Web Conference 2/13/12 EDLD5398

I watched the web conference this week. Dr. Mason and Dawn were very helpful in addressing all the questions that were asked. This was the first time I had noticed such a division of labor between Dr. Mason and Dawn. I realize now that Dawn is only responsible for the items she is grading. Dr. Mason has the information about the documentation needed to complete the course. That information helped me know who to contact when I have questions. As usual, Dr. Mason and Dawn were very helpful, encouraging, and accessible. I enjoyed the "humorous" part of the evening when Dr. Mason disappeared, only to reappear a few minutes later looking like she had been there all the time. It is nice to know the students aren't the only ones who encounter problems with the technology.

Web Conference 2/5/12 EDLD5398

This week I was finally able to actively participate in the web conference. I seems like we are all getting our "ducks in a row". Once again I appreciated Dawn and Dr. Mason being so willing to help. I was glad to get confirmation that I am doing some things right. Although I still have some confusion, I believe the web conferences provide more clarification each week. As I have continued with my course work, some of the answers have begun to make more sense. I am excited about getting these items completed accurately and moving on to the next item. Finally, I am seeing the "light at the end of the tunnel".

Web Conference 1/30/12 EDLD5398

Once again, I watched the recording of the web conference. It was nice to see that other people feel overwhelmed like me. However, I found it interesting that no one else seemed to be as irritated as me after finding out that we have to do the extra documentation for the principal certification program. Dr. Mason was very encouraging and helpful as always. It is nice to know that she and Dawn are willing to help in any way they can.

Web Conference 1/22/12 EDLD5398

This was a very interesting web conference. There were a lot of question and answers that created more questions. There was much less panic than I have seen in some of these conferences. The best piece of information was the need to contact Dr. Mason about the principal certification program. I did not know there were going to be extra forms to fill out. Dr. Mason was very helpful and I always appreciate her time and willingness to help each of her students.

Collaborating analysis of group experience in EDLD 5363

Analysis of group experience.

Jason Mansfield = green
April Dickerman = orange
Melissa Eudy = blue
Colin Shannon: Red
Max Windham = Purple

1.   As a team, debrief about your experiences producing the PSA.
2.   Individually, add a brief post to your collaborative team documentation related to the project. Your post should:

• clearly analyze the group’s pre-production, production, and post-production process; shot and editing selection; Web delivery formatting decisions.

The team did an excellent job with the pre-production phase of the project. Everyone contributed and adjustments were made early in light of team members comments. The script and story board were delivered on time and with all team members’ consent. Production was efficient as all team members contributed their part through a community Dropbox. Although we all agreed on what shots were to be used, Max put everything together and did most of the editing selection. We viewed it and agreed on its final form. We decided early that we would post our PSA on Youtube due to ease of use. Our team worked very hard in week three with the pre-production part of the assignment. This made everything easier in the following weeks. We agreed on the topic of our PSA quickly and went straight to the planning phase. Max was our editor and we let him determine the formatting and web delivery portion of the project, however we all had input into the shots and script for the PSA.

Our team worked very well together.  By week 3 we had already gotten together and decided on what we where going to do our PSA on.  Everyone immediately offered suggestions volunteered to do a part.  Our group has worked together before and all of the personalities fit well.  Each individual had their portion done ahead of time and everyone was very timely in offering suggestions for improvement.  Overall our group worked very well together and everyone did a  good part of the project.
We had a great mix of talent and interests, making the project much easier, since we knew what eachother could do.  I was impressed with how quickly the project came together.  Since we are in a technology master’s degree, we logically chose internet safety.  With our varying life experiences and family situations, we were able to put a very different spin on a subject we figured everyone else was taking on as well.  Everyone worked very hard, got their part done in a timely manner and were quick to offer both praise and improvement suggestions.  It was a difficult, yet enjoyable project
I feel that we had a very good and cohesive initial idea.  Overall the work provided what they needed in order to finish the assignment.  I know in the end I made some decisions on my own to get the video finished, but the collaboration worked well and I think we ended up with the most professional looking of the videos that I saw.  

• offer insights into how the group can improve their public service announcement.

The public service announcement could be more cohesive and exciting if all members had been able to actively edit in stead of having to wait to analyze the final product. This would have been difficult to do when different schedules were considered. The only way this could have been improved would have been if we had all been able to get together physically and work on it and possibly been in the video ourselves. As this was not possible, I feel our final product is excellent!

Our public service announcement was well done, but with the time frame and technology available is not at the level of actually playing on TV.  I feel the video Max did in the background went a little fast to Colins voice, but looked great.  The Music was a great choice, especially for the topic, but he tempo also didn’t go with the tempo of the PSA.  I feel the words we used where great, the music was great, and the pictures where great, but we did it over a long distance with all of us very far apart.  If we where able to dedicate more time and be together to work on it we could have easily made it of caliper to appear on television

I feel, as the rest of my team does, that we could have done better with small aspects like tempo.  If we had been working in an office together, rather than in 5 different places, we could have easily and quickly produced a PSA worthy of television.  For what we were able to do from 5 different parts of Texas, I feel we did a very good job.  Improvements that could have been made can be made by us in the future with practice

Although I saw some comments concerning the quick cuts in the video, based on the recorded narrative there was not much leeway in doing long shots.  It is a fine line between leaving a picture up for an extended length of time and doing quick shots.  In today’s crazy fast paced world I thought the pacing worked.  I showed it to several people before posting to YouTube and they thought the quick movement would hold people’s attention.  In reality if we were working together we could have timed the music, voice over and pictures to be more in sync.

