I’ve recently finished a project to show three impacts that the railway had on Britain during the Industrial Revolution. Here is some information on the Industrial Revolution: Industrial revolution . The impacts are presented as a visual essay in Explain Everything. Here is how I tackled the project:
I started by chosing the most interesting topics I could find and did some research on the causes and consequences. Then I made my first outline using the template we were given to show what the Explain Everything would look like and the content. Later I did some more in-depth research on my topics to find more facts and added more consequences. For example when I first looked into political impacts, I originally said that politicians could now travel more and reach people farther away. Then I found some consequences of politicians travelling more. It meant they could raise awareness of their cause like the unfair election rules. In that case, they got support from across the country as they travelled by rail to make elections fairer and available to more people. That is a big impact. I updated the outline.
Here is the outline
First Draft: Once I had my content I went into Creative Commons and found photos that matched my outline. Then I found pictures to make animations on the slides. I updated my visual essay outline with information on the pictures and sources. I started with a few tester slides for my first draft to see how to record the voiceover and animations. I added titles to the slides to explain the content and made sure I had references in the Outline of my sources. It was harder to time the animations with my voice recording than I thought. I wasn’t happy with my first draft so I made some changes to create a Draft 2 before handing it in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td0zfMFb06U
Second Draft: In my second draft, I added slides for a title, introduction and conclusion. I changed some of the pictures to make them better. An older looking print was okay to use because it fit with the Victorian era. I updated the animations and the voice recordings. I practiced this many times to try and keep improving it. I used app smashing. In my conclusion I also related the introduction of the railway in Britain to the internet today. I think they both have had a big impact. When I was done the second draft I went to one of my fellow students for them to critique it. I got some very good feedback. Then I went and made some changes from the input I got from my classmate to start working on my third and final draft.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVzgYUdeWuc
Third Draft: The final revisions I made included adding more text to the slides to explain why it was important. This reinforced what I said in the narration. I also made sure text in the slide showed up more so I put it on white background. I also re-recorded my narration for several slides to try and make it sound smoother. As a double-check, I went back and confirmed that I had met and exceeded all the requirements 1) beginning middle and end 2) three different causes and consequences, 3) at least one voiceover (I had six), 4) animation on every slide and 5) used only Creative Commons. I think it turned out pretty good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujGYRZ8I4aM
Fourth and Final Version
Below is my fourth and final draft of my Explain Everything. I took my teacher’s feedback and made some changes. I have fewer words because I have voice overs on each slide. I added some more animation and better quality of recordings. I now know more about using Explain Everything and how the railway impacted Britain during the Industrial Revolution.
https://youtu.be/gWZAoDktd8A
