Graphics and Media in the Rubric

The goal to have met the target for graphics includes the use of more than four, mostly user-created graphics.  Any other graphics used should be cited appropriately.  All graphics should be relevant to the site and load quickly.  I feel like I have a pretty good jump on this portion of the rubric.  Almost all of the photos on the site were taken by me.  I even had to modify one using Pixlr to add an arrow to show where parents could find certain information.  I have four graphics that I can think of that I got from other sources and I was sure to link each one to the original source and give attribution where necessary.  I do still need a page dedicated to citing resources as per the rubric.

The goal to have met the target for media is to have at least three different types of user-created media.  I do have many user-created videos on my website and I have one audio file.  This puts me in the "meets" category in media on the rubric.  I didn't add any animation to the website because I didn't feel like I could make it relevant to the goal of the website.  My videos and audio are relevant and will be helpful to my audience. 

Created Audio File

Here is the audio file I created as part of module 10.  The music came off of the Free Music Archive.  The music is licensed with a Creative Commons attribution license so whenever using the track I have to give attribution.

Oh Mallory (Josh Woodward) / CC BY 3.0

I chose to embed this audio file using the Google Reader mp3 Player.

Video To Demonstrate Fair Use

The video I created for this assignment is one I made to use on my website that shows the power of gas.  My students and I did an experiment using Mentos and soda to show just how much gas is in a bottle of Coke.  I used personal video in combination with footage from the show Mythbusters.  My use of the Mythbusters footage falls under the category of fair use because I am using the copyrighted material as an illustration of a concept.  What's also important about my use of this particular copyrighted clip is that it only adds to the original, personal footage and does not become the main focus of the video.

Music Fair Use

I found a nice blues track here that I could use in a video called "Broken" by Fit and the Conniptions.



Under it's Creative Commons License I can share this song.  The license does specify that I need to attribute this work (as seen below).

Broken (Fit and the Conniptions) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Fair Use Image

I found this image of a duck.




I snagged this image, taken by ViaMoi in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada in 2008, and you can find the original here and you can find the license for this image here.

Fair Use Video

When I opened the videos it was actually the same link to the document that explained each video.  But since I had already seen most of the videos from the clip explaining fair use that I watched first I was familiar with what the document was discussing.  I think I did a pretty good job guessing how each clip fell under fair use policies.  It was clear that each clip was used in a context other than simply showing for showings sake.  There was a clear purpose for each clip being used and I think that's the key for using videos on our websites.  It is important to remember that when we choose to incorporate video into our websites it must be in a context beyond simply "showing it for fun".  There must be some sort of reason (documentation, commentary, critique, discussion, etc.) for using the video.  I'm thinking at this point that any clips I use on my site will be videos that I have made myself, making the only fair use issue that of incidental use (if there happened to be a song playing in the background or something like that).

Website Progress

I am happy with how my website is coming.  I like the overall look of it and I have lots of my content already ready to post.  I like how I could add the Facebook feature to the left side so parents can see what's happening on the Facebook page before they click on it.  I'm thinking about adding a Java Script feature to embed a calendar to the side of the page as well.  

My next step is to add all my content to the pages that I have set up and let my parents know via Facebook and a written note that the Website is functional.  So my big push for the next couple of weeks will be doing this.

I'm trying to keep in mind with everything that this is not a site that I will be updating all that often, rather a site that parents can use as a resource throughout the entire year.  I want to create something that I can easily maintain and don't want to add too many bells and whistles (as that has been my downfall in the past when making class websites).