Web Team – Social Marketing’s Weblog

Oscar and I have reached the end of our project and have posted our designs on this site.  This project was challenging because of communication among many people living all over the Nation.  Email, SL, Skype, Seesmic, WordPress and other vle type of interfaces were used.  At the end our team took what we learned from other classmates and of course our teachers and made a mock up site for LYIA.  Photoshop, Dreamweaver and Word were used in the process and final result of page.  Please let us know what you think.

It has been a pleasure.

Oscar and Justin

Oscar and I have been working together with the prototypes that we wish to submit to LYIA at the end of this semester which is very close to an end.  We have been talking on the phone and using email to collaborate on what has been done.  We are going to discuss more ideas prior to the SL meeting scheduled on Sunday.  I feel we are making good progress and I am hoping to post prototypes to this site next week.

So far in this class we have worked and read about different forms of virtual learning environments.  For this section of the class we were asked to work with the online education site/application titled moodle. 

            After review the site several times I found it to be an up and coming server.  In other words I think this site and idea is going to be big.  For most of my classes at The New School I have used blackboard.  I have heard from some students and teachers that blackboard is too rigid and not user friendly enough.  I like blackboard and love that it lets me take online courses but I also feel competition makes better products and moodle is competition. 

Pros

Easy to use navigational settings allow access to lessons, notes and tools for learning.

Fairly simple to navigate website links.

Expansive ability to teach one-10000etc.

Cons

Large download to ones own computer. 

Not like a simple Google group app or similar.

I really like how expansive this program could be for educators.  It really seems to give good learning modules and ways to make the program run specifically to your needs.  My only concern is that in the age of blackboard, Google features, Second Life, will this succeed or be too primal in its initial setup.  It’s good but it needs to advance.  The site seems rigid and not graphically pleasing.  In today’s age it’s not real simple to get running.  Only time will tell if this site will continue to flourish and become a household name like Second Life.

Goal – This semester we will be working together on web design issues.  Mainly we will work with these organizations titled HAF (Hispanic Aids Forum) and its sub group page titled LYIA (Latino Youth in Action).  Our plain is to implement a more user friendly interactive menu selection that links the two sites together better.  We want to have better access through easier media tools such as click to find video and picture galleries.  It is our understanding that the main goal of this organization and sub group pages is to give vital health information to youth and people in need.  Having better organized tool bar navigation with interactive media links will better achieve this goal.  This is our first thoughts; more will come once work on design is implemented. 

If this project is not done within the time restraints of class which we feel it can be our goal then is to really focus on ease of user control to links and sources.  We basically want to have a lot of health information and make it as easy as possible for user’s to find everything they need.

To collaborate with other groups email was initially sent now skype and second life are being utilized as well as phone conversations.  SL and Skype seem to work the best because it allows for one to be at a computer yet talk to others at the same time.  It is also easier than trying to set up conference calls.

Documenting and sharing has been done through email and wiki’s.

We have worked a lot with Jason Pine and his connections to media from HAF which have been transferred through email or skype.

Continual SL/skype meeting will help keep the group’s goal in tact.