What? - Describe what the work is about. For example, this presentation is about a country and the requirement was .......Make sure you talk about what was expected for this work and what time it took you to complete it. Was it a group project? What input did others ahve to this work?
This work was based on the Shakespeare unit we had. In the Shakespeare unit we studied a book called The Twelfth Night. As we were reading this book, we got many tasks which we had to complete. One of these tasks was to do some contemplation questions almost every weekend. For these contemplation questions, we had to answer the questions given in well written detailed answers. It was required for us to respond in great detail thoroughly. We usually got this work over the weekends, so I made sure I answered to the best of my ability and put in a lot of effort. It usually took up about 1 hour because I made my answers very detailed.
So what? - Now talk about why this piece of work is significant. Is it something you are proud of? Is it something you received a high grade for? Is it something developmental that helped you reach a new level in the subject? In other words why have you chosen THIS artifact for your portfolio?
This work is quite significant because I received full marks on it. It is something I am very proud of because English is one of the subjects that I dont find to be that easy. It requires a lot of work and effort as well. I got full marks on this contemplation, and the other ones as well which I was very happy about because I spent a lot of time on it. It is something developmental as well because it has definitly improved my skills of writing up well written responses. I chose this for my portfolio because it is one of the best pieces of work I have done.
Now what? - Now talk about how doing this work has improved you as a learner in the MYP program. Has it helped you organise your time and work efficiently? Has it demonstrated that you are capable of doing mathematics and so now you have a lot more confidecne than before? What are you now going to do with the new knowledge and skills you have gained from doing this work? How is this moving you along the path of life?
This work has improved me as a learner in the MYP program because it has really improved my writing skills. By doing these questions, I got used to writing up long answers and well written. It has also helped me organize my work well because I made sure that the work was in chronological order and made sense, it was basically like a short essay. I have more confidence than before because I now know that I am capable of answering in well long written answers and receive a good grade on it. I am now going to use these skills in the next essays and long answer questions that I get later on from English, or even any other subject.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Wikispace Evaluation
This term of IT has been quite productive for me. This is because I have learned many new things when using technology, and I have also explored many new websites which can be used later on. The websites we used this term were delicious, blogger, and wikispaces. Delicious is helpful because it helps you book mark the websites you want to save. When it comes to blogger, it is great for using in classes for writing up process journals. It has been very helpful for IT class because it helped me keeping up with what work I got done in every class. Wikispaces was a great website to use, because I now have learned how to create digital portfolios.
In terms of my digital portfolio, I think it turned out to be ok. It was my first time creating one and I think based on that I have done a good job. I worked very hard on it and put in a lot of effort as well. There are many strengths, however there is still room for improvements. The improvements that were suggested by the person that did a reflection on my portfolio was to add in more information to the pages, and put up the artifacts. At that time, my portfolio was not really complete which is why the stuff required was not there. However, now I have improved it and everything required is there. I was supposed to write up four reflections and I had to put up the artifacts with them. These are all on my digital portfolio. My navigation button is very clear as well. I have given a title to each section. For example, underneath "For the teacher", I put in all the work that was required to get done in the beginning when we first started the wikispace. We had to get the rubric, and plan done. I had no problem with my navigation button, my peer said that it is very clear and easy to understand, which is why I didnt have to worry about it that much since it is easy to use and get to which ever page the reader wants to get to. I did not change my home page, because my peer said that it was very inviting and it gives the reader a little bit of information on who I am. I agree because I put in pictures of myself, and some of my closest friends. In my opinion, it looks quite inviting and may be fun to view as well, rather than being boring. She also mentioned that my about me page looks great. I put in extra effort to it. I put up pictures of myself, and wrote about myself. I also mentioned my closest friends in Qatar and how they are. The improvements she suggested was to add in more information to the pages. At that time, my pages were not fully complete, however now my wikispace is fully complete. I put up all of my artifacts and reflections. I improved it by adding in more information about the classes. Also I made my navigation way smaller. This is something my peer suggested for me to do. There were way to many subjects, and I would have never been able to complete them on time. So I cut it a bit short and chose 5 of the most important subjects of school. I added in information on their pages, and also put up my reflections. Another thing my peer suggested for me to do was to change the colors of the about me page. However, I did not change it because in my opinion it looks more attractive that way. I tried doing it with one color, but it did not look as good as it does with the multi color. It looks more attractive, and that way the reader would be more convinced to read each paragraph. I took her suggestion where she said I shouldnt put up my video on the home page. I already had planned not to do this because there was already quite a lot of stuff going on in the homepage, and it would have looked a bit awkward if I put up the video on the home page. So I decided to put in on the About me page, where it fit in the most. Overall, I took most of the suggestions she gave me which improved my digital portfolio in quite a lot of ways. I improved my navigation and my pages as well by adding in more information.
My Strengths
Overall, during this unit I think I had a lot of strengths and I think it has been a successful unit for me. I learned many new things, and biggest of all I have now finally completed my own digital portfolio! I think I have done well by completing what was required for us to do. We were required to make up our digital portfolio with information about ourselves, and our school. I included all of this in my digital portfolio which is why I think it is successful. My navigation is very clear and it is easy to get to which ever page to you want to view. I made sure that it doesn't look too complicated and is clear for the viewer. The color theme of my digital portfolio is also good. I chose two main colors which are black and purple. It looks a bit dark, however in my opinion it is quite attractive because it is a unique color combination. My navigation is also clearly labeled with a title on top of it which indicates what the pages are about. For example, above my Home page, about me, and activities out of school, I wrote "Introduction", so that the viewer may know that these pages are information of a little bit about me. The next title I put was "for the teacher". Underneath this I put in my rubric and plan for wikispace, so that it is clear for the teacher to find when she is grading my digital portfolio. The last title I have is "School subjects". Underneath this I obviously put up some of the school subjects from school. In these pages I included some information about the school subject and a reflection and artifact to go with it. These are the things that were most importantly required for our digital portfolio. I have worked very hard on putting these things in, which is why my digital portfolio turned out to look good.
Weaknesses
Even though my digital portfolio turned out to look good, I think there are still many improvements I could have made to make it look better. For example, I could have added in more school subjects, as I originally had. However, I cut it short due to the timings. I still had to fill in a lot of information, so I just decided to cut down the subjects a bit shorter so that I could finish on time. This is another weakness I had throughout the process. I was not very timely with my work, so at the end I ended up suffering. I had to cut down my digital portfolio a bit shorter, which I think is not so good. There should be as much information as possible for the viewer to explore. I will remember in the future to be more timely with work, because that is the only way you can succeed in anything. You have to be very organized so that you can get all your work done on the right time. I could also possibly put in more design for my digital portfolio. For example, my navigation button looks a bit boring. I could have used a different font to make it look more attractive. Another thing I could have done was possibly add in animation, as some other people had done. On their homepages, they had huge glitter animation which made their portfolio look very inviting. I think I should have done this so that my home page would have looked even better. For my documents on my pages, I should have used a website called docstoc, rather than just uploading it straight onto my page. However, I was not able to because there were problems going on the website. It wouldnt let me upload, and I was running short of time. So this is something I could have improved. However, for my power point I used slideshare.net. These are some improvements I could have made for my digital portfolio. However, in my opinion my digital portfolio is quite good because it has everything that was required to. These are just some changes I could have made to make the digital portfolio look better.
My video
The video I created for my digital portfolio turned out to be great. It has everything that was required and in my opinion it looks quite nice. It has many pictures of me, my family and friends which is what we were supposed to have. We had to make a video about our life, which could give the reader a little bit of information about who we are and what we are like. I also included some clips of my school, because that is an important part of my life. I am very happy with it because I put in a lot of effort to it to make it look nice.
