Assignment+4

A – A - Assignment 1 – Your Online Identity – Working with Web 2 Tools
· What issues might be involved in having an online presence?

Using the internet to its full capabilities has significant issues regarding online safety, especially with collaborative tools which have the option to be view by all users of the internet. This online presence poses significant threats and risks to security of user’s identity and well-being while using the internet or collaborative tools. The emphasis on sharing and collaborating may be seen as a point of access to private information which can easily be used for the wrong purpose.

· What are some strategies that may be helpful to address these issues?

By educating users of these collaborative tools to become aware of how easy it is to identify a person through use of the internet especially with the emerging popularity of social networking tools such as Facebook, Twitter and Delicious. Users of these tools need to become aware of the security issues regarding these tools by not divulging private information about themselves. Furthermore, having an understanding of the levels of security which are available when using such tools on the internet is important. Most social networking web 2.0 tools have options to keep information secure for private viewing only which is accessible in the security features menu of the corresponding web 2.0 tool.

· Which tools do you think will be most useful for your own professional/personal life?

There are many web 2.0 tools which are available for use for a variety of purposes. A couple of useful websites which give access to a large quantity of tools are http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/ and @http://www.go2web20.net/. These websites are handy as they categorise tools and provide a short summary of the tool and what it can be used for.

media type="custom" key="7505717" align="left"Learn Boost – This tool is a fantastic tool designed for educators as it allows for teachers to create an online mark book which compiles lesson plans, grades and a calendar with an attendance function. The tool is simple to use and effective to allow collaboration between parents, students and the teacher. Learn Boost allows for the insertion of modules and assessment aims and outcomes which can be edited at anytime.

Quizinator– This tool is a virtual test and worksheet designed which allows the user to compile a bank of questions to then create customised tests and worksheets from. Tests and worksheets can be created for any subject or topic and can be saved, printed and re-edited. There are capabilities of making different versions of one test and the feature of this tool is that each user has a secure online account which stores all the users’ files. (View the How To Guide of Quizinator to get started)

Group Table – This tool is another fantastic tool which allows for the sharing and collaborating of students work. This tool would be a great tool for teacher who like using collaborative teaching styles as the tool allows for groups online collaboration of group work. This would allow students to work on the tool in their own time as well as in school time.

B – Assignment 2 – Radio Cut
· What were the issues involved in making this file and how did you solve them?

During the production of the radio cut some issues which I encountered included organising a suitable time to arrange and record the interview. As the person who I interviewed was a shift worker it was hard to try and find time to conduct the interview. Additionally, when conducting the interview finding a suitable area to conduct the interview was difficult as it was hard to attempt to reduce background noise. Furthermore, finding suitable equipment to record the interview was a challenge as when using microphones on laptops and mobile phones which did not have sufficient clarity posed as a significant issue. However, a digital voice recorder worked well to record the interview as the quality was significantly improved. Additionally, the digital voice recorder enabled the recording to be recorded as an mp3 file which assisted in the uploading and editing process. A significant highlight of the editing process was using the program audacity to edit and finalise the interview recording. The software is free to use and is easy to use as it effectively allows the user to create, edit, import and modify existing audio files. However, when editing audio the program does associate large files before exporting as an mp3 so large amounts of hard drive space are required. A great tutorial for using audacity can be accessed at @http://audacity.sourceforge.net/manual-1.2/tutorials.html.

· In what way would the ability to produce an edited sound file be useful?

Producing a sound recording of an interview or commentary can be of use in a variety of situations. A great use of a recording in a school setting would accompany a unit of work which requires input from a professional in a related field. So by interviewing and producing a short radio cut instead of inviting a professional into the class you can expose students to an effective way to produce an interview using interviewing techniques and compiling the information using technology.

C – Assignment 3 – Making the Digital Story
· What did you learn from this process (what was particularly rewarding, challenging or frustrating? What might you do next time?)

