Criteria D - Self and Peer Evaluation

Digital Design Website

http://amrkanan.wix.com/digitaldesign

Criteria D - IDU Reflection

Throughout this term, I have been working on creating a website that can help teach the basics of French to year 7 students. This website had to be interesting, fun and informative so that the students would learn in an exciting environment. While doing this I had to ensure that the website included necessary elements such as activities (using Scratch and other programs), a variety of appealing colours and most importantly it had to be kid-friendly so that the website would be enjoyable and simple to use. Looking further into this point, the website had to satisfy the target audience in order for it to actually succeed. The key element of doing this was to actually test it on year 7 students. While making this website the most challenging part was creating the database for the website; an extension task only I did. In my eyes, this was necessary for the website so that I could add security and personalization. The database would store all the accounts made for this website and show the specific user their progress report. This database was created using Caspio and took me many hours to perfect. However, it still has some flaws which include the fact that the activities and the database were not integrated. So the user had to enter their results after they have finished with the activity. Although this may not be such a big flaw, I knew that the user could enter any result on their progress report. However looking back I can see that this flaw would only affect those who do not want to benefit from this unique feature. What I enjoyed the most while creating this website was to experiment with all the different features WIX had to offer. It was very amusing to see what I could with a single block of text. The possibilities were almost endless. I was able to create rollover images, embed games and so much more. For next time, I would improve on including more French text on the website itself. So I could have a translated page in French and one in English. The French one would be able to teach English while the English one would be able to teach French. To do this I would merely add a link that would lead to the translated page.

Integrating Digital Design into French was definitely interesting for there some benefits and disadvantages. Some of the advantages included the ability to explore a new language as an interdisciplinary learner. I had to research how the language worked and how I had to combine technology with French. This included but was not limited videos, games, audio files,  pictures and puzzles. However, some of the disadvantages outweighed the benefits. One of the disadvantages was the fact that the information I was limited to some very basic topics such as numbers. Overall I can see how this unit has helped me relate tin ire than one branch of knowledge. Although it was a bit challenging creating the games, the database and the website, in the end it was worth it. I can now relate almost all of my subjects together because of this new and different experience.

Criteria B Designs

For my website to be successful, I need to carefully plan out and analyse the possible outcome my website may look like.

First Homepage Design - 

Second Homepage Design-

First Normal Page Design-

Second Normal Page Design-

From what I have seen, I have decided to use my First Homepage Design as it delivers more information and insight to the user while not wasting any space on large images. Also, looking at the first homepage design we can see that there is a sort of flow as to where the eye goes first then second and so on. For my normal page design, I have decided upon the second mainly because has the opportunity to give a more pleasing result from all the graphics and information.

Dreamweaver - About me website

For this term in Digital Design, we will be focusing on an interdisciplinary unit. This unit will be a combination of both French and Digital Design. For this IDU task, we will be required to construct a website that can help Year 7s learn French. Our first step towards this was a program called Macromedia DreamWeaver. It was a very complex way into a creating a website that didn't have that many features. Not only that but it was only possible for us to use the WYSIWYG part of the program mainly because the other part was all about coding. Here is a picture of my website.

On the left side of the website we can see a picture of the U.A.E. However, what we can't see is the rollover image of Dubai behind the image. In the website, I state that I like many things like superheroes, sushi and puzzles. The spiderman image is actually a GIF image of all the superheroes there are. The puzzle on the right side is also a looped GIF image. The Sushi, however, is a hyperlink image that leads the user to a bigger picture of my craving.

Criteria D Tech Fair Peer Evaluations

Peer Evaluation of each group – Tech Fair

Group 1- Maya and Carlene

This group is designing replicas of iconic objects from their favourite video games. What I liked about their presentation is that they are doing many products and they know what they are going to do. They also show some demonstrations of their products which appear to be well constructed and have used some of their time to make this. In order to improve their presentation, I would suggest that they take the projects seriously and use full sentences to make it easier for us to understand  what they are talking about. Although their project is good, they do not take it seriously and they continuously laugh. They also do not seem prepared for the presentation and do not seem to want to finish the project which raises the question if they would actually finish all the work they are talking about. Therefore, I would not recommend them for tech fair.

Group 2- Ali Reza and Claudio

This group is making a cardboard box which allows virtual reality. What I liked about the group was the fact that they are thinking of their target audience and made their invention out of cardboard and not more expensive materials. What I suggest for them next time is to be more prepared for their presentation and actually know what they are doing. I do not suggest this project for tech fair mainly because they brought the project with instructions and were not creative enough to make their own. Not only that but, they do not know anything about the product which means that they did even try to research or in fact do any work other than clicking select on Amazon.

Group 3 - Malavika and Zenia

This group is making tech gloves which are gloves that can be used on phones. What I like about the project was the amount of research that they conducted, however, it seems that it is not in their own words because they cannot explain what their project is about. Although I do not want to be mean, their inspiration actually came from me. They asked me about my project which was many products including tech gloves and then said that it was a good idea. Next thing I know, it's their project as well. For this group, I would suggest to include maybe more products about touch technology because the globe by itself is too simple. Therefore, I believe that this project should not enter tech fair.