Homo Faber
In terms of homo faber, I have done what was required to. Homo faber interacts with the creativity that you have, and how well you think. I have pretty much demonstrated this in my digital portfolio because it shows how creative I can be. My home page and about me page can clearly show how well I can think and be creative because it has shown that I am pretty much a good thinker. I made sure that I was original, and didnt use other peoples ideas, which is why my pages turned out to look nice. I decided to use many pictures because that is clearly the one thing that gives the viewers and idea of who the person is and what they are like. Homo Faber can be very important because it interacts with the creativity of a person. This is something that we really have to use almost everyday in our lives. Even in other subjects of school, we are required to be creative. It is a benefit for us that homo faber was linked to our wikispace project because we now know how it is , and in the future we can be more creative.
My digital portfolio will have many impacts on my family and friends, or any other viewer. This is because it gives them information about what kind of person I am. The video first of all, will say it all. It includes many memories with family and friends which they can view and enjoy at the same time. The video is basically a short summary of my life. The portfolio itself is also very informative as well. It tells the viewer about my school, and what subjects I study. The school subjects may give them an idea of what kind of work we get everyday, because on those pages I included what type of work we did throughout the year. I also included artifacts which show my grades, and how well I can work in school. This portfolio is a great thing for family and friends because it gives them information about myself.
Overall, I am very happy with the work I have produced this term. I put in great effort into it and I am proud that I have now learned how to create a digital portfolio and now have one as well. I have also learned many new things out of this unit, which I never knew before. It was a great fun project and I really enjoyed doing it.
In terms of my digital portfolio, I think it turned out to be ok. It was my first time creating one and I think based on that I have done a good job. I worked very hard on it and put in a lot of effort as well. There are many strengths, however there is still room for improvements. The improvements that were suggested by the person that did a reflection on my portfolio was to add in more information to the pages, and put up the artifacts. At that time, my portfolio was not really complete which is why the stuff required was not there. However, now I have improved it and everything required is there. I was supposed to write up four reflections and I had to put up the artifacts with them. These are all on my digital portfolio. My navigation button is very clear as well. I have given a title to each section. For example, underneath "For the teacher", I put in all the work that was required to get done in the beginning when we first started the wikispace. We had to get the rubric, and plan done. I had no problem with my navigation button, my peer said that it is very clear and easy to understand, which is why I didnt have to worry about it that much since it is easy to use and get to which ever page the reader wants to get to. I did not change my home page, because my peer said that it was very inviting and it gives the reader a little bit of information on who I am. I agree because I put in pictures of myself, and some of my closest friends. In my opinion, it looks quite inviting and may be fun to view as well, rather than being boring. She also mentioned that my about me page looks great. I put in extra effort to it. I put up pictures of myself, and wrote about myself. I also mentioned my closest friends in Qatar and how they are. The improvements she suggested was to add in more information to the pages. At that time, my pages were not fully complete, however now my wikispace is fully complete. I put up all of my artifacts and reflections. I improved it by adding in more information about the classes. Also I made my navigation way smaller. This is something my peer suggested for me to do. There were way to many subjects, and I would have never been able to complete them on time. So I cut it a bit short and chose 5 of the most important subjects of school. I added in information on their pages, and also put up my reflections. Another thing my peer suggested for me to do was to change the colors of the about me page. However, I did not change it because in my opinion it looks more attractive that way. I tried doing it with one color, but it did not look as good as it does with the multi color. It looks more attractive, and that way the reader would be more convinced to read each paragraph. I took her suggestion where she said I shouldnt put up my video on the home page. I already had planned not to do this because there was already quite a lot of stuff going on in the homepage, and it would have looked a bit awkward if I put up the video on the home page. So I decided to put in on the About me page, where it fit in the most. Overall, I took most of the suggestions she gave me which improved my digital portfolio in quite a lot of ways. I improved my navigation and my pages as well by adding in more information.
My Strengths
Overall, during this unit I think I had a lot of strengths and I think it has been a successful unit for me. I learned many new things, and biggest of all I have now finally completed my own digital portfolio! I think I have done well by completing what was required for us to do. We were required to make up our digital portfolio with information about ourselves, and our school. I included all of this in my digital portfolio which is why I think it is successful. My navigation is very clear and it is easy to get to which ever page to you want to view. I made sure that it doesn't look too complicated and is clear for the viewer. The color theme of my digital portfolio is also good. I chose two main colors which are black and purple. It looks a bit dark, however in my opinion it is quite attractive because it is a unique color combination. My navigation is also clearly labeled with a title on top of it which indicates what the pages are about. For example, above my Home page, about me, and activities out of school, I wrote "Introduction", so that the viewer may know that these pages are information of a little bit about me. The next title I put was "for the teacher". Underneath this I put in my rubric and plan for wikispace, so that it is clear for the teacher to find when she is grading my digital portfolio. The last title I have is "School subjects". Underneath this I obviously put up some of the school subjects from school. In these pages I included some information about the school subject and a reflection and artifact to go with it. These are the things that were most importantly required for our digital portfolio. I have worked very hard on putting these things in, which is why my digital portfolio turned out to look good.
Weaknesses
Even though my digital portfolio turned out to look good, I think there are still many improvements I could have made to make it look better. For example, I could have added in more school subjects, as I originally had. However, I cut it short due to the timings. I still had to fill in a lot of information, so I just decided to cut down the subjects a bit shorter so that I could finish on time. This is another weakness I had throughout the process. I was not very timely with my work, so at the end I ended up suffering. I had to cut down my digital portfolio a bit shorter, which I think is not so good. There should be as much information as possible for the viewer to explore. I will remember in the future to be more timely with work, because that is the only way you can succeed in anything. You have to be very organized so that you can get all your work done on the right time. I could also possibly put in more design for my digital portfolio. For example, my navigation button looks a bit boring. I could have used a different font to make it look more attractive. Another thing I could have done was possibly add in animation, as some other people had done. On their homepages, they had huge glitter animation which made their portfolio look very inviting. I think I should have done this so that my home page would have looked even better. For my documents on my pages, I should have used a website called docstoc, rather than just uploading it straight onto my page. However, I was not able to because there were problems going on the website. It wouldnt let me upload, and I was running short of time. So this is something I could have improved. However, for my power point I used slideshare.net. These are some improvements I could have made for my digital portfolio. However, in my opinion my digital portfolio is quite good because it has everything that was required to. These are just some changes I could have made to make the digital portfolio look better.
My video
The video I created for my digital portfolio turned out to be great. It has everything that was required and in my opinion it looks quite nice. It has many pictures of me, my family and friends which is what we were supposed to have. We had to make a video about our life, which could give the reader a little bit of information about who we are and what we are like. I also included some clips of my school, because that is an important part of my life. I am very happy with it because I put in a lot of effort to it to make it look nice.
Homo Faber
In terms of homo faber, I have done what was required to. Homo faber interacts with the creativity that you have, and how well you think. I have pretty much demonstrated this in my digital portfolio because it shows how creative I can be. My home page and about me page can clearly show how well I can think and be creative because it has shown that I am pretty much a good thinker. I made sure that I was original, and didnt use other peoples ideas, which is why my pages turned out to look nice. I decided to use many pictures because that is clearly the one thing that gives the viewers and idea of who the person is and what they are like. Homo Faber can be very important because it interacts with the creativity of a person. This is something that we really have to use almost everyday in our lives. Even in other subjects of school, we are required to be creative. It is a benefit for us that homo faber was linked to our wikispace project because we now know how it is , and in the future we can be more creative.
My digital portfolio will have many impacts on my family and friends, or any other viewer. This is because it gives them information about what kind of person I am. The video first of all, will say it all. It includes many memories with family and friends which they can view and enjoy at the same time. The video is basically a short summary of my life. The portfolio itself is also very informative as well. It tells the viewer about my school, and what subjects I study. The school subjects may give them an idea of what kind of work we get everyday, because on those pages I included what type of work we did throughout the year. I also included artifacts which show my grades, and how well I can work in school. This portfolio is a great thing for family and friends because it gives them information about myself.
