Entry #8

Activities: Working on the Apex mobile site

Technical Information: Using Dreamweaver and other website design tools

Reflection: I feel very accomplished by all the work that I've done on the mobile site. There's a lot that I've had to learn to be able to do what I did. My dad was a tremendous help in showing me which tools were better than others and showing me a few tricks he had learned from his research. Overall, I felt very positively about the internship experience. I think that it would be a good idea for even non-AOIT students the try and get an internship, just so they have real-world work experience. I feel like this is an invaluable asset that I will be able to tap into at multiple times in my life.

Entry #9

Activities: Working on Apex mobile website

Technical Information: Using Dreamweaver and other website design tools

Reflection: It's really coming together nicely now. I've been looking at other mobile sites, especially the Google mobile site. Most of them have just a list of buttons and very simple redirections. I've incorporated that into the Apex mobile site along with some neat hyperlinks that do things like automatically calling a phone number when the hyperlink is activated. Most of this internship makes me proud. Routine things not as much, but they still give a little of pride because when I first started I had very little knowledge of the Dreamweaver software and only a basic knowledge of HTML.

Entry #8

Activities: Working on mobile version of Apex website

Technical Information: Using Dreamweaver

Reflection: I've been doing a lot of work on the mobile site. Not necessarily a finished product but definitely something someone else could easily mold into a finished product. I've got the basic layout figured out and I've figured out some cool things that phones do automatically when they follow a link from a web browser. The only things that changed about my duties is that now I'm working on my independent project; which is harder, but also more fun. I'm really excited to see how it works when they get the mobile site up. I'll be able to see what I figured out and how close to the raw version it is.

Entry #7

Activities: Updating announcements, fixing errors, researching mobile sites

Technical Information: Exploring Dreamweaver, exploring mobile website tools

Reflection: I've been poking around in Dreamweaver to see if there's a way to create the mobile website just using that. From my research I know that the newest version of Dreamweaver allows you to create a mobile website, but don't have that version of Dreamweaver at school. I'm exploring other free tools that allow you to create mobile websites. Some of them have promise, but some don't look very useful. It might come down to having to try each one and see which works best. I haven't encountered any problems with updating the regular Apex High website that my supervisor or Brian couldn't explain to me. The mobile website is proving to be a little work than I anticipated, but I like a challenge.

Entry #6

Activities: Updating announcements, fixing errors, working on mobile site

Technical Information: Mastering Dreamweaver, learning Survey Monkey, exploring Google analytics

Reflection: I've had a few kids come up to me and tell me that they "think they website looks sick." I had to tell them that, while to do make some adjustments, I did not design the entire site. They seemed slightly disappointed, but still impressed. It's really neat to think that not only do other kids not think that it's "nerdy" that I manage the website but that they're impressed because they think that it's very difficult. I explained that there is a program that makes creating the website a lot easier, but that's it also necessary to have basic HTML knowledge. To create a website from scratch I would imagine a bit more of an education in HTML, but just to edit it with Dreamweaver requires basic training. Although it isn't required it would be helpful to have a creative eye.

Entry #5

Activities: Updating announcements, fixing errors, editing template, working on mobile site

Technical Information: Mastering Dreamweaver, researching mobile websites

Reflection: Because I have extra time I'm devoting a lot of it to my supplemental project. I've decided to try and create a mobile version of the Apex High website for my supplement project. I've decided to put only parts of the full site in the mobile site. I'm currently working on a survey that will allow students to specify which portions of the full website they would like in the mobile one. It would be impractical to convert the entire website to a mobile one. My main contribution to my internship site would be keeping the website updated. I also periodically scan for errors and fix those in addition to the errors that are pointed out to me.

Entry #4

Activities: Updating announcements, fixing errors, editing menu

Technical Information: Mastering Dreamweaver, coding HTML

Reflection: I had my first experience with actually coding raw HTML. The menu of the website is done with javascript, so it's easier to edit it by going into the HTML. I've narrowed down my possible supplemental projects to either a mobile app or possibly creating a mobile version of the Apex High website. I'll run both ideas past my supervisor and see what she thinks. My classroom experiences have been helpful during my internship. Taking Computer Apps II was a great idea, because that's where I learned how to code in HTML. The only thing I didn't learn was how to use Dreamweaver, but it's easy enough to pick up or look up.

Entry #3

Activities: Updating announcements, fixing errors

Technical Information: Still mastering Dreamweaver

Reflection: Along with my mastery of Dreamweaver, my people skills are also improving. Some of the students who are in the class can be annoyingly distracting, but it's not a problem. I've been brainstorming about my supplement project and I have some pretty good ideas. The only thing I'm worried about is a few of them have rather elaborate executions. I'm going to run them by my father (he works for IBM) to see what which he thinks would be practical. My work atmosphere is set inside of a class. I often find myself having to put in my headphones to concentrate; I'm not sure how that bodes for the future. Problems and questions are posed at levels above me and once decisions are made, they are passed down to me for execution. Although I have yet to encounter it, if something is impractical I'm sure my input wouldn't fall on deaf ears. The dress code is typical school dress code which, I believe, is the dress code most open to interpretation.

Entry #2

Activities: Updating announcements, fixing errors, adjusting the template

Technical Information: Still learning how to use Dreamweaver

Reflection: I had my first encounter with having to adjust the template. It was a little bit complicated and very tedious. There is probably a shortcut that I'm just not aware of, I'll have to either look it up or ask my supervisor. I'm really enjoying this internship so far; it's broadening my horizons for possible career choices. I'm the webmaster for the Apex High website. I update the announcements on the home page, fix errors anywhere on the website, and occasionally update the template. I work with the other webmaster, Brain, who is very helpful and answers any questions I have. He's much more experienced than I am, maybe because he's been doing this since the summer.

Entry #1

Activities: Updating announcements and correcting errors on the web page

Technical Information: Learning Dreamweaver

Reflection: Dreamweaver is much easier than coding raw HTML. There are still a few tricks with Dreamweaver that I have yet to figure out, but I think over the course of my internship I'll be able to master it. I feel very informed about the happenings of Apex High because I've never before read every announcement on the home page. I've found that the students who are in the classroom while I'm working can be somewhat distracting. I'm working for Apex High School, a public high school founded in 1970. Apex High has no customers except for the students who invest their education in it.