2008

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Investigate

(9/22) While investigating possible projects, I decided to use the Areas of Interaction. I found two possible projects per Area:

Community and Service:

Volunteer at the Oregon Food Bank in the Fresh Alliance and Perishables Repack Room, the Volunteer Action Center, or the Food Recovery Center.

Become an attorney in the Beaverton Police Youth Peer Court.

Homo Faber:

Create a website for my neighborhood (Bauer Oaks). Conduct an experiment regarding the usage of electronics and how they affect daily life.

Find whether technology is necessary, a luxury, or overused.

Environment:

Help ISB earn the Green School’s Certificate of Merit. Measure the amount of trash and recycling my houses and aim to reduce the amount of

trash and increase recycling.

Health and Social Education:

Make a study of different cultures and how they relate to each other. Create and follow a fitness plan with set goals to be met at the end of the project.

Approaches to Learning

Make a study on time management and school work ethic. Create a program which students can follow to get ahead in school.

Collect statistics about people’s multiple intelligences and study which ones are dominant.

I don’t feel very comfortable with any of these projects, so I am going to continue researching and brainstorming more project ideas.

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(10/20) I realized today that I should do some sort of project centered around the ISB MUN program, because it would be interesting for me and would fit the Areas of Interaction nicely. However, I am still unsure of the product that I would create. A few possible ideas are: a website, a documentary video, student interviews, an ISB conference, or a written yearly plan for future MUN members to follow after I have graduated. The idea that most excites me is the website, because I already have experience in web design, and it would be useful for the ISB MUN club for the entire year. I will continue to ponder which of these ideas I will choose for my Personal Project.

(10/21) Today, I decided to create a website for my Personal Project. Although the website will be my main product, I still intend to host an ISB conference. I believe that if I create a website for the ISB MUN club, everyone in the club will be able to access all the needed information very easily. I am very excited to begin planning the website, because I have some ideas from previous websites that I have built. For example, I was going to create a website for my dad’s company, but in the end I decided that it would be too much work for me. However, I created a basic design of the website. I think I can use this for my project.

Reflection:

During the investigative portion of my project, I brainstormed many ideas for my Personal Project. I came up with most of the project ideas, but my mom helped with a few of them. For example she came up with the idea of creating a website for my neighborhood. I would have never thought of that idea if she hadn’t suggested it to me.

I had a bit of trouble coming up with two ideas for each Area of Interaction. I’m not a very creative person, and it took me a few hours to brainstorm all of the ideas listed in my process journal. I think that was the only roadblock that I faced throughout the investigative portion of my project.

As far as my project progressing, I feel that I have been very effective in coming up with an interesting project that helps many other people. It took me a long time to reach the final project, but I believe that all the steps I took were useful and necessary in the process.

If I were to do the investigate section of my project again, I’d come up with different project ideas that were more interesting to me. I would also contact a few of the volunteer offices to see what other kinds of work are available for me to do, so that I have more options.

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Plan

(10/21) First of all, I need to create a graphic part of my website. I need it to look professional and appealing to anyone who views it. I know that I’m not a very creative artist, but I also know that I have very good Photoshop skills. I have one idea that I’ve been saving for the right moment, and I think that it might be perfect to use for the ISB MUN website. It’s modeled after the new Web 2.0 movement.

The header is mostly black, and features a two-part gradient with a glass-like reflection. It will say “ISB Model United Nations” in white, and that text will be reflected as if the original text was standing on a mirror. The entire header will have a drop shadow to make it look more realistic.

The background of the body will be modeled after the New York Times’ website. It will have diagonal stripes of very light gray, alternating with white stripes. I hope that it will be light enough so that it will not be distracting.

The main portion of the body will be a white rectangle with rounded corners. The rectangle will have shadows on it so that it looks more realistic. It will also have a drop shadow. This portion will be put on top of the background to create the body. All of the website’s text and other information will be displayed within this rectangle.

In the lower right region of the header, there will be four buttons to serve as links to the other pages of the site: “Home”, “Research”, “Calendar”, and “Contact”. The text of these buttons will be white. There will be a strip of a solid color under each word, and each word will be assigned to a different color. These colors serve to contrast from the black of the header, and to make the buttons stand out.

I will create all of these components in Adobe Photoshop. I hope to have them all created and put together in Adobe Dreamweaver as a template by October 30th. These are two very useful and powerful software applications that will help me to create graphics and put together my website.

(10/28) Today, I decided what will go on each of the pages. I want the website to be as simple as possible, while still retaining its professional look. I am going to use tabs on each page to create “sub-pages”. This eliminates extra, unneeded pages.