Overall, I am very happy with the work I have produced this term. I put in great effort into it and I am proud that I have now learned how to create a digital portfolio and now have one as well. I have also learned many new things out of this unit, which I never knew before. It was a great fun project and I really enjoyed doing it.
My Video
I have finally completed my video, and I have also uploaded it onto Youtube. After uploading it onto youtube, I made sure that I embed it right away onto my wikispaces. I put the video on my About me page, because there is already too much stuff going on, on my front home page. On my home page, I put up pictures of me and my friends, which I thought would be quite inviting for the person exploring my wikispace. The video I made for my wikispace basically has pictures. At the end, I put in a video of my cousins, and my school. I made sure that I could make the video as short as possible so that the viewer wouldn't get bored. If you add in too much information, then the viewer gets very bored at a point.
The video I have on my wikispace is actually the final video. Before that video, I had created another video which I was going to use. However, due to some technical problems, I couldnt use it and I had to start all over with my video. This was very disappointing because after putting in so much effort, I had to start all over and make the video over again. Since I had to make the video over, I changed some stuff about it. For example, I added in more improvements. In the beginning of my video I introduced my self and what I was going to show in the video. This was about 30 sec of talking. I made sure that I didnt talk too much because this could bore the viewer. After showing a clip of myself, I then mainly had pictures throughout my video. I added in many cool effects and transitions which made the video look more attractive and fun to view. I also added in a video of my cousins, which was a funny and memorable moment. I wanted to make sure that I included in some memories in my video. At the end, I had a few short videos clips of the outside of school. I didnt want to put in that many videos of school because the viewer wouldve been bored. I only added in 3, of the outside of school. I also changed the song. I added "Shake" by the Ying Yang Twins, instead of Low by Flo rida, because it was more original.
I made my video on windows movie maker. After making the video I had to publish the movie, so that I could upload it onto Youtube, and then my wikispace. After creating my video I had to upload it onto Youtube. This was the most annoying part because in the beginning it wouldnt let me upload it onto Youtube for some odd reason. I had to upload it a couple of times, and then finally later on it worked. It took quite a long time because there were so many pictures and also video clips in the movie. I am quite happy with what I have produced, and hopefully the viewers will enjoy it!
The video I have on my wikispace is actually the final video. Before that video, I had created another video which I was going to use. However, due to some technical problems, I couldnt use it and I had to start all over with my video. This was very disappointing because after putting in so much effort, I had to start all over and make the video over again. Since I had to make the video over, I changed some stuff about it. For example, I added in more improvements. In the beginning of my video I introduced my self and what I was going to show in the video. This was about 30 sec of talking. I made sure that I didnt talk too much because this could bore the viewer. After showing a clip of myself, I then mainly had pictures throughout my video. I added in many cool effects and transitions which made the video look more attractive and fun to view. I also added in a video of my cousins, which was a funny and memorable moment. I wanted to make sure that I included in some memories in my video. At the end, I had a few short videos clips of the outside of school. I didnt want to put in that many videos of school because the viewer wouldve been bored. I only added in 3, of the outside of school. I also changed the song. I added "Shake" by the Ying Yang Twins, instead of Low by Flo rida, because it was more original.
I made my video on windows movie maker. After making the video I had to publish the movie, so that I could upload it onto Youtube, and then my wikispace. After creating my video I had to upload it onto Youtube. This was the most annoying part because in the beginning it wouldnt let me upload it onto Youtube for some odd reason. I had to upload it a couple of times, and then finally later on it worked. It took quite a long time because there were so many pictures and also video clips in the movie. I am quite happy with what I have produced, and hopefully the viewers will enjoy it!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
Peer Assessment (Mohammed)
This wikispace needs to get many improvements. This is because the wikispace is mostly blank and there isnt that much information posted on it. There should have been at least a background color and different font at this stage. The wikispace should get edited and have more information added. The wikispace doesnt really include information about himself. It only has the rubric which we had done in the beginning of IT classes. This shows that the wikispace planning is not that active, and should be done more often. I think he should improve his portfolio by trying to add in more information every IT class so that it helps him success, and complete his digital portfolio. As I can see, the portfolio does not have that many strengths, but it has too many weaknesses. The weaknesses it has is that it is way too empty. He needs to at least add more personal information about himself so that the person viewing the portfolio will know whos portfolio it is. The portfolio looks as if it hasnt been accessed for many days. He should also try and add in a video about himself which we have been working on for several weeks. He should also at least add in a design to his digital portfolio so that it doesnt look boring. He can maybe change the color of his font so that the portfolio looks more attractive to view rather than boring and very plain. These are some suggestions that may be helpful for him in the future when he tries to improve his digital portfolio.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Drama Reflection
What? - Describe what the work is about. For example, this presentation is about a country and the requirement was .......Make sure you talk about what was expected for this work and what time it took you to complete it. Was it a group project? What input did others have to this work?
In drama, we were given a task to get in a group and perform a melodrama. Most of our groups were chosen, however the teacher made sure that we were with one of our friends. In this project we all had to think of a good script of a melodramtic play that we could easily perform. In the play, there had to be a heroine, hero, villain, and rogue. We also added in a mother since we had 5 people in our group. The play had to be about a crime that the villain does, and then at the end the rogue is the saver. Our play was basically about how the hero and heroine are falling in love and then their marriage is about to occur, but then the villain messes things up. In our play, the villain kills the mother and then blames it all on the hero so that at the end he could get married with the heroine. The rogue at the end then saves the show, and the truth gets confessed at the end. We were lucky because we had one of the best groups. All of us were very hard workers and didn't argue like the others. We were given about 2 weeks to rehearse for the melodrama, and then later on we had to perform our final.
So what? - Now talk about why this piece of work is significant. Is it something you are proud of? Is it something you received a high grade for? Is it something developmental that helped you reach a new level in the subject? In other words why have you chosen THIS artifact for your portfolio?
This piece of work is significant because it is quite unique. I learned many new things from this unit about being melodramatic, and more things about drama in general as well. It was very fun to work on this project because I was in a group that had some of my friends in it, and the others were fun and cooperative to work with as well. This helped me reach a new goal in the subject because of the fact that a lot of new information was learned. I even became a better person when it comes to working in groups. I have chosen this artifact for my portfolio because it is different from the others, and isnt boring like them. It is an original script written by us that anyone can enjoy.
Now what? - Now talk about how doing this work has improved you as a learner in the MYP program. Has it helped you organise your time and work efficiently? Has it demonstrated that you are capable of doing mathematics and so now you have a lot more confidecne than before? What are you now going to do with the new knowledge and skills you have gained from doing this work? How is this moving you along the path of life?
This project has definitly made me a better learner in the MYP program. This is because I got a lot of new skills from this project, such as speaking up loudly when presenting something in front of a group of people, which in this case was my class. It has also given me more confidence because I now know that I can perform in front of large groups of people since now that I am better experienced at it. It also has helped me organize my work more efficiently because throughout the rehearsals, we did not mess up a bit. We were always organized and made sure that we focused on a couple of scenes each day rather than doing all of them at once. This is moving me along the path of life because I feel more like an organized person now. It has also helped me to become timely with my work, and aware of the deadlines.
So what? - Now talk about why this piece of work is significant. Is it something you are proud of? Is it something you received a high grade for? Is it something developmental that helped you reach a new level in the subject? In other words why have you chosen THIS artifact for your portfolio?
This piece of work is significant because it is quite unique. I learned many new things from this unit about being melodramatic, and more things about drama in general as well. It was very fun to work on this project because I was in a group that had some of my friends in it, and the others were fun and cooperative to work with as well. This helped me reach a new goal in the subject because of the fact that a lot of new information was learned. I even became a better person when it comes to working in groups. I have chosen this artifact for my portfolio because it is different from the others, and isnt boring like them. It is an original script written by us that anyone can enjoy.