• identify copyright attribution for assets.

The pictures, videos, and narration were created by team members so there would be no copyright infringement, the music was also copyright free. We were able to choose a creative commons license under each individual’s name. Early on we decided to use team members’  personal pictures so that we would not have any copyright issues. Later, the music was done this way also.
All pictures, videos, and narration were copyright free.  The words used didn’t contain any quotes or information from anyone other then us.  The pictures used were of us so there were no copy right issues there either.  
All pictures were copyright free, since they were of us or our families.  The music was also free of copyright (unlike happy birthday!), and we attained a creative commons license with eachother’s name.  
All pictures except for two that we cited where produced by the team.

• critique your team’s collaboration and interactions with each other.

Our team does an exceptional job of collaborating and interacting with each other. This is the second project we have worked on together. After the first project we decided to remain together as a group for any other projects. We are able to identify strengths in each member and use those abilities to create high quality products. Any critiques are given in an informative, not insulting or demeaning, manner. After completing this project, I would not hesitate to work with this group again. This is a great group. We work great together and we all know what the strengths are in the group. When we first started this project, we all jumped in with what we would be comfortable and good at doing. This helped to start us out on the right foot. I would love to work with these people again if possible!
We all have been very blessed to have met in the beginning of the Graduate program and to have worked with each other on every group assignment.  We all work great together, do our part and then some, and all seem to agree on the same concept.  Whenever a member sees an area of improvement they offer the suggestion in a positive constructive way.  Also, whenever a member has an issue or a personal matter come up the others offer help and suggestions to ensure the project gets done on time.  Having gotten my Bachelors also online, which involved many group projects, I can say this is the best group I have ever worked with.  
All I can say is, I wish these four were on my teaching team at work!  We all met in 5306, and were very lucky to be grouped to critique eachother’s wiki’s.  We decided to colaborate in teaching with Technology, worked unbelievebly well together, and decided to remain together for any future projects.  I am very touched that the team has actually remained in contact outside of the projects.  We have actually come to depend on eachother for questions and answers if one of us is confused, we just e-mail someone in the group and the problem is usually solved.  We knew eachother’s stregnths from the previous projects, and I think that’s what helped the PSA come together so quickly.  If these four were on my teaching team at work, my first year would be so much easier.
I think given that we had not met each other and had different schedules, I think the team worked well overall.  I would like to have seen what would have been accomplished if we truly had worked together together versus asynchronously.

EDLD 5363 Week 5 Web Conference

12-13-11

Last night’s web conference was an enlightening experience. Dr. Abernathy was very helpful in focusing our attention on the more important aspects of this weeks activities. She explained the problem with the final exam reflection and why it no longer is to be counted as part of our grade. She made this an opportunity for us to learn that technology sometimes has glitches for everyone, not just the students. Her handling of the situation was a good modeling of how to work with technology difficulties. The information given about using creative commons licensing was very helpful. This is a new area for me and I appreciate all the information I can get.

I have been somewhat apprehensive about the final assignment in this class. However, after attending the web conference I feel much more competent that I am completing the elements of the assignment appropriately. I also believe my group is doing an excellent job of collaborating and producing a quality PSA. 

EDLD 5363 Web Conference Week 2

11-22-11

Thanks to Thanksgiving, I was unable to attend the web conferences for week 2, but I watched the recording of the Nov. 22 web cast to help me understand the week 2 assignment. As usual, Dr. Abernathy started the web conference with a great deal of enthusiasm and clarification about expectations for week 2. She was very explicit in her comments about not having to assess any one video editing tool. In the explanation for allowing the assessment of different tools, Dr. Abernathy proved her knowledge of the state of public education and the resources (or lack of resources) that are available. She also did an excellent job of relating the reason for the week 2 assignments: in order for us to become competent technology facilitators that are familiar with many different tools.  After all, it isn’t about the cost of technology, but the use of technology.

As the web conference continued, there was an explanation of descriptive tags that was very helpful. At first I was confused by this requirement, but since it aids people when searching for specific information, it began to make much more sense. I enjoyed Dr. Abernathy’s question about why we should post our podcast on YouTube. I agreed with others that it makes it public and might help others. I did not realize that the embedded code that is given to you through YouTube would allow you to embed your podcast or video into your wiki. My podcast was uploaded to my wiki without any trouble, but I previously had difficulty adding a file that was too large. The embedded code should make uploading videos to my wiki a much easier task. I was relieved to see that other students were having difficulty uploading an mp3 file to YouTube. I have uploaded my podcast to podbean which allowed me to use descriptive tags, give a short explanation of the podcast, and display my creative commons license. This was a short, but informative, web conference that helped clarify for me why we were doing the assignment and what I was expected to learn.