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On the “Home” page, I will have simply a news feed. This will be the club’s source of news and information. For example, if I need to let the club know about a changed due date, I will post a news article on the blog, and the club members will periodically check the page to see new articles. I am going to create a posting page so that I can post new articles even if I am away from home.

On the “Research” page, I will have tabs for different types of research links. There will be one tab for general MUN links, and another for India-related links. I think that I will also eventually categorize the India-related links by committees, so that delegates can access links that are helpful to them.

The “Calendar” page is meant to have information specifically about the MUN club at ISB. There will be two tabs: Calendar and General. These tabs are self-explanatory. I want the calendar tab to be in front, so that delegates can view upcoming events and due dates very easily. The “General” tab will include information such as which committees delegates are on, club requirements, and attendance.

The “Contact” page will simply be a form that will allow visitors to send an email to either of the two ambassadors. If a visitor has a question about the website or about the ISB MUN club, the contact form will be an easy way to get more information.

I believe that these pages will perform the task of being simply informational. They won’t have any attractive features yet, but I think I can work on that later. Right now, I’m just focusing on making the website functional enough so that people will want to use it, even just once in a while.

Reflection:

I made a lot of decisions during the planning section of my project. Obviously, I decided the basic layout for the website. I chose only four pages for my website because I want it to be as simple and accessible as possible – no one likes disorganization and lots of clutter. Although the website may appear simple on the outside, it will be very informative on the inside.

My progress for this portion of the project was very smooth, because I already had a basic template and idea for what I wanted the website to look like. Because I had already created a test mini-site for a friend, I just had to decide what to call the pages. The thing that will take most of my time is actually putting stuff into the pages. Other than that, the basic planning and creating of the website template did not have any roadblocks.

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I find that my project is progressing very steadily. Now that I have a basic idea of what I want the website to look like, I feel that I have won half the battle. Usually, when I am designing websites, I get stuck on the visual design, and eventually give up because I can’t decide on what to make the site look like. Now that I have an idea that I like, I feel more confident that I will be able to finish the website, and do well all throughout my project.

If I ever go back and did the planning section of my project again, I might change the “Calendar” page to “Program” or “Club” right away, because I now know that I can’t limit myself to just putting a calendar on that page. In fact, I might even change the template altogether and allow myself room for more than just four buttons and pages, because sometimes it’s frustrating to be stuck with only four pages. I like the tabs on each page, but sometimes it feels like people misjudge my website and believe it is too simple for everyday use. Next time, I will probably rethink how many pages I want to include on my website.

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Create

(10/30) I finished creating all of the graphics for the website today. It didn’t take me very long to create the graphics by themselves; it took me a very long time to cut the graphics up to be ready to place into Dreamweaver.

In order to create the website and make it look uniform, I needed to place all the graphics together in a way that makes them look good. However, when building web pages, there are many limitations to how you can put graphics together. For example, the internet is rectangle-based – no curves. Because of this, I had to cut my background image into three different parts: the curved top, the rectangular middle, and curved bottom. Other than that, all of the graphics are ready to be placed together.

(10/31) I placed all of the graphics together in Dreamweaver today. It took a little while to create all the tables to place the graphics in, but it eventually worked. Most of the work was in making the tables correctly sized so that the graphics looked seamless. Otherwise, there would have been big, ugly gaps between random parts of the website. I tested the main page in a web browser to make sure that it looked good. I liked what I saw, except that it wasn’t very eye-catching and interesting. I think that if I create some rollover effects on the buttons, it will be more interesting.

(11/7) Today I created rollover effects for the buttons in the header. There are two states for each button: “off”, when the mouse is on hovering over it, and “on”, when the mouse is hovering over it. I decided to make the colors in each button a bit paler in the “off” state, so that when the mouse hovers over it, the color will change to a much brighter shade. This creates dynamic interest in the web page.

To make the rollover effects, I simply edited the original buttons in Photoshop to make the colors paler. Then, I made a duplicate of each button, and changed the colors to brighter shades. Finally, I used JavaScript behaviors in Dreamweaver to create the “off” and “on” states for each button.

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(11/13) I finished the news article posting system today. I believe that this component of the website is the most technically difficult part to complete, because it involves so many different things.

In order to create the system, I had to first create a data table in the MySQL table. I called it tbl_isb_blog, conveniently enough. Within the table, I created five different columns: number, title, author, date, and body. The “number” column serves to place the articles in order from newest to oldest. The other four columns are self-explanatory. When I was creating the table, I had to look up a few SQL commands because I had forgotten them, but it didn’t take much longer than I had planned.

