Monday, December 15, 2008

Blog Assignment 13a

My Thoughts on:
The Expansion of Digital Storytelling into Content Area Instruction

I thought that the article was well written. This seems strange to say, but I was expecting the article to be a bit more complicated to read and understand. The stereo type or popular culture paradigm that I have about this type of paper and the audience is that it should be filled with confusing jargon and painted with confounding vocabulary. It was relieving to find that I could follow the draft and understand the content without effort. So, am I getting smarter or do you need to through in a little Latin? I found that the draft presented and supported itself well. I would to have had a copy of this prior to starting my internship I would have better understood the course I was getting ready to participate in.

If anything, some of the information may have been given in to much detail. I mean did the readers need to know what programs were being discussed or would it have been just as much to talk about what type of programs were being presented.

I support the theory that students are moving away from Instructional Technology as a focus because they are getting so use to dealing with technology in the everyday world. I also believe that if you give someone a pencil it does not mean that they can write or draw. Or, if someone has a knowledge or talent can they use a pencil to get it on paper. Applying subject and content with use of technology is an excellent idea, and I think that it adds depth to both subjects. I do however hope that technology does not replace human interaction; I took many courses online out of convince and found that a lack of direct interaction takes way form the learning experience. Reducing the technology side to mostly online will mentally slot it as a form of training course.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Blog Assignment 13b

Have the linked courses been beneficial to you and if so how? If not, why not? 


The linked courses worked perfectly. Studying, researching and learning is important and applying it to a creative and technological medium reinforces and enhances the material. I enjoyed both subjects individually, putting them together only made it better.

Have the digital photo/storytelling assignments been worthwhile in helping you learn the technology skills presented? 


Some of the information I was already familiar with and some not, it was worthwhile to me, in that, I was able to see many of the processes that I knew done in a different way and with different programs. Also, there were many assignments that I had never executed even though I was familiar with the programs used.

Have the digital photo/storytelling assignments been worthwhile in helping you learn the popular culture content? 

Yes, very much so, they added dimension, putting images, words and music to thoughts makes you see things from many angles. It turns the learning process into the thinking process.

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? 


As I said above, both of the courses reinforced the subjects and pushed the students to go beyond just obtaining information, they/we had to use it.

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? 


It would be of great personal benefit, to me, to be able to participate in more linked classes. However, I do feel that the workload sometimes seemed like two individual classes with connected and overlapping assignments, however, I could be just lazy.

Is there anything else you can suggest that you feel would improve the digital photography/storytelling half of the linked course pair? 


I would have liked to have compared different types of microphones in more detail and taken the audio mixing a step further.

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.
Three hours of anything can get heavy if one is not careful and I enjoyed and benefitted from the face-to-face in both classes. Visual demonstration is helpful in learning, even if I was not going to be using that particular program; I was always sure what my results needed to be.

Face-to-face also lets us react to our fellow students. It makes it easier to share ideas, see each other’s work, create working relationships and encourages motivation, all things that are not so prominent in on-line classes.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Final Digital Story

Please enjoy watching this production; I enjoyed making it.

Mark


Saturday, November 22, 2008

My Hardware and Software

Hardware and software I am using on my digital Story:

Hardware: CUP – Macintosh Pro with 23” Apple monitor, HP scanner, USB microphone, Olympus digital camera and a Canon DV tape recorder.

Software: Microsoft Word for the script and the storyboarding. HP software for scanning, Photoshop for image editing, GarageBand for audio editing and iMovie for video editing and product compilation.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

The Engines of Our Ingenuity

I have posted my midterm project for your review. I had a great time working on it and hope that you find enjoyment in the viewing.

You can click on the link below to view as 640 x 480 format.

http://www.hargrovedesign.com/media/Hargrove_Engines564.wmv



Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Class 9 Audio Assignment

This is the link to the audio assignment for class 9. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

In Class Small group Reading Circle

When first put on the spot to write quick and off the cuff, I was not to sure how to handle it. My first inclination is to be perfect, sound smart and usually boring. I figured with the time limitations that my page was going to be empty if I followed this path. So… I gave up my first inclinations and just tried to write as I speak and see what happened. The words came to me more quickly and flowed onto the paper. I found that I enjoyed the process more than the usual writing assignment. Reading the story back to the group was easier than expected as well, I suppose, because I was reading words that I would say naturally. When it was all over I found that my circle of listeners enjoyed what I had to say and I did too.

Although the topic I had in class was not the subject of my digital story, I will take this approach in some form or fashion when I write my script, but maybe with a twist.