Moments That Excite Me

People who know me also know that  I am somewhat reserved and introverted in person, (ok, i heard that!) BUT I do have a tendency to get excited about making new friends online. At times I like to think of myself as the Queen of Social Networking because I enjoy using social media so much.  Recently, I have begun to use social media tools to enable me to travel, explore, and learn about people in other countries and I have found it to be a rewarding pasttime as well as helping me to practice my people-helping skills.

A month or so ago someone crossed my path who spoke very little English.  Having had 3 years of Spanish in high school and having visited Mexico City over 30 years ago, I immediately rose to the challenge of trying to communicate with this person.  I discovered very quickly that this person lived in Spain (yes, the country .... not another little town somewhere in Texas).  So from that point, my interest piqued in trying to communicate with this person. 

In the beginning, our conversation pretty much consisted of "hola, muy bien, gracias, and no lo se" (hello, very good, thank you, and I don't know).  In an attempt to alleviate the frustration we both were feeling from our mutual inability to understand each other, I initially tried to find a Web 2.0 tool to allow us to communicate through the use of a translator.  I discovered that Google has a translator application and helped my friend to learn to use this tool as well.  The application allowed me to type in English and it would translate my words immediately into Spanish for my friend.  Eureka!  We are now understanding each other !

From this point I easily discovered that my friend's name was Javier and his wife's name was Eugenia and works as a carpenter.  Javier asked whether I used Facebook, or CaraLibro in Spanish, which of course I do.  We agreed to become Facebook friends and from there we were able to share photos of our homes, families, cultures and lifestyles. Javier has posted some wonderful photos of the coast of Spain and of the work he has done as a hobby building and restoring boats. We then found that Facebook will allow you to add the Google Translator application which will enable the user to copy and paste translated text into the chat window.  Another new discovery to enable us to better communicate !

I learned that Javier had a strong desire to learn to speak English.  Eugenia speaks a little English from her years in Mexico City, but Javier's English was minimal at best. Communicating in text only was not helping Javier improve his English skills.  He needed to be able to hear and repeat the English words he was reading and studying in his English textbook. Now Google Translator will also enable you to hear the words in the new language, but what we discovered was that sometimes phrases do not translate into another language in a way that makes clear sense.  Example:  When I would say the word "blessings" to Jaiver, it would come out "benedictions", which of course does not have the same connotation in English at all. So it is better to have a person who speaks English who can deliever and facilitate the instruction.

Next, I asked Javier if he had ever tried using Skype.  He had not but was willing to try and mentioned that he had a webcam on his computer.  Javier was able to quickly set up a Skype account and in no time he and Eugenia and I were looking at each other face to face and hearing each other's voice.  This was the very first time Javier and Eugenia had ever Skyped with someone outside their country, so needless to say we were all very excited.  From my end, it was like watching two children on Christmas morning !  We were all so happy to be able to communicate with each other and to meet each other face to face and we found ourselves laughing out loud.  Javier and Eugenia were holding up their family dog Xana (Shana) which is like a child to them.  Sadly, Xana did not seem too excited to meet me. (haha)

I gathered that Javier and Eugenia live a very simple life with few material possessions and yet they appear to be extremely happy with their lives.  Javier has plans to continue working hard to perfect his English skills and I have already found that my Spanish is coming back to me in increasing measure just from talking to my friends from Spain.  What a delight it was to help someone find the tools to expand their world and to better communicate with the world around them!!! 

These are the moments that excite me!   Technology tools have the ability to change lives and benefit people in incredible ways.  We take so many of the powerful tools we have at our disposal for granted.  Seeing somone be able to broaden their horizons and achieve their goals inspires me to go out there and make more new friends and venture into the unexplored worlds around me.

Did You Know? Prepare for the New Global Economy in 2011

Think Before You Post

The famous evangelist D.L. Moody once said "Character is what you are in the dark." What this means is a person's true character comes out when others cannot see what the person is doing.

