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Capstone Blog Post #7 – Capstone Share and Overall Reflection

Have you ever had to present a TED Talk that you worked really hard on? Well, I did. Today, I recorded my Capstone TED Talk on YouTube. But this Friday, I am going to present my TED Talk to a large audience.

When I recorded my TED Talk today and whenever I come up to present my TED Talk to my class, I always realize that I’m not that nervous or scared. However, the first time I presented my TED Talk, I was nervous. I think this is because the more and more I present, the less nervous and scared I am.

I think the easiest part of my whole Capstone project was to make my slideshow. This was easy because all I had to do was find a picture that matched what I was saying on each slide and paste it on there. For each slide, I tried to make the picture fit the whole slide, but some of the pictures I needed didn’t fit the slide. Even if I tried to make it fit, it would either end up getting cut off the slide, or stretched out. Making the slideshow was the easiest part, but there were still some challenges inside of that. I think the two hardest parts of Capstone were writing the essay and memorizing my script. It’s very challenging for me to memorize things, so I practiced and practiced at school and at home. In the end, I was very surprised that I memorized most of my script.

Overall, Capstone was a very fun, exciting, and new experience. I learned many things along the way from when I came up with my topic, to presenting my TED Talk to an audience. Capstone was such a great experience and I will never forget it.

Here’s my TED Talk recording:

Capstone Blog Post #6 – Preparing For My Final Presentation

Have you ever done a TED Talk in front of a large audience? Well, I am going to this Friday! And in order to do that, I have to prepare. So keep on reading if you want to learn how I prepared for my TED Talk.

Once I finished my essay on answering my main inquiry question, I transformed it into a script. I copied and pasted my information from my essay into my script. I had to change my script a lot so it would fit the time limit. Capstone TED Talks had to be five to six minutes. The first time I timed my presentation, it was four minutes and thirty seconds. And so I had to add more to my script to make it more than five minutes. After I changed my script a few times, I finally got it to five minutes and twelve seconds. Success!

Here’s my script:

Slide 1: Hi. I’m Alina. For those of you who watch YouTube, have you ever wondered how it’s changed over time? Well, I did. So today, I am here to talk about YouTube. My main inquiry question is how has YouTube evolved over time? Hope you enjoy!

Slide 2: First off, you might be wondering, what even is YouTube and what does it allow you to do? Well, YouTube is a video-sharing website. People can watch, upload, and comment on videos. YouTube offers a wide variety of videos. There are videos posted from all different kinds of people. The site allows people to add keywords or tags to videos. Tags used on YouTube help people categorize, organize, and search for videos on specific topics.

Slide 3: YouTube makes it simple for most people to present videos to the world. The site allows people from all over the world to share videos with others. YouTube has all kinds of videos. For everyone who uploads a video, others have an opinion about it. People are allowed to comment on videos and share them across the Internet. On YouTube, people can also rate the quality of a video.

Slide 4: YouTube was founded in 2005 by the American Graphic Designer Chad Hurley and two computer scientists, the Taiwanese-born Steve Chen and the German-born Jawed Karim. Since YouTube first came out, it has become the #1 place for video content online, attracting over one billion users.

Slide 5: There is a new “play all” button for playlists coming out which will make it easier for people who like to watch playlists on YouTube. A lot of “bug fixes” are coming out as well. Many people have reported that comments were not loading for them. But that is an issue that has been fixed.

Slide 6: During one period of time, YouTube videos only worked on computers. Now, people are able to watch videos on computers, tablets, smartphones, and more. This is another example of how YouTube has changed.

Slide 7: When you search for a video on YouTube, the algorithm decides which videos it will show you and in what order based on what people watch and what they don’t watch, how much time people spend to watch a video, how new a video is, how often a channel uploads a new video, the likes of the video, the dislikes of the video, the “not interested” feedback, how much time people spend on that platform, and how quickly the popularity of a video increases or doesn’t.

Slide 8: You may not believe this, but YouTube is actually struggling to make money. YouTube still makes money, but not a lot. In fact, YouTube’s CEO Susan Wojcicki said that YouTube is “still in investment mode”. However, when YouTube does make money, one of the ways they do is when people pay them to play their ad before a video. YouTube was far from making money when Alphabet Inc. bought it in 2006. Google decided to buy YouTube because it had a problem with how many videos it offered.

Slide 9: Keeping the people who watch YouTube a lot as content creators is a challenge. Buffering is another challenge YouTube faces. People can only watch videos once it has fully buffered (loaded). Older electronics and places where the internet is bad can cause slow loading. Videos that take too long to load can make people frustrated and leave the site.

