EDLD+5363+Multimedia+-+Course+Reflection

Way back in June of 2009, I met with Dr. Abernathy about the coursework for M.Ed in Educational Technology. In this meeting she mentioned the online degree plan. The unfortunate thing for me was that the date of our meeting was the deadline to start coursework; that meant that I missed EDLD 5363 Multimedia. I was so excited for that class because I knew I would learn things to use in my current job. Now, nearly a year and a half later, I have completed the EDLD 5363 Multimedia class. In the meantime, my job is changing, so I will be rethinking how I could use my new skills. What are my new skills?

Before beginning the class, I had unsuccessfully used Audacity, but successfully created stop motion movies using Windows Movie Maker. I tried some GarageBand, as well as PC version of it, but for the most part of unsuccessful. I did once play with Sony Vegas pro, but for my classroom purposes, free Movie Maker was more appropriate and I did not pursue using Sony Vegas Pro.

My first assignment was a digital story. My lessons plans included using a digital story, but I had not created one yet. It was difficult to come up with a what I wanted to do, but when I finally did, using PhotoStory was incredibly easy. My digital story was about a 5Kmile summer roadtrip with my kids, so I shared it with my family members. As I alluded to before, my current job is changing, so I don't know how I will now incorporate this learning.

The second assignemt, creating a podcast, was not a new task, this time, but researching video editing software was. I had experience with MovieMaker, but I did look into other programs. I also questioned some of my colleagues on programs they used. I don't plan on buying video editing software, but I do value the experience of learning how to compare them.

The third and final assignment was a group project, a PSA. My group chose cyberbullying. This is where I gained true skills. I worked in Audacity to tweak some of the audio, cut and re-mixed audio. In MovieMaker, I clipped video in ways I have never done before. Even after using MovieMaker with student projects for the past five semesters, I learned new tricks in this project. I am glad this was a group project, and that it was limited as a PSA; it made the task less daunting.

Overall, I have new skills in audio and video editing that I know I can use somewhere. My teaching position is changing, but a colleague already came up with ways to consider using some of my new skills. I have so much more knowledge now that I did, that creating the digital story seems like ages ago. I was so nervous about it at the time, but I have certainly leveled-up since then.

One of the things I learned most valuable in all my coursework is that even if I don't know the answer yet, I at least know how to find it. This week as the choir director and I discussed the accompaniment track of her music, I knew, following the project, that I could adjust the track just like she wanted. If I forgot or got stuck, I at least knew where to find the instructions, thank you Audacity tutorials!