Media+Tech+Class+Page+4

I did not have very high expectations for this course in terms of learning new material. While I expected to get some good readings from the course, I had just taught an iMedia academy, so recording, editing, and posting video are something I do on a regular basis both at work and at home. I hoped to learn more about the application of video in the classroom, but didn't expect it as that's not really the title of the class. I expected to create video and hoped to learn some theory behind good video production.
 * 1. ** ** What outcomes had you envisioned for this course? Did you achieve those outcomes? Did the actual course outcomes align with those that you envisioned? **

I did create video, and digital photo stories for this class, as expected. The readings were not as theory based for this course as they have been for previous courses – they were more tutorial and “how-to” based. This was probably good for the students who had little or no experience with the software used, but were not worthwhile for me as an advanced user. That’s not to say I didn’t learn anything from them, but they were dry, practical, and didn’t address my desire to learn more about classroom usage and application of video. This course aligned with my expectations in most ways with the exception of the readings. The outcomes of this class are very relevant to what I do on a daily basis. As an Instructional Coach for Secondary Technology, it is my job to help teachers to integrate technology into their curriculum in relevant, valid, academically rigorous ways. Video is very popular with our students, but not our teachers due to the time and training involved in making it happen in a school district of our size and student numbers. This course was great for people who hadn’t gotten into video production very much and is a great beginner’s course. I felt a little under-challenged by the assignments as I’ve already done them all before. While this was nice considering my busy schedule and the 4th of July holiday – it was also a bit of a let-down because there wasn’t a lot of rigor for me. I understand that with classes like this you will get a WIDE variety of skill levels, and that you have to teach to the most common denominator. I just would have liked choices in varying difficulty levels so that I could choose and assignment that would have been more of a challenge. The work, however, and the tutorial resources are very useful for my job.
 * 2. ** ** 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? **

I sort of addressed this in the previous answer. I was disappointed that I didn’t really pick up any new skills from this class. I’d really like to see some choices in the assignments that allow students to work at their skill level. Working in teams is good for teaching online communication and collaboration, but can be difficult when the skill levels are so different. So really, the lack of differentiation based on prior knowledge and skills made the class difficult for some and too easy (as far as skills needed) for others. So, I would say that having only one assignment choice made it difficult for me to meet my desired outcome of learning new skills and growing in my own skill set. I would recommend setting a beginner, intermediate, and advanced level for each of the assignments and allowing students to choose which assignment they would like to attempt based on their skill level. I am not sure if this would work within the parameters of your class, but thought I’d suggest it.
 * 3. ** ** What outcomes did you not achieve? What prevented you from achieving them? **

I was able to complete the course assignments with very little trouble. They were fun to complete and I really liked the topics for each assignment. The group assignment was the most difficult assignment to complete simply because of the confusion over who was determining the groups, and then organizing the collaboration around everyone’s busy schedules at the end of the school year, during summer school for some, in the middle of a home remodel for one, and over the 4th of July holiday. I was really discouraged by the way the grouping was handled. At first we were told we would be placed into groups, then it was changed. We lost valuable planning time waiting for an answer to that dilemma. Several of us where not receiving the weekly updates, and the updates were not showing up in the online Brighten software either. The lack of communication and the conflicting instructions were very frustrating.
 * 4. ** ** Were you successful in completing the course assignments? If not, what prevented or discouraged you? **

Another frustration was the requirement of group work without making it part of the grading process (with the exception of the last assignment). The whole peer planning part of our assignments was confusing, not well explained, and not monitored. If we are going to have to plan together, there should be better instructions as to what product we should submit to verify that collaboration. We were really unsure of what we were supposed to do and how it was supposed to affect our final products. Perhaps posting of chat logs or discussion threads to show that peer planning occurred, as well as specific goals and outcomes for how that discussion should be used when planning our assignments would help us to better understand what you were looking for from those assignments. I learned a lot about the varying levels of technology use, training, and skills of teachers/trainers outside of my school district. I am very fortunate to work in a district where technology is not only important but required. There are lots of my classmates who don’t have the experience or training that I’ve been given because their districts/administrators are not “there” yet. I also learned that I am an exception to the rule in my openness to new technologies and in my relentless desire to learn as much as I can about technology and Web 2.0 applications in the classroom. My husband often compares me to the teenagers I taught – saying I’m just like them with my Twitter, Blog, Facebook, MySpace, and Google Doc accounts. I am a complete techno-geek and proud of it. A lot of my peers are not due to a lack of access, training, etc. I really like being able to share what I’ve already learned from others with my classmates but it can have detrimental effects as you become the “go to” person and wind up doing a lot more work that you’d care to. I was fortunate in my group that my teammates all had unique skill sets and were able to equally contribute to our project. That was a pleasant experience that doesn’t happen as often as it should in an online learning environment (this is my second online Masters’- and the best group I’ve had). I have learned that I am a bit of a technology snob – I just assume that everyone knows what I know or has been exposed to what I have been exposed to. I need to learn not to assume these things and to meet people where they are in their skills and knowledge, not expect them to meet me where I am.
 * 5. ** ** What did you learn from this course about yourself, your technology and leadership skills, and your attitudes? **

I took a leadership role in organizing the meetings of our group, but everyone stepped up to contribute and take ownership of some part of the planning. I found that I really like that sort of group leadership. It is much better to have a group that’s willing to divide up the work and each person take charge of something than to have a group that looks to the leader for all information and direction. I like to lead, but I prefer to do it collaboratively rather than as the sole leader. The work load for me is less, the ownership of the work is shared – as is the responsibility. That’s much more like the real world and makes for more buy-in by each team member while reducing the opportunities for slackers in the group to skate through the assignment.

All in all, this was a good experience for me, especially in the group interactions and collaboration.