EDLD+5366+Assignment+5+(assignment+reflections)

Before the desktop publishing assignment from week four, I had never written or designed a newsletter. I was already familiar with the power of desktop publishing, and how easily it is accomplished with current software, such as Microsoft’s Publisher. From our previous assignment and readings, I had learned about design, understanding the basic concepts of contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity. To me, using the software was not challenging. Creating an interesting design proved the more challenging part. For a topic, I decided to go with something outside of the education field. Not being in the classroom (being an administrator without classroom experience) I will wait until I am better versed on these topics. Instead, I decided to create a mock family-news newsletter, to keep members of the family informed regarding current events. This is a topic I know well and the content was loosely based on actual current events. Knowledge gained during this assignment was the reinforcement of the four main design principals. I did not previously realize how much conscious effort goes into every detail of an advertisement, newsletter, or newspaper page. I learned to consider the details of every aspect of the presentation. In designing the newsletter, I applied my new knowledge regarding the column-width and font which make the text most readable. For me there was no conflict between old and new knowledge. Since I knew little regarding design prior to this course, all the information was useful and was applied to the newsletter. I learned both from reading the literature and interacting with my colleagues on the discussion board. Both of these resources improved the quality of my submission and knowing these techniques work for me will encourage me to utilize them again, in my future search for understanding technology integration into the classroom. References: Evaluating Newsletters- by A. Lamb Lamb, A. (2005). Evaluating newsletters. Retrieved from [] Planning Newsletters- by A. Lamb Lamb, A. (2005). Planning newsletters. Retrieved from [] Basic Elements of Page Design – by J. Yearwood Yearwood, J. (2009, July). Basic elements of page design
 * Week 5 Course Embedded Assignment Reflection **