Course Reflection

The journey that I’ve taken throughout this semester in Advanced Hypermedia Design & Development, IT 644 has been amazing. IT 644 is an advanced course in the development and use of interactive, animated hypermedia products for use in instructional design projects, lectures, presentations, and multimedia events. There is an emphasis on producing applications incorporating text, audio, graphics, animation and digitized video which effectively communicate to the user. I’ve taken a number of online courses but never have I taken one that was as organized and effectively planned as this course. The format of the course made taking this class online very easy. Everything needed to be successful in this course was readily available on the course site. As a result I have gained a tremendous amount of knowledge as it pertains to the use of technology in education.

Blog

I really enjoyed this portion of this course. The various functions offered to create the blog, such as layout, font and inserting links were very useful in making it look professional. Due to my past experiences using www.blogger.com creating the blog for this course was very easy. Even though I’d previously used blogger there were many functions that I had not had the opportunity to fully utilize. This course offered several opportunities to use each and every component available in blogger. For example in my past creations of blogs I was never required to embed anything to the blog. As a result of taking this course now I have a lot of experience with embedding documents within the blog.


Discussion

The threaded discussions offered a great form of unified communication. I loved the way we were able to view the thoughts of other students. There were times when I may have had a question about a topic that another student had already asked. I found this to be very useful form of clarification. The listserv was fairly easy to create. But I didn’t find it as useful as some of the other online tools.


Hands on Projects

We were required to complete a number of hands on projects in this course. All of the projects challenged my creative abilities and introduced new tools. I learned how to create a variety of items that will be helpful in creating professionally designed products. The prompt manner in which Dr. Yuen responded to our projects with constructive criticism also aided in the successful completion of this course

Assignment 8: Fuzzwich

The eighth assignment that we were required to complete for this semester was use Fuzzwich to create an animation. To successfully complete this assignment there were certain requirements that we had to meet. The minimum requirements for this assignment are as follows:

Create an animation using the Fuzzwich. You must have at least 2 characters with appropriate actions, faces, and speech bubbles. Upon the completion of this assignment, please embed your Fuzzwich animation here.

Before being introduced to Fuzzwich in class I had never heard of it. Dr. Yuen’s demonstration was very informative and hilarious. He went over a variety of aspects which made the assignment interesting. Completing this assignment was fairly easy. The selection of the characters was very interesting. The facial expressions and actions were also hilarious. I didn’t encounter any problems during this assignment. It was fun to experience a form of animation. The completed assignment can be viewed below.

Assignment 7: Showbeyond

The seventh assignment that we were required to complete for this semester was use Showbeyond to create a slidecast. To successfully complete this assignment there were certain requirements that we had to meet. The minimum requirements for this assignment are as follows:

Create a slidecast using the Showbeyond. Your slidecast must have the following:

a title slide
a minimum of 12 images
audio or music
a short statement (text) to tell story on each slide

Upon the completion of this assignment, please embed your Showbeyond file (set the preferred embed width in 480 pixels or less) .

This was another assignment that I enjoyed completing. Though the software was new to me it was easy to navigate. The only thing that I disliked about it was that you couldn’t add both music and audio. I wanted to give a verbal explanation of the photos on the first slide and then have the music start on the following slides. It took me a while to figured out this wasn’t possible. There was also an issue with uploading the music. I tried to upload the file several times and it never worked.I ended up converting the file to an MP3 file using Audacity and it finally uploaded. Despite the very minor complication that I encountered I feel that the presentation turned out well. The photos that I chose to use were from my family vacation to Pensacola, Fl. While there we visited The Naval Aviation Museum which was not only educational but the admission was free. I look forward to usinf showbeyond in the future. The completed assignment can be viewed below. I hope you enjoy !!!

Assignment 6: Prezi Presentation

The sixth assignment that we were required to complete for this semester was use Prezi to create an online presentation. To successfully complete this assignment there were certain requirements that we had to meet. The minimum requirements for this assignment are as follows:

Create an online presentation using Prezi. Your Prezi presentation must have at least 12 slides with images and a YouTube video. Upon completion of your assignment, please embed your Perzi presentation (Width and Height as 440 x 320) here.
In addition, export your presentation to Portable Prezi for online viewing (Download option) and then burn it onto a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM. Please change the filename of your zip file to your First and Last name (i.e., steveyuen.zip) before burning. Finally, bring your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM to the class on Nov 9.

This assignment was one of the most challenging. It was a challenge for two main reasons, which included me missing class and my lack of usage or previous knowledge regarding the software. Generally when I think of creating a presentation Power Point is always the way to go. So when it came to completing this assignment I was a little slower than normal. The topic that I chose to use was Breast Cancer. Inserting the text was fairly easy but arranging it on this screen was a definite problem for me. I had a problem inserting the YouTube video, but the tutorials were very helpful in getting me past that point. Though I finally figured out how to complete the assignment I wouldn’t call myself a professional. I definitely need more practice and feel that the software has great potential.