Slide 10: Copyright issues are still a problem. YouTube tries to protect copyright, but as more and more people upload videos, YouTube struggles to secure permissions fast enough. Another problem is that YouTube must also keep people watching after the click on their first video link. To make this happen, YouTube tries to predict what kinds of videos people will want to see. But the problem is that YouTube doesn’t know exactly what people want to see. As much as that is a problem, another serious problem is that most people skip the ads before videos which results in YouTube videos making almost no money at all.

Slide 11: Overall, YouTube has evolved over time in a few major ways. One way is that a lot of “bug fixes” are coming out. Many people have reported that comments were not loading for them. But that is an issue that has been fixed. Another way is that YouTube has became available on more devices than just computers. Before, YouTube only worked on computers, but now it’s changed. A final way is that YouTube used to rank it’s videos by how many times people have watched them, but now YouTube ranks videos by how much time is has been watched for. And that is how YouTube has evolved over time. For more information, visit my blog at blogs.scarsdaleschools.org/ayang26. Or, scan this QR code. Thanks for listening to my presentation!

After finishing writing my script, I started my slideshow. The images on each slide were based on my script. Making the slideshow was easy since I already wrote my script. It only took me one hour to make my slideshow. And of course, once my slideshow was done, the next thing I had to do was to rehearse. Everyday during Capstone, I would partner up with someone and we would practice our presentations over and over.

Overall, preparing for my TED Talk took a lot of time, concentration, patience, and most of all: effort. But it was also a great experience. I can’t wait to present on Friday!

 

Capstone Blog Post #5 – Answering My Main Inquiry Question

Have you ever wondered how YouTube has evolved over time? Well, when researching about how YouTube has evolved over time, it’s important to know what YouTube is, what it allows you to do, what some of the major changes related to the kinds of videos, technology, and playlists are, how YouTube works now compared to how it worked before, how YouTube makes money now compared to how it worked before, and what some problems YouTube still faces are.

What is YouTube and what does it allow you to do? Well, YouTube is a video-sharing website. People can watch, upload, and comment on videos. YouTube offers a wide variety of videos. There are videos posted from all different kinds of people. The site allows people to add keywords or tags to videos. Tags used on YouTube help people categorize, organize, and search for videos on specific topics. YouTube makes it simple for most people to present videos to the world. YouTube has all kinds of videos. For everyone who uploads a video, others have an opinion about it. People are allowed to comment on videos and share them across the Internet. On YouTube, people can rate the quality of a video. YouTube was founded in 2005 by the American Graphic Designer Chad Hurley and two computer scientists, the Taiwanese-born Steve Chen and the German-born Jawed Karim. Since YouTube first came out, it has become the #1 place for video content online, attracting over one billion users. YouTube allows people from all over the world to share videos with others. And that’s what YouTube is and what it allows you to do.

What are some major changes related to the kinds of videos, technology, and playlists? Well, there is a new “play all” button for playlists coming out which will make it easier for people who like to watch playlists on YouTube. A lot of “bug fixes” are coming out as well. Many people have reported that comments were not loading for them. But that is an issue that has been fixed. New special icons for playlists are also coming out which will show if a specific playlist is private or not. YouTube videos became available on more devices than just computers, telephones, and televisions. In December, 2011, YouTube gets a major website design. Then, later on in August, 2017, YouTube got a new logo for the first time.

How does YouTube work now compared to how it worked before? Well, during one period of time, YouTube videos only worked on computers. Now, people are able to watch videos on computers, tablets, smartphones, and more. Before, YouTube ranked it’s videos by how many times people have watched them, but now YouTube ranks videos by how much time is has been watched for. When you search for a video on YouTube, the algorithm decides which videos it will show you and in what order based on what people watch and what they don’t watch, how much time people spend to watch a video, how new a video is, how often a channel uploads a new video, the likes of the video, the dislikes of the video, the “not interested” feedback, how much time people spend on that platform, and how quickly the popularity of a video increases or doesn’t.

How does YouTube make money now compared to how it made money before? Well, believe it or not, but YouTube is actually struggling to make money. YouTube still makes money, but not a lot. In fact, YouTube’s CEO Susan Wojcicki said that YouTube is “still in investment mode”. However, when YouTube does make money, one of the ways they do is when people pay them to play their ad before a video. YouTube was far from making money when Alphabet Inc. bought it in 2006. Google decided to buy YouTube because it had a problem with how many videos it offered.

What are some problems YouTube still faces? Well, keeping the people who watch YouTube a lot as content creators is a challenge. Buffering is another challenge YouTube faces. People can only watch videos once it has fully buffered (loaded). Older electronics and places where the internet is bad can cause slow loading. Videos that take too long to load can make people frustrated and leave the site. Copyright issues are still a problem. YouTube tries to protect copyright, but as more and more people upload videos, YouTube struggles to secure permissions fast enough. Another problem is that YouTube must also keep people watching after they click on their first video link. To make this happen, YouTube tries to predict what kinds of videos people will want to see. This is a problem because YouTube doesn’t know exactly what videos people will want to see. As much as that is a problem, another serious problem is that most people skip the ads before videos which results in YouTube videos making almost no money at all.

