EDLD 5363 Course/Project Reflection

I highly anticipated taking this course because a pre-assessment showed that my web 2.0 knowledge was very minimal. I enjoyed the personal digital story assignment because it helped me express my feelings about  a transition in my life. I have since used the Windows Photo Story for relatives eager to see my son grow. I was amazed at how easily Windows Movie Maker functions and as I developed the tutorial, I immediately brainstormed and recorded ways I could use the software to instruct and assess.

I couldn't have asked for another group to create our "Checklist" public service announcement. We color coded our google document to determine our roles in the production. Once we decided on our topic by a vote, our scriptwriter posted the script for us with optional endings to select. Before our first video clip was uploaded, I suggested the clip be initially edited from the camera operator before I recorded voice because I thought I could synchronize voice to video. I struggled a bit synchronizing but I snipped the script a bit once the director gave me a time limit. The director did a great job keeping us on track and providing us with various final takes to choose for submission. The group did suggest minor tweaks to the production concerning fading of music and certain transitions but once we were advised not to focus on minor details we selected the best final product from the director.

We attributed copyright to the track “Are you ready” by Three Days Grace. I appreciate my group opening up to me at the last minute. We all promptly selected our color for google document and posted and voted on our ideas. If we were not on schedule, we notified the group of our setbacks. Positive feedback and constructive criticism were always given. I started to rely less on the web conferences and more on the group for clarification of assignment tasks because our electronic dialogue was consistently updated. Our final product makes me feel accomplished and motivated to implement this type of project into my lesson plans.

EDLD 5363 Group PSA

Week 5 Web Conference Summary

I logged on casually without my webcam. I screened the chat for any assignment changes. I learned of changes in the discussion and blog post assignments. I didn't have any specific questions like I did in the last conference but I admired the comradery among my course mates. Some were on first name basis with each other, sharing lesson plans that implemented the web tools that we learned. I could tell there was a community that logged on weekly beyond academic expectations just so they could share among their peers. I somewhat felt guilty about not fully exploiting this learning community.

Week 4 Web Conference Summary

I wasn't the most enthused about this conference because it was on a Saturday morning and I am far from a morning person. After I washed my face and brushed my teeth, I logged in to find that many of my classmates publicly admitted they literally rolled out of bed and refused to use webcam. I thought that was pretty cool that we could just chat with no camera and that is something I definitely took note of for the next conference. Dr. Abernathy clarified a lot of misunderstandings about what we were supposed to do in week 4 since we did not have to submit any work. She also spoke of the graduation ceremonies and holiday parties happening in Beaumont and it briefly excited me of what lies ahead. What I continue to promote about the web conference is the chat feature. Many times classmates or Ms. Kirkland answered questions before Dr. Abernathy would. I plan to download the Adobe software to have this conference feature for future projects that require group collaboration. The conference was very valuable to me; I chose not to do the discussion for that week when I discovered at the conference it was optional. It was still nice though to see some of my classmates still do the discussion voluntarily just to build from each other. I can really see the passion in my learning community.

Windows Movie Maker Tutorial