The overall experience of the digital story production posed as a rewarding however challenging part of the topic. A resource that helped with understanding digital stories can be accessed at @http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI08167B.pdf. The need to spend a large amount of time on editing and recording audio was a significant aspect of the photo story, which consumed most of my time. When combining the audio and photos into movie maker I found the process significantly difficult as it was hard to align the audio and the photos and create a steady stream of photos which were complimented by the audio. Furthermore, when adding transitions I found that it reduced the length of my story, which then altered, with the placement of my audio. I overcame this problem by adding transitions before aligning the audio to the photos. Additionally, I found with my audio that I was speaking too fast which did not complement the photos, so I rerecorded the audio three times. Eventually, I was satisfied with the combination of audio and photos. However, I did not realise that the time of each image needed to be adjusted to fit with the audio. I soon realised that the photo story project was going to be a time consuming assignment. Additionally, I found that it is vital to regularly save the project as I work because the computer that I was using commonly decided to freeze and stop working. Eventually, many hours later when I had finished the project I decided to add additional background audio to photo story, I was wrong in thinking this was going to be a simple process. I found that I could not add two tracks into the audio section of moviemaker; this meant that I needed to add the audio backing track to my narration, which meant more audio editing time.

· View the other class stories. Identify two or three and say what elements attracted you to them.

Evan Sanders digital story told a really well constructed and narrated story about an artists work. The photo story has a great detail of pictures which are able to tell the story without needing to listen to the narration; however the narration is well done and the recording quality is excellent. The narration itself is well constructed and links with the photos well. The transitions joining each photo are really effective and don’t detract from the viewing of the photo story. Well Done, good job.

The digital story by Matthew Berry is a deep story which tells the journey of a person who has a bad experience with a former partner. The story is well constructed and presented. The photos are really well put together and the photography is great. The narration is perfectly aligned with the photos which assist in telling the story. The photo story additionally has a great background track which works well with the story. Great photo story, really well done.

· In what way might digital story telling be useful in teaching?

I have found the digital story telling experience to be of great value to teaching and learning. It would be appropriate to use digital story telling with students who are having difficulties with developing literacy skills as students can take photos and retell their stories through photos that is removing the need to write. Students can express themselves through using audio to retell their stories and they are exposed to learning with technology which is apart of their lives.

D – Assignment 4 – Review of Topic
· What activities did you find to be most valuable?

This topic has been an interesting topic to study as it has exposed students to a variety of concepts which are going to be of great use in my future as an educator. I especially enjoyed learning about how to construct a photo story and what makes a quality photo story. Secondly, I found it valuable to have completed the radio cut assignment prior to completing the digital story as it gave me fundamental skills to assist in creating my digital story. Another valuable part of this topic is having the opportunity to explore and build a personal wiki page through the use of wiki spaces. Aspects of this topic have complimented other topics which I have studied related to digital media studies and that has allowed me to personally further my skills towards becoming an effective teacher of digital media studies and information technology. The skills that I have learnt in this topic can be transferred and integrated into the whole curriculum so a photo story assignment or the use of web 2.0 tools to collaborate on assignment work can be used in English, mathematics or even science.

· What activities did you find to be least valuable?

The participation in the goggle groups forum as I felt like I was adding posts to the forum just to suffice the assessment requirements of the first assignment. Although saying this I have gained some useful resources from other posts that I have used for other assignments in this topic and other topics. It was additionally a good tool to use when Al took over as our tutor as it was an effective way to keep in contact and for him to provide information about workshops and assignments.

· Summarise what you have learned as a result of doing this topic and how this may or may not be useful to you in the future.

As mentioned above with the skills I have learnt in this topic I will be able to confidently teach students how to create a digital story using multimedia tools. The information provided in this topic was helpful and resourceful to extending my prior knowledge of creating digital stories.


 * · A Final Thought on Multimedia Literacy...**

The possibilities to enhance learning through using these tools provide the potential to deliver students with significant knowledge and learning of a variety of integrated concepts. When these tools are used correctly students are exposed to collaborative learning and can apply critical thinking, analysis and synthesis skills which will be of value to their lives after schooling. The skills learnt through using these tools can be transferred across the curriculum through meaningful applied integrated curriculum. By incorporating these tools into the curriculum in non-forced ways students seek the potential to move to the next level of thinking, applying and utilising knowledge. The focus of using these tools is not to become the most technologically advanced in their application, however become effective users of the collaborative capabilities of the web 2.0 tools and how they can assist in enhancing the learning.

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