Here are my reflections from creating my ePortfolio:
Creating an ePortfolio
Two positive aspects:
1. Creating my ePortfolio gave me the opportunity to use video editing software for the first time. I had created videos before, but they were always impromptu and the quality did not matter. When creating my ePortfolio, I explored the capabilities of Windows Live Movie Maker, which I found to be as simple to use as MS PowerPoint.
2. Creating my ePortfolio gave me some exposure to WordPress, a content management system for the easy creation of great-looking websites.
Two negative aspects:
1. I found WordPress to be quite limiting to what I could do with my website, even with some direct html editing. I found that some changes I made using embedded code were undone as soon as I published pages, due to some restrictions at Penn State about allowed themes and content.
2. It takes time! Like many things in life, creating a nice website takes time – as much time as you are willing to put into it! You can always find something else you want to add or change. Eventually you just have to say “good enough” and be happy with the results.
Application:
I plan to use the skills I learned while creating my ePortfolio for courses that I will teach as a professor in the future.
Creating a Video
Two positive aspects:
1. I learned how to add music, transitions, and captions to my videos!
2. It was fun working with the captions and timing them to my speech during the video.
Two negative aspects:
1. It took many takes to get the video right! I was a little surprised at how difficult it was to read from a prompt and say things correctly while the video was recording. This gives me a new appreciation for people involved in video editing.
2. While my webcam boasts 720p, it does not record great audio – the quality is kind of robotic. I ended up using my smartphone, which also records 720p video and has decent audio quality.
Application:
I can envision making video course commercials for classes that I will teach in the future as a professor.
Technology used in your Teaching Session
Two positive aspects:
1. PowerPoint is very easy to use, and I was able to manipulate content with animations and transitions to get the effects that I desired.
2. Presentation technology was a great aide to my lecturing. It enabled me to show the class how to easily create an Adobe Connect web meeting, and to show off some of the capabilities for student-teacher interaction via comments in chat boxes.
Two negative aspects:
1. The video links did not always work as planned, and I ended up copying and pasting the URL into a web browser to get the videos to play correctly.
2. The classroom audio controls are different from the ones I was accustomed to. It is a little embarrassing to start playing a video and realizing that the audio controls are not as simple as I had thought.
Application:
I will continue to use technology when delivering lectures, seminars, and presentations in the future!
Creating a Podcast
One positive aspect:
1. I gained some experience using Audacity to join short recorded audio clips, and to make sure the blank spacing between each clip was nearly equal. I did not record my Podcast in one take – I decided that it would be far easier to record it paragraph-by-paragraph and then merge the recordings into one file.
One negative aspect:
1. Again, the audio technology is not always what it seems. After messing around with audio settings on my PC for half-an-hour, I settled for using the Smart Voice Recorder app on my smartphone to handle the audio recording. I then copied the files to my PC for editing in Audacity.
Application:
I can envision narrating presentations that would be delivered online for web courses, or even doing a Podcast review session prior to a midterm or final exam.