The completed assignment can be viewed below.

hopedrummonds_assign6 on Prezi

Assignment 5: Video Toolbox

The fifth assignment that we were required to complete for this semester was use Video Toolbox or Windows Movie Maker to create a video. To successfully complete this assignment there were certain requirements that we had to meet. The minimum requirements for this assignment are as follows:

Create an instructional, promotional, commercial, or business video with Video Toolbox or Windows Movie Maker. You must have at least 2 video clips merge together and one of them has to be captured with your digital camera, digital video camera, or digital camcorder. Alternatively, you can record one of your video clips from your Webcam. The final video must last at least 2 minutes but with no more than 5 minutes. The video must have a text watermark. You may crop, cut, and add audio stream if you prefer.
When finished: Save the final video in one of these formats (AVI, MOV, MPG, MP4, and WMV). Then, upload your video to YouTube and then embed your YouTube video to Assignment 5 Forum of IT 644 Social Network. Also, add your YouTube video to the Videos page of IT 644 Social Network.


For this assignment I chose to use photos and footage from my son’s first year of T-Ball. I chose this because little kids playing baseball is hilarious. As I began to work on this assignment I was torn between using Video Toolbox and Windows Movie Maker. After playing around and experimenting with Video Toolbox I decided to stick to what I knew. This meant I would be using Windows Movie Maker. I uploaded photos and videos from my digital camera to WMM. Once everything was uploaded I added titles and music. After saving the movie I was required to upload it to YouTube. This was the only part of the assignment I had a few complications with but soon discovered I was sleepy and just needed to start fresh. Once I was well rested uploading the movie was easy. Completing this assignment was very simple due to my familiarity with the software. I feel confident that students on any grade level would learn a lot from this type of assignment. I enjoyed completing this assignment and look forward to using it in the near future.

Click here or copy & paste the link below to view the completed assignement, which can also be viewed below.

Assignment 4: Jing & Screencast

The fourth assignment that we were required to complete for this semester was to use Jing and Screencast to create a series of screen captures. A screenshot, screen capture, or screen dump is an image taken by the computer to record the visible items displayed on the monitor or another visual output device. To successfully complete this assignment there were certain requirements that we had to meet. The minimum requirements for this assignment are as follows:

Create a series of screen captures (a minimum of 5 images and a video) on a computing task using the Jing and Screencast.com. Keep in mind that you cannot capture a video longer than 5 minutes for a free account. Also, share these files on Screencast.com. Finally, post the link to your Screencast folder containing these files here.

The computing task that I chose to use for this assignment involved the usage of various features of Microsoft Word 2007. As screen captures I included several of images that were not available in earlier forms of Microsoft Word. The video demonstrated how to use the ribbon, etc, which is the most noticeable change to Microsoft Word. Because I had previous experience using Jing this project was very simple. But I did have a few complication using screen cast. This was simply because I was unaware of its capabilities. There are several aspects in which Jing and screen cast can be incorporated on any grade level, especially for instructional purposes or projects. I enjoyed learning the further capabilities of screen cast and look forward to using it in the near future.

Click here or copy and paste the link below to view the series of screen captures I created on using Microsoft Office 2007.

http://www.screencast.com/t/lPCQ2kRQjS

Assignment 3: Audacity

The third assignment that we were required to complete for this semester was to use Audacity to create an audio recording. According to Google an audio recording is a sound recording: a recording of acoustic signals. To successfully complete this assignment there were certain requirements that we had to meet. The minimum requirements for this assignment are as follows:

Using Audacity, create an instructional, promotional, commercial, or business audio. You must have at least 3 audio clips join and mix together. The final audio must last 2 to 5 minutes with the attributes (32 bit, stereo, 44,100 Hz sample rate). The final audio file should be written to a CD in Audio CD format using InfraRecorder, Nero, Roxio, or other CD burning software. You must turn in your audio CD for grading.

Also, create another audio file from your final audio in mp3 format (128kps, stereo, 22,050 Hz sample rate). This audio file should be uploaded to your Dropbox. Then, post the URL of the audio file from your Dropbox to Assignment 3 Forum of IT 644 Social Network. Be sure to name your audio file in this format (i.e., johndoe-assign3.mp3) before uploading.

For this assignment I decided to create a promotional recording for the Imprezz Inc 4th Annual Fashion Show. Creating this recording was rather fairly easy since I’d used the software before. Though I had previous experience using Audacity it was very limited. Through completion of this project I learned how to use more of the functions Audacity offered. The newest function that I was introduced to was the ability to join and mix together audio clips. In the beginning I thought this task would be a challenge to complete, but audacity made it simple. Burning the CD and uploading the file to drop box were also very easy. I can see this project being use on a variety of grade levels and in various subject areas. Music or Speech teachers could definitely find a use for this software. I really enjoyed completing this assignment and look forward to using it in the future.

To view the completed assignment click here or copy and paste the link below
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11304840/hopedrummonds-assign3audacity.mp3.