CEdu510 Reflections Log

Today we learned about the many ways to use different graphic programs for free on the internet. I tried Mr. Potato head. It's all right for students who don't know how to draw faces. You can click and drag, resize, and add different colors, but it doesn't fill in. The program was too limiting in color, free style, didn't have many options to choose from.
The next I tried was Jackson Pollock. This one I really didn't like because I couldn't control the shapes, size, or even color! It was a free flowing blob at times, and when I clicked the mouse changed to a new color. I like to have a little more control over the mouse!! It's good for an art teacher, showing students how Jackson Pollock pictures could be made. It could also be used by some to get out their frustrations, or feel they can make art, without having to draw.
The third one I tried was Cumulative Draw. This would be a good program for designing a library, kitchen, or whenever a furniture layout was needed. This would be good for architects, as the shapes are preset. Students might like this one, because they can create perfect circles, squares, triangles, etc. Some art styles might require the use of shapes, and this program would lend itself to that feature.
The fourth program I tried was Sketchcast. This program would be good for someone trying to explain a concept while they're drawing it. The tools aren't very friendly to work with, and I found it hard to work with. Coaches might like to use it, as well as a teacher who had a student miss an important concept because of absenteeism. It's great for missed "Chalk talks" on the blackboard, especially when the visual is important to present the concept.
The program, Comic Sketch was interesting. The tools aren't the easiest to figure out how to use. I didn't like the fact that I couldn't put words in my picture. I felt like I had to create a comic. This tool would be great to create a graphic novel, if only it didn't have the limitation of text put on it.

Queeky let me have more control over my art. It reminded me of the Linkway program, with its ability to create and resize a shape, as well as choose colors I wanted. The limitation was it hadn't a text feature added to it. That would've been nice.

My Drawings had an easier menu to work with, and would let me undo as much as I wanted. There were many colors to choos from, it was an easy format to work with. It hadn't any preset shapes, which would've made it nicer to work with, especially with younger kids.
The one I liked the best was Art Pad. I had a little more control over what I could do, as well as add text, in the font and size that I wanted. This was the best, even though when I sent the picture to myself, the resulting text appeared hand drawn, not put into the text format I had chosen. I liked that it went step-by-step, as that let me know what I did at each moment. If a student had posted their "drawing" for me to observe, I could see where a mistake might've been made. This would be great in math, posting problems and watching the student solve it. Right away I'd know if the person grasped the concept, or where a mistake was made. I could then replay the program to the student and discuss what the student was thnking at the time, letting me get a handle on their thinking. This would be a little time-consuming, and the student would have to be familiar with the program and stay on task. It would also be great to promote graphic art.

Today I worked on my presentsation for class. I took a look at the presentation tools and decided to use google.docs after downloading Firefox on my computer and using Empressr to start creating a mini biography. I didn't like the backgrounds they had to offer. I felt the tools were in an odd place to use, and cumbersome. I searched for the Help menu, didn't find it anywhere. It was a little frustrating to work with. Even the images took time to upload and then insert. Google.docs was much easier to work with, change the fonts, and insert pictures.
When I looked at SPresent, I wasn't sure I'd like it. The web-based feature is nice. If you're going to upload your own pictures, though, they must be in .jpg format and the size is limited. There are some nice animated pictures, and one can include some of those, they're limited in scope, however. The fonts used are few: Arial, Courier New, Times New Roman, and Verdana. That's it. I couldn't center with a button, either. Everything is preset to the left. I can see where people on the go, out in the business world would use this, as it can be used at any place, since it is web based. In fact, all the ones I looked are are.
Zoho wasn't too friendly, either. It had limited preset designs. I could upload from my pictures, but if I didn't delete after I entered it, the image was too easy to reinsert a second time. It was really hard to delete items. I also had a hard time adjusting the font size. Google.docs was much friendlier to work with.