Evaluation question 4: How did you use new media technologies in the research, planning, construction and evaluation stages

During our project, we used a range of new media technologies to research, plan, construct and evaluate our media products. I took advantage of new technology in order to communicate with my team and to create media products that would visually explain what I want to convey.

Below is a mindmap displaying the various media technologies that we used during the project.

Mind Map created with GoConqr

Research and planning

For research and planning, we used new media technologies such as web 2.0 on technologically converged media platforms like our mobile phones or iPads. This allowed us to look up information online and use web tools to present our ideas.

I have produced an emaze in which I have explained the new media technologies that my group used in the research and planning stage. Click the arrows to go through the slides.

Fascinating stats about
Youtube users

The technologies that I used in my research and planning were mainly established hardware and software that have been set up within the last 10 years. Smartphone and tablet usage is on the rise in an ever growing technological society. With the proliferation of web 2.0, sites such as Youtube and Google have an enormous reach. Youtube itself has over a billion users and reaches more 18-49 year olds than any cable network in the US.

Reflecting on the new media technologies that I used in my research and planning has reminded me of how technology is paramount to our project. A decade ago, most of the technology that I used here would not have existed. Yet today, I would not be able to function without my phone or laptop. I have come to appreciate how integral technology is to my life and how it made my project so much easier and quicker to complete because of how modern technology is instant and abundant in information.

Construction (production and pre-production)

We used filming and photography equipment for the production of our media products. After that, we used edit suites for post-production so that we could edit out music video, create our digipak and form our website.

Below, the prezi shows how I have used new media technologies on hardware and software in order to produce our media products. Click to enlarge the prezi and use the arrows in the bottom to view the presentation.

Evaluation

During the evaluation stage, I relied on using the web to produce interactive and visually engaging presentations that would allow me to do in-depth evaluation.

My criteria for choosing the web tools was that they must be:

• a cloud based software
• simple and easy to use
• possible to embed into blogger
• easy for the viewer to navigate

I have detailed the various new media technologies that I have used during the evaluation stage in the slideshow below. Click the arrows in the bottom right to go through the slides.

I was amazed with the variety of web tools that I used in my evaluation. I believe that, by using web 2.0 software which is user friendly and interoperable, I am an example of an active media prosumer. In addition to my daily life of sharing, liking and following on Facebook and Instagram, I have produced Youtube videos, slideshows and online surveys through this evaluation.

Web 2.0 and Blogger

Tim Berners-Le originally visioned the web as a "a collaborative medium, a place where we [could] all meet and read and write". I have experienced this during my project as I have been able to share my media products on blogger for viewers to read through. I have also been able to share my work with my group members by sending them images, documents or web tools for them to view.

David Gauntlett stated that Web 2.0:

• is faster, more collaborative creativity
• fosters connectivity due to its collaborative nature
• harnesses collective intelligence
• leads to an audience shift from passive consumers to active 'prosumers'

Technological convergence of smartphones in the last decade has lead to integration of vital softwares that I use to communicate and connect instantly with my group members.

Blogger was another fundamental aspect to my project. On this website, I can upload multiple links to various media texts; such as images, gifs, Youtube or Vimeo videos, embed prezi, slideshow and emaze links. The possibilities are endless. Furthermore, my blog is available to use online as it is shared using cloud technology that I can access from my laptop, tablet or smartphone. 

As my blog is an example of software using web 2.0, I wanted to make it as interactive as possible so as to show off the various ways that web 2.0 has assisted my project in terms of how I want to express my ideas. I have included links to my group members' blogs which can be seen at the top of this and every page on my blog. I also provide links to my media products with hyperlinks to each media text.

Blogger has been a good technology to view my progress as it provides a visual construction of my work over the last few weeks. I can click on the links on the right to go to my earlier posts, which are listed in chronological order so that I can browse through them with ease.

Conclusion

Overall, I am confident that my group have used new media technologies effectively to support our project. I have discovered new media platforms that I had not experienced before and was able to utilise them well. Using technology was beneficial to us in all stages of our project from research, planning, construction and evaluation because it helped us to complete the tasks efficiently.