EDLD+5363+Course+Reflection

 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?


 * When I started this course, I was hoping to become more familiar with video editing and the tools used to do so. I wanted to gain some deeper insight on video editing software, especially Premiere. I feel that, after taking the course, I am certainly more familiar with the programs and processes used to edit video. I am not quite as close to being an "expert" in Premiere as I hoped. Microsoft's Movie Maker is quite a good program for simple video editing, especially when you consider that it is free with the Windows operating system. I gained a new appreciation for how simple Movie Maker can make editing, compared to the much more complex Premiere. In a perfect world, I would have preferred to learn how to use Premiere in a much more indepth manner that we did during this class. But I have bookmarked the Adobe tutorial sites, and am sure that they will come in handy in the future. I did learn some new tricks in Audacity, which I am excited to pass on to the teachers at my district. The course provided me with the opportunity to try both products, evaluate their pros and cons, and come away with a better understanding of their capabilities and how to apply them in a school situation. This past year I was able to get a few teachers to start podcasting and I am hoping to increase the number this year. The ease of Audacity and Movie Maker will help encourage the teachers to try a new technology. There is still a part of me that wished we had more hands-on practice and instruction, but I understand that the constraints of an on-line, six week course do not allow for that sort of access. I feel that I was able to complete the projects and produce quality products. Were they perfect? No. But I do believe that they were a reflection of my skill and that I was able to create projects of a higher quality thanks to taking this course. **

 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?

**What I have learned during the Multimedia class will most certainly be relevant to the work I do. I am employed as a campus technology specialist at the high school. I also assist on the other campuses in the district. We currently have a video technology class at the high school that used Adobe Premiere to edit its videos. At times, I am called to help resolve issues they may have. The Elementary GT teacher is also interested in starting to record video announcements. The information on shots and angles will be very helpful when she starts her filming.

Audacity is a great tool for podcasting and we all know that "free" fits into the budget. I actually used Audacity this past school year when we did student recordings. We had to record in the classroom, with other students present. It was far from the ideal situation. But I was able to use Audacit to cut out the background noises, as well as any other audio problems. I certainly see myself using Audacity in the future.

Microsoft’s Movie Maker is another great, free application. Movie Maker is perfect for the home user, or for the teacher who does not have a lot of time to learn a complex program. While Adobe Premiere is certainly a strong, commercial quality product, it is cost-prohibitive for most schools and is very complex to learn. The course provided me with the opportunity to try both products, evaluate their pros and cons, and come away with a better understanding of their capabilities and how to apply them in a school situation.

I have already discussed storyboarding with several teachers. One teacher can see how using storyboards would fit nicely into her lessons. I am hoping to help the teacher and her class then turn the storyboards into short films. I believe if the teacher can see how easy Movie Maker is, she will be willing to give the project a try. **


 * The licensing aspect is certainly applicable to my job. I hope to be able to guide teachers toward the Creative Commons licensing, as well as their students. The teachers and students all need to learn the items that are available for use, how they may use them and how they should acknowledge the original creator. **

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

**I wish I were more comfortable with Adobe Premiere. It is just hard in 5 weeks, as part of a group project, to really dive deep into the program. With the way we divided up the duties for our project, I did not spend as much time on the final video project as I would have liked. But I have bookmarked our readings to be able to access later, as I have the time and need. As I stated earlier, the Elementary GT teacher is hoping to do video announcements this next school year. She has already approached me for help and guidance. I feel comfortable being able to give her filming ideas and scripting options, but I will need to work in Premiere a little longer so that I can feel comfortable helping her with the editing. I may point her in the direction of Microsoft Movie Maker, as it is much simpler to learn and maneuver.

I was not real happy with some of our video quality. I worked with another team member to film all of the shots. The children in the film are mine. I have found that directing children is one of the hardest thing possible. It was difficult to get them to follow our direction. We originally filmed all of the outdoor shots at my home. After viewing the first cuts of our PSA, it was clear we needed to have a change in the background to help distinguish the different message each scene was trying to portray. That meant we had to scout out a suitable location and take our equipment off-site. The last shots we filmed were those in the park, and I think the quality of the tape was degraded, as it seemed to have a poorer quality. If we were to do it all over again, I probably would have borrowed someone else's children, perhaps kids who were a bit older than my 4 and 7 year olds. That would have made those scenes easier to film. I also would have worked on the composition of the shots as well. I felt some shots, especially those in the park, did not have a good composition, with not enough focus on the actors and too wide of a shot. I also think that some of our shots tended to be a bit shaky, even though we used a tripod. I am not sure if my camera was the cause of some of the video issues. It is an older camera, and I think the software I used to transfer from the camera to the computer may have also degraded the quality. If we were to do this project over, I would try to borrow the newer, higher-end cameras that my high school's AV class owns, just to give the video a sharper, more professional edge to it.**

 4. Were you successful in completing the course assignments? If not, what prevented or discouraged you?

**The course assignments were quite interesting to complete. The personal photo story was enjoyable, although I did make it in Windows Movie Maker instead of Photostory. I chose Movie Maker instead because Photostory does not give you alot of flexibility or stylistic choices, not like Movie Maker does. Since I use Movie Maker in my current job, it was a natural choice for both week 1's assignment as well as week 2's assignment. I enjoy using Movie Maker as it is extremely simple and free! I did start out the week 1 assignment with Photostory, but quickly became frustrated with what I felt was a lack of options. While I feel that Photostory would be good for those who are not as comfortable with technology, because it does walk you through step-by-step, I felt that Windows Movie Maker provided many more options and much more flexibility. I could control the lengths of the shots easier and could simply import the voiceover from an Audacity recording. I was able to find free music under the Creative Commons license. The music was called "Thingamajig" by Jason Shaw and was available under Creative Commons - Share Alike 3.0 license. In Week 2's assignment, I also used video and music that was available under the Creative Commons license.

For the group project, we decided to use Adobe Premiere, since it is a much more robust program. Kim Braswell and I were in charge of the filming, so I recruited my entire family to participate. I found myself being very critical of the footage, especially after all of our course readings. We even ended up reshooting several times over the course of a week, as the footage wasn't as nice as I hoped. The team that I worked with was great. Everyone collaborated really well and gave input every step of the way. I am pleased with the final outcome. We chose to put it in .wmv format, since windows media player is quite common. Adobe Premiere will output to the Windows Media Player format, so it was very easy to do.**

Web Site "Thingamajig" (n.d.). Retrieved June 5, 2009, from Audionautix: []

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

**Throughout this course, I have found that I really enjoy the creative processes involved in video and audio editing. I have used Audacity a number of times, but I am always amazed at how complete a free program is. I am definitely of the "hey, what happens if I click this" variety of person, so I can easily get sidetracked in programs and very distracted. But that, to me, is one of the great aspects of technology and software. Just when you think you know everything about a program, you find out some trick or tip that you never knew about before. And it can completely change how you use that application. The group project was difficult for me just because I like to have complete control, especially where technology is concerned. Sometimes it is very difficult for me to step back and let someone else take the reigns and make creative decisions. But I am proud of our final product. I think the PSA uses a small touch of humor to get across its message.

I was also able to put to use some lessons from EDLD 5306 when it came to licensing. While we discussed it in the first course, this course actually allowed me to use it in a practical, real-world sense. I had to spend some time tracking down not only freely available music, but music that also fit the mood of the project as well. The Creative Commons website is a great resource, and I now have a greater understanding of copyright loaws and how to use them. It was a great reminder to me that, even though something is easy to obtain, it does not mean that it is right or legal to use it.**