Final week
So this is the final week for the video portion of my project. Everything seems to be going well so far, the only thing really left to do (besides the website) is to make sure the rest of the videos get edited and finished. But seeing how we got group 5’s cumbersome project almost done, I’m not too worried about it being finished. Still, I hope that the class likes the finished products because they all put so much work into them.
The website I still have no idea what I’m supposed to be doing. I know I need to do some sort of recap of the EDFON 420 experience, but I don’t really know what my role in telling the story is supposed to be or anything like that. Hopefully I’ll get it figured out on Monday or Tuesday.
Computer teaching
So lately, I’ve been working with Jen Booth at MPL to get some things organized for next semester’s free computer classes. I will even be teaching one of the classes. Some resources to think about:
http://www.nwcentral.org/?q=node/1580
skyways.lib.ks.us/tricon/2005/handouts/tips_for_teaching.pdf
portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=286498.286520
Additional consulting.
As a result of my work on this project, I’ve been able to act in on other opportunities. For one, Lyn Jones, Dr. Fraser-Burgess’s doctoral assistant, has asked me to help design the brochure for the parenting portal. I’ve been trying to apply some of the principles I’ve learned during my other management endeavors this semester, acting mainly as a technical advisor rather than creative lead.
Even more exciting is that I might be doing some technical consulting as an intern for an Indiana Writer’s group in Indianapolis this summer, also with Lyn Jones.
I miss being a part of the creative process, but I’m happy that my work in this class has lead to other projects.
Final editing.
So, things are wrapping up with the student portion of the assignment. Fingers crossed, we’ll start the final editing this week and finish up the week after that. It’s making me nervous though because time keeps getting shorter every day, and if we have any major problems it is probably going to be a nightmare to fix at this point. Still to do:
1. Finish editing–including getting the students to finish their final comments, doing “polishing” work, and doing the credits.
2. Getting additional b-roll and/or filming the class video intro. Both would be outsourced for the most part.
3. Putting the video on the site.
Entailing a lot more work than at first glance.
Thinking of my final presentation.
Until recently I’d forgotten that I’d actually have to have some evidence of my major project this semester to turn into some kind of a presentation of the experience I’ve gained thus far in the semester. I’ve narrowed it down in to two options that I’d like to pursue. I’m still deciding which one:
1. Video.
Since this has been the managing and production of a class video project, I thought it would be appropriate to make a video myself about my final thoughts and reflections about the project. I wish I’d thought of doing this earlier; I could have developed a nice little video diary of the entire process. Oh well. Live and learn. The benefits of this method would be relevance and a more personal reflection of what I did with this project. I could also include interviews with Dr. Fraser-Burgess + the students, which would be cool. I might still be able to incorporate that, somehow.
2. Website
Probably something similar using something like Google sites, but I could use this rather easily to compile a lot of different types of media and experiences that I’ve developed during this process. It’s also a lot more sustainable and less cumbersome than video.
I still have a little while to decide this, so we’ll see how it goes.
Snafus.
Thus far into my technology project, things have been going rather smoothly, and so I’ve basically been looking over my shoulder since the start, waiting for the ax to fall.
And, alas. Technology problems always happen. Luckily, the ones I’ve encountered over the past two weeks haven’t been too awful.
On Thursday the 5th, I showed up to the iStudio expecting to see a handful of students working + mostly finishing up their projects since I’d stated several times that it would be possible for them to come in and work before the date, I thought that they would take advantage of this and not overwhelm the iStudio crew.
I assumed wrong. I walked into the room to see the entire class sitting around their computers and two slightly overwhelmed techs. I felt really bad for the techs, and I helped out the groups as much as possible on my own. Also, several of the groups weren’t as far along in their projects as they were “supposed” to be, which was disappointing and a little frustrating. By the end of the class, three of the groups were pretty close to being done, but two groups still have a lot of work to do and I’m worried about whether or not they’ll be done by their deadline on the 19th. If not, it won’t destroy the project or anything, but it will just mean more waiting and more work later down the road, which I was hoping to avoid to make things easier to get through at the end.
The other problem is that one group has been working with watermarked footage, and for a few days I was scrambling around making sure that this hadn’t occured with other videos. Fortunately, the damage wasn’t as bad as we originally thought, and the solution is easy enough. But is was still stressful.
Next up is the final editing session on the 19th, and then after that is doing all the “polising” work with the iStudio and getting the credits and stuff done, so we’ll see how that goes.
Digital Portfolios Seminar.