I was prompted to write by a post I saw on facebook this week where someone was ranting about how they blasted their neighbor who's child had threatened their child. This person seemed to be looking for someone to agree that their actions were justified and necessary. This person freely and openly shared about how they apparently put the "fear of God" into the neighbor in order that they nor their children would have no further contact with their child.

I was very tempted to comment under the post something like ...."Way to go! You sure taught your neighbor a lesson. Wonder what lesson your children learned from all this??" Ok, maybe now I am ranting too. Guilty.

The point is this ..... Technology is a very powerful tool. Social media is a powerful tool. It can be used to build up or to tear down. It enables you to develop relationships with lots of people and is a great tool for networking. But alot of people can get the wrong idea about social networking from observing the type of negative behavior that I mentioned in the story above.

The fact is what this person was doing has a name and it's called CYBERBULLYING. The anonymity factor that the Internet provides allows users to have instant access to their victims and a wide audience for their bullying behavior. Cyberbullies are more likely to be women than men, because they don't need to be physically superior to their victims, and they often act impulsively without thinking through the consequences of their actions.

Personally, I have also been the target of rude facebook behavior, or let's call it what it really is .... CYBERBULLYING, and it wasn't pleasant.

Because alot of adults who are "digital immigrants" have not been educated regarding cyber ethics, we are seeing a great deal of misuses today of technology "power tools". Here are some guidelines that I share in my workshop entitled "Your Online Presence" about using social media responsibly.

1. Don't post anything you wouldn't want your mother to hear (includes content or images).

Social media is not private. Once you post you have no control over what happens to your message. Many are under the impression that their audience is limited to their friends but they are more often mistaken about who has access to their posts.

2. Don't be passive- agressive.
Even if you don't mention the person by name, there's a good chance someone will know who you are talking about. You not only do damage to your relationships but to your own reputation as well.

3. Don't have arguments on social media.
Praise publicly and critize privately. Having an argument using social media demonstrates you don't really care about finding a resolution.

4. Don't whine.

No one wants to hear a constant complainer. Keep your "tweets sweet".

5. Do be real.
People connect on social media because they want to get to know the real you. Don't shoot off stuff that sounds like it came from a Hallmark card.

6. Do connect with other people.
Use social media to connect with people you can learn from, who can learn from you and people you would like to know better. Don't be afraid to be selective, choose people you want to follow based on the value you will develop from the relationship.

Ok, I feel better now. In writing this article, I reminded myself that I can learn something even from the negative behavior I see in others. Plus, the fact that there are plenty of people out there that are in need of this message. We are all in process of learning and growing, me included. Hopefully, I have shared something here that is valuable enough to make you "think before you post".

The Shack by William P. Young

“Emotions are the colors of the soul: they are spectacular and incredible. When you don’t feel, the world becomes dull and colorless.

Each relationship between two persons is absolutely unique. That is why you cannot love two people the same. It simply is not possible. You love each person differently because of who they are and the uniqueness that they draw out of you. And the more you know another, the richer the colors of that relationship.”

William P. Young
The Shack

The quotes above are from the book The Shack by William P. Young which you can find on my Shelfari bookshelf to the right. A friend of mine suggested I read this book almost 2 yrs ago after the fire. I kept it in the back of my mind as a "must read one day" book. Recently, my friend Jessica loned me a well-worn copy that she picked up from a garage sale. Something about reading a paperback that has already been broken in seems to make it even more enjoyable.

Most people say when they started reading The Shack that it was one of those books that they couldn't put down, but I didn't find it to be that way at all. I took my time reading it and soaked it in. When the book first came out it was much debated in Christian circles because God the father is depicted as a black woman. You have to keep in mind that the book is fiction but I found nothing in it to be contrary to scripture. The main character in the book finds that he really doesn't know God as well as he thought he did.

