Interactive media assignment inspires look at the past, as well as the future

     I can't decide which was more tedious.
     Putting together the interactive map via MapQuest's intuitive - and free - map-maker was fun to play with, but I was hoping to be able to interchange the map pins. I used generic map pins to mark the schools throughout Gallia County. There was a map pin available with the graduation cap symbol, but that pin was only available in blue.
     One of the requirements of this assignment was to change the colors of each pin, so I went with the generic pins and the ease of color change. Here is what I came up with:



     An online interactive map of all schools in Gallia County, Ohio Map of Gallia County, Ohio, schools
   
     The creation of the survey was a bit more repetitious than tedious as I was attempting to remember how course surveys are constructed. Reflecting back on surveys I took take as an undergrad in New Mexico – and the course surveys I take now at Kent State, this is what I came up with:
      The most fun, and most tedious of them all, was the timeline presentation. I tried all three services presented to us in the class assignment, and all three had their quirks. I went with tiki-toki because it seemed less complicated than the other two. Here is what I came up with:




Civil War ancestor timeline - An infographic by the team at Timeline of Cornelius J. Vanderboegh, Civil War veteran

     I had fun with this one as I was able to obtain family photographs of my Civil War ancestor – his mug shot, a photo of his gravestone, a shot of his regiment and an overall shot of the Confederate prison in which he was held captive. I also used a couple of battlefield photographs from the National Park Service to denote the two battle in which he participated before falling captive to the South.
     I am probably most proud of this interactive creation for the fact that it hits close to home. The timeline really brings his war experience – and life – into a better perspective for me.
     There was so much more I could have done with this, but there is also so much more I do not know about his story. Just obtaining the mug shot and photo of his gravestone – which is in Michigan, about an eight-hour drive for me from my present location – was a bit of a chore.