Course Reflections 5362

What outcomes had you envisioned for this course? Did you achieve those outcomes? Did the actual course outcomes align with those that you envisioned?

The outcomes I envisioned for this course were outlined in the syllabus at the beginning of the course. After finishing most of this course, I can see that we covered all the listed outcomes. I have had quite a bit of experience with multimedia and video from my time as the video coordinator for Tivy Football team. The Web 2.0 tools weren’t as mainstream at that time as they are now. The hands on skills of video editing, converting audio and video into various formats that can be used weren’t new skills for me, as the Web 2.0 tools weren’t new skills. I wish we could have explored deeper into the applications of these tools.
I didn’t have any predetermined ideas about what we would learn in this course, so the outcomes that I read in the syllabus aligned with what I hoped we would be taught and indeed, were taught. I do feel that I had accomplished most of these outcomes in my job as a video coordinator. I had to explore all these web tools and had to come up with free and simple to use program in this job.

To the extent that you achieved the outcomes, are they still relevant to the work that you do in your school? Why or why not?

Yes, the outcomes that I achieved are relevant to my job. As a math teacher I can teach my students about the copyright laws and applying them in their projects. I enjoyed the Disney copyright video. The Disney copyright video will help drive home the importance of copyright laws. In addition, I plan to slideshare for my powerpoint project for my Algebra classes. These are great tools in the classroom to improve the education and have the students actively engaged in the learning process. I plan to use wiki site and slideshare for my students’ projects on solving equation and the distributive property. I see it as helping my students with their Algebra 1 and their quest for knowledge.

What outcomes did you not achieve? What prevented you from achieving them?

There were no unachieved outcomes. My only concern is the confusion in Week 2 and that was clarified with the web conference. Dr. A. told us what we needed to accomplish in the web conference and I did it. However, there was a great deal of complaining about it the confusion and honestly I don’t feel we have time to spend listening to one another complain. The week 3 assignment submission was a bit chaotic, but after attending the web conference all of my questions were answered.
I think the lessons directed us through all of the outcomes. The influence of communication using multimedia tools and web tools were utilized during the creation of our PSA. I am amazed at how easy it was to create a 60 second video with 5 people each contributing a different part of the work. We used Skype, Google Docs and a project template wiki to complete our project ahead of time. These collaboration tools and the opportunity to put them to use are a fabulous part of the learning I will take away from this class. The digital storytelling project guided me to discover a vast array of previously unknown information about my parents and their life together.

Were you successful in completing the course assignments? If not, what prevented or discouraged you?
I was successful in completing the course assignments with the help of my cohorts Lynne Bullock, Shannon Copeland, Janet Kelly, and Julia Wilson. They were invaluable in the completion of our Public Service Broadcast. They had written the script and planned very well. Shannon has an extensive knowledge of video editing as I did and she was fabulous in the role of video editor. I was discouraged because I was very busy and had family constraints that put me behind the rest of the team. I really had to spend as much energy keeping up with team as I did on the project. In all I learn that it was team effort and we all were successful. This was a great learning lesson that I can teach my students the importance of teamwork.

What did you learn from this course: about yourself, your technology and leadership skills, and your attitudes?

This course taught me that there are a world of tools on the web for everyone to use. There are Collaborative Tools, Research Tools, Slideshow Tools, Audio Tools, Image Tools, Drawing Tools, Writing Tools, Music Tools, Organizing, Mapping Tools, Quiz and Poll Tools, Creativity Tools, Widgets, File Storage & Web Pages
There are open source examples of all these tools free online. The tools I listed are all linked to a website called: cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com.These are examples of things I knew nothing about before beginning this master’s program.
I even subscribed to PC World and eSchoolNews to keep up with the new technologies in the world and in the schools. I see the value in video tools in the classroom educational process