1. Unit 4 Review Unit 4 was a lot of fun to grade! I was amazed at how clever the reports were … so many new applications were explored … Go!Animate, Bitstrips, Prezi … I learned a lot. The images that follow show some of the impressive!

2. Development Notes: While our text does not directly deal with video, some of the basic principles of images and graphics do apply to video. I tried to keep the cognitive low for the images so the users could focus on the information delivered (p53). Images also tied together with the audio to create a story that flowed, this ties into Mayer's Cognitive Theory of Multimedia (p60) and integration (p63). The ACE process (p85) provided a foundation for development. Creating the video online and capturing the video with Camtasia was the first step. Using Camtasia to break up video and audio to then insert images took some work and planning. Numerous previews of both the online video and the Camtasia product provided a means for ongoing evaluation. The scene in the video was copied and pasted into numerous frames to provide a repetition of the visual elements introduced early in the video (p203). Proximity was utilized when keeping both the audio tied to the images as well as inserted pictures tied to the audio. The digital camera picture was a little late after the audio and that can be noticed when viewing. While the background is a product of the software, it does contain basic colors (p270). Users of the animation can develop custom characters, I added a little to the male character but the female was a stock character. This student did an incredible job of thinking outside the box. He was able to look at visual design principles and apply them to audio design principles. See his development notes (below) to see the connections he made. Hi program (Go Animate) was fun to know about as well.

3. A number of you did some great presentations with Prezi … (http://www.Prezi.com). The program caused some of you problems because it doesn’t allow you to save revisions! The presentations were a lot of fun (and I’m sure a lot of work).http://www.Prezi.com

4. This student did a good job of summarizing “On the back of a napkin.” I did not get a very big screen shot of her presentation, but it is worth looking at by visiting the Gallery for Unit 4, and looking at Lesli Tanski’s posting.

5. I love the visual rhythm of this one

6. This was another clever application of technology. The student used a site called Bitstrips to share Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud

7. This one does a great job of using grey, white, and bright spots of color. I think it looks very professional (and engaging).

8. The Discussion Question responses about the image (below) were all over the place. People like the image, think it is effective for certain age groups, but … question how effective it is for communicating the content. I chose it because I think it is a good example of It Depends … how effective it is depends on the audience. Most adults don’t have the patience for it. Many youth actually prefer this type of image. I liked some of the specific editing suggestions for the image, as in this comment …

9. Thank you for your work on Unit 4. You covered some of the best design books around. Hopefully you will have time in your future to read some of the books covered in this unit.