Digital Graphics: Week 5 Final Reflections

Thus far, Digital Graphics proved to be my favorite course while in the Instructional Technology Educational program at Lamar University.  I do not believe a single week went by in which I did not learn something new and invigorating as a teacher and a learner.

While we started out with simple design theory, we proceeded to learn more advanced techniques, such as logo design and animation.  I was probably in the minority of graduate students in the program in my dislike of the animation week.  Although I learned so much that week, I found animation to be difficult and cumbersome.  I used the program "Scratch" for my animation, and, while I definitely think that a number of my students would enjoy it, I personally did not find it enjoyable. 

I was able to begin working on a logo design for our new West Texas affiliate of the National Council of Teachers of English:  Concho Valley Teachers of English.  I definitely found this to be difficult; nevertheless, I believe I enjoyed it immensely because of the reflection of a real-life task.  As the first article in Week 5 of our course states, “educational experiences are more authentic and of greater value when the curricula reflect real life, which is multifaceted.” (National Council of Teachers of English, 1995)  Whether a child, a teen, or an adult learner, I believe that authentic experiences in learning hold power over those that are isolated and irrelevant in the real world.  My interest continued in the course as I worked on a newsletter that actually went out to our membership of CVTE.  It was exciting to use design principles, the new logo, and members’ writing as well as my own to create a form of communication that I felt was meaningful and worthwhile.

National Council of Teachers of English, 1995.

CVTE Newsletter Volume 1, Issue 3

My Graphics Design class this week assigned a newsletter for us to write and design. I decided to help out with our new regional ELA affiliate's work of constructing a newsletter and found out how much fun as well as work this actually entails.

New Affiliate; New Logo

For my Graphic Design class this week, we were required to create a logo that represented who we are.  I asked to create a logo for a new regional affiliate we have just started.  The name of the affiliate is Concho Valley Teachers of English and our parent groups are the National Council of Teachers of English and the Texas Council of Teachers of English Language Arts.  I began by thinking of what messages we want our affiliate to convey to our potential members and members:

• Connected
• Far-reaching (both in reaching out to regional members and our connections around the US)
• Innovative
• Welcoming
• Embracing 21^st Century literacies
• Involved

 After considering this list, I eventually used Adobe Photoshop to create my first project in Photoshop as well as my first logo.  I believe it does represent our affiliate.  I do feel as if I need to continue to work on it before it goes public, however.

 
 

Scratching the Surface of the History of Design

For my first assignment in Graphic Design, I searched for ancient Indian manuscripts on Google.  I was pleased to find a site that is hosted by Dr. Joytsna Kamat called “Kamat’s Potpourri”.  On the site she featured several pages from a manuscript called Sougandhika Parinaya (wedding of Sugandhika).  In regard to the design principle of Contrast, these pages all were in vivid black and white which created a natural contrast for the eye.  The principle of Repetition was subtly done with a simple border which appears to some degree in each picture.   With the exception of the first and last picture on the web page, all of the pictures are framed in the center with the subjects surrounded by important items.  The first and last pictures simply have the prince and princess taking up the majority of the space on the page.  Proximity is evident with the prince and princess holding various important elements of Hindu marriage leading the eye to understand the essence of these elements.

5363 Final Course Reflection

I recall my excitement prior to taking this course.  Because my teaching assignment is not centered on technology, I felt that I would learn many things regarding Multimedia and Video Technology that would enhance my 8^th grade ELA classroom.  I expected to learn how to create and utilize many technology tools which I could, in turn, begin to use immediately with my students.  While I did learn how to change file formats, the knowledge came from another student in the course.  Through the course, I feel I have a better grasp of filming video.  Unfortunately, these are really the only two outcomes I feel I truly achieved as a result of taking this course.  I already knew how to use Photo Story 3, Movie Maker, and Audacity.  I teach Audacity often to create podcasts that are uploaded to our classroom website.  I really was expecting a more in-depth exploration of Multimedia and Video Technology throughout this course.

Learning how to change file formats has been incredibly relevant to the work my students and I are doing right now.  We are involved in a service learning project that came out of a visit by a young couple, Matt and Lauren Mbanga, from Zimbabwe who are taking a sabbatical from their work in a rural area of Zimbabwe.  First, my students wrote letters to the teens who live in this rural area.  Then, we read the book, In Our Village, which is written by a group of teenagers in rural Tanzania.  My students have used Flip Videos to create our own version of In Our Village to send with the Mbangas.  I used the knowledge I gained regarding changing file formats to change the video to AVI, so the students could download the videos into Movie Maker.  While taking the videos of our town, I used the knowledge regarding how to film video.  This was definitely relevant to this type of project.

Because the majority of this class was devoted to creating a PSA with a team, I felt as if there were a number of missed opportunities to really learn how to use multimedia and video technology.  It seemed as if our time was devoted more to trying to piece together this PSA and find ways to communicate with our busy schedules and not the actual utilization of the tools associated with this class.  I would have appreciated more time to create a better Photo Story, maybe the second week to revise and edit after the instructional associate’s comments.  I would have appreciate more time to use Movie Maker and create a video that really addressed an issue that would be more relevant to what I do in the classroom, rather than work together a piecemeal production with a team.  My team was beyond wonderful.  I could not have asked for a better one; however, to truly learn the material, I needed more time on my own.  I felt that the breadth of this learning might have been there, but the depth was not there in this course.

I was successful in completing the course assignments with the exception of the web conferences.  I was able to attend one web conference.  Two other times, I tried, but I was not successful.  The first one I tried to get into, I used the URL given to us for the week.  Finally, after waiting for 30 minutes, I gave up.  Later, I found out that someone was in the conference, but several of us could not enter.  I never found out why.  The second web conference I tried to get into, I was successful.  The third one I attempted to enter fifteen minutes early and found out that the conference had been rescheduled for an hour earlier.  Therefore, what prevented me from feeling successful was simply a lack of communication.  In an environment of distance learning, it would seem that communication would be of the utmost importance.

What I have learned within this course about myself is that I am definitely a leader.  I worked hard to pull our group together and to encourage communication.  Regarding my technology skills, I discovered that, while I have a long way to go to consider myself an expert, I do know many things about technology that can help my students and fellow colleagues.  More and more, teachers at my campus and the other two campuses are coming to me with questions that I am, increasingly, being able to answer within a reasonable amount of time.  It is exciting and empowering to feel that I have knowledge and skills to offer my school.  What I have learned about my attitudes is that, although I am quite a Pollyanna in many ways, I am beginning to accept things for what they are.  I am realizing that, oftentimes, we have to circumvent what is offered in front of us and see the possibilities in our colleagues and our students and not necessarily the powers that be.