Semester Reflection

i will admit, that I walked into this class rather skeptical and apparently lacking any recognizable skills that you could call technologically related. In the end though I not only feel more comfortable on my own computer, but also on Macs, (which it might have been hard to find someone who was more uncomfortable on one) I seem to be more comfortable learning new "tech" things in general. When we began I was really slow to understand the wiki and how to navigate between places, sites, and editing. Now however, I not only panic less when a new project comes up, but I learn the new program quickly. well, at least I feel less defeated when I don't know how to do something, versus in the past when I couldn't figure a program out I would usually just scrap that part of the project and do it a different way, or i.e. by-hand, completely. While i know that many of these tools I have learned will come in and out of fashion and not be up-to-date perhaps when I get a job, but I do now feel confident in learning. I think this is what perhaps they, as in those that are requiring me to take this course, want me to be able to model to my students, a willingness to learn. Of which I now have. Delicious and I are still good friends and I made an Animoto video to promote my trip this summer. So, slowly but surely i am getting it. The website, though it feels a little redundant, since it really just has everything that already exists on this blog on it, is perhaps still very useful to learn. Because, despite my nervousness about taking this course, from day one I wanted to know how to make my own website, and YIPPPEE, I actually learned what I set out to from the beginning, a rarity in many of my courses this semester. Technology, i am fighting my tendencies to fight you, so for now I'll call you a good acquaintance, maybe one day we'll be good friends.

Exultation!

Well, here it is - the final cut. Given a few more days I could probably spend several more hours tweeking this and that, but deadlines ensue. iMovie, all-in-all is a pretty decent program, it suffers though from what I feel most Mac products suffer from. That being that they don't have any real concern for what the user wants to do. Yes iMovie is far more self explanatory than most Mac programs and features, but it is not compatible with any other form of media. For instance, I checked out an audio recorder from the fourth floor AV center and it was SO smart - sleek, small, easy to use, even came with a well creased manual just in case I didn't get something. However after self-consciously finding an empty Art-Ed room and sitting there by myself reading from a script, I had tons of clips to sort through. I then plugged the recorder into the computer and could download, and ACTUALLY hear my own voice come out of the computer. Only then to not be able to convert the files into any format that iMovie would take. After a half hour of frustration I walked up to the fourth floor computer lab, plugged in the recorder, and there my files were, along with a "convert" button that turned them right into MP3's, and TADAA, a PC had fixed the issue in less than three minutes. Then skip over a few hours worth of listening and moving items one or two seconds back and forth, I finally called it finished. In my personal classroom I can't see using this as an instructional tool nor really as a way of introducing a lesson, this I feel must be tailored to the interest of the current class. Perhaps though these videos, if created over a long summer or break without anything else to do could sit very happily on my website and serve to excite those few students who need to be pushed. This could also be a way for parents and fellow colleagues to see how the Arts play out in other cities, or schools, depending on the content of the video. In the end, I appreciate the experience, and the resulting video, my only regret is the inability to come back to this project on other Mac computers other than my own that this video was created on.

Triumphs and Turmoils of iMovie

Well here is the in-process version, with the images, titles, and credits in place. I am planning on narrating the video myself and changing a few minor aspects, timing, transition, and such. Although the program seemed to be having such a hard time playing my video, i had to export it just to get it to run smoothly. Note that I have an in-process video post. At least now even if I can't ever view it streaming from iMovie I have a reference from which to view and make minor alterations. All-in-all this project, while it felt daunting, is rather exciting. Hope to post the final cut sometime tomorrow. Wish me luck.

Color Wheel Excel Quiz

Well Excel 2010, my you are an interesting program. Apparently the version on my PC is completely different from any other version I have seen so, both from the Macs in our computer lab and the Macs in the lab in my studio. Interesting. i myself found that the codes and formulas necessary to create this quiz were so complicated and specific while at the same time appearing flawlessly simple to the user of the sheet. I don't know if I particularly see myself using this sort of tool in the classroom, however as the push to quantify learning moves further and further towards digital and therefore written assessment, this may be an easy way to implement some more written assessment into my classroom without mush effort for the student, and only minimal start-up effort on my part. The best thing about excel I feel is that once you have written the code in for whether an answer is correct or not it can be pulled to any other box, so it only has to be written once. This means that is I unhide the answer column, I can type in any question, change the answer and the word bank and I don't have to remember any of the code at all. This makes using the program seem a lot more likely for than if i had to keep up with the code mhyself outside of the program. now I can just keep this quiz in my records and I have the code with it.

Reflecting on the Group Wiki

I was just thinking about the experience we had with the group wiki. I feel mixed in regards to this assignment. In reality the idea of working with people that you've never met, and combining resources of many people to accomplish rather large assignments with less energy from everyone involved. In theory I love this idea. The actual project though, brought up many issues that we have addressed before in class when we did the internet evaluation assignment. Not knowing the people who are contributing to something with your name on it, then requires that you in addition research the work of others to then evaluate the quality of their work and references. When working with responsible, quality people a collaborative wiki could be a gret opportunity. I do feel though that this aspect of the quality of people involved is something that must be addressed when later on I, or others, potentially re-explore this experience. Overall, it seemed a very interesting experiment of sorts.

Exploring Prezi

Well, I needed a presentation for my wood sculpture class, and was sick at the idea of making another powerpoint this semester so Prezi it was. The program was a little twitchy, but then again Google docs doesn't work well on my computer either, so perhaps its me. i found a rather interest artist though, with lots of different work, something for everyone in my opinion, if anyone wanted to actually scroll through it. Learned a lot through the many hour process, like if all you were going to make is a simple, black background Powerpoint with one image per slide and no titles, its still probably a lot quiicker, but defintely not more interesting.