Project: Google SketchUp

This program was utterly irritating. I was using it to design a set for a show, but in the time it took me to figure out the program I could have have done it by hand. And once i did figure it out, it would still have been easier to do by hand. I needed to work in a space that was a very specific size, and I couldn't figure out how to limit the field I was working in. Drawing lines the right length was extremely difficult and took longer than drawing them by hand. This program was not as specific as I needed it to be, and took much longer than just designing by hand. It's not worth the time, at least to me.

Here is my lesson plan.

Random stuff in class that might be useful

Zamzar.com http://www.zamzar.com/ is a conversion website for images, music, videos, etc. I would be nice to convert my m4a files to mp3. Looks cool, if it works.

Box.net is storage of big files so you can share them.

Prezi-http://prezi.com/ is a presentation tool, and stores it online

Free images

Someone mentioned this http://www.sxc.hu/ today, as a way to get images without breaking copyright. I know BYU uses iStockPhoto when they're designing programs for theatre or music events. That way, we know we have permission to use them because BYU has a account with them. Basically I'm writing this down so I have it somewhere. I guess that''s one useful thing about blogs, if you're online you can save stuff somewhere quickly if it's interesting to you.

Project Idea

I mentioned this in my last post, but I've thinking about learning Google SketchUp for my project. Bradley Moss mentioned it in 377A as a way to design and draw set designs. I tried doing that for the set design we had due in class, but I couldn't figure it out, and didn't have the time to mess with it. So, that's the plan.

Class Website

Here's the link to my class website.

After finishing this, I really do think I would only use this as a place to put things I've handed out in class, in case they lose it or it's easier for them to pull it up online.

Glogster was interesting, but really confusing to use. I can see using it to create posters and put them on Facebook, etc., for advertising, but I couldn't figure out adding links and sound, so mine will probably be pretty basic.

One tool I would like to learn to use is Google SketchUp. I tried messing around with it, but couldn't figure it out. I was told that it is a good tool to use when designing sets, so I think that might be helpful. I may want to do something with that for my final project.

Weekly Post

I'm not sure if we're supposed to be posting about what we talked about in class, or just something about what we've learned about technology in general. As far as creating websites goes, I'm unsure if I'll ever use a class website, and I will never use it as the only source of information for my class. There is always one student who doesn't have easy access to a computer or the internet, and as much a people like to quote statistics about the number of people with computers and internet access, my experience in the schools has told me that you will never have everyone in a class with internet access. So if I do a class website, it will only be something of a reminder of things that have been discussed or given out in class.

One way a website may be helpful is as a publicity resource. I found this website, that gives performance information about the school's production. As far as getting information out to the community, a website would be one more way to publicize information, and keep it all in one place. i also found another website that displays the rehearsal schedule and production information for those involved in the production. Again, I would not have this as my only rehearsal schedule, but it would be an option for students to get information.