HKU MITE6323

What do I already know
Images, maps, diagrams, symbols, drawings are all effective visuals.  With the empowerment of technology, visuals can become interactive, more vivid, interesting and easier to comprehend.   
What do I want to know
I’ve tried using PowerPoint to develop a learning object, but I’ve never tried using Flash to do so.  I’m looking forward to learn Flash to create some interactive and animated infographics.  
What have I learnt
Reflecting on the use of visuals for communications and the use of languages, I thought of ancient Chinese characters and Egyptian Hieroglyphs.  They are symbols or simple drawings and have been evolved to languages being used nowadays.  In order to understand a language, we have to spend time learning it.  Visuals are more direct; getting to understand the presented meanings is less demanding than learning a language.  I reckon westerners would be able to interpret the oracle bone script more than the contemporary Chinese characters.  Visuals can break through the language barrier.  For instance, the Hadol’s satiric map of Europe in 1870 (shown in this session’s PowerPoint), I found it very enlightening and interesting.  If I were to read the underlying meanings in texts, I might be fast asleep.  However, in order to fully comprehend the embedded messages of visuals with just images, I reckon one should have imagination, or even an understanding of the context and background of the illustrations. 
I enjoyed Task 1 during the lesson.  The task gave us an opportunity to share our opinions on the important elements of an effective visual.  I learnt that effective visuals need to have:
-  appropriate use of colours
-  concise writings
-  illustrations or images that are inline with the topic
-  use of graphics or diagrams to present information
-  effective arrangement of text, images, graphs and colours
-  careful design taking into account the targeted audience
This is exactly what I want to learn as mentioned in my session 1’s reflection.  Perhaps there are some more to be learnt in the coming sessions.  Now, Task 2 is going to be a challenge for me to use what I’ve learnt. 
Task 2
I’ve done task 2 by myself.  It is being done with PowerPoint.  When designing the visual, I have taken into account the followings:
- tried to use images for illustration
- different colours have been used to go inline with the theme and facilitate the reading of the texts
- key points are being extracted from the paragraphs and are shown in points form
- interactivity has been built in to allow readers to choose and explore at their will in whatever sequence.
Hope you all enjoy the visual and I’m looking froward to your comments.