When working on the computer and web based projects it is very helpful to do a little planning ahead and to learn the shortcuts or basics that will work with the program you are using. The planning ahead involves being able to picture the outcome. The more complete the picture the easier it will be to execute. I still think making a quick sketch on paper is a good starting place. For example, as I plan my e-portfolio I did a quick sketch of the the desired hierarchy of the pages. This makes helps ground your thinking as you implement the plan. Knowing your desired audience is also very helpful as it helps you plan the level of detail or specificity you will need to include as well as your voice or tone of the work you do.
Secondly, familiarize yourself as to the different ways to edit or work within the program. How do you find things on the toolbar ahead? What shortcut keys exist? I like shortcut keys as I can touch type and it means I don't have to lift my hands from home keys to execute a cut, copy or paste (for example) as I know the universal is CTL+X,C or V (did you know CTL+Z is undo?). I think the keystroke command is easier than right clicking on the mouse to see the list of commands available. They are also usually found in the toolbar above. Hmmm... I just realized that Blogger doesn't have these basic functions listed up above. I guess it is assumed nowadays that we all know these key stroke commands.
Andrew -
ReplyDeleteA few of your comments really stood out to me. First was the one about a quick sketch on paper before starting to organize your ideas & plan. I don't know if it's just my age/developed habits, but I often find myself doing this. I am a very visual learner, and I find I often want and/or need to put things on paper to organize the ideas & visualize them. I may eventually put this into the computer, but I find I like to be able to draw my arrows as I decide to move things around even though cut & paste does it much more cleanly. Again, it's probably because it's how I had always done it so it's familiar & comfortable.
The second thing you talked about really clarified something for me. I am not a person who uses the shortcut keyboard commands ("ctrl c" for example) and didn't really understand why someone would. To me it seemed easier to just right click (I don't tend to use the tool bar for cut/paste). I hadn't thought about the not having to move hands from the keyboard to the mouse. Don't you still need the mouse to highlight what you want to cut/copy, etc.? If so, then to me, I would keep on with the mouse, but again, maybe that goes back to the comfort & familiarity thing with me. Also - no, I did not know that control z was undo!