Blog 5 Due 10/6

Part 1

1. Haley Elder: For her project she chose to study knitting. She looked at the different methods of teachings, which ones worked which ones different and compared how each source used a different method. One of the main points she consistently makes is that information should be simple to understand. In order to be an effective text, your audience needs to be able to understand the situation. If the audience becomes lost or confused, it is a complete failure of text. I found it interesting how she used different forms of media from books to instructional videos. Another element that she stresses is emphasis. Authors must keep in mind what is their main focus in order to appeal to their audience. Emphasis can be conducted in various ways including color scheme, banners, headers, contrast and so on and so forth. From Haley's site, I learned that emphasis is key to teaching an audience. Without the emphasis the student can become easily lost and will not be able to fully grasp the material. 

2. Tai Gong: For his project, he chose to examine skateboarding. He looked at different websites teaching methods and focused on which ones helped and which ones did specifically looking at the different tactics that were used. From this site I learned that a visual component was a very important learning tool. Without some kind of video or photos, it was hard to visualize exactly what the person is supposed to do in order to successful ride a skateboard. Wording was another important component. If the wording was unclear, it could have disastrous results for the boarder. Authors need to be really careful when providing instructing material as it can be easy to misunderstand. He mostly looked at web sites or this project as his form of media. Having a concise layout was another large factor. When describing the methods for ehow.com he brings up the point that the page is missing a main title. This is a a huge error on the part of the web authors. You want your audience to know where they are and what they are looking at otherwise it appears unprofessional and confusing. 

3. Nick Gourlie: For his project, he chose to look at photography tutorials. He uses different form of media from video to charts. He makes a good point in explaining that an author needs to be aware of what kind of audience they are reaching out to in their tutorials. Some people have more experience in this field than others and it needs to be clear and upfront otherwise you can severely confuse your audience. Another issue he focused on was whether things looked aesthetically pleasing. If a media is disorganized or sloppy, people will not spend the time to study the source. It can be real distracting to an audience which is a failure on the part of the authors. As an author you do not want your audience to be distracted from the main purpose of your site, video, chart etc. As Nick explains with his first web site, sites that look good to the eye draw in an audience's attention and make them want to stay and browse. 

Part 2

My favorite web text was Ariel Popp's. I liked hers the most because it was real different and the site was laid out like her topic, comics. She uses a comic strip to explain what makes certain web based comics successful. I liked her cute, simple figures. It was rather lighthearted and fun and a please to scroll through. Not only is it different, it is also aesthetically pleasing to my eyes. It flows rather easily and is not hard to navigate. I liked how I did not have to work hard to figure out how to use the site. Overall, I found the site to be fun and enjoyable to browse.