EDLD+5363+Course+Assessment

During the course of this class, I was hoping to shoot some video and use various multimedia programs to enhance it. I was hoping to learn about different types of multimedia platforms that I had not used in the past. I was also hoping to learn more through our readings and videos. I was very pleased with our first assignment. Although it took me a while to choose a topic for my digital story, I was pleased with it in the end and plan to complete more of them both personally and professionally. I enjoyed learning more about Audacity and Movie Maker. I also found the Creative Commons copyright information informative. I did not expect to have to work with a group since I prefer to work alone. I was pleasantly pleased to realize that I could work well in a group just as we expect our students to do so. I was disappointed in some of the required reading since it consisted mainly of manual and help topics. I know they can be informative but I can read that on my own and would have preferred to read something I would not normally could have found on my own. I teach pre-kindergarten and my students do use technology in the classroom. My students have used Ipods, digital cameras, Animoto.com and Photo Story to create projects. Since becoming more familiar with Audacity and Movie Maker, I have already begun planning some projects for my students to create using those programs. I am more familiar with these programs since using them during this course therefore I will be more willing to use them and it will be easier to teach my students how to use them. I also did more pre-production planning with both the digital story and PSA and have realized how important it is to use storyboards, video shoot layouts and timelines. In teaching these strategies to my students, I will be preparing them for their future learning. I also plan to share the information regarding the Creative Commons copyright information with various teachers in order to protect student creations.

I was expecting to use more forms of multimedia that we had not covered during other courses. I was disappointed to find that we would use Audacity again but also more comfortable about it for the same reason. Since we did have trouble finding music to add to our PSA, I would have liked to have had assistance in that area. I also had problems with saving some of the files using correct file extensions and became frustrated when finding out I had to go back and find a way to correct this problem. I was lucky enough to work with a group of ladies that were eager to help and share so one of them was of great assistance in sharing a program that easily converted videos. Because I had so many questions, I became extremely disappointed when attempting to attend the web conferences. Some were full and we could only type. That meant it was difficult to glean the information I needed between the mindless chatting and formation of groups. We were also given the wrong time for a web conference that I missed. The first two course assignments were easy to complete. I enjoyed using Audacity and Movie Maker. I also learned a great deal from the reading assignments. I did not really learn anything from reading the program manuals. I usually do not read them until I have a problem. Assignments three and four were also easy to complete. I actually enjoyed the pre-production planning and feel I learned the most from that part of the assignment. I also enjoyed working with my group. It seemed the assignments for week five were the most difficult to complete. I had problems uploading my video and had to play around with that area. Some of the assignments seemed redundant, the wording was vague and some parts of the assignments were changed during web conferences, most of which I could not attend. As I have learned from 10 years of being a teacher, be flexible and you can get through most anything.

During this course I learned that I am strong, willing and flexible. I prefer not to work in a group since I like to be in charge of all aspects of a project. I realized how some of my students feel when required to work in a group. I was blessed to have a group of ladies that were trustworthy, eager and hard-working which made this part of the assignment easy and allayed some of my fears of working in a group. I also learned that I enjoy sharing what I have learned and am eager to do so at any time I am able. I was very excited to be able to use Movie Maker and Skype in order to help complete our PSA. Because the digital story and PSA were fairly easy to create, I hope to create more of them both professionally and personally in the future.