I found the book to be very timely for me and it made quite a significant impact. I think the most memorable part of me was the idea of putting ourselves in place of God as judge when we harbor bitterness and unforgiveness in our hearts. While reading this book I came to the conclusion that there were some old hurts and people that I needed to release from "judgement". It's interesting how releasing your hold on someone else can be so freeing personally. Reading this book at this particular time is my life is just another example of how God works in our lives in his own timing.

Just Go With It .... Learning to Trust

We saw the movie "Just Go With It" last night with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston. It was a cute movie although Jack laughed more than I did during the movie. I found myself laughing more after the movie. The funniest part of the movie for me was when Adam Sandler's friend tries to give a sheep CPR and later when he is telling the story he said he gave "Sheep P R". I laughed and laughed again just thinking about it. Sam always laughs too when he hears me laugh.

I especially enjoyed the music and this song by Snow Patrol was played at a point in the movie when Jennifer Aniston is thinking that the man she is really in love with is about to get married to someone else. I liked the song because I think that we all need times when we just kick back and allow our minds to "chase cars". This idea seems to pervade alot of my philosophy of life these days that we spend too much time running around being busy and very little time thinking reflectively. This type of thinking promotes learning, creativity, and new ideas.

In the movie, Sandler lies about the fact that he is not married and tries to win a girl's affection by faking his marriage, divorce, fatherhood, etc.... and it leads to more and more lies. The only person who really knew him for who he really was, without all the lies, was his assistant Jennifer Aniston. In the end, Sandler realizes that he has to give up the lies and begin to trust the reality of what he has right in front of him.

Another thought that I came across today has to do with the idea of interpersonal trust. Lord knows I have difficulty in this area so when I read something that brings clarity to my mind, then I have to chew on it for a while and really try to process it.

"Interpersonal trust reflects an expectation that the other person will act benevolently. An individual cannot control whether of not the other person will fulfill this expectation. Trust involves risk and a willingness to be vulnerable to the possiblity that the other person will not fulfill the expectation. Trust involves a certain amount of dependency on the other person."

Now these ideas came from an article I was reading for my curriculum management course entitled "Teacher-Principal Relationships: Exploring Linkages between empowerment and Interpersonal Trust". But they remind me of the scripture from I Corinthians 13:7 that says "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things". In my mind, love and trust involve the same basic elements.

We usually think of this chapter as the definition of what true love is all about, but I think that faith and trust are all wrapped up in the same definition. Read here the version of I Corinthians 13 from The Message:

"If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.

We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love."

.

Light Up the Sky by The Afters

My E-Portfolio

Here is a link to my completed e-portfolio ... Vision for Ed Tech Leadership . This project took me approximately 6 weeks to complete although it includes the work and resources that I have accumulated since I began the Educational Technology Leadership program in August 2009. 

I have included a copy of the email from my professor Dr. Diane Mason below:


Pam,
We have completed our assessment of your e-portfolio and comprehensive exam.

First, we want to commend you on your creative approach to your e-portfolio. We appreciate your efforts to create a positive, unique, e-portfolio reflective of your master's program work. In reviewing your e-portfolio, we just took off a few points for minimal references associated with your field-based activity reflections.
https://sites.google.com/site/visionforedtechleadership/final-comprehensive-exam

As for your comprehensive exam, we noticed there were a few APA, mechanical, grammar errors. Attached to this document is your comp exam with comments.

e-Portfolio= 590/600 points
Comprehensive Exam=385/400 points
Total=975=97.5%=A

Congratulations! You have officially completed the internship course!

We wish you the best!

Dr. Mason

Diane R. Mason, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Educational Leadership
Lamar University

Your Online Presence

Your online presence

View more presentations from pcomer.

Cyberbullies ... are they the new 21st century bully?

Recently when we updated our SSS Handbook we added a policy which addresses one of the newest legal issues created by technology, cyberbullying. The very basic and simple policy reads like this ....

