EDLD+5363+Final+Reflections

 =Multimedia and Video Technology 5363 Final Reflection =

When Multimedia and Video Technology 5363 began, I was envisioning a review of many things I have learned in the past courses I’ve taken about Multimedia and Video, along with new information, as well. I was very excited to begin working in this course. I teach several of the Technology Application classes at Early High School, but I’m always looking to learn something new and for new ideas to use in my classroom. I believe that I learned many things from this course. I have been teaching Multimedia and BIMM for several years now and we always include a video unit. It’s usually one of the most challenging, but also the most fun. It’s also the area where I feel the most frustration because of the capturing of the video from the camera. The students are required to video on their own time, so they use their own cameras. That means that there are always difficulties when it comes to trying to work with their video. I have experience using MovieMaker and Premiere Pro, but learning PhotoStory 3 was easy and fun. I believe that I will be able to incorporate that into my curriculum as well. From this course, I discovered many new websites that will definitely benefit me, as well as my Technology Application classes. In addition, I realized that working online collaboratively with a group can be a daunting task. One of the most difficult areas of this course for me was actually the group project. Therefore, I feel I will be a little more understanding and also a bit more firm when it comes to assigning student to complete group work in my class. If our group can do it online, hundreds of miles from each other, then surely the students should be able to work cooperatively together in class. Working with a group teaches many skills necessary for nearly every area in life. In addition, using the file sharing site, [|www.mediafire.com], made the online collaboration easier than having to email the unedited video and audio footage, which would have been difficult with my ISP. Being able to determine the appropriate format to publish any media to the web is also a necessary skill that students will need for this digital age. I was able to successfully complete my course assignments in a timely manner without too much difficulty. Although, during week 1, I did have a mixup on my days and I mistakenly thought that our assignment was due Tuesday, instead of Monday. I completed it Tuesday with problems due only to my poor Internet connection through WildBlue Satellite. I was able to fall under the grace period, thankfully, without point deduction. Daphne let me know that she had received it that Tuesday, but later on in the course, she was not able to find where I had submitted the assignment, so I just resubmitted it to her again. After that confusion with the Daphne, the due dates and oversight on my part, I made sure that I had every assignment turned in early and submitted through Brighten, just to be on the safe side. I believe in working very hard in my courses, and I want to do my absolute best because this degree is extremely important to me, so I try to be proactive and make sure I get my assignments finished in a timely and responsible manner. I believe that I work best with a group that takes their responsibilities in the group seriously and likes to get things done in a timely manner. My group created a wiki where we could collaborate ideas and times to meet in order to assign tasks and deadlines. We decided on the topic of Early Screening for Colon Cancer because most of us have been impacted by this type of cancer involving our loved ones. Arleen recently lost a sister to colon cancer, so she thought it would be a great idea. I agreed because one of my very dear friends and prayer partner and also my precious mother-in-law both battled colon cancer and won, thankfully. For the assignment, one of the tasks I signed up to do was to find appropriate music. I looked online and found a royalty-free music site that allows use of one man’s music, as long as copyright information is given. The site, [|http://incompetech.com], with music created by Kevin Macleod, stated that donations are accepted, but the music is licensed under Creative Commons "Attribution 3.0". I also volunteered to shoot several of the opening shots of the video. I used our week of Vacation Bible School at my church to find my wonderful volunteers. Katie Rhodes, David and Eli Williams, Johnna and Lisa Embrey, and Bobbye Martin appeared in the video. I shot footage of several other people that we did not have time to include in the PSA. In addition to the technical material that is required to complete a short video that includes audio, transitions and captioning, I also learned that when it is not an ideal working situation, things can still get accomplished if we are willing to compromise, even though it may be difficult. Like I stated in my PSA blog, we had many difficulties when it came to the shared responsibilities of the project. We did get the project finished in plenty of time, but it was very nerve wracking and at times very upsetting. Knowing that my grade was in the hands of others that didn’t work on the same time frame that I work was very distressing. I did find, however, that there are always people that are willing to jump in and help get things done. I have also realized that I have gained two precious, hard-working friends from my group: Kim Gaskins and Arleen Janer-Jones. I could have only gotten to know these ladies so well because of our common frustrations and similar work ethic. Ultimately, I am thankful for the many opportunities to stretch myself and learn what I am capable of accomplishing.

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