Now what? - Now talk about how doing this work has improved you as a learner in the MYP program. Has it helped you organise your time and work efficiently? Has it demonstrated that you are capable of doing mathematics and so now you have a lot more confidecne than before? What are you now going to do with the new knowledge and skills you have gained from doing this work? How is this moving you along the path of life?
This project has definitly made me a better learner in the MYP program. This is because I got a lot of new skills from this project, such as speaking up loudly when presenting something in front of a group of people, which in this case was my class. It has also given me more confidence because I now know that I can perform in front of large groups of people since now that I am better experienced at it. It also has helped me organize my work more efficiently because throughout the rehearsals, we did not mess up a bit. We were always organized and made sure that we focused on a couple of scenes each day rather than doing all of them at once. This is moving me along the path of life because I feel more like an organized person now. It has also helped me to become timely with my work, and aware of the deadlines.
Math Reflection
What? - Describe what the work is about. For example, this presentation is about a country and the requirement was .......Make sure you talk about what was expected for this work and what time it took you to complete it. Was it a group project? What input did others have to this work?
The task we had to do in Mathematics during the second term was a reflection on geometric proof. In this reflection, we were given a problem, which we had to solve. After we solved this problem our task was to reflect on the answer that we got. We had to basically prove that a triangle was a right angled triangle. This was not a group project, it was an individual task which we had to do ourselves over the weekend. The questions we had to answer when we were reflecting was based on what answer we got, how we got it, what other methods there were, and what technology could have been used. We also had to justify our thinkings and reasonings with many different examples and detail. After reflecting, we then had to evaluate our work. In the evaluation section, we had to discuss why we thought our answer was correct, and the significance of the method we used. We had to make sure that our answers were fully explained and in well detail.
So what? - Now talk about why this piece of work is significant. Is it something you are proud of? Is it something you received a high grade for? Is it something developmental that helped you reach a new level in the subject? In other words why have you chosen THIS artifact for your portfolio?
This piece of work is very significant because I received the highest marks possible on it, and I was very proud of it. Math is actually one of my weakest subjects, even though it is one of my favorite. I was surprised that I received full marks on this reflection. I was very happy with it as well, because I put in a lot of effort and time into it in order to make it perfect. It helped me reach a new level because I now have better skills when writing up reflections for math. I am able to explain and develop methods fully. I have chosen this artifact for my portfolio because it is one of my best grades in maths and I thought it wouldve been a good project to include in my wikispace.
Now what? - Now talk about how doing this work has improved you as a learner in the MYP program. Has it helped you organise your time and work efficiently? Has it demonstrated that you are capable of doing mathematics and so now you have a lot more confidecne than before? What are you now going to do with the new knowledge and skills you have gained from doing this work? How is this moving you along the path of life?
Completing this task has improved me as a learner in MYP because of the fact that it improved my math skills. After this project, I was able to think of more methods of solving problems in geometry. It helped me organize my work and time efficiently because I worked very hard and made sure that I paid attention to areas that I didnt understand. I made sure that I spent more time doing those areas rather than the ones that I already knew how to do. It has also given me more confidence in this subject because I now know that nothing is impossible. I was able to solve a difficult task and receive full marks on it.
So what? - Now talk about why this piece of work is significant. Is it something you are proud of? Is it something you received a high grade for? Is it something developmental that helped you reach a new level in the subject? In other words why have you chosen THIS artifact for your portfolio?
This piece of work is very significant because I received the highest marks possible on it, and I was very proud of it. Math is actually one of my weakest subjects, even though it is one of my favorite. I was surprised that I received full marks on this reflection. I was very happy with it as well, because I put in a lot of effort and time into it in order to make it perfect. It helped me reach a new level because I now have better skills when writing up reflections for math. I am able to explain and develop methods fully. I have chosen this artifact for my portfolio because it is one of my best grades in maths and I thought it wouldve been a good project to include in my wikispace.
Now what? - Now talk about how doing this work has improved you as a learner in the MYP program. Has it helped you organise your time and work efficiently? Has it demonstrated that you are capable of doing mathematics and so now you have a lot more confidecne than before? What are you now going to do with the new knowledge and skills you have gained from doing this work? How is this moving you along the path of life?
Completing this task has improved me as a learner in MYP because of the fact that it improved my math skills. After this project, I was able to think of more methods of solving problems in geometry. It helped me organize my work and time efficiently because I worked very hard and made sure that I paid attention to areas that I didnt understand. I made sure that I spent more time doing those areas rather than the ones that I already knew how to do. It has also given me more confidence in this subject because I now know that nothing is impossible. I was able to solve a difficult task and receive full marks on it.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Humanities Reflection
What? - Describe what the work is about. For example, this presentation is about a country and the requirement was .......Make sure you talk about what was expected for this work and what time it took you to complete it. Was it a group project? What input did others have to this work?
One project I did in Humanities that I liked the most was during the second term which was a powerpoint. The power point presentation was basically about a country that was randomly selected by our teacher for us. In my case, I got the country Saudi Arabia. Our requirement was to make up a slide show with at least 10 slide showing political, social, and economical factors of the country. We were required to do a great research for this project so that we could have been able to complete the task, because without research we couldn't really get the information for our power point from anywhere else. This was not a group project it was independent. However, one of my friends had the same country as me which was Saudi Arabia so we helped each other out a bit. We were given about 1 week to complete this whole project, including class time. I put in a lot of effort to this project which is why I received full marks.
So what? - Now talk about why this piece of work is significant. Is it something you are proud of? Is it something you received a high grade for? Is it something developmental that helped you reach a new level in the subject? In other words why have you chosen THIS artifact for your portfolio?
This piece of work is quite significant because of the fact that there is a lot of effort that has been put into it. I worked very hard on it and I am also very proud of it because I received the highest marks possible. I also learned a lot of new information from this research project. This is because Saudi Arabia was a country that I had never learned about. This project gave me an oppurtunity to learn many new things about the country. It taught me about their religion, government, people etc. I have chosen this particular artifact for my portfolio because of the fact that it is one of the best projects that I have done in humanities. There are more essays and projects that I have done and received good marks on, however this is one of my best ones.
Now what? - Now talk about how doing this work has improved you as a learner in the MYP program. Has it helped you organise your time and work efficiently? Has it demonstrated that you are capable of doing mathematics and so now you have a lot more confidecne than before? What are you now going to do with the new knowledge and skills you have gained from doing this work? How is this moving you along the path of life?
This particular piece of work has improved me as a learner in the MYP program because I now learned a new way of putting together work. We used the power point program, and I learned how to use it in a better way since we dont really use it in another subjects. It has helped me organize my time efficiently because everyday I focused on a certain slide that I had to work on. Since we were given a week to complete this task, I made sure that I focused on about2 slides every day because we were only required to do 10 slides for this project. It also helped me organize my work in a better way because I demonstrated it in an organized way. I have gained many skills from this project and I will make sure that I use it later on in life. I have learned how to be timely with my work and organized as well. These things are very important and I will need them later on.
So what? - Now talk about why this piece of work is significant. Is it something you are proud of? Is it something you received a high grade for? Is it something developmental that helped you reach a new level in the subject? In other words why have you chosen THIS artifact for your portfolio?
This piece of work is quite significant because of the fact that there is a lot of effort that has been put into it. I worked very hard on it and I am also very proud of it because I received the highest marks possible. I also learned a lot of new information from this research project. This is because Saudi Arabia was a country that I had never learned about. This project gave me an oppurtunity to learn many new things about the country. It taught me about their religion, government, people etc. I have chosen this particular artifact for my portfolio because of the fact that it is one of the best projects that I have done in humanities. There are more essays and projects that I have done and received good marks on, however this is one of my best ones.
Now what? - Now talk about how doing this work has improved you as a learner in the MYP program. Has it helped you organise your time and work efficiently? Has it demonstrated that you are capable of doing mathematics and so now you have a lot more confidecne than before? What are you now going to do with the new knowledge and skills you have gained from doing this work? How is this moving you along the path of life?
