For our final product, my group decided to use YouTube to deliver our PD tutorial. I think this is a user-friendly way of presenting a video. Teachers can easily view the video, embed the video onto a website/blog, or even save the file for future use.
During the development process of the final product, I learned a lot about different recording tools. We were introduced to Audacity during an earlier session of CEP812. I used this program as a “back up” in case Lisa needed to have only my voice for the video production. However, for the main video, I used Screencast-o-matic. I overall found this tool to be very user-friendly for people who are not extremely experienced in video production. Prior to taping the video, I actually printed off the script so that I would have a more accessible script as I scrolled through the video. Then, using PowerPoint’s slideshow, I was able to read the script out loud while moving from slide to slide.
After I completed my file on Screencast-o-matic, I then e-mailed the Screencast file and my Audacity “backup” file to Lisa and the group for viewing. You can view my un-edited Screencast file below:
At this point, Lisa took the raw data I provided and added the fun “animations” and music to the video. I think a challenge for the group work would be that the creation of the video somewhat had to be done individually at certain portions simply because we all exist at different places around the country. The idea of sitting together and saying “let’s try this animation” or “I like that” is difficult. While our script could involve this collaboration because of GoogleDocs and GChat, screencast-o-matic and other recording tools don’t have that luxury. Instead, Lisa and I both had to rely on coming up with “something” and then sending it to the group for feedback. While the entire group always gave feedback, this project was difficult to complete at times because it had to involve individual work with group “final say.”
I just discovered one potential change we could have used in our video production: Skype’s new “screenshare” feature. Using Skype, you can literally “share” your screen with a group. What icons you click on, what you type, how you edit a file, everything can be viewed by the other members. I actually just discovered this feature last Wednesday because I was having trouble uploading something with my CEP811 professor so we used this feature to solve my problem. This could have been a great way for my group to have more collaboration for the final product. At the same time, I do recognize that sometimes the “creativity” aspect that Lisa was responsible for can be very difficult to make when every personality is involved for every minor detail. It can become time consuming. Personally, I think Lisa went above and beyond. It was awesome!
The only other change that I might consider in the future would be finding a way in the tutorial to have the audience “participate.” I think the tutorial could really be strengthened if it was similar to a Stand-Alone Instructional Resource. This way, the viewer could watch something being described and then reproduce the same description on their personal computer. This still could be done if a viewer clicked pause after each section. Perhaps if we were to redo our video I would consider adding a part in the tutorial that says, “Please pause to try doing this on your personal wiki.” It might help cement the learning taking place.
Overall, I think my group did a great job of collaborating and providing quick, continuous feedback. I hope you enjoy our final product!
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