#UWinDig

For my third and final multimedia reflection, I have chosen to create a Powerpoint slideshow with narration and some neat transitions.  I decided to use this platform to do my reflection, because although I’ve known how to make Powerpoints, I have never narrated one of mine, nor rehearsed the timings so that it plays itself from start to finish.  I thought that this was a good platform to try and to learn how to use the more advanced functions, specifically the narrations, the animations and sounds applied to the images of the different modules, and then exporting the file to Youtube.  

Now that I have worked with and acquired these skills, I am confident that as a teacher, I could create recorded lessons for my students, perhaps if someone missed a class, wanted to review a specific concept, or even if I decided to try out a Flipped Classroom model.  This is a common way that teachers would record and upload a recorded lesson. I will say that this process took much, much longer than expected, because it obviously took time to reflect and synthesize my ideas about the Technologist module, then I had to put these ideas onto my slides in a visually pleasing way, by adding pictures, and some animations, and then after I had to go through and write a script for what I was going to narrate.  My script ended up being over 5 pages, and quite honestly, I wasn’t sure how long the presentation was going to be, but was relieved that it only was 10 minutes (although I do apologize for making it that long; I had put so much effort into writing the slides and the script that I had no clue how I was going to cut it). Anyways, I would highly recommend anybody wanting to record a lecture to do it with Powerpoint! I was impressed by how easy it was to record my voice, and if I messed up, I was able to clear the narrations for that slide, without having to start the whole process over (thank goodness!).  I did have to look up how I could narrate the slides, because I wasn’t able to quite figure it out on my own, so I found this Office Support website https://support.office.com/en-gb/article/record-a-slide-show-with-narration-and-slide-timings-0b9502c6-5f6c-40ae-b1e7-e47d8741161c which showed me that it’s just a simple button and it sets you up in a different window to begin recording and working through the slideshow.  It was very easy once I pressed the button, I just had to read and click on the screen.

One major challenge I would like to discuss is that after creating the presentation, and after saving it and trying to insert it directly into this post, I discovered that my file was wayyyyy too big to be linked here- the maximum is 10 MB, and mine is 36 MB.  So, I was actually horrified when I read that, because I have never come across this before, and I realized I would have to use the online repository for the first time!  I was patiently waiting for it to finish uploading, but uView said it may take awhile! And I really had no clue how long that might be. So after 18 hours and still a loading icon and the videos saying that they are initializing, I had to post my video on youtube! This also was quite difficult and I had to finally use Quicktime Player’s screen recording feature to get the audio onto the a video file (all of the other means of downloading the powerpoint to .mov and .mp4 wouldn’t capture my narrations).  So after I finally was able to screen record, the audio became a little fuzzy, so I hope you all don’t mind, and still are able to hear what I’m trying to get across.

-some of my frustrations are captured in this GIF of Patrick lol

I will not comment on the module here, because this is all contained in my slideshow and in my narrations!

So without further ado, here is my Powerpoint on Youtube!

https://youtu.be/6P9g2Iq-Fvo

And here is a link to the Ontario Extend Technologist Module https://extend.ecampusontario.ca/modules/ of which was the content of my slideshow.

Technologist: Module Checklist

Kaleigh Martin

#UWinDig #alwaysgiveyourselfplentyoftimeforuwindsorsrepository

For my second multimedia reflection I chose to reflect on “Teaching in a Participatory World” by Michele Jacobsen and the video “Henry Jenkins: The influence of participatory culture on education” with  Henry Jenkins sharing his ideas.  I did this in the form of a Twitter essay. Please visit my multimedia reflection Twitter essay on my public account @KaleighJoy3.  I hope you like it, and maybe you can follow me since I have no followers. LOL

Tweets by KaleighJoy3

The essay starts with the frantic kitty and is easier to read when viewed on Twitter and by selecting “Show this thread” under any of the Tweets.

After reading the Jacobsen article and watching the Jenkins video, I absolutely agree that teachers in this day and age should be integrating social media and technology into their classrooms and embrace the meaningful contributions that these new age platforms make for learning opportunities.  As Jenkins mentioned, teachers these days tend to shy away from social media,  because they are afraid of the potential misuses students might engage in or inappropriate content they may view online when using their devices.  However, I absolutely agree with Jenkins’ point that, because these students will be using social media on their own anyways, it is quite foolish that teachers would let them learn about the proper applications on their own.  Because, if students are obsessed with their own social media accounts, as many teachers and I have observed, what makes people think that they will ever know how to properly use social media and technology in a positive, meaningful way, if they are never shown how by someone who is experienced in the field of educational social media applications?  For example, if teachers notice that their students are obsessed with Snapchat, and in response, they ban using Snapchat from the classroom, this pushes students further away from what they will encounter in the future.  By banning Snapchat or any social media site, the teacher is missing a great learning opportunity for where they could explain that although Snapchat and other sites are great, there is a time and a place.  So, depending on the students’ response, the teacher could potentially allow them to use Snapchat while they are working if the students feel the great desire to do that.  And yes, many students could be distracted by their apps and sites, but I think that is another opportunity for the teacher to demonstrate that at a high school level, maybe just grades elevens and twelves, if the students want to be distracted by their phones, that that is their choice and their grades will be reflected accordingly.  If all they do is play on their devices, while given time to work and ask questions, then they are missing out significantly.  It also serves to remind students that in post-secondary education or during their careers (depending on the career), they can spend tons of time updating their statuses and scrolling through pictures, but when their grades start dropping, or their boss is asking where their work is when its the deadline, it was their conscious decision to choose social media over their commitments and priorities.

