For Criterion A, we were supposed to learn basic skills of using HTML, investigate what topics were used to create websites, and research on some sample HTML websites that were made by others to learn what kind of design would be the best for creating our own website.
We firstly took a look at a website called “Thinkquest” where different designs of user-made websites are able to be viewed. We then chose some websites that we liked or disliked, and made comments on colors, contrast, font, navigation, photos, etc. for each of them. I think it was a good opportunity to learn what designs will be preferred by people and easy to utilize. I was able to learn the importance of using contrast of colors to give an effective look to the website, using a simple font so people can easily read the content, and putting a good navigation that works perfectly. Also, I learned that adding too many animated files or movies would not make the website look good, and it will take a long time to load the page, so it is not that recommended.
After that, we read three articles on HTML. Since it was my first time using HTML, I thought reading these articles would help me to create a better HTML website. The assignment was to make notes on what I read about, and I made some notes on my blog. However, there were some parts that I did not fully understand, so I just skipped them and continued reading. Also, I was not paying attention to the last article because it was way too detailed and had a lot of information which just made me tired. Therefore, I did not read it carefully but just skimmed through the articles. I think I could have made some further research on the content that I did not understand in order to broaden my knowledge on HTML. It would have helped me when I was having trouble with creating a HTML file of my website. Also, even though I was not in favor of reading the articles, I should have at least read it carefully, and understand what was in the content. For the next time, I should take my time to investigate to get a better result on creating HTML website.
Criterion B
When we were done with investigation, we were supposed to come up with at least three different potential topic that we would like to make a website about it. I came up with three ideas which were:
- The wild animals (information about animals and their habitats)
- ISU Grade 10 (about our class)
- Travel Around the world (information about different cultures, foods, clothes, holidays, etc)
Then I decided to make a website about our class since this school year will be my last school year at ISU, and I wanted to create it as a keepsake of my memories of living in Mongolia. After I decided my topic, I created a paper design of the website to briefly sketch how my website would look like. I wanted my design to be unique, so I drew it as creative as possible; however, while I was actually creating the website, I realized that the design that I made was almost impossible to create with my knowledge and skills of HTML. I think I could have done better on this part. I could have drawn some more paper designs as a mean of alternative sketches since it is almost for sure that some designs will not be able to create.
After that, I came up with my own design investigation which was:
- Neat but interesting formats such as the entire website design, background, proper fonts for the content, etc.
- The font for the menu can be decorative, but the font for the content should be neat, such as (but not limited to) arial, calibri, times new roman.
- The colors for the website should not hurt readers' eyes. Contrast of black and white will be okay, but the website should avoid using bright colors like red, yellow, bright green, etc.
- Appropriate images that suit to the website
- Music if it is required, but there should be a way to stop playing so that the users can play and stop the music by themselves
- Menu that is easy to navigate with a suitable design
- Contents that are not way too small or big, and there should not be too many texts on one page
I also made a list of what should be included in my websites:
- Student individual photos for the background of the website
- Sign up page
- Profile - Brief profile of each student and homeroom teachers such as: name(or nickname), date of birth, email address, phone number, profile picture, etc. (If they do not want to show their identity, then I'll skip them)
- Discussion - Free discussion forum to share ideas, have discussions on any topic and to know what's going around the school
- Homework - what homework we have, including the deadlines, etc.
- Photo - anyone can put pictures
- Suggestion box - to get suggestions from people in order to improve the website
After I created the website, I realized that I followed most of design specifications and the required content list. Since I used a CSS format file, I did not make the background of the website by myself because the template is already made for me. There I did not have to worry about the contrast of colors; the contrast of white and green was okay for me. For most of content, I used Calibri as the font, and for some menu icons, I downloaded decorative fonts from "dafont.com". I think each page had enough amount of content and images added to the website were appropriate. I did not put music because it was not necessarily required, and I think it would just made the website viewers annoyed due to the continuously playing music. Overall, even though I did not include Sign-up page, and changed some information that I wanted to put, I included most of the content onto my website, so I think I did pretty good on criterion B.
Criterion C
There were a lot of changes made. I firstly made my original plan, but there was a change of duedate and I had more time to work on my website, so I needed to change my plan based on the new due date. Also, I turned out to use CSS form instead of using just HTML, so I was quite behind than the plan that I created. In the end, it was really hard for me to follow the plan.
I think this criterion was the one that I did not do well. I was not familiar with using HTML, so I had to spend more time to learn about it than I planned, and some failure on making a website slowed down the progress on creating website. If i made a plan that is more detailed, not just writing about general process but with more details, I could not have rushed in the end, and worked better on making a website.
Criterion D
Criterion D was the part that everyone had to spend a lot of time creating a website. We used Coffeecup and created our own pages. I firstly started with a blank page and typed html codes to add images and content; however, it was much harder than I expected, so I changed my whole plan to use CSS form instead. It was not so easy to use a css form html either, but it was much easier than using a blank html page.
I also used powerpoint to create menu buttons, and some page designs, some other programs that can make a forum and a photo portfolio. I realized that there were a lot of souces where you can decorate your website easily. How convenient :)!
While I kept working on the website, I was getting used to using Coffeecup which was a great improvement for me. However, the problem with using Coffeecup was that it was only a 30days trial, so I had to rush in the end to finish creating the whole pages within the deadline of the expiration date.
I think a way to improve Criterion D would be having a plenty of time creating HTML websites. Because most of our classmates are not familiar with using HTML, we all had difficulties at first. Therefore many people had to rush in the end to finish their websites before the due date, and some people still did not know how to utilize Coffeecup well by editing the codes of HTML. If there was a more day to learn about HTML, then we all could have created a better quality websites. Also, since I have not used any other HTML Editor programs before, I thought that Coffeecup was pretty easy to handle, however, we should try out a different program if there is a better and easier one.
After creating my website was done, our class had a competition.My intended audience was my classmates, and since they tested my website, I think it was a great chance to see their reaction toward my website. They made comments such as:
"Your website is also very pretty to look at. It had a lot of colors which matched together!"
"You have tons of information on everyone and everything. Love the homework journal. The forum doesn't work as well as the suggestions, though."
"You display lots of text as image, which is not always practical, but overall it's easy to use:)"
"Fancy."
"Easy but got lost somewhere."
In general, many people liked my website which was a good thing. Some people gave me critical comments on navigation. I realized that I put the link of navigation wrong, so some of them did not work well. I should have checked it before I let people test it.
I think my website would be able to help our ISU class of 2012 community since they can have a discussion on the forum, and check their homework. Even though this website is only for our small community, I still would be satisfied that my website can help students in a social way in terms of interacting with each other online.
This unit was the last MYP Technology project for me, and I think it was the hardest project that I have done. However, I was able to show my creativity by making my own website with the design that I wanted, and the information that I wanted to include. Also, I think this unit was very helpful for me since HTML is often used in peple's everyday life, and I became a part of those people who know how to utilize HTML.