This particular piece of work has improved me as a learner in the MYP program because I now learned a new way of putting together work. We used the power point program, and I learned how to use it in a better way since we dont really use it in another subjects. It has helped me organize my time efficiently because everyday I focused on a certain slide that I had to work on. Since we were given a week to complete this task, I made sure that I focused on about2 slides every day because we were only required to do 10 slides for this project. It also helped me organize my work in a better way because I demonstrated it in an organized way. I have gained many skills from this project and I will make sure that I use it later on in life. I have learned how to be timely with my work and organized as well. These things are very important and I will need them later on.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Science Reflection
What? - Describe what the work is about. For example, this presentation is about a country and the requirement was .......Make sure you talk about what was expected for this work and what time it took you to complete it. Was it a group project? What input did others ahve to this work?
In the first term, we had to write an essay about a specific disease, which was one of our own choice. My essay was about stomach ulcers. I chose this topic because I thought stomach ulcers were something I had never learned about, and they could have been very interesting. I learned a lot of new things about the disease, and how to cure it and solve the problems as well. There were many expectations for this essay. Firstly, we had to use scientific language. This included using scientific terms, and other terminology, which was related to the essay topic. We were also expected to first of all, come up with a plan and think about what we were going to write for the essay. This took about one lesson, which was the time that we were given to plan it out. We were given several classes to plan out this essay. This essay was actually one that we were supposed to write up in class, since we were given about a week to plan everything out.
So what? - Now talk about why this piece of work is significant. Is it something you are proud of? Is it something you received a high grade for? Is it something developmental that helped you reach a new level in the subject? In other words why have you chosen THIS artifact for your portfolio?
This piece is quite significant because I explained clearly and thoroughly everything that was required to for the stomach ulcers. I am very proud of this essay because I achieved full marks. This was one of my best essays, and another reason why I am proud of it is because it was a timed essay. I was really happy that I was able to write up a whole essay talking fully about the topic, and covering all objectives that were needed to. I have chosen this particular artifact for my portfolio because it is one of my best projects of science, and I think it is the one that should be put up on my science page on my digital portfolio.
Now what? - Now talk about how doing this work has improved you as a learner in the MYP program. Has it helped you organise your time and work efficiently? Has it demonstrated that you are capable of doing mathematics and so now you have a lot more confidecne than before? What are you now going to do with the new knowledge and skills you have gained from doing this work? How is this moving you along the path of life?
This piece of work has improved me as a learner in the MYP program because of the fact that it was something new that I did. This year, this science essay was the first timed one that we had. In the beginning, I thought it wouldve been impossible to write up a whole essay in just 1 hour, however I proved that I am capable of the task. It improved my skills of thinking and writing up information. This is why it has organize my work and time efficiently, which helped me succeed. Since I recieved full marks, I am very confident that I am capable of doing more, than I could do before. This essay also taught me many new things, which I can use later on in life. For example, it gave me more knowledge on stomach ulcers, what they are and how they can be cured, and how they are affecting people in so many ways today.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Navigation Link Plan
For each navigation link, I will be writing about 1 or 2 of the projects that we had done in the past terms, and what grade I recieved for the term.
Here are the links that I will have on my digital portfolio, and this is the information that will be on each page:
Humanities: I will put up my Saudi Arabia power point presentation, annotated bibliography project, and one of the best essays I have written.
Math: For this subject, I will be putting up my investigations since I recieved really good grades on them. I will also be putting up the reflection I did since I recieved full mark on it.
English: I will put up the quote log project, and the brochure I did for Riviera Gardens.
Spanish: Since most of our work is written, I will just put up the reflection I did for the biggest project of last term, which was the reflection on the restaurant.
Arabic: For arabic class everything is written as well, so I will have to scan some of the big tests that we had and I will put it up. I might also take a few pictures, and upload them onto the page.
Art: I will scan some of the pages of my sketchbook, since I do not have the actual projects with me.
Music: For music, I will put up the reflection that I will be writing later on. I wil also scan the final piece I will be playing on the keyboard.
Drama: For drama I will put up the script that my group members and I wrote for our melodramatic play.
I.T: For IT I will be giving a link for my digital portfolio, as well as my blogger.
D.T: For DT I will take a few pictures of what I designed in the class, since they turned out to look good. I might also put up the evaluation I wrote for both projects that I desgined.
P.E: For PE I will upload pictures of the badminton project that I did in the first term. I will also take a few pictures of the olympic pool and upload those onto the page.
Community and Service: For C&S I will list the independent projects I did and upload pictures of me and my friends doing the projects as well.
Friends at school: I will be uploading pictures of me and my friends from random days and nights. I will also list a few things about them on this page.
Out of school activities: On this page I will be listing what I like to do outside of school. for example, swimming, badminton etc. And also what I do with my family.
April 16th, 2008
Today's lesson went off quite easy and fun for me. This is because I began to take videos of the school for my video in the digital portfolio. We had to choose a partner to work with on this task, so I chose Setareh. We both went around and took videos of the DT area, the walk to the cafeteria. Next class we will be continuing the videos so that we can start creating the actual video on windows movie maker. Before going out to video the places in school, I finished off the plan of my video. I want everything to be planned out before I start anything because that way everything will go smoothly. If I plan everything out ahead of time, then all I will have to do is start everything without doing any thinking. This is why I am trying my best to make the plan as detailed as I can so that I wont have to spend imwe thinking on every single thing when creating the video for my digital portfolio. This way, I will also finish up early, and I can begin the other tasks that will be given by Mrs. Lindsay. My plan was approved by Mrs. Lindsay which is why I got to go out and start the videoing.
14th April, 2008
Today was our first day back from spring break to IT class. It was time to get back to work with our digital portfolios! Last lesson, before we went on spring break, Mrs. Lindsay told us that we would have to begin making a video for the digital portfolios. The video will be about me, since that is why we have to create the video for our wikispace. Mrs. Lindsay told us about what kind of things we should include in the video. For example, we should be including our school, some stuff about us, our friends, and family etc. I am going to work quite hard on this project because I want to achieve a good grade on it. I used today's lesson to basically plan everything out, since next lesson we were going to start videoing for our video. Mrs. Lindsay told us that we can view some digital portfolios that were created by the other classes in the first term, because some of them were good examples and they could give us good ideas on what to do for the video. Mrs. Lindsay recommended us to look at Eliah and Hend's portfolio. I viewed their portfolios and got many good ideas on what to do, since they were very good examples. After viewing these portfolios, I started to work on my plan for the video. In the plan I wrote about what exactly I will be saying in the video, what photos I will put in, and what places I will video to put into the actual video. So basically, this lesson was used for planning everything out, and hopefully I will begin videoing next lesson.
March 31st, 2008
Today I started off the lesson by working on my home page. I added in a few more things to it, in order for it to be more informative. My homepage is now nearly complete and it is looking very nice. The theme of the homepage is shopping. I wanted my homepage to look all girly, because thats how I basically am, and so are some of my friends. Another thing I did today, was start on the navigation. I created the navigation links by using my mindmap. This is because all the navigation links I want to include were on the mindmap, which I had created a long time ago. It was good that I had already done this on inspiration long ago, because all I needed to do now was create it since I already knew what I needed to put. The navigation links I made today were: Humanities, Science, Math, English, Arabic, Spanish, IT, Music, Art, Drama, and Social Life. Then after creating the navigation, under each link, I wrote "under construction" since that was what the instructions from Mrs. Lindsay were. Later on, we will be adding in more of the information for each link.
