This is your chance to ‘nail’ 50% of your A Level grade. Don’t waste the chance to optimise a top grade by using your independent study time to ensure your blog is bootiful, up to date and reflective.
Here are some tips for a TIP TOP BLOG.
- Must be mobile friendly.
- Must be a ‘scrolling’ format.
- Posts should show in their entirety to avoid the examiner having to click open.
- Typeface should be easily read.
- Appearance should be ‘media’ focused i.e. not fishing, babies, animals etc.
- All evidence should be attached as PDFs, JPEGS or embedded and access checked for examiner.
- Never just embed a link – looks messy.
- All evidence should be available to be seen by the examiner so don’t include google docs unless a pdf.
- Make sure you keep the posts in order with the blog league – the journey makes chronological sense then.
- Do not be tempted to COPY anyone else’s blogs. If you have worked on evidence, documents, presentations as a group then you can upload them. NEVER just copy other people’s reflections.
- Reflect – analyse. How does the post now help you with your own production decisions, ideas and progress? Look back and look forward to how and where you are going.
- Get someone to proof your work – as a media student you should be keen to communicate and communication is about correct spelling, grammar and punctuation:
- Common mistakes:
- ‘I’ not i
- capital letters for names, places, titles
- do not use slang such as geezer.
- avoid words that say your work looks more professional, is nice, is more interesting; WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? Be precise.
- spellings of media words such as connotation, equilibrium etc
- Don’t write essays. Always present your reflections and analysis with bullet points, paragraphs and sub-headings to make it easy on the eye.
- Remember – A BLOG POST A DAY IS THE WAY TO AN ‘A’.
YOUR FIRST BLOG POST
Read this document on how to create your Creative Critical Reflections for your blog posts.
Your first reflection is on your Media Collage.
Always look back and consider what you have learnt and how this knowledge and understanding could impact on your own magazine production.
For example, understanding why and how people engage with media will impact on your own decision making process for your magazine. In other words, you will need to make your magazine entertaining, informing, full of opportunities to react with people and also will reinforce their personal identity. If you only hit a couple of these Uses and Gratification, then you will be limiting your commercial return. It needs to be ‘all singing and all ringing’.
You should also include TERMS and THEORY if you can so refer to Blumler and Katz and how their ideas will impact on your magazine design.