This experience reminds me that we always learn better if we actually get to have hands-on practice with the material or skills to be learned. As Garrison said, “Media production engages and excites; it leads to unexpected discoveries, increased self-awarness and esteem, sharpened ciritcal thinking, analytical skills, group work skills, and ability to communicate ideas. Media production demands writing and rewriting, research, group effort, and clarity of thought.” These are all skills that I developed in myself through this course. As technology leaders in our schools, we need to provide these kinds of experiences for our students, as well.
Other outcomes I was not expecting were the use of web 2.0 tools to collaborate with a group to complete a video. I was quite skeptical about the experience in the beginning, but it was a great learning experience.Garrison, A. (1999, Winter). Video basics and production projects for the classroom. Center for Media Literacy. Retrieved April 6, 2009, from http://www.medialit.org/reading_room/article3.html.
2. Teaching technology courses is my position in my high school; I teach Web Mastering, Digital Interactive Media, Business Information Management, and Desktop Publishing (aka yearbook). The skills we have learned in this class are extremely relevant for the work that I do—so much so that I adapted the storytelling assignment for the students in my DIM class. Some of my students were very excited to work on an assignment of this nature while others simply did it because it was assigned, and one young man chose not to do it at all.
The course outcomes dealing with the web 2.0 tools to communicate with other members of a group were not things that I currently do, but using them to collaborate in this manner opens a big new world of possibilities for working with peers or students. As we worked together sharing large files, we had to find a way to get them to each other and avoid the size limitations in e-mails, etc. We found dropbox.com, and this is a tool I can use to share yearbook pictures with our local newspaper without size limitation hassles.
3. After reading through the Learning and Performance Outcomes in the course syllabus, I believe I have achieved all of the outcomes. However, I would like to achieve a higher level of mastery of them. Patti Shank says, “Presenting instruction in multiple media can be more effective than doing it through a single medium. . ., but what is important is combining media effectively, not merely adding media.” (p. 1) Learning more about media and its capacities, strengths, and weaknesses for particular applications is important for good instruction. Adding media for its own sake does little to enhance the learning experience. Shank goes on to say, “And, if it is not done thoughtfully and well, it can add needless complexity and provoke frustration.” (p. 1) Therefore, persuing mastery of each of the learning outcomes would enable me to put together a good media learning experience rather than a frustrating one.
Shank, P. (n.d.). the value of multimedia in learning. Think Tank. Retrieved May 5, 2009, from http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/thinktank/valuemedia/
4. The course assignments stretched my skills in using the various media forms required, but I was able to complete them all successfully.
The course readings were helpful in completing the assignments. In the storytelling assignment I was able to conquer my “writer’s block” when I read Lambert’s descriptions of various kinds of stories, including questions to start the ideas flowing. For example, Lambert describes how to write a story about an important place in one’s life, and one of the questions is, “Was there a defining experience at the place?” (p. 7) Even if the writer has no answer for this particular question, these kinds of questions help us open our minds to other questions that do help us to write our piece.
The narration tips in the Project 4 guide were very helpful, too. Using short sentences, marking the pauses, and practicing the recording process were all tips that helped our group successfully record our video narration. (Adobe, Voicing Narrations, p. 1)
Lambert, J. (2007, February). Digital storytelling cookbook, 1-30. Story Center. Retrieved April 4, 2009, from http://www.edutopia.org/use-digital-storytelling-classroom.
Adobe (n.d.). Project 4:Public service announcement. Retrieved on April 9, 2009, from http://www.adobe.com/education/instruction/teach/digitalvideo/dvcg_cs4_project4_a4.pdf.
5. This course taught me that group work isn’t all that bad! I have tended to shy away from group work because of the old adage, “If you want it done right, do it yourself.” I have a tendency to be a perfectionist and to think that my way is the best way. Our group didn’t take all my suggestions, came up with many of their own, and it all turned out very well. In the process we learned about several web 2.0 tools that are not only useful but free, and I’ll be able to make use of them both personally and professionally.
I found that leadership in a group doesn’t have to be centered in one person; it can bounce around from person to person and the group will still function well. In week 5 we watched a video by Randy Nelson in which he said that in group work we need to take what has been done and “plus” it, and we need to make our partners look good. That is a great rule for group work, and if we would all apply it to all of our relationships we would stop a lot of petty squabbling and drama.
Nelson, R. (2008). Learning and working in the collabaorative age: A new model for the workplace. Edutopia. Retrieved April 23, 2009, from http://www.edutopia.org/randy-nelson-school-to-career-video.
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