Cyber-Bullying and Harassment

Threatening, harassing, and/or bullying others using electronic means to include the Internet and/or mobile technology is strictly prohibited. This could result in denial of access to the SSS computer lab/laptops and administrative disciplinary actions.

The issue of cyberbullying has been at the forefront of the news recently. Teens recently spoke out on CNN about living in a wired world and being unable to escape cyberbullying. Watch Teens Speak Out here  One study reported that cyberbullying causes higher levels of depression than face-to-face bullying and there have been documented cases of teens committing suicide as a result of being cyberbullied.

I am currently taking a course in School Law and our textbook is entitled CyberLaw: Maximizing Safety and Minimizing Risk in Classrooms. The author Aimee M. Bissonette, J.D. is a lawyer, teacher, and writer who practices law in Minneapolis.

Bissonette states that "cyberbullying .... relies on electronic devices, the Internet, and the anonymity the Internet provides." Cyberbullies have a multitude of tools available to them including cell phones, camera phones, e-mail, instant messaging, personal web sites, and social networking sites.

She lists several common forms of cyberbullying that we might not recognize as unlawful or unethical behaviors. As you read the list, think about whether you have ever been a bully or a victim of these actions.

Common forms of Cyberbullying:

Flaming - is online fights using electronic messages with angry and vulgar language.

Harrassment – is repeatedly sending nasty, mean, and insulting messages.

Denigration – is dissing someone online, sending or posting gossip or rumors about a person to damage his or her reputation or friendships.

Impersonation – is pretending to be someone else and sending or posting material to get that person in trouble or danger or damage that person’s reputation or friendships.

Outing – is sharing someone’s secrets or embarrassing information or images online.

Trickery – is tricking someone into revealing secrets or embarrassing information, then sharing it online.

Exclusion – is intentionally and cruelly excluding someone from an online group.

Cyberstalking – is repeated intense harassment and denigration that includes threats or creates significant fear.

Cyberbullies typically are females rather than males and rely on verbal, emotional, and psychological attacks. They thrive on the anonymity technology provides and are likely to act impulsively without first thinking through the consequences of their actions. The tools they use allow them instant access to their victims and a wide audience for their bullying behavior. Darby Dickerson (2005) in the article Cyberbullies on Campus stated, "Technology allows bulies to be meaner, more frequently, with more allies, before an inestimable audience."

Bissonette concludes by saying that "Cyberbullies are in our schools, and the tools available to these bullies likely will multiply over time. Left unchecked, today's student bullies will become tomorrow's bullying neighbors, coworkers, and bosses. But schools are not without recourse. Schools do not have to tolerate cyberbullying. They can adopt and enforce policies to clearly signal that bullying is not acceptable and will be punished. Just as important, schools can lead the way in educating technology users about responsible and respectful use of electronic media."

Technology is developing at a rapid pace and the law is struggling to catch up, but one thing is certain ... as cyberbullying grows, so do lawsuits. Several states have now enacted legislation that specificially address the issue of cyberbullying and hold offenders criminally liable for their actions. Employers as well as public agencies will be forced to address this issue or they may find themselves defending their actions (or lack of action) in court.

So how do you deal with a cyberbully if you are a victim? Here are some tips:

1. Ignore the person. Go on about your business. Log-off if the harrassment bothers you.
2. Block or delete the person.
3. Change your password, username, or e-mail address.
4. Contact the website to report anything created without your knowledge or to remove inappropriate language.
5. Talk to someone you trust.
6. Call the police if you are getting physical threats.
7. Never arrange to meet with someone you met online unless it is in a public place.

For more information visit http://www.cyberbully411.org/
or http://www.getnetwise.org/

Multimedia PSA Group Project

During this course I was given the opportunity to examine multimedia and video production. I created a digital story and used Windows Movie Maker to create a movie from still digital images. I researched and evaluated open source video editing software and worked with others in my class on a video production PSA (public service announcement) project.

