CEDO 540 Decision Making Using Data Collection & Analysis: Week One

This week was our first week of "stats" class.  I have to admit that I am a little apprehensive about this class because the only math skills that I tend to use are the basic ones.  Stats are something that I have not visited in a very long time.  I am sure that if I sat down and looked at what I do on a daily basis, there would be encounters of statistics, but as far as collecting and analyzing data; that is something that I hardly ever do. 

As I worked through our worksheet, reread the PowerPoint and watched the YouTube video, I began to remember all that I had learned in the past when it came to statistics.  My only hope is, as we continue to progress within the course, that I remember more and it helps me in completing what is required for the course.  

Digitial Storytelling-Week Five

The three main things we covered in class this week were the art of creating a rubric for multimedia projects, what to look for when shopping for the perfect hardware and finishing our Pecha Kucha.

As far as creating a multimedia rubric, this was something that was pretty easy for me.  All of my classes that I currently teach involve lots of projects, most of them multimedia projects, so creating rubrics is something that I do on a regular basis. For me, when creating a rubric, especially for a multimedia project, I like to focus more on how they used the software/hardware and not necessarily the content.  This is important because I want them to spend time exploring the software/hardware and get more familiar with it than be so worried about the content of their project.  Content of course is very important, but it usually is a smaller grade category in the rubric.

When it comes to shopping for new hardware, this is something that I personally always do a lot of research on first.  Hardware is such an expensive investment that I feel if you just buy a piece because it looks cool you could be setting yourself up for disappointment.  Anytime I look into buying new hardware, I always read consumer reviews, ask around, and look for product reviews.  Most of the time I take into deep consideration what the consumer reviews are.  People often tend to tell their experiences good or bad because they either want people to buy the same product or not have the bad luck that they did.

Finishing up my Pecha Kucha was a task in itself.  I knew that I would have a hard time with the narration part and I did.  I found myself stumbling over my words multiple times and even forgetting what I was saying.  Though in the end, I had a lot of fun creating the Pecha Kucha.  This is definitely a project that I will do with my own students because it is fun and not something that they are used to doing.  I thought it would be great for a vocabulary reveiw or even a get to know you activity at the beginning of the year.

We only have 1 week left of class and I can honestly say I've learned a lot so far and cannot wait to implement it into my own classroom. 

Digitial Storytelling-Week Four

In class this week we took a look at a program called Prezi.  After looking at a bunch of different examples and getting a chance to play around with it, this program seems like a lot of fun.  We made a Prezi from our 28 Photo Challenge and what it takes to capture a great picture.  Taking great pictures is something that I really need to focus on at times.  All too often I like to catch the candid moments and not really focus on how great a picture can be. 

We also started to storyboard for our Pecha Kucha.  As stated in my previous blog, I'm doing mine on family/friends/hobbies and while storyboarding I found it hard to only talk about the topic if for a minimum of 20 seconds.  There is just such much that I wanted to say!  Hopefully when it comes down to making the actual presentation I am more successful.  Though I am sure it will take me a few takes before I get it right. 

As we've now approached our halfway mark through the class and completed our readings, I've realized how much there was to learn about the art of giving a presentation.  Even in the past few weeks as I've created presentations I found myself looking more closely at the content and images I was using.  More than anything I want my presentations to have an effect on my students and for them to walk away with something.  Honestly, now I think the only reason they listen is for the sole purpose of filling out their note packets.  Hopefully with these changes and applying what I've learned from Presentation Zen, things will change. 

Digitial Storytelling-Week Three

Hmm...logged into the blog for week four and realized my week three blog never posted.  The joys of blogging from your cell phone!!

This week we've looked at a program called Animoto which is a video slideshow maker.  Before this class I had experience with Animoto because we had a professional development snapshot of it at a staff meeting last year.  A snapshot was all that is was.  We had 10 or so minutes to mess around with it after given a short tutorial by our librarian.  After that, I never really felt the need to use it, though I was constantly reminded of the program from the monthly e-mails.  Now, in this class, we had more time to play around with the program and I really enjoyed it.  At first, I felt that it was a bit finicky, but after a while I got a hang of it.  I also liked that you could use pictures from Facebook; which made it easy to access images.  I do wish that the program allowed for more editing, but maybe that is something that will happen in the future. 

We also talked about a Pecha Kucha (still working on the pronunciation!!).  This concept is the art of giving a presentation where you have 20 slides and each slide is only on the screen for 20 seconds.  We will be making a Pecha Kucha for this class and I have to admit I am a bit nervous.  I'm one of those people that talks A LOT, so only being able to talk for 20 seconds per slide, might be a bit of a challenge for me.  It will be interesting though.  I plan on doing mine about my family/friends/hobbies because it is a topic that I know lots about and maybe I could use it as a beginning of the year introduction for my students.