EDLD 5363 Week 5 Blog

This week was probably the most difficult part of the course as we discovered that it was hard to incorporate all the necessary elements required in the rubric in so little time. The time allocated for the video was only sixty seconds however we felt that was not nearly enough time for the message to be portrayed. In our group video we decided to film students and we acquired the necessary parental release forms to film the students. I was surprised to see the overwhelming response and enthusiasm from willing participants (students). The students I selected were quite eager to be on camera and promote the topic of banning texting and driving. They did their own research on the topic and suggested their own lines for the film. Unfortunately, we stuck to our plan and script because their lines were lengthier and made the film go over 3 minutes. In the post production process we ran into other technical difficulties. First was the elimination of the background noise. The students were filmed in a rather quiet place however the camera still picked up unwanted background noise. We attempted to remove the background noise using Audacity software. It worked to a certain extent but did not remove all of the noise. Once the audio was imported into iMovie we were able to remove some additional noise but it was still noticeable when finalized. Also, the external microphone did not work well and the students voice was rather low. Again, we used iMovie to increase voice as much as possible. Overall, I believe our team succeeded in creating a sound a coherent PSA that encourages viewers to avoid texting and driving. Our team worked rather well despite the time and distance constraints. I was made the leader of the team and I took on the editing role. As mentioned in my reflections for this course, I need to improve my collaboration skills. All of the photos and text used for this video was credited at the end of the video. Although our video turned out great, our video would have been better if we collaborated more often in real time and perhaps met in person. Nonetheless, I was surprised to see that despite the barriers and constraints of online collaboration, projects and assignments can certainly be completed and be of high quality!

*The video is unlisted and can only be seen with the link provided to protect the students identity.

EDLD 5363 Week 1 Personal Digital Story Reflection

There are a couple of issues that I ran into right from the beginning. I decided to create a personal digital story in form of a timeline biography for a popular man that I admire by the name of Steve Jobs. I posted my script and interview questions on a Google Doc for review. The peer interview questions gave me direction and certainty of how I would like to proceed with the digital photo story. I decided to use iMovie since I only have a Macbook and have used iMovie before for some basic video editing. I had never used it before for a photo story though. I was impressed with the simplicity and versatility options on the new iMovie software. I was able to obtain various high quality images from Google images that supplemented the biography. The first issue I ran into was the length of the video. The rubric stated that it must be short and sweet however my video was initially over 7 minutes in length. I reduced it to about 5 and a half minutes and decided to leave it at that. I felt that if I reduced video length, I would ruin the production value and the message would be incomplete. I considered reducing the script but again the message would have been affected. Another issue I ran across was the quality of the voice over recording. I initially used the built-in microphone and noticed that there was too much echo and it sounded horrible. Luckily, I remembered that my CTE department had ordered a pair of Behringer podcast studios. This was exactly what my video needed. The sound quality was superb and I am excited to use it again in the future. Last, I contemplated whether or not to add music to the video. In the end, I decided to use one of Steve Jobs favorite songs in the video. The song certainly increased the value and significance. If you ever have issues with sound recording, I recommend purchasing a Podcaststudio by Behringer. The cost is only $99 and you can find it at music stores like Guitar Center. See pic below.