EDLD 5363 Multimedia - Week 2 Web Conference Reflections

I was very glad that I was able to participate in this web conference because we received a lot of information about the Week 2 assignment and what to expect in the coming weeks.  Participating in this web conference probably saved me a lot of time and frustration.  After reading the assignment, I thought that I would have to create a video to post to Youtube.  The conference made clear that we were only to produce an audio file (although I did wind up having to import it to Movie Maker and save it as a video file in order to upload to Youtube). 

Although other audio editing programs were discussed, we were told to use Audacity, thus saving me some research into other audio recording programs. 

I also learned that we could use the discussion board to ask each other questions and bounce ideas off of each other.  I did not do that this week as my partner and I had already created a wiki to collaborate.  I will be using the discussion board for other than the assigned discussions in the future.

EDLD 5363 - Week 1 - Reflection about creating personal digital story

The hardest part about creating a digital story was coming up with an idea for the story.  Then I located a partner and began considering the questions, "What is it like to be a firefighter?", "How do you feel about the danger?", and "What keeps you going after 32 years?"  Then I began just jotting down adjectives to describe my feelings about being a firefighter.  The adjectives turned into phrases, and before I knew it, I had written a poem.  I then looked for photographs that illustrated each of the phrases.  I did this by creating a storyboard and placing the pictures above the phrases.  I used Microsoft Photo Story 3 to put together the photos and narrate.  I liked that Photo Story 3 allowed me to edit the photos, type in notes for narration, and add music if I wanted to.  I chose not to add music because I didn't want to take away from the narration.  I really enjoyed this assignment.  I can see where I will use this new skill to create digital stories for the department and/or academy websites, and for projects with my students.