Question 6

What have I learnt about technologies from the process

of constructing this product?By Atiya Boksh

During the process of constructing this product, I have used various technologies in different stages of the course to show that I am able to use different software's that it appropriate for the work produced and to expand knowledge and skills regarding to technology. By using different programmes/software’s to upload documents, this helped me achieved what I have intended.

The process - Research

In the process of constructing the product, research was one of the main important roles. This is because we had to research consistently, for example researching different news for our radio station which involved in reading news articles and finding a reliable source.

One of the software’s I have used for this stage is Windows Movie Maker which I found effective to use to produce a video about Outside Broadcasts. This enabled me to put unlimited words, sentences etc which made it easier to make as other programmes tend to have limited characters and the time for the video. For example, a video can only be 45 seconds long. However for Windows Movie Maker this wasn’t the case. It also allowed me to transfer YouTube clips easily and quickly and I used this technique to upload a few examples of what an outside broadcast is.

Also, I have listened to podcasts of radio stations such as Capital FM and BBC Radio to evaluate the differences of the type of news they broadcast, what music genre they play and to identify conventions of news. This enabled me to know what a particular audience would want to hear on a radio station. As my target audience was teenagers, listening to Capital FM helped me suggest what sort of news and music to have on my radio station. However, my target audience may want to hear something that is unique from other radio stations and not too similar to radio stations I have listened to.

Print screen of a programme used for research posted on my blog

The process - planning

Planning was another important phase of the course. One of the programmes I have used frequently is Audacity. This enabled

me to edit recordings such as cutting specific parts out and putting various recordings into one MP3 file format and to import and export files. For example, I used Audacity to upload my draft vox pop to upload it on my blog.

Using the internet was also an important source to gather information on the news stories me and my group has chosen to broadcast. For example, seeing if a news article had been updated or to check for accurate information to make sure the script for our news cast is clear and concise to the listeners.

I found Audacity effective as it is easy accessible and very easy to use. However, when I first used it, it took quite long for me to figure out particular techniques on the programme.

This progamme helped made the newscast easy to make as recordings were already in a MP3 file format and it was used for the outside broadcast, interview and vox pop.

It also makes the audience able to listen to recordings so it was also effective for them.

Print screen of outside broadcast put onto Audacity

The process - Construction

Construction was the most important part of the process and there were many technologies used during this part of the process.

For example, a voice recorder was used to record the outside broadcast, interview and vox pop. This allowed me and my group to record peoples voices easily as it is small and portable. The sound was very clear and understandable which made it easy for the audience to listen as the level of the background noise didn’t overlay peoples speeches even though the vox pop was recorded outside near a busy road. I found this effective as there were no issues while using the voice recorder.

Final Cut pro was used to add sound effects, music and to record the newscast. This was effective as it made our radio station sound more entertaining to listen and to appeal the audience. By the use of sound effects and music, the audience will be more engaged to listen.

Technology

Me and my group also used technology for communication. For example, the use of Google Mail and Whatsapp enabled us to send messages instantly. We used this to question or inform each other about meetings, updates on blogs or what we need to change for our news cast.

When interviewing a journalist, we used a smartphone to record as we had no equipment with us at the time. This shows that phones can be used for not only texting and calling but for many other purposes.

A programme I have used to store files is Dropbox. I found this really effective as it stores videos, pictures and audio files quickly and it is really easy to use as anyone can use it.

Technological convergence

Over the years, technology has improved a lot and has had a massive impact on peoples lives.

By the increase of minimisation and portability, this shows that more and more devices such as mobile phones, for example, an iPhone are becoming much slimmer allowing people to carry them anywhere.

Years ago, people could only listen to a radio station on an actual stereo but now it is listened to people through the internet, TV channels and smartphone apps.