Final Reflection - Learning and Growing

First and foremost, I had a wonderful time taking the course, Digital Literacies for the summer. At first when I registered for the course I was a little nervous because I started to think to myself that I might have made a mistake selecting this particular course since I didn’t have my own computer or that much experience with them. In my mind I doubted myself and already drew the conclusion that I would not be able to handle the course even though it had not started yet. When the first day of class arrived, Tuesday July 5, 2011, I began to think that everything happens for a reason. I decided that I will be okay with this course, things will work out, and it did.

From taking this course I am now more knowledgeable about technology and what it can do. As a digital learner I feel that I am also up to date with the world that I live in. I always thought that I was before until I took this course. The digital applications that I had to use within this course prompted me to apply myself and try new things. Through this I was able to discover how technology can play many roles and serve more than one purpose in my life and the world as a whole. I did so many projects and I am happy with each and everyone of them. I have two videos that I can show to friends and family. What’s more significant than that is I have the ability to make more. I feel that though that class has ended my knowledge and creativity has not.

As a learner I feel that since taking this course I am capable of grasping new concepts, especially when it comes to computers and the various programs associated with it. Before I took this course I had the mentality that some people are technologically inclined while others are not. I was completely wrong about that. I realized that I can do the same things that other people who use technology on a daily basis do. Though it did take time, effort, and patience, I was still able to accomplish things. In addition, I never actually took a class that exposed me to so much information with computers. I recall not too long ago just being able to type papers and search the internet. Now I know a lot more than when I walked into class. Being able to make projects and try new applications is something I never thought I would ever be doing. All the things that I have learned are not just for class. I can take it and utilize it in my everyday life within my other classes as well as at work.

Through this class I have a better understanding of digital text and what it entails. This is important because the world in my opinion relies on digital text in more ways than one. It allows people to develop their skills, but also express creativity, thoughts, and ideas. Using digital text provides and alternative to the usual text of print that is commonly used. By having my own experience with digital text through the projects I have done and the books I read in this class I realize how significant it can be to incorporate both written and digital text in the classroom, especially digital text. The reason why I say this is because I recall the controversy that surrounded digital text and whether it was efficient enough in providing students with the same information that they would receive from regular text. I feel that digital text can be a great innovative way to connect students to what they read by having a visual aspect to go along with it. Students are able to see how what they read can be transformed to a screen and the power of how it is depicted. This reminds me of the old adage, “a picture is worth a thousand words”. Though digital text is not written it is still able to convey the same meaning and message as a written text. This is beneficial and important because students need to be exposed to as much as possible as active learners.

When I think about how I considered not taking this course I get happy at the fact that I did. Yes, I had difficulties at times, but that’s life. Nothing works one hundred percent of the time and patience is a virtue. Like the song from my final project by Nas, “I Can”, I realized that it’s true. I can and I did do things that I never thought I could or would ever consider doing in life. This class helped me to grow as both an educator and student. In the midst of it, all I had to do was apply myself and have a positive outlook. With this mind set I know I will go far and beyond in this digital world that I live in.

The Cats Meow - It's A Kitty World

I love cats and though this was a nice video to put on my blog. When I came across this video on YouTube I viewed it and thought it was the cutest thing to watch. I hope you enjoy it like I did.

It's Summer Time

These are pictures I decided to use to represent the season of summer.



                            

My Final Project - Achieveing Dreams 1

My final project is about inspiring and motivating students to be their best and do their best in life.

My Final Project - Written Description

Natasha Thomas

Digital Literacy

Professor Tom Peele

July, 17, 2011

                                                       My Project – Video

            For my Digital Literacy course that I am taking this summer I have to construct a video that is going to be considered as my final. Though there are many ideas I could choose from I felt that doing something that related to me and my profession would be the best direction for me to go in. This is why I will do something pertaining to education and the significance of it. The importance of this project is to show how an education is crucial to achieve the goals that students have in life. Through this video I want to inspire, motivate, and encourage students to continue with their studies no matter what obstacles they many face. In life we all have our own good and bad days as well as ups and downs, which can take a toll on us. This video will show that things in life might seem impossible at times and students might want to give up, but the road ahead has so much to offer and they have to pull themselves through and keep on going.

            The audience for this video is geared towards teachers, parents, administrators, and students within the New York City public schools system. The reason why I felt that this would be the intended audience is because each is important in their own way in helping to shape the future leaders of tomorrow. Collaboratively, which each part working together students will have a better chance of excelling and continuing on their education. Though students are the ones who are obtaining their education, it is those around them that teach and help guide them to get to where they need to be in life.

