Class Reflection Questions

Have the linked courses been beneficial to you and if so how? If not, why not?
I like the linked course because I do not have to drive to campus as often during the week especially since I live in Katy. I also appreciate that I am still receiving six semester hours of credit even though I am only in class for four hours, but the time I spend online completing assignments more than makes up for the two hours I am not in class.

Have the digital photo/storytelling assignments been worthwhile in helping you learn the technology skills presented?
During each of the assignments I was presented with a new skill in technology that I was not previously familiar with. Prior to taking this course, I did not even know how to use Blogger, much less consider creating a personal blog for myself. Many of the skills are necessary in today’s classroom in presenting lessons to students in a creative and innovative way. In addition, the technology skills will help me to better relate to students who are experts with technology, and create lessons incorporating many of the skills I learned in this class. I think the final project puts all of the pieces we have learned throughout the semester together in a worthwhile manner.

Have the digital photo/storytelling assignments been worthwhile in helping you learn the popular culture content?
Here I feel a little torn because while I see how the digital photo story assignments can be used to learn the popular culture content, I felt sometimes the connection was slightly forced. No doubt, technology must be included in the classroom, and is integral to popular culture, but for some of the assignments I would not necessarily have chosen to work with the theme for Cam’s class, and would have rather been allow3ed to choose something unrelated to the theme presentations.

Do you think that the linked course pairing helped you connect technical skills to content area knowledge? If so, how and if not, what do you think did not work?
I think the digital photo story can be connected to any content area, and should be incorporated into the classroom. Teachers can use digital stories they themselves create, but I also think as was suggested in Dr. Robin’s course, we take the time to introduce the students to the technical skills involved in creating a digital photo story. I think students would benefit from the entire process including the story boards and the story circles, so students are able to improve their writing and technical skills as well as master the content.

Would you be interested in taking other linked courses if they were offered and would you recommend this pair of linked courses to other students?
I would take linked courses in the future, and would recommend these courses to other students because both Cam and Dr. Robin provide a wealth of learning tools for the classroom. I already plan on taking a set of linked courses in the spring combining another social studies course with a technology course.

Is there anything else you can suggest that you feel would improve the digital photography/storytelling half of the linked course pair?
I think maybe both courses should consider combining a little more of the online assignments or maybe I was just under the impression when I signed up for the class many of the assignments were for both classes. However, I discovered only one assignment counted for both classes, and I spent a great deal of time working online.

One option under consideration is to have a linked pair of courses where the content area course would be offered as a traditional 3 hour per week face-to-face course and the digital photo/storytelling course would be offered online, or mostly online. Please discuss your reaction to this idea and provide any questions or comments you have on this topic.
I like the idea more than the way the class is offered right now. I would have rather sat in Cam’s class for three hours but avoided the online component, and then worked on Dr. Robin’s class all online. I have taken online courses in previous semesters, and one of my professors would have weekly chats where all of the students were to log in and discuss the material for that week. I do not think this class could be done entirely online because some of the material is easier to learn when Dr. Robin is explaining it in person, and would like to see a hybrid course where it is offered mostly online and the students meet maybe every third week.

Do you have any other comments that you would like to add?
I enjoyed the class, and have learned many more technical skills, and now want new programs for my own computer, so that I can include many of the skills we learned in the class in a social studies classroom setting.

Article Review

After reading the article, I did not find it to be as terrible as Dr. Robin suggested it might be. I did find several grammatical errors that need to be addressed before the article is published, but I noticed several other students in the course have already pointed out many of the mistakes. Parts of the explanations could perhaps be written in more concise clear language, but overall I thought the article was thorough in explaining the development of linked courses and its benefits to the students taking them as well as discussing the decline in graduate enrollment as a precursor for the need in developing linked courses as a way for students to save time.

Creating a CD for the Final Project

To create my CD to turn in my final semester project, I did not use any of the software mentioned, but just burned it on my computer since I have windows XP. I did not have any problems, and used a regular cd-r to save both my wmv file and the wp3 file I have been working on.

Software Programs

I am sticking to the basic programs we have discussed in class in order to create my digital photo story. I would have liked to try using the adobe photo shop premiere to add in some video clips, but it is not necessary for my particular story, and I think still images will get the message across. I was having problems with my home computer with adobe, and spoke to Sr. Robin, and think in the future I will try using the software, but for now, will stick to still images. I used my Kodak software to edit pictures as well as the online site flauntR to edit some of the images. Many of the pictures I used were from the internet, and I used Microsoft photo story, and simply made adjustments in how the picture was viewed in the program itself, rather than cropping some of the images. I also recorded the audio right onto photo story, but am considering using goldwave for some adjustments to my final project. I used power point for the text slides, and I used Microsoft word to create both my script and my story board. I inserted a table for my story board in word, and found that it worked out conveniently for what I wanted to include and for organizational purposes.

Mixing Audio Practice

Boomp3.com

Here is my attempt at mixing a voice recording with some of the narration from my photo story with music.

Story Circles

I really enjoyed the story circle once I was past how embarrassed I felt reading my writing to my peers. I think the circles are a great way to really get some good ideas on which direction you would like to go with your digital photo story, and to find if there are any areas in your story that do not quite make sense or do not flow so well together. I also think, knowing that I will be sharing my script with my peers makes me want to make it that much better, so the criticisms and suggestions I do receive will really help me develop a better final project.

Engines of Our Ingenuity

I have decided to pick episode #514, Tyrannosaurus Rex. I have a three year old, and dinosaurs are a topic we are constantly discussing, and reading books on. I thought the episode was interesting, and would be a fun project to do for the midterm. I also chose this episode because I think that I will be able to find some great pictures to go along with the audio.

Colorado Photo Story With Sound

The Colorado Photo Story with music and narration.

Colorado Photo Story

I created a digital photo story using a series of photos I
took while on vacation the week before school started in Lake City, Colorado.

Cropping Photos

Digital Pictures

My Photo Blog

I collected a few pictures of the upcoming election to illustrate a popular culture event. I chose the election simply because every time I turn on the television there is news about the election or the candidates trashing each other.