Course Reflection

When I began this course, I was very excited to be learning about web technologies and had been looking forward to this course. The learning outcomes were very clear on the syllabus. During this course we were expected to (1) communicate the impact of multimedia and video on learning and teaching for both adults and children; (2) formulate and communicate the value of digital storytelling in the educational context; (3) plan, design, develop, and evaluate an individual digital storytelling project; (4) demonstrate video editing techniques; (5) plan, design, develop, and evaluate a group video production project; (6) select and use technology equipment and software for appropriate tasks; and (7) assist others for continual growth and expertise in technology operations and concepts.

As we began our first assignment, my excited grew as I would be working with a program, Photo Story, that I had used and was being given the opportunity to learn to utilize it in new ways. As we moved to week two, again we utilized a program, Audacity, I had used once before within an assignment. This time we were tasked with creating a podcast of instructions within a specific timeframe. This was a challenge as I could have went on for a significant amount of time and had to edit my project several times to be short enough. When we moved to weeks three through five I was overwhelmed with the task at hand. We picked our own groups of three to five people and worked on a public service announcement. My partners in the assignment were not in close proximity and we had to figure out how to not only do the assignment, we had to utilize current technology to work on it together and our project time limit was only 60 seconds. I quickly discovered there was a significant amount of work that goes into a 60 second video. I had limited knowledge of video and audio work, so the collaboration increased my knowledge significantly and I was grateful to have a group with experience. We also learned that the challenges of distance could be overcome and we quickly utilized the strengths of each member of the team. Overall, the outcomes of the course were as I envisioned and I do feel I met the outcomes.

I do not feel I am an expert in digital storytelling, video editing, video production, or audio podcasts. I have learned the basic concepts of each and have successfully created a podcast, digital story, and a public service announcement video. That being said, I also feel that I need additional practice and experience in each area to become comfortable with the program. As with any program, the more you utilize the program, the more proficient you become. Proficiency in these programs is not mandatory for me at this point as I am not a teacher and I do not utilize these programs in my current position. I do believe that I can still utilize these programs and concepts in my duties as a training facilitator for a large state agency. My participants would probably not create audio podcasts or videos. I on the other hand could possibly add these technologies to my trainings to emphasize ideas.

I did complete every assignment listed and I was often extremely frustrated and unsure if I completed all the revised assignments. The syllabus was revised and the most current was never placed on the virtual classroom. Then each week we had to check not only the syllabus and the virtual class assignments, but we had to ensure we read the email from our academic coach closely for changes and then additional revisions were made during web conferences. In week two, the assignments listed in the virtual classroom were not the assignments we completed. The problem with revisions during the web conferences was that it was not mandatory to attend any of the web conferences (they were listed as optional in the syllabus) and there was not room for every participant to attend0. In addition, the conferences were not held the first day of class each week so revisions were made mid-week. In one instance, I had completed the assignments for the week and found there were revisions, thankfully before I submitted. I found this to be extremely frustrating. I expected to be responsible for more of my own learning as this was a graduate level course; however, I expected the program to be more organized. I understand that the course is new and under revision; however these revisions need to be made between classes and not during a class.

This course challenged me in many ways and I feel I met those challenges. However, even though I feel the course did align with what I expected to work with, I was often frustrated with the various changes in the course during the week and additional assignments made during web conferences, which were not even mandatory to attend.