I envisioned that I would be able to learn to use video and audio editing software during this course and I feel that I achieved those outcomes. I also wanted to explore using screen capture which I did on my own separately from the required assignments for the course.

The ability to use video editing software is very relevant to the work that I do because I manage our program website and will be able to create and add some resources that will aid students in reaching their educational goals. I can add videos to an online course on financial literacy which I am working to develop. I can video students participating in program events and cultural trips. I can also share the tools that I am using and help students use these tools to create projects to be used in presentations for their coursework.

I think the main outcome that I did not achieve was getting more practice in actually editing video clips. This will take some practice but is something that I know I can find tutorials and resources to aid me in doing.

I feel that I was successful in completing the course assignments. I was discouraged by the fact that the updated syllabus did not correspond to what was in the courseware and seemed to be confusing to my classmates when posting on the discussion board. The large number of students in the current class made it difficult for me to find time to read all their posts and get to know some of them better. I really enjoyed working in a group on the PSA project and was encouraged by the quality of work that we were able to produce.

Something I learned about myself from this course was the fact that I am becoming more confident in my leadership abilities and in my technology skills. I am getting faster at posting links and writing content. My attitude toward collaboration has changed from when I first started the degree program. I actually looked forward to the group project this time and took more of a leadership role than in the previous group experience.

Multimedia Week 5: PSA Post-Production

In our readings this week for the course, I watched a video on Edutopia entitled Learning and Working in the Collaborative Age: A New Model for the Workplace.  Randy Nelson, the Dean of Pixar University, stated “The core skill of innovators is error recovery not failure avoidance.”

When I first started this Master’s program I had a fear of failure, but I didn’t let my fears cause me to abandon my dream of furthering my degree. Failure can be the best motivator at times because it causes us to refocus on what our goals are and find new ways to achieve them. In my opinion we need to educate teachers and students that failure is not something to be avoided but is sometimes the best object lesson available to us. In practicing my multimedia skills during this course, I made a lot of mistakes, but with each mistake I learned something valuable that will help me improve my technology skills over time.

This week our team was not able to find a workable time to all meet together so we largely communicated by emails and Emily P. and I met on TinyChat.com on Thursday night according to our project schedule. Emily P. and I discussed the Rough Draft #3 of the PSA. We both agreed that Michael A. did a great job of editing our PSA.

Michael showed rough draft #3 to a friend that composes film scores who suggested using one theme only since the PSA is so short. Michael unified the music in rough draft #3 and added it to the dead parts. He also added the credits to the end of the PSA this week. Emily P. added the talent releases for both actresses to the “files” section of our Google site this week and added modifications to the script outline in red. Michael A. created a Final Shot List page to reflect the final revisions that were made to the PSA shot list. Emily W. kept our project proposal updated with the changes to the PSA and Janie F. contributed by editing and posting comments on the Google site.

Our team agreed to meet at 4 p.m. on Sunday. Our plan is to complete our debriefing at that time, clarify everything that is required for completion of this assignment, and discuss the strengths and weakness of our group project. Our team has been great about communicating with each other and keeping the project on schedule as originally planned. I think we have all been pleased with the outcomes and have learned alot in the process.

Debriefing Web Conference:
Everyone agreed that the project was a terrific accomplishment and a result of our team effort. Some areas that were suggested that could be improved if we were to take on another project would be to use a better camera and look for improved lighting conditions. We agreed that working together from various locations with differing time schedules presented challenges but did not seem to affect our overall communication.

Using the Google Site and email allowed us to communicate with each other and work at the times that were most conducive for each individual team member. Our use of the Google Site was preferred over the method used by other teams who used wiki sites. We found the Google Site was very organized and easy to navigate.

One advantage that we felt that our team had was the fact that we were proactive in organizing our team early on in the course and each member provided leadership and no one felt like they did all the work. Another strength that was identified was the use of TinyChat.com to collaborate via web conference. This created a feeling of cohesiveness among our team and we all agreed that we enjoyed working on the project.