After creating the table in the database, I had to create a posting form on the website. This part was very easy. I just created text fields for title, author, date, and body. Then, I connected Dreamweaver to the database, so it could create the code necessary to make the form active.

Lastly, I created a dynamic table on the home page of the website. The table is dynamic because it changes every time a new article is posted. I also set the table to show only the last ten posts, because otherwise the home page would be too long.

I did not have any problems while creating the posting system, and when I tested it for the first time, it worked perfectly.

(11/23) I uploaded the entire website to my web server today. Today is the first day that my website is actually online and fully functional. I don’t have much on the website yet, but so far I have an introductory news article, basic club information, calendar, last year’s history, and a contact form. I hope to start collecting research links soon.

(11/28) I searched for a few research links on Google, such as India’s position and view points on different world issues. I placed a few of these links on the research page, along with some of the official Oregon MUN documents. I think I need to put more links on the page quicker, because some of the delegates are clueless as to where to begin researching.

(12/7) Today I did two things: place a dragon logo into the header, and create meeting plans. To create the logo, I simply searched for a drawing of a simple dragon on Google. The only issue I had with this is that I needed a perfectly horizontal dragon with clear edges. This took me a

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little while to find, but I found one eventually. After finding one, I just opened it in Photoshop, painted it completely white, resized it, and placed it into the header file. Finally, I created a small reflection, and uploaded it to the web server.

Creating the meeting plans was very easy. All I had to do was use a template for my Boy Scout troop meetings and change it a little bit. Then, I had to upload the plans to the website. Now, delegates can see what will be happening at future meetings.

(12/12) I revamped the research page today. I have been slowly adding research links every day, but today I actually separated all of the links into committees. Each MUN committee now has a section for links, including the General Assemblies. I hope this will allow delegates to access the links easier, and encourage more people to use the research page.

(12/15) Today, I decided to change the name of the “Calendar” page to “Program”. This allows me to put more tabs in the page that do not relate to the calendar. The page is meant to hold all sorts of information about the club. I also added a “History” tab, so that I can write a brief history of last year’s club. I hope that future years of MUN delegates will read the history and appreciate what we did last year.

(1/9) After taking a break from the website, I decided to start working on it again today. I started by adding a photo gallery to the “Program” page. I placed the gallery in its own tab. To create the gallery, I used Coffeecup Flash Photo Gallery, which is very useful software that creates good-looking Flash galleries. All I had to do was specify the size and color scheme of the gallery, and add images, and then upload the gallery to the web server. So far, there are only a few pictures from last year and a few pictures of this year’s meetings, but I hope to take more pictures and add them as I go along.

(2/20) I have been taking lots of pictures of the weekly MUN meetings, and I finally added them to the photo gallery today. I created two galleries within the main gallery: Meetings and ISB Model World Summit. The summit was an event that ISB hosted on February 15, and students from around Beaverton came to practice their debating skills and to prepare for the conference. Mr. Fox took many pictures of this event. Now, there are a lot of interesting pictures to view in the photo gallery. I believe that the gallery serves as a supplement to the

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written history, so that when future MUN delegates view them, they will be better informed as to what happened in previous years.

(3/1) I am a few days ahead of schedule, which is nice to know. Today, I added critical functionality to the calendar. I added sliding boxes to each date, so that when people click on them, they slide open to reveal a basic plan for that event. I decided to get rid of the old meeting plans, because they were too much of a hassle to open. Each of the old meeting plans were in their own PDF files, and it took too long to open each one. With the new system, delegates can simply click on the date, and watch it slide open, and then read the short description inside.

To create this sliding feature, I made use of the Spry framework within Dreamweaver. Spry is based off AJAX, which stands for asynchronous JavaScript and XML. In short, Spry is meant to simplify everything from data display to visual effects. All I had to do was convert each table cell containing a date to a Spry sliding box, then type a short plan or description into each box. Finally, I had to upload the Spry files to the website so that the sliding boxes can run off the framework. I hope this new feature helps the delegates take more advantage of the website.

(3/11) Today, I added another new feature to the website. I decided that it was too much of a hassle to have to email the club members each time there was a new article posted on the website. Now, every time I post a new article, the website will automatically send an email to every club member notifying them of the new post.

To create this system, I had to dive into the complicated PHP code on the posting page. I looked for the part where it sends the text into the database, and started my new code just before this section. I added PHP code to send an email. In the “To” section, I simply copied and pasted the club email list. In the “Subject” section, I typed “New Post at MUN Website”. In the “Message” section, I just typed a few sentences letting the delegates know that there is a new post on the website, and to go read it because it’s probably very important.