In addition to knowing the right time and place, teachers could choose to use the same or similar social media applications to the ones their students like to use, and in a controlled learning environment, that can be a way of having students contribute their ideas and opinions in a platform that they enjoy using in their everyday life.  To stick with the Snapchat example and a science class as the content area , perhaps the teacher could have each student pose a question on their story (these accounts would be school, classroom accounts only and not the students’ personal accounts), and then each student has to answer ten different classmates’ questions.  In order to ensure that students are responding the teacher could ask students to keep a log of who they answered and what their answer was, and then if the teacher is really Snapchat savvy, they could go on each of the students’ account and ensure that their snap scores are increasing accordingly.  This idea would have the potential to be misused by the students, so the teacher would have to determine if their class would benefit from this type of activity.  If they believe their class is responsible enough to participate in this, then I believe it would be a great way for students to use something they use everyday for fun in a meaningful, learning context.  There are so many platforms that could work and better engage students in digital participatory learning, and some will suit certain classes over others.

I found this to be a very enjoyable creation process, even being somebody who never uses Twitter.  It made me feel quite creative the way I took my points and had to strategically arrange them so that they were short enough to not exceed the character count- short and tweet (see what I did there, ahhh lol).  I also had a lot of fun selecting the GIFs, as I just find them very funny.  Overall, I would recommend writing a Twitter essay to anybody who wants to try something new, and essentially write an essay in a very popular social media platform.

The idea of participatory learning was quite new to me before these past two weeks and I don’t have any true participatory experience that I can think of before taking this course. I have had to complete the odd discussion here and there in some of the online classes I have taken before.  But, all of those discussions pretty much involved someone posting their opinion, and then somebody would comment that they agree, just to say that they did it and get the marks for it. Just last week, however, while tweeting in Twitter chat #unboundeq, I found that to be a collaborative educational experience, where me and a few other students in this class built on ideas from what each other was saying.  I found that people’s additions to my ideas were very useful and allowed me to consider others’ perspectives.  The #unboundeq made me very interested in participatory learning, and that is why I ultimately chose to watch the Jenkins video and read the Jacobsen article.

Be sure to read the article and watch the video if you haven’t had the chance, as both Jacobsen and Jenkins bring up great points with respect to what participatory culture is, and why teachers should integrate it into their classroom.

https://www.edcan.ca/articles/teaching-in-a-participatory-digital-world/

#UWINDIG

I have chosen to respond to Ashley Hinck’s article “Digital Ghosts in the Modern Classroom.”

Check it out! http://hybridpedagogy.org/digital-ghosts-modern-classroom/

I chose to make an infographic using Piktochart, because I had never heard of this website before this course, and after looking at a few sample infographics, I decided that I would like to experiment with it.  I also loved the irony of selecting an infographic template for a response to how students should not use templates, as they limit creativity.

via GIPHY

Overall, I enjoyed using Piktochart.  I think that this platform allows users to generate professional looking infographics, by simply choosing layouts, fonts, graphics, and colour schemes (or by adding to a template).  I appreciated the number of creative options available to me.  I also liked that fact that I could use so many design and graphic elements without having to upgrade my free account. Although I started with a template, I was able to alter many different aspects, to create something I was quite proud of.  After reading the article, I do realize that since I chose to use a pre-existing template, I did limit my creativity to what I thought would look nice according to the original design of the infographic.  But, I am still impressed with my end result, and with my choice of using Piktochart.  I highly recommend it to anyone who would like to make an infographic!

I related to the students mentioned in this article quite a bit, considering that throughout my whole educational experience, I have liked using templates that are provided to me, and I have always enjoyed simple assessments, such as worksheets and multiple-choice tests.  After reading this article, however, I realize that throughout my education, I haven’t been able to be too creative in the way I approach my assignments, as there are usually specific outlines, and formats that must be followed.  If I had had more free range with my assignments, I think that would have allowed me to take more risks, and not be penalized if I didn’t get the perfect end-product that the teacher had in their mind. This is especially relevant to my science courses, as the way that my teachers had written assignments, and tests, there were only one correct answer.  I am not suggesting that there should always be numerous answers to questions, but that if they expect us to achieve higher level thinking and learning processes (as shown on Bloom’s taxonomy), they should allow more risks and less clear-cut answers.

Coming into this course, I don’t have that much digital knowledge, with respect to creating digital multimedia.  And if I hadn’t read Hinck’s article, I probably would have sought out very formatted, less creative, platforms to create my projects.  I am looking forward to experimenting with many platforms, that really allow me to explore numerous features, without specific expectations of what I should be able to create.  On the other hand, last year I created my own website from scratch as part of the Internet course I took at uWindsor.  I was so proud of myself, when I was able to write code and every time I updated it, my website would change accordingly.  So, I understand the type of frustrations that are mentioned in the Hinck article, but I also understand how exciting it is, to see your digital multimedia come to life!

If the infographic doesn’t load, try this link https://create.piktochart.com/output/33087202-multimedia-reflection-ghosts

#UWinDig

🙂