Nelson, R. (2008). Learning and working in the collaborative age: A new model for the workplace. Edutopia. Retrieved April 23, 2009, from http://www.edutopia.org/randy-nelson-school-to-career-video.

True Love Waits 3.0 - "I Wish"

True Love Waits 3.0 - "I Wish" from LifeWay Student on Vimeo.

Sex Begins in the Kitchen

A friend reminded me about this book today.  I met the author Dr. Kevin Leman years ago at a Christian Bookseller's Convention in Anaheim, California.  I am sure I have an autographed copy of the book somewhere if it survived the storm.  Here are some excerpts from the book .....

That is what Dr. Kevin Leman, nationally known speaker and author, contends. “Men and women are so different when it comes to sex and intimacy,” said Leman.  “You have probably heard the saying that when it comes to sex men are like microwaves and women are like crock pots, which is why I say sex begins in the kitchen. Men can be aroused in just seconds while women take a lot longer to warm up. I think one of the biggest dangers in marriage relationships is that both partners think they have each other figured out. Women tend to believe that all a man thinks about is sex and men mistakenly believe that women aren’t interested. In reality, both are clueless about their partner’s needs especially when it comes to sex and intimacy.”

 “When was the last time you wrote your wife a love note and put it in her purse or put a piece of lingerie in your husband’s briefcase to be found at some point during the day?” asks Leman. One of the key elements to having a fulfilling, and lasting marriage is keeping intimacy alive, he says. This happens by being intentional and creative in the way we love each other.

Leman says there are three basic needs married men and women have. When those needs are fulfilled it takes a healthy marriage relationship to a deeper level of intimacy and satisfaction and increases the potential for the marriage to stay together.

Men need to experience sexual fulfillment – not just sex, but to feel respected and needed. Women need affection – to be cuddled, talked to, and romanced. Women also need honesty and openness and to know that their spouse is committed to the family.

So how do couples meet each other’s needs? The first step is to appreciate the differences in each other instead of complaining about them, says Leman. These differences can be the very thing that compels us to experience something new and brings a healthy balance to the relationship. Leman also suggests learning your spouse’s love language. Many of us tend to give to our spouse what would fill our own love tank versus what would fill their love tank. If you don’t know what your partner’s love language is, Leman suggests thinking about what your husband or wife complains about. Often they are tipping their hand about their love language.

Here are some tips for keeping love alive in healthy relationships:

• Surprise your spouse with a night away from home – it doesn’t have to be expensive, just romantic.

• If your nature is not to be assertive sexually, do something different.

• Remember, there are not many men who don’t like the idea of their wife pursuing them.

• Leave a message for your spouse on the bathroom mirror that will give them something to look forward to.

Couples who have been married more than 30 years share that the way they have kept intimacy alive is by creating opportunities for romance and making love – from candlelight picnics, star gazing on the deck and strolling through the Bluff View Sculpture Garden in the spring rain to a bona fide magic moment where you exclude the world and it is just the two of you enjoying each other.

You can’t have sex and expect the intimacy to be there if you haven’t taken the time to develop a strong bond between you and your spouse.

“If you want to beat the average, you better make sure you have a real love affair with your spouse because if you don’t someone else will,” said Leman. “The stakes are high, but the odds are in your favor if you commit to intimately loving your spouse."
 
http://msucares.com/marriage/married/kiitchen.pdf

Multimedia Week 4: PSA Production

Our PSA team met again last night on TinyChat.com to discuss the progress of our group project.  There were 4 members present and this time each member was able to get their video and mics working.  The meeting lasted about 30 minutes and we offered suggestions to improved the video and it was determined that some of the video shots needed to be redone and a few revisions made to the script and narration. 