Overall, I felt the seminar on digital portfolios headed by Helen Barrett was a worthwhile experience. Her style was very interactive, which was a relief because it encouraged a lot of compelling questions to emerge. I imagine that a lot of the information would have been really useful advice to me concerning the content and purpose of my portfolio, had I not already learned about a lot of the stuff she talked about in my classes. Most of the material and set-up of my portfolio centers around the idea of portfolio as reflective tool, so even though this wasn’t a new idea to me it was good to hear her speak about it. What piqued my interest the most was her mention of utilizing blog technology as a website and also her discussion about using Google sites as a web tool in an educational setting. I knew about these technologies, but I’d never really considered them outside their normal context (in the way of web development) before her speech. They are definitely things I’ll have to look into.
Informatics Reflection
Even though we didn’t really do too much with our informatics project, it’s really given me a lot to think about. Even though I think at the basic level the project was about learning to host our own webspace that featured a blog function, I feel like I’ve learned a lot about the possibilities of blogging. Last year working with Bookpod, I got a sense of the categorization powers of blogs, but now that I’ve actually learned how to upload and use blogging software myself, I think that it gave me an even greater sense of the ease of access and use of software like WordPress.
I would also really like to develop the blog that I built more (about teachers finding tips and resources on grant writing), but I don’t know that I’ll get a chance to this semester. I am starting to think of blogs as a vehicle for solutions rather than just a facility for storing content, and it is intriguing. I hope I get a chance to explore this more some time in the future.
Considering changes to my project
How would I have facilitated my editing project if I had not had the iStudio or the iStudio staff to back me up?A large part of why my project has been a success so far is the support that I’ve received from the iStudio facilities and staff. The physical room itself is set up to further the process of educational technology, and there are a variety of resources that I literally had within a finger’s reach if I needed it. The staff has been invaluable; all of them have had experience with most types of hardware and software that the project requires and know how to organize themselves to best get the job done.
Still, it’s important to consider how things would have been done if I hadn’t had this fantastic combination of things that paved the way for my success. Here are a few things that I would have done:
1. Scout and secure resources early.
This is important in any project, but more so in a project started from scratch. I would have first looked into other potential computer labs (via university computing services or the tech ed department) on campus that were available for the times I needed them. After considering them for logistics and how closely they would be able to meet the mission of the project, I would develop a detailed list for future reference.
2. Find the answers.
A rule for being a good librarian is that if you don’t/can’t find an answer, find someone else that does. It has a lot of good carryover to the rest of life, in particular a project like this. To be quite honest, I would have no idea where to look on campus for technical expertise on my own if I didn’t have the iStudio. I would start by asking professors what their recommendations would be to get starting points to finding a crew. I’d probably also check with advisors or professors in TCOM and CS to see if
there would be graduate students or other student assistants that would be available to help with a project. Then I’d have to roughly assemble a staff based on what I found, keeping in mind flexible goals that could be adjusted based on what I could put together technically.
3. Be flexible.
Going into a project blind without knowing what kind of facilities or staff I’d have, I’d definitely have to apply the underpromise/overdeliver mentality. In meetings with the client, I’d stress the pragmatic elements of putting together something from scratch, try to develp an open concept of the client’s goals initially. Then, as more pieces fell into play, work with the client to nail down specifics based on what is possible. Once everything is organized, develop the best possible plan to be put into play without tying the ultimate success of the project to any one detail.
Looking ahead to editing.
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The next big step in my major project is to organize the editing of the podcasts for the classes. Honestly, I’m more nervous about this than I was the video night, only because I’m worried about how the class’s lack of editing experience will affect the progress of the project as a whole. Sure, a technician will be doing the editing, but if they don’t understand how the process works, how will they be able to direct the technician?
I’m also worried that if students don’t show up with their groups the first day, or don’t fully have a good grasp of their story by the time they leave, that they’ll procrastinate and not get it done in time. They’ll have until the middle of November to finish, but there’s so much other stuff going on with this project that tipping the balance out of equilibrium could throw a wrench into the whole machine of progress on this project. Of course, there isn’t much I can do about that except try and think of how I will handle it should those situations come about, but it feels like this editing project is a lot more out of my control than the taping session was, for some reason.
I just want to do my best. I also want everything to go perfectly. The first one I can do, the second one I can’t, but I still keep trying to anyway. This is simultaneously the best and the worst thing about being in charge of a project like this: living up to my own expectations. I love the fact that it’s all on me, that I have such a large piece to contribute. But I also rarely feel like the work that I do put in is good enough, so it’s a double-edged sword.
I guess we’ll see.
