JP Bertram

Course Recap

bertramj — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 00:12:24 +0000

I really enjoyed how technology and education have been completely intertwined in this course. Not only is the content stimulating, but crafting a list of technological skills when demonstrating my understanding really helped the fully immersive experience of gender and technology. I have experience using WordPress before, but the intricacies of photo management and other small details to be attentive of, I had never paid much attention to before, but it really makes the aesthetics of the presentation much better! I feel that I could have done a little more to meet all the course objectives, however, I also feel that I have reached the objectives that well really help me better understand technology and it’s presence in our patriarchal society. All in all, I would recommend this course to everybody I know, because gender differences are becoming much more mainstream, with more and more people having an awareness of it’s presence, and as we all know, our society is also progressing in technology at an incredible rate.

Ideas for Learning Module

bertramj — Sun, 29 May 2011 21:04:20 +0000

The idea I decided upon for my teaching lesson is creating and using a Twitter account. First, I will demonstrate how to sign up and create the account itself. Next, I will run through the setup once the account is created.

In order to successfully complete the project, I will use the screenshot feature built into Mac OS X (achieved by holding “shift”+”command” and “4″) to create step by step screenshots of the signup process. Once the module is complete, I will paste it into Microsoft Word 2010, and save it as a .PDF file. The PDF file will then be hosted by using an app titled “Cloud”. Cloud will host files online for easy sharing. The hosted file will be available for download at the end of the learning module blog entry for offline referencing.

Initially, I wanted to create a step-by-step video of the Twitter signup process, however, I had difficulty finding a free software that allowed me to capture my screen content to video. Many of the options were available for purchase, however, lack of funds and future use drove me away from creating the video. This would have made the process much more clear to understand, as I would have hosted the video to YouTube for future referencing. Apple should include a screen capture to video software within OS X and I am surprised that it does not!

Using Text-to-Speech Technology

bertramj — Thu, 19 May 2011 03:02:47 +0000

Setting up text-to-speech on my MacBook was fairly simple. Utilizing the technology, however, was not. Personally, I enjoy reading in complete silence. It allows me to zone in on the content and grasp a full understanding of the material. When I utilized the text-to-speech technology I found a few important things that actually hindered my ability to comprehend the material. First, the voices were either too slow or too fast. There was never a median that I found comfortable even after adjusting to speed. Secondly, the voices were still very robotic. Mispronounced and misspoken words began driving me crazy! Lastly, I still found myself reading the material along with “Alex’s” voice. As I stated early, having a voice read to me was almost more distracting that having the television on in the background. I quickly turned off the text-to-speech software, and while I understand the benefits it may provide to some people, it just was not for me. I will probably never use it again to be completely honest!

Challenges and Opportunities of Financial Analysis

bertramj — Thu, 19 May 2011 02:57:40 +0000

I found the Financial Analysis project to be very eye opening in regards to how one can reach their dream goal. It all starts with an idea, which then needs a plan, and lastly needs execution. Most plans to reach a financial goal require an assessment of income and expenses, and this project really helped visualize this. Microsoft Excel was extremely helpful in setting up both a monthly budget and a financial goal budget. Being able to skew the data and see what works and what doesn’t was also incredibly helpful. Mint.com is also a great tool that tracks your progress financially for you. The need for creating spreadsheets with Excel is potentially eliminated. The only challenge I found from my Financial Analysis project was locating the costs of startup. At first, I almost couldn’t think of anything to add to my expenses, but soon, the smaller nuances, such as web hosting, can to my realization. After that, it was just picking my brain for potentially more small expenses that I may have overlooked.

Planning ahead for my teaching project I have a list of possibilities:

How to setup an iTunes account.
How to install a surround sound speaker bar and subwoofer.
How to create a Twitter account.

For me, these three possibilities are things I thoroughly enjoy, and know that if others knew how to utilize these technologies, they would as well!

