As we hit the mid-way mark of the semester, it is time to start planning your final project. Your ITF is here to help!

As a class:

Start by identifying the elements you think are effective in previous course sites by browsing the Encyclopedia (shown to you at Tech Fair and examples posted by your professor). Consider especially:

1. Theme – How many columns are there? Does it have a custom header? How many navigation menus are there?
2. Menus – Where are they on the site (top, side, bottom, embedded in a map or slider)? Do they contain sub-menus?
3. Pages – How are the pages designed? Do the pages contain linked indexes? What kind of multimedia is used? How and where is the media embedded (link, image, etc)?

You will want to choose the elements you think will work best for your site, and then come together as a class and assign roles to different people in order to achieve a cohesive site. In other words, everyone should have a task to work on and you should create a schedule that makes sense in terms of workflow in order to complete the project on time.

As a group:

1. Organize your information – What topics do you wish to cover? Can you identify keywords for your project?
2. Select your media – What medium will best feature your work: video, timeline, map, images, text, or a combination?
3. Assign roles – Again, you want to think about this in terms of tasks that individuals can complete in order to realize your cohesive vision. You may want to assign a writer, editor, designer, and put someone in charge of finding and testing digital tools.

Tool Ideas:

Based on the preliminary ideas Professor Beeman described, here are a list of tools you may want to consider using to showcase your work-

• Timelines
  Tiki-Toki: Example (made by ITF Amanda)
  Dipity
  TimelineJS and this tutorial (by ITF Emily)
• Maps
  Custom Google Maps: Examples, another example, and tutorial
• NEW Maps Engine Lite: Watch the tutorial video
  Maps Marker: Example and tutorial (by ITF Maggie)
• Images
  Resizing or this tutorial ( from ITF Brian)
  Adding an image gallery tutorial ( from ITF Brian)
• Videos
  iMovie: Tutorial  from ITFs at Brooklyn, a tutorial (from ITF Amanda Favia), and tutorials from Apple
• Audio
  Finding, editing, and embedding audio tutorial (from ITF Amanda)
  GarageBand: Tutorials from ITFs and tutorials from Apple
• A bit of everything
  Example
  Tutorials (from ITF Jenny)And please remember, every image, audio clip, video, or selection of text you take from the Internet must be given proper attribution (citation! link!) and it must be free to use. Please ask your professor or an ITF for more help with understanding copyright and fair use…In order to ensure you are within your rights to use the material you have selected, please assess any work of art you utilize (for any project you embark on at Macaulay and beyond) by considering these factors:
  
  1. the purpose and character of the use (commercial or educational, transformative or reproductive);
  2. the nature of the copyrighted work (fictional or factual, the degree of creativity);
  3. the amount and substantiality of the portion of the original work used; and
  4. the effect of the use upon the market (or potential market) for the original work.

  (source, Ugoretz “Free as Air” presentation, 2013)

  Please email your ITF to set up an appointment during office hours if you need help.