In conclusion, YouTube has evolved over time in a few major ways. One way is that a lot of “bug fixes” are coming out. Many people have reported that comments were not loading for them. But that is an issue that has been fixed. Another way is that YouTube has became available on more devices than just computers. Before, YouTube only worked on computers, but now it’s changed. A final way is that YouTube used to rank it’s videos by how many times people have watched them, but now YouTube ranks videos by how much time is has been watched for. And that is how YouTube has evolved over time.

 

Here are the sources I used:

  • Beattie, Andrew. “How YouTube Makes Money Off Videos.” Investopedia, Investopedia, 12 Mar. 2019, www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/053015/how-youtube-makes-money-videos.asp.
  • Cooper, Paige. “How Does the YouTube Algorithm Work? A Guide to Getting More Views.” Hootsuite Social Media Management, 3 June 2019, blog.hootsuite.com/how-the-youtube-algorithm-works/.
  • “How Does YouTube Work? – How It Works.” How It Works, 5 Mar. 2019, www.howitworksdaily.com/how-does-youtube-work/.
  • “How to Make Money on YouTube?” Vertical Sight, 17 Nov. 2018, verticalsight.com/how-many-views-do-you-need-to-make-money-on-youtube/.
  • Zaidi, Zia. “Here Are Some Major Changes You Might See on YouTube.” Digital Information World, 10 Mar. 2019, www.digitalinformationworld.com/2019/03/youtube-live-control-room-play-all-button-for-playlists.html.

 

Capstone Blog Post #4 – Site Visit

Have you ever been to the Hall Of Science in Queens, New York? Well, I have. In fact, I just went there a week ago for my site visit for my Capstone project on YouTube. There wasn’t really any other place to visit so I thought maybe the Hall Of Science would have something about technology that could relate to YouTube. But I was wrong. There was barely anything there to help me with my research.

In the beginning, I had absolutely no idea where to go for my site visit. So then I searched up some places that could be a possibility and found a place in New York City called YouTube Space. But there was no phone number for that place so my dad had to go there and ask if I could visit that place sometime. They said I wasn’t allowed because only people who work for YouTube or need to record/film YouTube videos can go there. And so I looked up others places to go but couldn’t find anything useful. Then I remembered that I could do my site visit at a museum. So I tried looking for any technology museums that might have anything to do with YouTube, but there were none. After that, I tried an even broader topic and tried looking for science museums. I found two: The Hall Of Science and The Liberty Science Center. In the end, I chose the Hall Of Science because on their website, it had more possible things that might help me than the Liberty Science Center did.

When it was actually time for my site visit, my dad took me to the Hall Of Science. When we got there, we looked at the map of the museum, and we didn’t see any exhibits or anything related to YouTube or technology. But we still looked around, otherwise, it’d be a waste of time since the drive from my house to there was forty-five minutes. There were many exhibits on designing things but barely anything that could help me.

Overall, the site visit was really fun and even though it didn’t help me much, it was still a great experience for me.

Capstone Blog Post #3 – Interview

Have you ever interviewed someone who works for YouTube? Well, I certainly have. In fact, I just interviewed someone who works for YouTube. For my Capstone project, I decided to interview James, a friend of my dad’s friend who works for YouTube.

At first, I couldn’t find anyone to interview. And I mean ANYONE. There weren’t many people that worked for YouTube around and if I interviewed a technology teacher, he/she wouldn’t be able to give me much information about my specific topic: YouTube. So I talked to my parents and for the first few days, they had no idea either. Then one day, my dad had an idea. If there were no people around here to interview, why no do the interview by phone so that way, we could interview someone farther away from us! And so my dad asked his friends, who then asked their friends, and soon enough, I had an interview planned.

I had my interview on a Saturday night. I called James, the person I was interviewing, and he picked up. First, I introduced myself. I said something like, “Hi, I’m Alina. My Capstone topic is YouTube and my main inquiry question is: How has YouTube evolved over time?” Then I asked him a few questions about him to get to know him. Soon, I got started into my real questions. While the interview was going on, I was recording everything so I could take notes on it later and listen back to it. The interview took about fifteen to twenty minutes.

So far, Capstone has been going really well. It’s very fun and I can’t wait for the next part of this project!