I tested the system as soon as I had finished it, and although it took about five minutes to arrive, the email system did indeed work. Now that it is in place, I do not have to send emails to the club myself, unless I don’t want it to show up as a post on the website.

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Reflection:

I think that there were a lot of modifications and adjustments that were necessary throughout the creating stage of my project. For example, I had to go back and change the name of the “Calendar” page to “Program”, so I could put stuff other than just a calendar on that page. Most of the decisions that I made were because I realized that something I had originally planned was not going to work. I had to adjust parts of the website to make them more functional and accessible to anyone who used it.

My progress during this stage was smooth in general, with some rough parts. Most of the time, I knew what I was doing, and I was following my Plan of Action. My Plan of Action had specific due dates for each component of the website, so I knew how to manage my time. The only times my progress became rough was when I changed parts of the website halfway through the create stage, because I decided that they were not good enough.

One major roadblock that I dealt with throughout the course of my project was the fact that I limited myself to only four pages. In fact, one of the pages was just a contact form, and another was just a news blog. So, I really only had two pages to put all sorts of information on. This was a roadblock because I had to decide how to manage and organize all the different pieces of information I needed to put on the two pages. It took me a while to figure out what to put where, but eventually, using tabs fixed the problem.

If I were to go back and create my project again, I might change a few things. Firstly, I probably would have kept all the original Photoshop files so that I could modify them easily if I need to. When I actually created my website, I somehow lost the original Photoshop files, so every time I wanted to modify the graphic design, I had to go to lengthy measures to do so. I would probably also create a more sophisticated user authentication system for the news blog, so that any of the ambassadors could post news articles.

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Evaluate

(4/22) After a long year of hard work, I have finally finished my Personal Project. My website is complete and has been used many times by many of the MUN club members.

I believe that my final product mostly matches my original goal. My goal was to create a website that was both attractive and useful to MUN club members and prospective club members. Although I don’t yet know how useful my website is for prospective members, I know that this year’s club members used my website a lot. They used it to find out about upcoming events, find research links, look at photos, and many other things. I know there are a lot of things that I could have done to make the website even better than it is, but I believe that there are no significant or noticeable flaws in its current design and application. Therefore, my final product matches my original goal.

In terms of the aesthetic qualities of my website, I think that it looks really good, considering that I am not very artistic and have never been. Although the color scheme is mostly shades of gray and black, the contrast and modern “Web 2.0” look is very attractive to anyone who looks at the website. Some of my website even reminds me of designs that Apple Computers uses for their website and some of their applications, including iTunes. This must be a good thing, because Apple is known for their innovative and attractive visual designs.

In terms of practical qualities of my website, I believe that I achieved exactly what I have been striving for: sophistication without complication. Although there were some issues with having only four pages, I think that I worked around that complication very well. Now, anyone who views the website can find information very easily, because they only have to choose from four main buttons, then up to four tabs under two of the buttons. Although there is a lot of information on the website, I think that it has been placed in an easy-to-use format.

I think that I could improve the quality of my website if I surveyed everyone in the MUN club, and even possibly put an online survey on the website. That way, I can gain valuable opinions about the website from the people who will actually be using it on a daily basis. Another idea is to implement a more sophisticated user system, so that club ambassadors have some control over the research links and news articles on the website.

My efficiency during the project probably left something to be desired. I believe that although I was on schedule most of the time, I could have definitely been more efficient. One way I could have done this is to have actually mapped out which days I would work on which components, instead of simply assigning due dates. Most of the time, I finished each

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component on the due date, when I could have finished it a week before. Another way I could have been more efficient is to have set aside time specifically for working on my website. All year long, I would get distracted by other things while working on my project. This definitely slowed my progress down. I believe that if I had devoted time to only working on my project, my progress would have been significantly more efficient.

In terms of involvement, I believe that I fluctuated between the different stages of my Personal Project. During the investigating stage, I definitely was not as involved as I should have been. I don’t particularly enjoy researching, especially about project ideas that don’t interest me. I think that if I had researched project ideas that were interesting to me, such as something involving technology or the sciences, I would have been more involved. During the planning stage, I was somewhat more involved, but it was hard to be totally involved because I already had a basic template. All I had to do at that stage was to re-emphasize the graphic design and define the layout of the website. Since I have designed lots of websites, planning them has become something of a second nature to me; I do it very quickly. I was most involved during the creation stage of my project. Since this took up most of the year, I had to be involved, or else my project wouldn’t have turned out well. Plus, I enjoy creating websites. I worked all year on different components of the website. I also modified parts of it when needed. You could probably say that I “actively” created my project.

All in all, I think that my Personal Project meets my original intent, and it is mostly a success.