Here's my Voki!

I finally got around to making a Voki as well as finishing two modules on Everfi (owo)
It's at this location:
http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=12285243&height=400&width=300

Topic 10: Online Sharing & A Hour of Code

1. So, I took part in the Hour of Code, which was honestly more like a half hour. It wasn't too challenging to do and I found that I was pretty good at it.

2. I chose Padlet because it was easier to use and I really like how it is formatted.

Created with Padlet

Evaluating Information Web Sites & Citing Sources: Topic 9

1. I already have an account on noodletools, so I didn't need to create one. I created my Works Cited project and these are my citations:

Baird, Jane Henriksen. "The Kiss Of Deception." School Library Journal 60.7 (2014): 108. Academic 

     Search Premier. Web. 16 Dec. 2015. 

Hunt, Jonathan. "The Kiss Of Deception." Horn Book Magazine 90.5 (2014): 119. Literary Reference 

     Center. Web. 16 Dec. 2015. 

Pearson, Mary E. Kiss of Deception. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2014. Print. 

The Trails questions I got wrong were:

9. When you evaluate a website's coverage, which of the following do you not examine?

I assumed the answer was "The depth of the material", but the actual answer is "Who created the website, including his/her background (credentials)". I personally don't think that answer is correct. If you're looking for correct information, it isn't a good idea to find a webpage created by someone who is already biased or isn't an expert of their field. Although I can see their point, I don't like how the question is worded.

4. Read the excerpt below that comes from a travel industry magazine:
Deputy Director Hill of Horseshoe Cruise Line stated the following about the mysterious illness aboard the 900-person cruise ship Royal Lady, "Including crew and guests, we believe that 766 passengers are presently ill. That is certainly not an epidemic. In fact, there is no reason to believe that this illness has anything to do with the food or facilities."
I chose "Opinion", but now that I look I can see that this opinion is biased. Because the person is a Deputy Director, he will side with his company and isn't a doctor or a medical professional. He's answering based on what his company wants him to say and doesn't want to admit that the illness is due to food or their cruise's facilities.

Books and Reading: Topic 8

The site I chose was Goodreads, since I already have an account on there and have a bunch of books set up. There isn't anything really bad with the site and it's pretty easy to use and record whatever book I'm reading/want to read. I enjoy the easy to use layout and the fact that I can store as many books as I want in my library.

Regarding school projects, it could help in English classrooms when someone wants to find books relating to whatever topic they need to read about. It looks like it's mostly used to catalog books and keep track of favorites or hated novels. That's primarily what I use it for.
Here is my book shelf with my favorites:

my bookshelf: favorites

The Time Keeper

by Mitch Albom

tagged:
favorites

Wings

by Aprilynne Pike

tagged:
favorites

Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 1

by Hiromu Arakawa

tagged:
favorites

Other

by Karen Kincy

tagged:
favorites

The Book Thief

by Markus Zusak

tagged:
favorites

Documents & Presentations: Topic 7

1. Well, I've used Google Drive for the longest time. I don't have Word at home, so it's my go-to for doing homework. It's a good alternative and about as easy to use. Here is my link for the book trailer timeline.
2. I chose Animoto as my Web 2.0. tool. It's free for 30 seconds but beyond that it's 3$. It's not that difficult to use and it's pretty accesible. Compared to PhotoStory and Powerpoint, it has more music but seems to be less complicated or easy to use. I prefer Powerpoint because I simply have more experience with it but it would be a nice alternative if someone really needs to use it.

3. And here's my Glog:

Creating Animations and Videos : Topic 6

 So, for my video I chose the website PowToon. It was pretty easy to use but occasionally did get confusing when it came to uploading images and messing with timing. It just takes some time to get used to. For any new users, I recommend choosing images ahead of time because the choices in creative commons aren't varied. I also suggest that they should mix some of the themes present so the video looks a lot more varied.

I'm not sure which classes I'd use this for, but I guess I'd use it if I need to present an idea to the class or have to do a fancy video and don't know where else to make it. The only thing that is iffy about this is the watermark on the lower right, which is why I'm tempted to just create my own videos.

Creating Your Own Images: Topic 5

Well, after doing another SAT and wrapping up an annoyingly hard week, I'll try my best to catch up with my assignments.

1. I created this image using ImageChef and using my extensive creativity and sarcasm. I've seen these types of photos popping up recently and thought 'Hey, why not reproduce one of a bird?'. If it isn't obvious by now, they happen to be my favorite type of animal. Be glad this isn't a duck.

2. With Ribbet I decided to take a less stylistic approach and focus on improving the image as a whole. By that, I mean stickers and filters. It got to the point where the bird wasn't even visible anymore so I decided to scale back and just use a couple filters as well as some stickers.

Overall, I think this assignment is mostly for fun, since I'm not sure if it would be practical in a classroom setting. At most, it would be to teach kids how to use image-editing websites and I might use it for that purpose as well. However, I already have programs I've downloaded that let me do the same thing with much more options and without a watermark.