Capstone Blog Post #2 – Finding A Main Inquiry Question and Sub Questions

Do you know what makes up a good main inquiry question? Well, to get a good main inquiry question, you have to make sure your question is practical, answerable, and has an objective basis. But your question can’t be too personal, the answer to the question can’t be already known, and the answer to the question can’t be a simple fact.

For the next part of my Capstone project, I had to come up with a main inquiry question that I wanted to research inside of my topic, YouTube. After that, I had to come up with sub questions that would help me answer my main inquiry question. My top two choices for my main inquiry question were: “How has YouTube evolved over time?” And: “How has YouTube become so successful and how has is impacted the world?” At first, I didn’t know which one to use, but soon I realized that “How has YouTube evolved over time?” was a better main question and was open to a long answer.

Some of my sub questions are: “How did YouTube work when it first came out?” “How does YouTube work now?” “What are some major changes related to the kinds of videos, technology and ads that are played before the videos begin?” “Why was YouTube created?” And “How did people feel about YouTube when it first came out compared to how they feel about it now?” Sub questions didn’t need to fall under all of the requirements for a main inquiry question, but they still had to be a question where the answer wasn’t a simple fact.

I can’t wait for the next part of this project!

Capstone Blog Post #1 – Choosing A Topic

Have you ever been stuck in a situation where you had to pick one out of two things that you both liked? Well, I certainly have. In fact, I have just gone through that situation from choosing a topic for my classes new project: Capstone.

For capstone, I had two topics I wanted to research. Marine life and YouTube. At first, I didn’t know which one to use. My teacher Mrs. Cooper told my class that we would try out a few different activities to determine which topic would be our final one. One of the activities were to see if you could come up with some questions related to each topic. You also had to come up with questions that fall under different categories like math, science, politics, etc. But they still had to be related to your topic. After trying out many more activities, I finally figured out which topic I would use. And that was YouTube.

I chose YouTube because I love watching it and I want to learn more about it. I have a lot of interest in it and really want it to be my Capstone topic. As much as I wanted marine life to be my capstone topic, I thought YouTube would be easier since my class tried coming up with questions for our topics and I realized I couldn’t come up with many questions for marine life, but I could for YouTube.

Overall, I am happy with my topic choice. I think Capstone is going to be a really fun and exciting experience and I can’t wait!

Immigration Blog Post #4 – Reflection On The Entire Process

Overall, I think this project was fun and interesting. Even though there were some challenges, it was still a great experience. I learned a lot from it. I am happy with my final video and wouldn’t change it at all.

During this immigration project, there were many challenges. For instance, narrating the video was a challenge. Writing the script was also a challenge. But no project would be interesting if there weren’t some challenges involved in it and you wouldn’t be able to learn anything if it were so easy.

I am happy with my final immigration video because I spent a lot of time working on it and it turned out just like I wanted it. There were several pictures and narrations. I think if I had a second chance to re-do my video, I would keep it the same.

This project has been such a fun, exciting, and interesting experience for me. I learned a lot about my mom’s journey to America and her immigration process. I enjoyed learning about her past experience. I will never forget this project.

Immigration Blog Post #3 – Creating The Spark Video

Have you ever heard about Adobe Spark Video? Well, I have. In fact, I’ve actually used it to create a video before.

After my interview with my mom, I started putting together a video of her immigration process. My class was assigned to use Adobe Spark Video, so that’s what I used. The easiest part was probably putting pictures into the video. But the hardest part was writing the script and narrating throughout the video.

Putting the pictures in wasn’t hard. Since I had an outline of my video, I had a basic idea of what my video was going to look like. In the outline, I wrote what I was going to say on what slide, and what images and text I wanted on each slide. So I just looked at what I wanted on each slide, and imported it into my video.

Writing my script and narrating it through the video was complicated. I had to look at my questions and my mom’s answers to them. Then, I had to come up with what I was going to say in the video, based on the question and answer. In my video, I narrated about my mom’s experience immigrating and her story. I think that was the hardest part.

Overall, creating this video was very fun and exciting. It was challenging at some points but I learned a lot from it. This was a great experience.

Immigration Blog Post #2 – Interview

Do you know what it’s like to get interviewed? Well, my mom surely does. Why? Because I interviewed her for my immigration project.

After I finished coming up with questions for my interview, I actually had my interview. I didn’t have much of a problem with finding a time to have my interview since I was interviewing my mom and I could see her everyday. However, my mom was also very busy everyday so I had to wait for a time when she was free. So I waited. When my mom was finally free, I interviewed her.

During the interview, I asked my mom twelve questions that were mostly open-ended. My teacher said it was best to take a video of the interview, then listen back to the video and write down the answers. So that’s exactly what I did. Only I typed the answers up instead of writing them.

Overall, the interview was a great experience! I can’t wait for the next part of this project!