March 26th, 2008
Today I worked some more on my wikispaces digital portfolio. I mainly focused on my home page today. I completely changed my homepage from what it was before. Before changing the home page, it was very simple and didnt have any design at all and only including a little bit of information about me. This time, I focused on myself for my home page. I wrote how old I am, what school I go to, about my friends, about my family etc. This way readers of my digital portfolio can get a better idea of who I am and what I am like. So today I basically concentrated on the home page and improved it a lot. I also added a color to my background, which I found out how to put in last lesson, since I explored the wikispaces site, and what you can do on it. I actually wanted to have a background that was quite unique. So first of all, I made the background on paint, typed in the text on to it, and then uploaded it on to wikispaces in my homepage. I wanted to be original when it came to creating the home page, because I want it to look very eye catchy and attractive for all the viewers. Next class, I will be working on my digital portfolio more, and I will also add in more to the navigation.
March 19th, 2008
Today I basically continued working on the design of my wikispace. This included, improving the mind map for the design of my wikispace. I also planned out what colors I will be adding on to my wikispace. I want to have a color theme that is quite attractive. The font colors should be contrasted with the background, because that way everything will be much easier to read and recognized on the page. If I have colors that don't go together, or dont have a good contrast, then the wikispace wouldnt look good at all. For example if my background is blue, and then I make my font color a different blue of shade, then this would not look good because the colors would most probably make it very hard for the readers to read the text.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Plan for photos
I will need to collect many photos in order to design a great video
The photos I will be collecting are of:
Me
My family
My friends
Photos of Qatar Academy
And other random photos of things that I like
In the video I am going to include music as well. The song I am planning to put is Elevator by Timbaland Ft. FloRida.
What I will be saying before the video starts (I will be including a short video clip of myself):
Hi my name is Maryam and I am an honor student at Qatar Academy. I am 13 years old, and I have been living in Qatar for exactly one year now. I moved to Qatar last year and joined Qatar Acadmey in the third Term. This video will be including pictures and videos about things that are important in my life. It will show many memories and most importantly people that have made a big impact on my life. Thank you very much and I hope you enjoy my video!
The photos I will be collecting are of:
Me
My family
My friends
Photos of Qatar Academy
And other random photos of things that I like
In the video I am going to include music as well. The song I am planning to put is Elevator by Timbaland Ft. FloRida.
What I will be saying before the video starts (I will be including a short video clip of myself):
Hi my name is Maryam and I am an honor student at Qatar Academy. I am 13 years old, and I have been living in Qatar for exactly one year now. I moved to Qatar last year and joined Qatar Acadmey in the third Term. This video will be including pictures and videos about things that are important in my life. It will show many memories and most importantly people that have made a big impact on my life. Thank you very much and I hope you enjoy my video!
What I will say about some of my closest friends:
Sana: Sana is an amazing friend that I have known for 5 years now. We share many memories, and whenever I am with her I have an amazing time. We have the same taste in fashion and have a lot of fun shopping together! However, sadly I moved here, but still I am in touch with her. We still talk on the phone and through emails as well.
Change is actually for the better. When I moved here, I made more friends, and here are some of the closest ones, that have completely changed my life!
Setareh: This girl is just amazing! She is one of my best friends in Qatar, and I have an amazing time with her. It is great talking to her, and she is always there to help you out. She is very trendy, and it is always fun going out shopping with her to malls!
Mahnoor: Mahnoor is the first person I met when I moved to Qatar. It is great knowing her because she has the same heritage as I do, and most importantly she loves right down the street! Whenever I am feeling a bit down or need someone to talk to she is always there for me and always cheers me up! We share many memories even though we have known each other for one year.
Star: Star is one of my best friends at Qatar Academy. It is great talking to her, and we share many laughs during school. Sh is really into her studies, and is always there for me when I need help. Its also always fun hanging out with her out of school at the movies or at eachothers house!
Layanne: Layanne is one of the quitest people I have met! She seems to be really really quiet, but once you get to know her and become one of her good friends, she is not like that. Its fun to have conversations with her about absolutely random things. She is very very clever, and is a big help whenever you need help on homework, projects etc.
Plan for videoing
Videos of Qatar Academy:
Outside
Foyer
Diamond Area
Football Pitch
Library
Cafeteria
Hallways
Multimedia Labs
I will also be taking videos of myself at school with my friends
*At the Playground
*In the hallways
*At the cafeteria
*In the multimedia labs
Outside of school
*Swimming
*In the Squash Court
*Playing Badminton
*At the park
And More!
I will take a lot of videos so that I will have more choices to choose from when making the final video
Outside
Foyer
Diamond Area
Football Pitch
Library
Cafeteria
Hallways
Multimedia Labs
I will also be taking videos of myself at school with my friends
*At the Playground
*In the hallways
*At the cafeteria
*In the multimedia labs
Outside of school
*Swimming
*In the Squash Court
*Playing Badminton
*At the park
And More!
I will take a lot of videos so that I will have more choices to choose from when making the final video
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Inspiration (Week 5-6 Design)
This is one of the things that we have been doing for the last couple of days, in order to complete the design stage. First of all, we had to create a wikispaces account, so that we could begin the process. Our first task was to make up a plan for our digital portfolios. In order to do this, we needed to use a software, called Inspiration, so that our plans could be clear and easy to read. The plan basically looks like a mind map, and it represents all of the things that are going to be placed on the digital portfolio. First of all, I started off with a wikispace site, and I used the biggest circle to represent that since that is the most important part. After I explored on how to use the inspiration software, I found out that you could be creative and could use other pictures to represent the subject that you are trying to show. For example, for the community and service section I didnt use a boring old round box that was available on inspiration. I went onto the internet, and got a picture of the Earth, since that is what you could link to the subject of community and service. I also used smiley faces for the subjects that I am planning to lay out on my digital portfolio. These smiley faces made the mind map look more lively, and funny as well! After I completed my mindmap, I uploaded onto my wikispace, since that is what we will be using for the next couple of classes. I am happy that I completed this task in one lesson!
Sunday, March 16, 2008
March 12th, 2008
Today we were asked to create our own wikispaces in class. This is the first step to creating our project. The computers were having some technical problems once again, so it took me some time to catch up with the class and create my own wikispace. The name of my wikispace is "xpolkdaotx". I usually use the same name for every account that I am making in IT because it gets quite confusing since we have so many different accounts in IT now. After creating our wikispace, we had to begin the task that was gievn to us. The task was to create a rubric that you could use when grading a digital portfolio. The different criteria were given to us by Mrs. Lindsay, where the lowest was "poor", middle "satisfactory", and the highest being "good". The rubric that I created consisted of 7 different criterias. I chose what I would use for my criterias. The different criterias I used were: Content, Organization, Font and colors, Page layout, Spelling and grammar, and Navigation. I made a table with all of these criterias, and then I wrote about how each criteria meant if it was in the, poor, middle, satisfactory, or good section. I described breifly how it could fit into each level. I completed this task on time, which was good because I got extra time to explore the wikispaces site.
March 5th, 2008
Today was another IT lesson with Mrs. Lindsay. Like everytime we learn something new, which we have to use later on for the future work. Today was a lesson where everyone had to catch up with the tasks that we had to complete because a lot of people were behind. I completed all the tasks that were asked to complete this class, so now I am not behind the class. Mrs. Lindsay taught us today how to Print+Screen a page. We basically just have to print screen the page and then add that information onto the web page that we wish to add it on to. After print screening the page, you have to open up a paint page and paste it on to there. Then you crop the picture out as much as you want it and then save it as a .jpg file. I tried using this new technique today on my blogger, however, it did not work out for some technical problems that the computers were having this class. I wished to add more detail onto some of my blogposts however the print screening did not work out. SInce it does not work at school, I will try to put in the extra detail at home for homework. Mrs. Lindsay told us that if we put screen shots onto our blogposts then the page will look more attractive and it will also be more interesting for the reader to read!
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Task 2: Digitial Portfolio
- What are the three important features of a digital portfolio?
There are many important features of a digital porfolio. First of all, it is a goal-driven, organized collection of artefacts and reflections that are used to demonstrate a change of skills and knowledge over time. This is important because it shows the evidence of a students knowledge, and it also makes it easier for teachers to grade students work this way.
