Project Proposal

Project Proposal Document

Mentor Report

As our group began our ventures into the real world of digital videography and web hosting, we had realized we had some questions needed to be answered in order to truly extract the best fruit out of our efforts. We realized that we needed a mentor to lead us through the project, to guide us through the maze of inhibitors. We looked no further than Mrs. Burns, the Web Design teacher at Washington High School. Our team scheduled a meeting with her on Thursday November 12th during Husky Period in her classroom at Washington : F245. (She can be reached via email at lburns@fremont.k12.ca.us). At the meeting, my fellow team members: Jaison Selvajothi, Cliff Liu, Taj Shaik, and Randall Wood were present. First, we thanked her for all of her valuable time and proceeded to start the meeting. We started our stream of questions with a question about marketing our site to increase views. She stated that, marketing your site will be easy through "social media campaigns" (Burns). She wanted to make sure that before marketing our site, we should have a clear purpose or image so that way viewers can easily find what they are looking for. "Viewers should be greeted with a simple web interface and easy to use UI" (Burns), and with the help of stock images Burns stated that creating an appealing website would be very easy. We continued our interview with another question about getting sponsorship from the district for the website. She stated that the district uses wordpress and "doesn't know the logistics of FUSD sponsorship of websites" (Burns). She said that some of your best options are Weebly, Wordpress, one of the school loop sites the district provides, or GoDaddy (with subscription based fees). She definitely promoted Weebly as it is the platform she uses in her classes. We went on to discuss about web UI and some of the ways to get a good looking UI to attract customers. "So of the best platforms are those provided by Weebly or Wordpress" (Burns), but also to look at designing one through GoDaddy's services. She stated that the place where we can obtain a UI will be dependent on where we find obtain web hosting. As we finished our questions regarding web hosting, we moved the meeting's focus to one about developing content on the website. We asked her specifically about uploading content onto the website and ways to upload video footage onto the site. She stated that the best way to handle about these things is to use the web hosting service features "by using the plugins to external video sites like Youtube provided by the web hosting service" (Burns).  She stated that by using such external plugins, we can run a much cheaper site and not worry about storage issues. As our meeting came to a close, we felt extremely prepared for conducting this project. We thank Mrs. Burns for all the time she spent with us answering our questions! We definitely feel prepared to make the first steps into the world of the Big Ideas Project.

Rhetorical Precis

Original article (EBSCOHOST): http://ezproxy.aclibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,cpid&custid=s8900657&db=muh&AN=98510556&site=ehost-live

Annotated article: https://docs.google.com/a/fusdk12.net/document/d/14DXsELVkmtxKQtm9ApHUWWaiMsdyixkuqQKRV_ALjy0/edit?usp=sharing

Rhetorical Precis: https://docs.google.com/a/fusdk12.net/document/d/1-tjKOyStdSq9RM5aJkJMZdrMybe-wmuT2HuDIgpZkSY/edit?usp=sharing

Research 4

Service learning is a concept that can be applied to all levels of the education system, form kindergarten to college. in this article for UC Denver, they explain how students see service learning as a way to "deepen their understanding of the material [coursework], increase their motivation and to gain greater self-knowledge" (UC Denver). Despite the fact that service learning does have these positive effects on students, not every school has these types of programs. At one point I heard from someone that he heard a schools principal say that "[we] don't keep track of the activities, we merely track the hours" (unknown). It is a sad reality but one that isn't easy to overcome. However soon schools might start warming up more to the subject and we will see far more service based learning projects.

Research 3

Cooperative learning, which was "developed as a means to reduce competition in American schools, which James Coleman identified as a negative component of the education system." (LearnNC). After conducting a study of students in 9 Midwest high schools, James Coleman "[suggested] that instead of encouraging competition in the academic setting, 'which effectively impedes the process of education,' schools should introduce a more collaborative approach to teaching." Robert Slavin built on the research of Coleman, and researched a form of cooperative learning that he named "Student Team Learning, which he described as "'instructional programs in which students work in small groups to help one another master academic content'". Slavin believes that cooperative learning can help a student "[develop] characteristics of adolescents in order to harness their peer orientation, enthusiasm, activity, and craving for independence within a safe structure". Many teachers are unwilling to give in to cooperative learning as it means that they must relinquish some of their control. However, if implemented correctly, cooperative learning has been shown to "increase student communication skills and academic achievement(s)". In the near future cooperative based learning might become the norm for all classrooms.


Article: http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/4653

Research 2

The creation of a newspaper for a service learning project can greatly benefit both those who write the paper and in this case, those about whose projects will be written in the paper. One major thing that makes writing a newspaper, or any other form of media enjoyable is the "freedom to write about issues of importance to [you]." (NY Times). Although in this instance the writing may not be important to me, it gives a sense of freedom that one cannot obtain any other way. This is a chance to prove to myself that I can rise to meet the challenges of writing and publishing a paper. But the benefits are not just one-sided. The people abut whose projects we write will benefit greatly form the paper. They will get exposure among their fellow students, and (hopefully) gain respect with both adults and their peers. Overall having a newspaper for a service learning project is something extremely beneficial.

Article: http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/24/student-journalism-three-benefits-of-newspaper-programs/?_r=0

Research 1

As I have stated in the previous post, a newspaper is a complex work that can change peoples opinions drastically. As this is so, it is not something that can be taken lightly. Just like "[e]very coin has two sides, similarly media [can] also affect positively [and negatively] the society and people."(Article 1). As a direct result of media, us as people can learn about each other within minutes, and enables us share our successes and tragedies. But newspapers can be a channel for hatred and racism. Media can be "the most influential [medium] for people to resort [to] violence. Studies have suggested that the exposure to violence on television, movies and video games make children more aggressive, fearful, less trusting and more accepting of violence." (Article 1). It is because of this powerful grasp on our psyche that the media can have that means making a newspaper cannot be taken as a menial task.

Newspapers: intricate works of art or random scribbles

Newspapers can be a powerful tool. They can persuade people to believe certain things, or to take a specific action against people or organizations. However, being a successful writer (or editor) of a newspaper is no small task. 'There are those who claim that [newspaper] design is a “matter of taste,” that [newspaper] design is subjective, that it’s just “what you like or don’t like.” Wrong.' (Colorado Editor). There are many things to take into consideration when making a newspaper. The layout of a newspaper is an extremely important aspect. A neat and well organized paper generally keeps readers more interested in reading the paper than an unorganized one. Another factor is the population to which the paper will be delivered/circulated. A large type face would help those who are older have an easier time reading without the need for a magnifying glass.There are hosts of other smaller factors that can affect a newspaper, like the style with which you present your information and the quality of the information that you present. However, being a part of a newspaper team is definitely on menial task.

References: 

i. http://www.coloradopressassociation.com/colorado-editor/number/article/volume:12/id:55

ii. http://www.slideshare.net/adeshsarwan/5-cant-go-wrong-tips-for-newspaper-design