Month 6 – Week 2
Digital Media & Ed Applications
In the classroom
Month six has arrived and I am very excited to begin implementation. I have been in an after school workshop now for two weeks and it has been up and down all the way. As for the students, they are awesome. I have been out of the classroom for six months and I miss I terribly. The students are excited and ready to go. Since I have not had contact with them, I have to prepare the class with some basics, email, storage etc. It has been a crazy two weeks, but I begin week three with everyone on the same page. They are checking emails, checking assignments in Schoology and two groups have taken home cameras and collected media assets. I feel we have come quite he distance in two weeks. I begin official introduction to digital storytelling this week.
As for the downs, it was primarily administration duties that deterred me at first. Unblocking sites has been understandable but disappointing. I have such a limited bandwidth anyways, that even unblocked some sites are unusable. I have tried staggering usage and that helps. However, as soon as all the class all makes it to the same point the lag is unbearable.
Secondly, enrollment was better than expected. I only have twenty computers. The school office, trying to help, took late applications and it boosted my numbers above the threshold. I had to drop some no shows that were delayed to Mexico during Christmas break, which is popular here in California. I also invested close to two thousand dollars in my project purchasing equipment for the maximum number, twenty. This leaves twenty students fully equipped and the others are supposed to use their own equipment. Hopefully…
So far, I am tracking my data by using a middle school engagement survey grounded in Google Docs. I have already taken notes and photos documenting my experience. I have yet to implement a student blog and I need to. I feel the student daily input will be vital to fine tuning the project in Cycle Two. I am also very excited to read their feedback about their own creations.
Full Sail classes have been vital to organizing my project. Last month, Dr. Deason’s class, Education Design and Evaluation, was very enlightening for me. He really placed the project into an actual statistical perspective. He asked the important questions, like how do you know you are successful? Prior to his class, I viewed my project as more of a workshop. After, I see how important my notes and observations are critical.
As for my current class, there is some information that is important, however, I feel as if it is more of a review for me. I researched the Multimedia Learning Theory in Month 4 and so much of the same principles are being introduced this month. I am also learning Adobe Flash. I have only created a splash screen to date, however, the learning continues. I must say that this month, I shifted my primary focus to the actual Action Research Project. I hope to gain more balance as I move on.