            To develop this video the tools I will use consists primarily of Digital Photo Story 3, music, and words. These tools are important for my project because it will help to enhance it and make it stand out more. It will also add more of an appeal that is relatable and realistic when viewed. In addition, my decision to use these tools is to bring life to my video. The uniqueness that Digital Photo Story 3 offers is something that other web-based tools do not provide. The music and words used along in conjunction with the pictures will add a voice to my story and help to amplify the message and meaning that I am trying to convey.

Within this project I had to make a tremendous amount of decisions that will play a major role. The rhetorical choices, such as the arrangement will consists of pictures that are images of students, educators, schools, classrooms, graduates, diplomas, and people from various working professions. Each image used will fit perfectly with the message of the video. The color used will be basic and neutral or black because I want the images to stand out and not be overshadowed with too much color in the background. The words that will go along with the video will be both big and bold enough to be seen and understood by the audience, but not to the point that it blocks out the picture.

The music I want to play in the background is by the rap artist Nas and his song tilted “I Can.” This song is inspirational and motivational to children and people in general. It serves the purpose of what the video is about, which for students is to go to school, excel, and achieve both their goals and dreams in life. Regardless of the obstacles faced you still can overcome and accomplish things. I also will incorporate parts of the music video from the song as part of the images to show, which has children singing the chorus of the song. The format for the project will start off with a famous quote and then the music will begin, followed by the pictures and words.

Video Narration- Sequence (Steps)

·        The movie will start out with an inspirational/motivational quote on the screen.

·        The music will begin to play in the background.

·        A variety of images will show up on the screen depicting children, teachers,

schools, working professionals, schools, colleges. Words will accompany the

images displayed on the screen.

·        Parts of the music video will show up on the screen as well during the video

Reflection # 9 - A Breath of Fresh Air

I was able to upload my video today to YouTube. I was nervous at first because I thought it might not work or  be taken down. Happily all went well and my project is complete. I have to say that I am very proud of myself and what I have done so far. Today will be a day for me to relax and make sure that I have everything in order that needs to be done. Surprisingly, there is a parade going on outside on thirty-four street so the streets are closed. I can hear loud music playing, but it's not too loud so it doesn't interfere with my work. That's a good thing. I am considering going to the library, the Mid-Manhattan branch, but I can't find anything good and I have been searching for about half a hour to forty-five minutes. Last week I did get something on the Mac, which is good because I am considering getting one. I really do want to do my research because sometimes I think the brand is overrated, but I will have to read and look at all the benefits before I make my final decision.

Reflection # 8 - All In A Days Work

Today was great! I was able to do my Wordle, which for me is a good thing. I did attempt at doing it earlier in the week, but I had some difficulty. I was also able to make the needed corrections for my project as well. That took a while because I ran into some issues with my music length, transitions, and time. I was able to fix it and through looking at the preview of it I am hopeful, optimistic, and happy about the outcome of it. Now I just need to load it. I also did my Prezi today. I will admit when I first saw the program and how to use it I was hesitant at doing it and that was last Saturday. I looked at the tutorials several times and went ahead and gave it a try. I was surprised to see how easy it was to use. I think a large part of that is due to the fact that I looked at the tutorials several times. Overall, I did get it done and I aimed for a theme that relates to what I have been doing this summer, which is technology in a digital world.

My Prezi - Imangine...

I decided to make my Prezi on something related to this course. Since I touched on the tpoic of technology through discussions and readings in class I thought that this would be an appropriate project to do. It focuses on the what as a student I am able to accomplish through the use of both a computer and the internet.

Imangine... on Prezi

My Wordle - I Used To

My Wordle is on a poem that I written titled "I Used To" that focuses on a transformation from a negative aspect to a positive aspect in life that some of us are faced with like overcoming adversity and obstacles set forth in front of us. This is as big as I could get it to show completely on the screen, but if you click on the Wordle itself it will get bigger. I hope you enjoy looking at it.

My Jing Project - Just Desserts

These are the two images I captured using the Jing application. After I decided on the images I would like to use I clicked on the capture button and saved the image to my USB. I thought this would be a safe way of my being able to retrieve my images when I needed it, even though Jing keeps my image saved to its history. Once I did that I went to my blog and uploaded my images.The images are two dessert dishes created by Chef Gordon Ramsey. The desserts are a Vanilla Cheesecake with Berry Compote and the other is Tiramisu.