Emily P. did a great job in videotaping her daughter and Michael A. did a great job of editing the video clips together. You can view the rough draft of our PSA project by going to the following link:    EDLD 5363 Google Site

We decided that Emily P. would retake an over the shoulder shot of Natalie on the computer, coming out of the school and the narration at the end. Emily W. will put the week 5 assignment on Google Docs and update it with the revisions to the proposal, script outline, narration, and shot list, with the changes from the Google site. Pam C. will update the Google Site with the changes that were agreed upon. We also agreed that Pam would attend the class video conference tomorrow night and report back to the group. One question we had was to submit proof that we are collaborating on the PSA project through using this Google Site.

Using the Google site to record our comments and changes has been an invaluable tool to enable us to collaborate together on this project.  Our team is spread across the state of Texas and we work different hours and have varying family schedules so the Google site and schedule has served to keep the project on track and meeting our required deadlines.  I received my grade back today on the Pre-Production work that our team completed last week and we received a score of 100.  Yayyyy Team 4 !!!!!

Another thing that I am pretty excited about this week is that I learned to do screen capture using CamStudio which is an Open Source (free) application.  Being able to do screen capturing will allow me to create some tutorials to use on our program website and also create some personal projects.  I also practiced adding video files to Windows Movie Maker and became really excited about working with video and audio files to create a movie.  Less than 2 weeks ago I was talking about how fearful I was of working with video files and multimedia.  (See post dated Sept. 2nd) What a difference having a little inspiration and the right tools can make!  Multimedia rocks!!!!

Multimedia Week 3: PSA Pre-Production

In an article I read this past week for my Multimedia class entitled Shoot to Edit: A Guide to Using Your Camcorder, Marc Peters states “In the right hands, and with a lot of ingenuity, even the most dire of video can be made to look presentable.”

Something I learned from reading this article is that it’s not what type of camera you have or what software you use that determines whether your video looks professional.The author discusses the importance of how you hold the camera and the angles that you use when shooting your video. Peters provides lots of tips for using different techniques to create a variety of effects and make editing your video easier.He stresses the importance of putting some time and effort into practicing and experimenting with different angles, positions, and camera techniques.

I think this is some valuable information that will assist in preparing videos of the student interviews that we are preparing to post on our program website.Usually when filming an academic enhancement workshop, a tripod is set up which is focused on the speaker. Gathering shots of the audience responses or using different angles would, in my opinion, make a video much more interesting to the viewers.I would compare this to the difference between someone standing behind a podium presenting a lecture or instead using a variety of interactive learning methods with students.

During the last 3 weeks of this course we will be working in teams of 5 to create a Public Service Announcement (PSA).  Our team consists of Emily Priesmeyer, Emily Wisbrock, Janie Fryar, Michael Alves and myself. Three of us have worked together on a previous group project. Emily Wisbrock set up a Google Site early in the week for us to collaborate in and discuss our ideas for the project. I updated the site to reflect the tasks that were on our assignment.  Michael Alves shared the assignment using Google Docs so that we all could work within the same document and then submit our assignments indivdually.

Our team then met together via video conference using TinyChat which I facilitated. Specific tasks were divided among the group members to complete portions of the project proposal, script, narration, shot list, and copyright information. Roles were assigned to each member in order to complete the video project within the next 2 weeks. Our team plans to meet on Thursdays and Sundays during the Production and Post-production phases in order to monitor the progress toward completion and to debrief at the end to review what we learned and discuss areas in which we could make improvements. The topic that we agreed upon for our PSA is Cyberbullying and our purpose is to educate tweens and teenagers (aged 11-13) and their parents about uncommon forms of cyberbullying and bring awareness to this important issue.

Be sure to watch for a copy of our completed project to be posted here within the next 2 weeks!

Peters, M. (2006, April 18). Shoot to edit: A guide to using your camcorder. Digital Director. Retrieved September 9, 2010, from: http://www.videoforums.co.uk/reviews/features/shoot-to-edit-a-guide-to-using-your-camcorder-a184.html