5370 Week Three Assignment Part 3.4

Janet Kelly ET 8027/Cohort 13

October 22, 2011

Week 3 Assignment, Part 3.4: Reflections on Course-Embedded Assignments for EDLD 5366 Digital Graphics, Animation and Desktop Publishing.


Self–Assessment

During the course Digital Graphics, Animation and Desktop Publishing, I created a newsletter on social networking for teachers. I had never learned about the four components of design, CRAP – content, repetition, alignment and proximity, before taking this course. I have since been able to use it in a variety of ways. When I created a Facebook PowerPoint for sixth graders, I utilized these techniques as I created my slides. I had also never thought about creating a newsletter based on what people want to read. To me, a school newsletter is about giving essential information to the community to keep stakeholders informed. We learned that to make the newsletter meaningful, we need to find out what people want to know. The article Planning Newsletters stated “Before investing the time in producing a newsletter, consider designing a survey to find out what parents want” (Lamb, 2005). I now try to consider this insight as I plan future newsletters I create.
We also through our assignments learned how to model digital-age work to our students. By creating the newsletter, personal logo, and animation, we now have a skill set we can exemplify to our students. And thus, we have fulfilled ISTE”S standard to “plan, design, and model effective learning environments and multiple experiences supported by technology” (Williamson & Redish, 2009, p. 44).

Learn as a Learner

My Skype friends were helpful to me in both answering questions about mechanics and content for my newsletter. I also enjoyed making an animation for Christmas using the program Scratch. My son learned the program with me and he still calls me to the computer to see his animations (usually some form of transforming robot). Whenever the coursework asked me to learn a new program, I found that my initial product took about fifteen hours of computer time (Kelly, The nativity, 2010). The second product from that program would take about half that time. This was true of learning the animation program.
As a learner, I would like to have to have more patience in learning new programs and this may require a change in approach. For example, I recently acquired a new android phone. It has many capabilities on it, but I keep trying just to figure it out. If I had watched You Tube demonstrations on it weeks ago or even read the manual, I would far more advanced in my use. “Just in time” learning is good, but having a little prior knowledge is even better.

Lifelong Learning Skills

One of the things that I learned creating the newsletter on social networking was from the content of my newsletter. This was to be very selective in who I chose to be my online friends. Since my husband served as superintendent in the district, I was very cautious about befriending teachers. However, since he has resigned to become a superintendent in another district, we are all friends now. It has been a lot a fun to get to see their personal lives.
In learning about personal branding, we found that it is important to create our own online identities. In the online article Personal Branding 101, the author writes “…it is crucial to monitor and define our online identities. We need to start thinking of those Google results as our resume and clean up anything that doesn’t belong there” (Schawbel, 2009).
One the future challenges I see is the need to keep on top of social networking privacy issues. Through the topic of my newsletter, I became aware of the social and human issues surrounding social networking as “technologists must understand the emerging issues and shape technology use for the common good” (Williamson & Redish, 2009, p. 123). This could be a topic for a future newsletter. I also would like to master the creation of borders in my future newsletters. I do think my newsletter was informative and I shared it my Instructional Technologist friends (Kelly, Techlearner 7, 2010).
In the future, I plan to create a new logo. I think it would be beneficial to make one for use on stationery and email signatures. It was fun to make the logo and now that I am educated on logo design, I would like to make one that is more personal. I am a letter writer would love to add this to my correspondence.

Bibliography

Kelly, J. (2010). Techlearner 7. Retrieved Oct 2011, 22, from Wikispaces.com: http://techlearner7.wikispaces.com/file/view/DIGITAL+SOCIAL+WISDOM+newsletter+for+EDLD+5366+full+text+pdf+submission.pdf

Kelly, J. (2010). The nativity. Retrieved Oct 2011, 22, from Techlearner 7: http://techlearner7.wikispaces.com/EDLD+5366+Digital+Graphics%2C+Animation+and+Desktop+Publishing

Lamb, A. (2005). Planning newletters. Retrieved Oct 22, 2011, from Eduscapes: http://eduscapes.com/sessions/publishing/planning.htm

Schawbel, D. (2009). Personal branding 101: How to disco
ver and create your brand. Retrieved Oct 22, 2011, from mashable: http://mashable.com/2009/02/05/personal-branding-101/

Williamson, J., & Redish, T. (2009). ISTE's technology facilitation and leadership standards: What every k-12 leader should know and be able to do. Eugene: International Society for Technology in Education.