog #6 - Podcast!

I used Audacity, an external microphone, and an audio track from a Metallica CD to compose my podcast.  First, I opened the track file in Audacity, then I edited the track by cutting out unwanted parts, adding fade out and fade in effects,and adjusting the volume.  Next, I used the external microphone to record the narration for my podcast.  I cut and pasted the track pieces in as the beginning and ending of my podcast.  Finally, I exported the audio file as an MP3.

The only problem I encountered was figuring out how to adjust the volume on the track. It was not a very intuitive process.  I had to look up on the internet how to do it but once I did that, it was very easy. 

I have tinkered with Audacity to adjust settings to work with certain software before so this was not my first go around with it.  I am pleased at how easy it is to piece different audio tracks together and edit them.  It is surprising to find such a quality audio editing product for free.

I will continue and no doubt increase my usage of Audacity as I now have it downloaded onto my work computer and am feeling more and more comfortable working with it.  I plan to use it to incorporate more and more music into my courses as both background and transitional enhancements.

Link to mp3 file on Uark Comp Server:
https://comp.uark.edu/~ctudor/Audio/CTudor_Podcast.mp3

Blog Reflection #5

Go me! Over the last couple weeks, I created group of web pages for the purpose of instructing trainers on how they can make their training more entertaining to their learners. 
The biggest obstacle was getting the site put on an actual server where everyone can view it.  I am sad to say that, while I followed all of the directions, the site is still not accessible. *sigh*
Setting up these pages were so much easier than the first few.  I have really learned so much about building web pages the past few months and expect to learn so much more when I take a web design course in January. 
The more I work with Dreamweaver, the easier creating web pages becomes.  I want to use a larger variety of elements in my future web pages, such as embedding instructional Flash videos.  This will be most helpful for both professional and personal use because I have a couple tools whole output is a SWF file.
Here is a look at the home page:

Blog Reflection #4

Last week, I used Adobe’s Dreamweaver to create some web pages that advertised the different solutions that my organization can provide to their customers.  I had some issues with the css style sheet but I think it was because I changed the file location. I also had some issues with the float option.  I floated the logo to the left and expected the header to come up beside it like I saw happen in the Lynda.com modules.  It also took me a while to mess with the various tools and code to make the pages look just right. I did review a couple of the Lynda.com modules to make sure I was doing a few things correctly and tweaked the code until everything looked right.  I really liked how once I completed and formatted the home page, all of the pages that I linked from there on were so easy to create by just linking the same style sheet.  I also made a few changes to the style sheet after linking and completing the pages and was happy to see the changes reflected on all the pages.   I really learned to appreciate the value of using css.  I have heard some programmers complain about what they feel is “writing the code twice,” but I feel that in the end, it really can save you tons of time.  I also like all of the drop-down menus in Dreamweaver.  You don’t have to remember or type much of the code with what Dreamweaver does.  I want to learn some basic Flash and use it in conjunction with Dreamweaver to build a web page for two of my work colleagues.  I would not want to do this as a job, but I think with enough time I could make a pretty slick web page.  J

Blog Reflection #3

"BEFORE" IMAGE:

"AFTER" IMAGE:

To alter this image, I saved a copy of the image and then I took the spot healing brush tool and removed the spots and some fly away hairs.  Next, I added the sketch filter titled "photocopy" and adjusted the details setting until I received the desired effect. Finally, I adjusted the color settings.

The most difficult part about this assignment was finding the tools I had learned about in the tutorials.  The gentleman used so many keyboard shortcuts that were new to me and did not always show the way to get to the tools using the menus.

I learned that I can use the filter gallery to see the effects of watch filter on my image without saving.

I have been doing extensive text/image work using less-than optimal software such as Paint and PowerPoint, which are fine for simple adjustments or graphics.  Using Photoshop will provide a higher quality image with better effects and blending much faster and easier.  This will save me time and worrying that layers won't look right or animate well.  I look forward to using it both for my online courses and for my personal pictures.  I will never again pay $5.00 for a photo to be re-touched.

Blog Reflection #2

Over the last two weeks, I have dusted off ten years worth of cobwebs that have accumulated on the HTML part of my brain.  I am happy to report that I picked it back up relatively easy.  Last week, I used raw HTML to build a basic web page that displayed some biographical information.  I went to the W3school website and took notes as I viewed and tried out different elements of HTML.  I love the fact that their website has the ability to allow you to change code and see the changes it creates in a side by side view. The only obstacle I experienced was that on my computer, once I saved the code as an html file, it only wanted to open it in Dreamweaver so it took some extra time to toggle between viewing and changing it on Notepad and then viewing it as a web page. The experience was a success and it really helped me to understand the computer’s point of view when it comes to how technology works.

This week, I used a css file that was provided to me and made changes to the file and then saw how much a web page’s look can be changed by only making a few changes.  The biggest obstacle was the fact that I made and saved changes without documenting them, expecting to remember what I did.  That was a big mistake.  I had to look at the changed code and the original side by side and then look at the changed web site to figure out exactly what changes I had made.  I could have saved myself so much time if I had documented the changes as I did them.  In the end, I understand how, through the use of CSS I can make significant changes very easily. 

I plan on using HTML and CSS on my mentor’s web page and the web page of a co-worker.  Now that I understand more about how the two work together and have overcome my fear of raw HTML.  I am excited to see what I can create moving forward for both professional and personal use.

Blog Reflection #1

Recently, I used Microsoft Word to create a web accessible document that provided directions on how to download Audacity sound editing software. I also used PowerPoint to create a web interactive training document on the topic of business etiquette.


There were a significant number of customer requirements, so the biggest obstacle to accomplishing these tasks was ensuring that I met all of those requirements. I met and overcame these obstacles by printing the list of requirements and referring to the list before and during my work on the tasks.

The ability to take a Word document and simply format it correctly so that it may be saved as a web page was something that I learned and can definitely use in the future, as I have consistently had individuals with information in Word that they wanted put on their website. Knowing how to do this can save me much time that would have been wasted re-formatting and sometimes re-creating web content. The PowerPoint task helped me to take some time and play with the various new tools in the 2007 version. I will use some of the new tools I learned about to give my future PowerPoint presentations a more professional, clean look.

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