Another important feature of a digital portfolio is that it gives you a collection and series of a students work that they have completed over time. It is basically like a year book, telling you the students accomplishments throughout the task that was given. The porfolios also give you a wide range of their work. When you create your digital portfolio, the information that is given on it basically demonstrates the students learning skills, and what their understanding was like over time. Digital portfolios are not like the grades that you get in school and achieve, it is all about what you have learned and put onto your portfolio, and by the end of the process showing the teacher what you have achieved throughout this process.
Lastly, the portfolios allow teachers and your other classmates to see what you have learned and how you have improved your learning skills throughout the course. These digital portfolios are different from getting back test scores, because of the fact that it shows the teacher how you improve your learning skills almost everyday. Portfolios that have a lot of information on them shows the growth of a students knowledge and overall what knowledge they have gained by the end of it.
- List one advantage and one disadvantage of a digital portfolio.
There are many advantages when using a digital portfolio. One of these advantages are technology. This is because nowadays, technology is used the most to communicate. On digital protfolios, students can always include slideshows, and other multimedia videos through their portfolio. By using digital portfolios, this will also increase their knowledge on computers and technology which is very important these days because of the fact that most of the communication that is done with other people is used with technology. This will even improve your mistakes when using digital portfolios in the future because of everything that you learn in your first experience. This is just one of the advantages of using digital portfolios, there are many more!
There are also many disadvantages when it comes to using digital portoflios. One disadvntage of using a digital portfolio is plagiarism. This is because of the fact that anything you put onto the internet these days, could easily be copied and pasted onto another persons account. Since you put your information up in digital format, it is always eas to view this information on the internet, and can always get copied by another person using a digital portfolio. This is a big disadvantage because plagiarism is very common these days since a lot of information is so open on the internet. Students should always be careful with their digital portoflios and work, if they dont want it getting plagiarized by other people using the same websites and same type of digital portfolios. To be on the safe side when using digital portfolios, I think it is always a good idea to put yours on private, so that no one can view your portfolio, and this will prevent it from getting plagiarized.
- find a student digital portfolio that you like, hyperlink the URL and describe the strengths and weaknesses of this portfolio
I liked a digital portfolio by a student called Melissa Woodward. The hyperlink to her digital portfolio is is http://students.oswego.org/HOF/mwoodwar/. The digital portfolio overall, is very good and it is a great example for others to view when making their own digital porfolio. The digtial portfolio has many strengths, however there are many weaknesses as well. One of the strengths that she has is that the layout of the portfolio is very well set. This is because it is quite original and it is very eye catchy as well. The navigation buttons look like blobs of paint squirted out of a bottle which look really cool. One her homepage, her full name shows up. The font she has used is very uniqe and creative. This is because it is very different from the others because it blinks and flashes, rather than boring old text that is not attractive at all. When you enter the digital portfolio, you will find it really cool because her name first of all catches your attention, so that means that the rest of her digital portfolio would be amazing, since the homepage is just the beginning. The color of her font is nice as well. This is because it stands out and it isnt hidden. She has a good sense of choosing the right color, because it matches with the background which is black, and really stands out as well. As you click on the different navigation buttons, they take you to a diffrent page and give you a new set of information. When I will be making my digital portfolio, I now know that I should be original, because it looks very attractive for the viewers. With all these strengths, there are also many weaknesses that Melissa has on her digital portfolio. One of these weaknesses is that she doesnt display that much information about her project on her digital portfolio. Most of the pages are quite blank, and dont have that much information displayed on them. She should improve this because the point of a digital portfolio is to show others how you imporved over time when doing the project. By viewing this digital portfolio, I now have some tips that I will be sure to use for the future when creating my own portfolio.
There are many important features of a digital porfolio. First of all, it is a goal-driven, organized collection of artefacts and reflections that are used to demonstrate a change of skills and knowledge over time. This is important because it shows the evidence of a students knowledge, and it also makes it easier for teachers to grade students work this way.
Another important feature of a digital portfolio is that it gives you a collection and series of a students work that they have completed over time. It is basically like a year book, telling you the students accomplishments throughout the task that was given. The porfolios also give you a wide range of their work. When you create your digital portfolio, the information that is given on it basically demonstrates the students learning skills, and what their understanding was like over time. Digital portfolios are not like the grades that you get in school and achieve, it is all about what you have learned and put onto your portfolio, and by the end of the process showing the teacher what you have achieved throughout this process.
Lastly, the portfolios allow teachers and your other classmates to see what you have learned and how you have improved your learning skills throughout the course. These digital portfolios are different from getting back test scores, because of the fact that it shows the teacher how you improve your learning skills almost everyday. Portfolios that have a lot of information on them shows the growth of a students knowledge and overall what knowledge they have gained by the end of it.
- List one advantage and one disadvantage of a digital portfolio.
There are many advantages when using a digital portfolio. One of these advantages are technology. This is because nowadays, technology is used the most to communicate. On digital protfolios, students can always include slideshows, and other multimedia videos through their portfolio. By using digital portfolios, this will also increase their knowledge on computers and technology which is very important these days because of the fact that most of the communication that is done with other people is used with technology. This will even improve your mistakes when using digital portfolios in the future because of everything that you learn in your first experience. This is just one of the advantages of using digital portfolios, there are many more!
There are also many disadvantages when it comes to using digital portoflios. One disadvntage of using a digital portfolio is plagiarism. This is because of the fact that anything you put onto the internet these days, could easily be copied and pasted onto another persons account. Since you put your information up in digital format, it is always eas to view this information on the internet, and can always get copied by another person using a digital portfolio. This is a big disadvantage because plagiarism is very common these days since a lot of information is so open on the internet. Students should always be careful with their digital portoflios and work, if they dont want it getting plagiarized by other people using the same websites and same type of digital portfolios. To be on the safe side when using digital portfolios, I think it is always a good idea to put yours on private, so that no one can view your portfolio, and this will prevent it from getting plagiarized.