                                           

                                                                  

                                                                     

Reflection #7 - Creativity

This Saturday I made my Animoto video. I had a great experience doing this project. It was very fun and not hard to do. Now I have a video that I can show to my friends and family. I was able to use the pictures and music that Animoto offered. Unfortunately, I was not able to use all the pictures that I selected and the music did not play too long because it was only thirty seconds long. Aside from that I love my video and have watched it about seven or eight times. I have other projects that I need to do as well that I am looking forward to doing. That might sound strange to some people, but this class has transformed me into a little internet whiz. I will admit that sometimes I do have difficulty, but when I get it done and I see the end result. I realize that it is well worth it it all.

Animoto Video - Going Places

This is the video that I created. When I decided how I was going to make my video I really focused on the type of pictures, music, and background to use. I had to be mindful of how they each would play a role and work together within this video. My goal with creating this was to make something that gave off a vibrant, happy, and tranquil feeling.

Refelction #6 - It's A Digital Thing

The assignment for this week required looking up three examples of Life in the Digital Age. Mt findings were quite shocking I must admit. Technology is always changing and advancing. I wondered when there will be robots who will be programmed to do things, kind of like The Jetsons of Futrama. When I think about how things were before I was even born like the stone age things that are here now were not available then. Each day someone comes up with an innovative idea on how to improve, alter, or change something, which they insists is for the greater good of society. The best thing I have come to realize from this course is that things are happening in the Digital World we live in and changes are occurring all over. Things are simply not what they used to be.

Reflection #5 - Just A Matter of Time

The reading for tonight had me thinking long and hard about the internet and what it does to people and society as a whole. The Shallows: What The Internet Is Doing To Our Brains by Nicholas Carr, really put things into perspective. Listening to my classmates respond to the reading gave me insight on their views and that they could in fact relate to what Carr states in his book about the internet and the brain. I do not have a computer as of now, but plan on getting one next month. I wonder if my brain will be affected when I start using the internet more that what I use now. I guess I will have to wait and see what will happen in just a matter of time.

Reflection #4 - I Did It

I had a wonderful time watching the video by Michael Wesch, An Anthropological Introduction to Youtube. I was very entertained and loved the part when it showed Soluja Boy, because I am familiar with his music. The other videos were fun to look at as well, but the highlight of that assignment was finding either web - based authoring or writing tools. I happen to select Animoto, which I am completely in love with. I was able to do a video, but I was unable to show it during my class presentation. Who would of thought I would have to make my on video and on top of that actually get it done. I am so proud of myself and what I have accomplished so far in this class. The old saying, "hard work pays off" is so true. I am learning so much and growing day by day. Instead of just sitting on the computer browsing, I am creating projects that are concrete and something that I can look back on and use as a portfolio.

Reflection #3 - It All Makes Sense

Today I had to read three chapters from David Weinberger's book, Everything is Miscellaneous. I have to be honest I got the book from the library and must admit that I found it quite interesting. The information he provides is very concrete and in depth. In addition to that he offers a lot of examples. This course has  prompted me to think outside the box and connect with the digital world beyond just using the internet. I feel that with each assignment I receive and complete I am growing and evolving. I am learning new things and engaging in areas of discussion that I would not be doing if I did not take this course. More importantly, I am understanding more about the topic of how technology plays a role in writing.

Reflection #2 Getting Things Done

This week I have to do something I never did before. I have to embed two remix videos within my blog. I have always seen this happen, but I never tried to do it myself. I guess this is because I never had to, but I do now. I did have a hard time with the video showing up on the screen because I did not have in in the right mode, which would be compose. Instead I had it on HTML. Overall, I hanged in there and got it done. I started at about 12:00pm and finished at 5:30pm. Yeah, a lot of time, but it was worth it! I got to learn something new and more importantly I did it all by myself. I am extremely proud of myself because I am learning and growing within this class. Though it is not a walk in the park I did not throw in the towel and I just tried it again until I got it right.

Reflection # 1 - The Begining

I have started my class for the summer in Digital Literacies. So far things are going great and I am looking forward to learning a lot of new things. if any thing I think this class will be a challenge for me, but in a good way. I am not computer savvy so this class will help me to expand on my computer skills and help me to realize that all the things that I thought were too difficult for me to do are in fact the opposite. I will maintain a positive attitude while taking this course and not get frustrated when I do not get things right on the first try.

My Blog Creation

      For my Digital Literacy class I designed a blog. I decided for to have my template to be a reflection of the digital world in my eyes. This is why I chose the color orange with design behind it in the background. When I see it reminds my of what people might consider to be "psychedelic." It also represents life and gives off a vibrant feel.

      When people look at my blog I want them to be drawn in not by just what I post, but also what it looks like. Instead of just using the name of the course to be the title of my blog I felt that giving it a name that encompasses the world I live in would be a more suited title. The style of writing is simple, but unique at the same time