Group 4 – Aman

Aman is creating a website about a comic industry called Marvel and its history. The link for her website is “historyofmarvel.weebly.com”. What I like about her website is the fact that she has researched very important information in depth  about her topic and she followed what she likes to do in her free time. The layout of the website is in fact very professional and organised to the point where I accessed the website thinking it great without knowing it was Aman’s. She has also cited and referenced to make her project the way it is. For feedback, I would say that she needs to show more energy while presenting. According to her project, I would recommend her for tech fair as she did all the work by herself and didn’t have any instructions. She also made in a very professional way making the project a worthy candidate.

 Group 5 – Amelie

Amelie has made a helicopter charged by a remote control motor. What I like about her project is that she thought out of the box to create a project of her own and not copied. She also made a video show her work in progress and how she improved. For improvement, I suggest that Amelie further improves her idea to make a remote controlled engine that can maybe fly. However, in any case, I would suggest her for tech fair because of all the hard work she went through to make a project of her own that is not copied.

Group 6 – Aneeqa

Aneeqa has made a hologram projector through using recycled CDs. What I like about her project was that she was creative and went out of the box to create a recyclable hologram projector. For feedback, I would suggest that she makes her presentation longer and maybe do some research to show how she understand why the image projects. At the current state I would not recommend her for tech fair because there is no research however with research it would be a good project.

Group 7 – Alex and Rohan

Alex and Rohan are creating a Lego robot which would be programmed to perform what they want it to do. One of the positive things about their presentation is that they did research and knew what they were talking about. This is shown when they explain all the materials they are using. However, it would be better to talk to include information on the project they designed rather than spending the presentation talking about the designer. They also have not finished their project which shows their time management  skills. Therefore, I do not recommend this project because they do not know what the purpose of their project is.

Group 8 – Ali

Ali has made a portable projector. What I like about his project his is the creativity in his  project. From my point of view, he doesn’t know what he talking about because he is reading off the project. The project itself is only compatible with an iPhone 4s which is not what the general population currently has as a phone. So there is a very small target audience. Therefore, I would not recommend this project for tech fair however if he were to change the size of the compatible phone then it would be a great tech fair project. Also with some research it to assure the audience that the project would work.

Group 9 – Anna and Jena

This group has coded a 2d game about a kid in some adventure. What I liked about their project is that they used coding and were able to explain its complexity. They also showed how they found their way to create the game without using any tutorials. As feedback, I would recommend that they make sure that the game works properly and isn’t too simple or easy. However before I see the final product I would not recommend them for tech fair.

Group 10 – Khushi

Khushi has made a CD lamp out of LED lights, CDs and styrofoam. What I liked about her project was the fact that she has created a product made out of recyclable objects and explained the purpose of it in real life. She also showed the process of creation which also is an advantage. Not only that but she made her tech fair project around the artistic side of digital design. For feedback, I would suggest that she would make the project with a stronger structure so that she could bring it here and show us. According to this, I would recommend this project for tech fair because it is eco-friendly and innovative.

Group 11 – Abdullah, Ghassan and Omar

This group has made a robot out of Lego Mindstorms and created a website showing their roles and some information. What I like about their presentation is that they showed how their project works through a demonstration. They also showed the parts they needed and what each part represented. As feedback, I would recommend that they use teamwork in their project because it seems that Abdullah did all the work. They also should stop laughing because it lowers their project’s quality. Although their project seems nice, there is no real-life use for it and most of the work is bought seeing that their model is identical to Lego’s model. They also don’t seem to know how the project works. In addition, the main purpose of the robot being shooting doesn’t even work properly. Not to mention the fact that it took three people to make one thing. Therefore, I would not recommend them for tech fair in this current state however with some evidence of research, there might have a small chance.

Group 12 – Aizah

Aizah is making a 2d animated video using Adobe Flash and Final Cut Pro X which is very complicated seeing that she is drawing and doing all the work herself. What I liked about her project is that she was confident and organised in presenting. The project is also very creative and she showed the pros and cons of her project explaining in detail. For feedback, I would recommend that she doesn’t go through her PowerPoint too fast so that everybody can hear clearly. With this, I would recommend her for tech fair because she has done a lot of research and complicated work on her own.

Group 13 – Aashlesha

Aashlesha has made a calculator using a program called X-code. What I liked about her project was that she knew exactly what she was talking about. She also showed how her project could be used in real life, plus the difficulty level to code. She has obviously worked a lot to make this project. As feedback, I would recommend that she shows us how the calculator works, however, that is nothing major as she mentioned that the file is big. According to this, I would recommend her for tech fair because of all the research and work she has done.

Group 14 – Prachi

Prachi has made a joystick-controlled robot. What I liked about the presentation was that she knew all the functionalities and how every single piece of the robot worked. She was also very well prepared. As feedback, I would recommend that she writes the deadlines for her project. According to this, I think that her project needs to be part of tech fair.

Group 16 – Karam and Mohammad

This group has made a website for an idea being a Pokemon drone that is currently unavailable. What I like about the project is the fact that they used inspiration from their youth to make a website about a product they want to make. However they do not seem prepared at all and there isn’t even a 3D model to be presented that  would give us an idea of what the product would look like. Therefore, I would not recommend this project.