- find a student digital portfolio that you like, hyperlink the URL and describe the strengths and weaknesses of this portfolio
I liked a digital portfolio by a student called Melissa Woodward. The hyperlink to her digital portfolio is is http://students.oswego.org/HOF/mwoodwar/. The digital portfolio overall, is very good and it is a great example for others to view when making their own digital porfolio. The digtial portfolio has many strengths, however there are many weaknesses as well. One of the strengths that she has is that the layout of the portfolio is very well set. This is because it is quite original and it is very eye catchy as well. The navigation buttons look like blobs of paint squirted out of a bottle which look really cool. One her homepage, her full name shows up. The font she has used is very uniqe and creative. This is because it is very different from the others because it blinks and flashes, rather than boring old text that is not attractive at all. When you enter the digital portfolio, you will find it really cool because her name first of all catches your attention, so that means that the rest of her digital portfolio would be amazing, since the homepage is just the beginning. The color of her font is nice as well. This is because it stands out and it isnt hidden. She has a good sense of choosing the right color, because it matches with the background which is black, and really stands out as well. As you click on the different navigation buttons, they take you to a diffrent page and give you a new set of information. When I will be making my digital portfolio, I now know that I should be original, because it looks very attractive for the viewers. With all these strengths, there are also many weaknesses that Melissa has on her digital portfolio. One of these weaknesses is that she doesnt display that much information about her project on her digital portfolio. Most of the pages are quite blank, and dont have that much information displayed on them. She should improve this because the point of a digital portfolio is to show others how you imporved over time when doing the project. By viewing this digital portfolio, I now have some tips that I will be sure to use for the future when creating my own portfolio.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
The advantages of Animoto
This lesson, we were introduced to a new website called animoto. From this website I learned many things. I learned that this is a great website that can be used as a photoalbum basically, where you can put up your pictures, by simply uploading them. In order to create a video, you just have to upload some pictures, choose your music and let the website create your video! It is really easy to use, and fun as well. There were selections of music that were given to us, but we could also upload our own music, which would take a few extra minutes. Another thing that Mrs. Lindsay taught us about this website is that you can embed your video onto different wesites. The animoto video can even be added to your blogger, however, I havent done that yet, and Mrs. Lindsay hasnt told us to do so. Only a limited amount of pictures can be added onto the thirty second video, because if you end up adding too many, then it will automatically delete some,because in order to create longer videos, you have to payfor it when signing up. So I chose the pictures that were some of my favorites, and were random memories, and added them onto my animoto video. The advantages of using animoto when it comes to communication is that you can communicate with family and friends that might be living far away from you. This is because you just simply have to upload pictures, and the animoto website creates the video for you. This is an advantage because usually when you try emailing your family and freinds some photos it takes quite a long time to attach each file with the email. The animoto videos are also very creative and fun to watch! There are many effects that go on in the video when playing, and music also plays in the background. All these positive things can catch everyone's attention. These things can also make it more fun to look at, rather than just looking at pictures themselves. Usng animoto can also be an advantage for education. If we are doing a project in school where pictures are needed, then animoto can surely be used. For example, if you are doing a DT project, then you always need to have a few pictures for the process journal and the create stage. We can always refer back to the animoto website, upload our pictures here and use it for the project. From using this for projects, teachers will also be impressed with our knowledge of using creative websites for pictures.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Third IT lesson
Today was our third IT lesson. Today's class didn't go so well because everyone was having difficulties with wroking their computers. Nobody could access www.blogger.com or www.delicious.com, so we couldnt continue the investigation that we were doing, continue our work, or write a process journal for the day. The technician was trying to fix everyone's accounts, however, no luck! Since we couldnt get any work done, Mrs. Lindsay introduced us to a website called www.animoto.com. This website is where you can make slideshows of your pictures just by simply uploading them, and also adding music in the background. Mrs. Lindsay showed us a couple examples of her slideshows that she made, and they looked really cool. AFter showing us, she sent us back to our seats so that we could create an account on this website, and create one of our own slideshows with a maximum of 15 photos, as a starter. Mrs. Lindsay suggested us to create the 30 second slideshow, because if you decide to create a longer one, they charge you. So I went onto the website, and started creating my first slideshow on animoto. Since I didnt have any pictures on my account, I went onto facebook and got some from there. You simply just have to follow step by step in order to create your slide show. You first choose your pictures and upload them onto the website. Then you have to choose your music to go with it. The music I chose was quite nice. Then the next part takes a long time. You have to wait for the slideshow to actually get created. I ran out of time this class, so I didnt get to fully create my slideshow. Hopefully I will get a chance to next class.
Second IT lesson
Today was our second IT lesson. Today we had a substitute and Mrs. Lindsay wasnt here. However, she still left work behind for us to complete. Our task was to begin the investigation stage of our project. In the investigation, we had to look at three wikispaces of three different people. We had to view three wikispaces, and answer the following questions. However, two of the wikispaces were not working for some reason, and only one of them was, which was Vincent's. So we had to take a look at that profile for the time being, and answer the questions. The questions were basically based on our opinions. We had to state what we liked about the profile, and what improvements were needed. I answered all of these questions in the class time that was given, and completed on time, which gave me no homework, except for the process journal.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Vincent's Portfolio
Today, we started on the investigate stage of this project. We had to take a look at three wikispace portfolios, and answer the following questions. However, two of the portfolios were not working, so we just had to complete the one that was working, which was Vincent's, for now. The hyperlink to his wikispace is http://vincentsportfolio.wikispaces.com/. The following questions that I have answered are based on Vincent's portfolio.
1. What content is on each? What are the headings? What subjects and other areas are included?
The subjects that are on Vincent's page are the following:
He has many different titles and headings on the left margin of the page. When you click on these links, it takes you to a different page, and explains more about the heading that you have clicked on. For example, if you look at the heading that says "Languages" and choose one of the title, lets say Bangla, it takes you to a different page and talks about the language Bangla, basically tells you the history of it.
2. What is good about the web design? What is not so good? (Refer to colours, organisation of images and text, types of images etc)
The web page is good in many ways, however, there is still some room for improvements. The web page is layed out very well, and it has many subjects. It is also quite organized, and you don't get lost at all on his page. The headings and everything are very clear and there are no mistakes. It is also easy to get from one page to another, because you simply just have to click on the link of the subject that you want to view and it takes you there. This is what makes Vincent's page organized and simple, because it isnt too complicated or confusing. Even though the web page is organized, and layed out well, there are still many improvements that could be made. First of all, he could have written a better "Personal Statement" of himself. We can understand that it is a personal statement, however, he has too much unnecessary stuff. For example he stated "Who wouldn't love that awesome face of mine?Just look at it!" This is quite unnecessary, and I believe that in a personal statement you should just give facts about yourself, such as telling your hobbies, what you do in your daily life, rather than giving information on your webpage, which is not necessary. He can also improve the colors of the page. There is only one dark green background that is on each page that you click on. If it gives you the option, I think it wouldve been better to choose different backgrounds and designs, so that the web pages would look more unique and attractive, and fun to read! Also, in order to make the web pages even more attracive, he could have also used different types of fonts and different font colors on each page. This wouldve made the page stand out more and look more attractive. He also could have added more pictures to each page. This is because he only has one picture for each page. In a way, it is good that he has a small amount of pictures on each page and doesnt make the page look too crowded, however, he still needs to add a couple more pictures because every informative web page has more than one picture, so that it gives you more ideas about the topic. For example, for his english page, he only included one image, which isnt enough. It doesnt really give us an idea, and in order to visualize, they should be giving us more than one image for each page.
3. Make comments about the organisation of the portfolio. (Refer to navigation and how items are found)
As I said before, the webpage is really well organized, and the web pages are quite easy to find. All the subjects are labelled correctly, and when you click on the link, you get to the web page without any problem. On the left side of the wikispace, you will find a margin with all the headings, and subjects beneath them that are on Vincent's portfolio. You just have to click on the correct link for the subject that you are looking for so that you end up on the correct page. It is not confusing at all, and it is really easy to find whatever you need. Once you click on the link for the subject that you want to read about, it will take you to a different web page, and there you will find information on the subject. Once you click on the link, you will see that the other webpages are well organized as well. For example, the web pages are structured with well written paragrpah, and a good sequence. You should have no problem at all when you browse this portfolio, because it is really well organized.
Monday, February 11, 2008
First IT lesson with Mrs. Lindsay
Today was our first IT lesson with Mrs. Lindsay, after the classes of DT. She taught us a lot about certain websites that we will be using throughout the year, such as this website, which we will be using to write our process journals in. First, we went up to the white board with our chairs, and she introduced us to a website called http://www.qataracademy-it.wikispaces.com/. After entering this website, we had to click on a section called "Getting started". After looking at this, Mrs. Lindsay showed us a short video on youtube about a website called Del.icio.us. This short video gave us a lot of information about this website, and will really help in the future because it taught us a lot of stuff. For example, it taught us how to favorite certain websites, so that you can just enter a website with just a click, rather than typing in the URL in the adress bar everytime you want to go on that website. However, we can always also use a website called http://www.delicious.com/, where you can save all of the URLS. After watching the youtube video, and discussing "delicious" with Mrs. Lindsay, she introduced us to another website http://www.blogger.com/. This is the website that we will be using to keep our process journals in. It is also used as a social network. After this, our instructions were to go on to Mozilla Firefox, and enter the two websites, http://www.delicious.com/, and http://www.blogger.com/. On these two websites, we had to create our own accounts, so that we could use them every class in IT. Since Mozilla Firefox was not working for me, Mrs. Lindsay told me to use the Internet Explorer instead, and hopefully it would work out for me next class. The main purpose of "blogger" is to create a blog every lesson, which is basically a short process journal, so that every class we can refresh our memory on what we learned last lesson, since we have IT only twice a week. Even though it was onl the first lesson, we learned quite a lot!
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