Standards I

Informed Decision Making

Use technology-related terms, concepts, data input strategies, and ethical practices to make informed decisions about current technologies and their applications.

I've learned during the past year, that information is vital. I've also learned that, in technology, you can never have too much information. Technology is changing so rapidly--on a daily basis--that constant information gathering, comparing, and researching is an on-going part of staying current and viable in the world of technology.

During the past year in TATC, I can't describe how much information I've learned. When I look back at the skills I have now which I didn't possess a year ago, I am truly astonished. That may sound conceited, but absolutely not! There are still so many things that I have yet to learn, I consider myself a fledgling in the world of technoloy. I'm still trying to "find my wings" in this strange and wonderful world of Technology Applications.

Below is an example of a project I did which illustrates the Standard for Informed Decision Making. Don't be confused by the Caption and Artifact numbers. These artifacts were developed in the order they were addressed during the course, not in order by Standards.

Caption 7

Indicators:
TA TEKS 9.1, 8.30, 9.8, 7.6, 7.11, 8.1, 8.2, 8.36, 8.45, 11.2, 11.19

Artifact #7

Descriptors: Compare and contrast file size, graphic quality, download time, web page development, quality/file size trade-off

Title: Optimizing Digital Images

Course: 202 Web Authoring

Date Created: November 19, 2003

Source: Digital images taken by Kim Dean, Microsoft Office Design Gallery Live clipart

Media: Sony Mavica DSC 250, Adobe Photoshop for editting and compressing images, Dreamweaver

Description: This simple web page is designed to illustrate the trade-offs that can be taken between file size and image quality. The larger the file size, the higher the quality is illustrated by the examples on the web page. Using care, however, a web designer has several options that they can use to minimum loss of quality when compressing an image file. Three different samples of the options are illustrated using digital images in different file formats and the related file sizes.

Rationale: A web designer must always be aware of the download time of their web pages and of the different ways the download time can be minimized. This project clearly illustrates one technique that a web designer can use to balance the requirement for image quality with the related file size.

Implications for future: I have learned several techniques that I can use when developing web pages in the future. A web page viewer will not be patient enough to wait very long for a digital image to appear on their screen. I will use the techniques of image optimization when I am building web pages in the future.