Reflection on 505

I have learned a lot taking this class. This has been a very rewarding and educational experience. Learning about these new resources was frustrating at times but I was always happy with how my projects turned out. I know that I will definitely use these resources and media sites when I become a teacher and know that my students will get a lot of out using and creating their own resources. I think I enjoyed creating my WebQuest the most because it was a challenge to create the material but the activity turned out to be really good and I really hope I get to use it someday. I know that technology is everchanging and evolving but with the skills I have learned through taking this class will help me in the future.

Movie Maker

My third post will be about my experience with Movie Maker through Windows Live. I had absolutely no idea that this software even existed on my computer and was eager to try it since I have had fairly good experiences using iMovie. The first thing I noticed was the that instructions and information that I was given to help me use this resource didn't match my newer version. I felt left on my own becasue I had no idea where to get the information I needed to answer my questions. The software was very simple and easy to navigate but they problem I ran into was trying to figure out where I could record my voice overs to insert into Movie Maker. I recorded my audio via my phone and then emailed it to myself in the hopes of being able to import that audio into Movie Maker. It didn't work and I was able to find an IT person in the school's building. He couldn't figure out how to either import my audio or help me find the microphone to re-record the audio so it could be put into Movie Maker. Luckly he knew the number of the IT professionals at Ashland Main campus and was able to get a hold of them to help us. It took them a while to figure out that the files wouldn't import and that I would need to re-record my audio files. They also figured out that there is no microphone function in the new version of Movie Maker and that I had to find a seperate function in my computer called sound recording in order to complete my project. It was frustrating that this crucial information wasn't available to me when I needed it because it would have saved me and the people who helped me a lot of time and energy. I wouldn't have been able to complete my project with out the help of both the Ashland IT departments. Once I had the tools I needed the process of completing the project was easy. I like Movie Maker but I think a newer version of the tutorial we were given is much needed. It was outdated and wasn't compatable with my version at all. I didn't know how to the information I needed because the help button on Movie Maker sent you to a website that was confusing and hard to navigate. I think my project turned out well, especially for the amount of experience I had and the issues I had completing the project. Knowing what I know now I would likely try Movie Maker again.