My Biggest Dream

bertramj — Sun, 15 May 2011 20:12:17 +0000

My biggest dream would be to own a graphic design and social media consulting company in San Francisco, CA. This dream acts as the entry level to all other dreams, for example, buying a car, buying a home, investing in secondary property, etc. However, for the purpose of this project, I will focus on creating a graphic design and social media consulting company. This company will assist organizations in creating or boosting their social media presence while using our graphic design specialization to boost aesthetics and viewership interaction.

Optimizing Images for Cultural Site

bertramj — Mon, 09 May 2011 00:35:15 +0000

I found myself to be very successful in optimizing images for the Cultural Site. Many of my images worked just fine when adding the media to the posts, however there were a couple that needed size optimization. After previewing the post with the included media, I decided if the image size worked or not. Once I deemed that one may not be the optimal size, I went back to the post, double clicked the image, and adjusted the size percentage. It worked perfectly!

For the Financial Analysis project, I think it would be interesting to see how much money I could potentially make doing freelance work for brands and companies, optimizing their Facebook Brand pages for ultimate success. I have done this prior as a hobby for both my own side projects as well as assisting a handful of companies, but never thought about it’s potential financially until now. I look forward to seeing what potentially could come from it if I start charging for my work!

Challenges of Cultural Site Project

bertramj — Sun, 01 May 2011 21:31:00 +0000

I, for one, had a difficult time locating resources regarding Allyson Kapin, as well as locating any critical analysis of her work. I was fortunate enough to come into contact with Allyson, and she was able to provide me with the answers I needed in an extremely timely manner. I am extremely appreciative! I had a lot of fun writing and researching my topic, as well as placing it into multiple pages into the blog site itself. I did not have much difficulty setting up the cultural site portion of the blog, as the instructions were pretty easy to follow and allowed for some leeway in our setup! Looking forward to continuing to customize and enhance the cultural site, as well as tackle our next projects!

Consulting a Librarian

bertramj — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 00:05:43 +0000

Working with a librarian is always helpful. I have done this many times for other classes and have found that, obviously, librarians are much better at locating resources to help you out than you would be on your own. I utilized oregonlibraries.net to locate a librarian to chat online with. On my first attempt I encountered what seemed like an error. After waiting a few minutes I closed it out, and attempted again. This time it worked. I asked my librarian to find me articles or journals discussing “Women Who Tech” or “Allyson Kapin”. She directed me to some different resources, however, many times these resources were just articles that briefly touched on either subject. My project topic might be a bit too specific, however, Allyson Kapin left me a comment on my last entry, so I hope to email her back and possibly gather more information to utilize for the rest of my project!

Cultural Site Topic: Allyson Kapin

bertramj — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 02:33:54 +0000

For my Cultural Site project I have decided to explore more regarding Allyson Kapin. Allyson is the founder of ”Women Who Tech” and has been named one of the “Top Tech Titans” by the Washingtonian, one of the Most Influential Women In Tech by Fast Company and one of the top 30 women entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter by Forbes for her leadership role in technology and social media (Source).

Image Courtesy of Fastcompany.com

The site “Women Who Tech” is a site designed to bring together talented and renowned women breaking new ground in technology. It is a place where they can utilize their tech savvy skills to transform the world and inspire change. The site also provides a network for the burgeoning community of women in technology and provides women with a place to share their talents, experiences, and insights (Source).

Allyson is still alive and well! She continues to inspire both women and men all around the world with her breakthroughs in technology and her advocacy for women in the technology field. Along with Women Who Tech, according to Allyson’s LinkedIn account, she is also a partner for Red Campaign, a web agency that provides web design, development, and marketing to non-profit organizations and political campaigns. You can also follow her on Twitter @WomenWhoTech! I hope to get in contact with her via Twitter, so that I can gather more information about where she is from, where she lives, as well as her educational and professional backgrounds. Stay tuned!

Customization

bertramj — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 19:00:55 +0000

I have previous knowledge and experience using WordPress so the customization requirements were also fairly painless. The only part about the entire setup that I found difficult was making sure I followed directions as specifically as possible. The directions, however, we very easy to understand, especially with screenshots at nearly each step.

I’m looking forward to blogging about my projects throughout the term and I hope you are excited to read about them as well!