EDLD 5326-Week 5- ARP Blog Update

I am currently about to begin my final course in the Masters of Education in Educational Technology program. My reflections involving my technology courses have been complete. However, I  still need to complete my reflections involving my administrator courses. All of my hours for my internship plan have been complete, all that’s left is to include the last activities I’ve completed within the last couple of months. In regards to my action research project, it is complete. All my data has been collected and I am ready to include it into my report. My next steps in completing the program are to pass my LCE so that I can get approval to take the TeXes Exam for Principal Certification. I plan to take the ILD course during the second week of June through Region 5 which is located in Beaumont, Texas. If all goes well, after I complete my ILD, I plan to apply for my Principal Certifcate and obtain my certification by August of 2014.

EDLD 5366 Course Reflection

Course Reflection

This course provided me with an excellent insight on various programs to use within the classroom. Firstly, I was very comfortable with this class because of the professor, Dr. Abernathy, and the same group of classmates I have had for the past 3 courses. I knew nothing about Desktop Publishing and was hoping to get an idea of what it was about. Within the first week, we were introduced to the C.R.A.P. model which consisted of four basic design principles: Contrast, Repetition, Alignment and Proximity. We were able to analyze and use the C.R.A.P. model to distinguish the different principles, if any, that were used with various flyers. In addition, for week 2, we were to create our own logo as well as a group logo by using the C.R.A.P. model. The transition from analyzing various flyers in week 1 to actually creating your own logo in week 2 was an excellent way for use to practice hands-on the design principles. Week 3 consisted of creating an animation with the Stykz software. I am always so eager to learn new programs and this was definitely a week of learning and absorbing what I learned from the program. Week 4 was my favorite week because it allowed me to work with my team from the previous class. We had such great chemistry then that it transferred over to this class so that we could produce an excellent webpage. Overall, everything that I have learned, I plan to apply it whether it be towards to students, parents, or other fellow teachers.   

References

1.) C.R.A.P.- Basic Layout and Design Principles for Webpages - YouTube. (n.d.). YouTube. Retrieved August 18, 2013, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF_mWi6r-9I&feature=youtu.be

2.) Stykz • Home. (n.d.). Stykz • Home. Retrieved August 18, 2013, from http://www.stykz.net/

3.) Williams, R. (820). The non-designer's design book (3rd ed.). Berkeley, Calif: Peachpit ;.

EDLD 5366 Web Conference Reflection

This web conference took place on August 10, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. Dr. Abernathy started off the class by mentioning that for week 4, everyone would provide the same webpage as well as a link to our google document which would provide the contributions that each member in our group has done. She also mentioned the different certificate programs that will soon be added to the Educational Leadership program at Lamar University. She did mention a change for week 5 which she will include in the week 5 overview/announcement. In addition, she mentioned that week 5 will consist of a reflection and she would like for us to include that in our webpage created from week 4. A reflection is what you knew coming in, what you learned, and how can you apply in the future. It was a very quick web conference as we wind down towards the end of this course which is quickly approaching the following week.

EDLD 5366-Week 3 Animation

EDLD 5366: Exploring Ancient Manuscripts

In order to create an adequate graphic design, the C.R.A.P. is a perfect model to follow. C.R.A.P. contains the four basic design principles which consist of: Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity. In addition, not only must the graphic be a decent visual representation, it must also flow with everything else that is going on throughout the website, poster, business card, etc. For the first assignment of EDLD 5366, we had to explore a set of ancient artifacts and use to the C.R.A.P. model to identify the principles. The use of certain colors is definitely used throughout every page. Colors such as yellow, red, green and blue are repeatedly used. It seems that the text follows the same style and font size. In addition, the alignment seems like it’s a 2 column style text throughout. The color of the text is consistent alternating from black to red every once in a while. In addition to repeatedly use of colors, the use of other characteristics such as birds, structures, and people remain consistent. It seems that everything in this bible flows with one another and creates a great graphic representation.

EDLD 5363-Final Video Project

EDLD 5363- Campus Supervised Hours and Action Research Brief Update

My campus-supervised hours have been quickly accumulating. I have roughly about 500 hours completed and documented. It seems that everything falls into place at the right time. In addition, as soon as I am done with a certain task or project, I quickly document and reflect on it so that I will not forget about it and wait until the last minute to try and remember what the project was about. Certain activities/projects I have done have been STAAR Development through Technology Instructor during the summer, Assistant Resident Director for the Texas Governor’s School Program, as well as hosting a “How To Build Your Own Website” session during the district’s Technology Staff Development Day. 

In regards to my action research, I have coordinated one activity/informational in regards to informing parents of ELL students of the STAAR Tests. However, with recent changes in the education field, I find it the right time to host another informational to inform parents and students of said changes. One thing that has changed is my location. I will focus more on the “gap” that exists between ELL students between high school and higher education. I will be working under the direction of the newly Dr. Ashley Spicer-Runnels who is the director of Student Development and Leadership/Student Engagement at Lamar University.

EDLD 5363-June 22, 2013 Post Web Conference Reflection

I must say that the conferences with Dr. Abernathy are very helpful. She is so supportive of anything we do and, if we are going in the wrong direction, will definitely get us back on track to where we need to be. In addition, she also took the time and opportunity to inform us of the conference that was taking place in San Antonio of past and present Ed. Tech. students from the program. Although I could not attend, I definitely plan to be there in the near future. This conference was basically receiving more info on the group project that would take up the rest of the weeks to come. Our group was already formed prior to week 3 and, in addition, we had already agreed on a core content. Once we met with Dr. A and had a clearer understanding of what needed to be done, everyone in my group took charge and initiative on completing their tasks.

EDLD 5363-Final Project Propsal and Final Shot List

***When I copy and pasted my actual list in my blog post, it caused my final product to be disproportionate and not really appealing to the eye. Therefore, I have included the link to my wiki site for those that would like to view.***

EDLD 5363 Wiki Site

EDLD 5363-Assignment 2.1 and 2.2

Video Editing Software Tutorial

 

Audacity Tutorial Script

Hello and welcome to my tutorial in regards to recording and saving with the Audacity program.

Audacity is a free software for recording and editing sounds

Simply go to google and type in Audacity and it will be the first link that appears in the search engine.

Download the software according to your computer specifications

Once you have downloaded the program, you can begin to record.

If you have used a CD-Player/MP3/ or Ipod, then you can easily be able to fully use the 6 main functions in this program which are pause, play, stop, rewind, fast forward and record.

Once you are complete with your recording, you are ready to save.

Click on file, scroll down to export, type in the file name you would like to name your recording and then select the file type you would like to save it as.

I highly recommend you go with the most common ones which are WAV or MP3.

Once you click save, you have successfully saved a recording with the Audacity program.

Thank you for listening and I hope this tutorial was quick, simple and easy!

Week 2: Discussion (10 Points) Explore Audacity and Creative Commons.

1.    Briefly comment on your experiences with downloading Audacity and the tutorials in your course Discussion Board.

Downloading Audacity was very quick, simple and easy! I honestly thought it would take so long to download, but it took about 5 minutes or less. Once I downloaded it, I immediately found a plethora of tutorial videos. My main objective was to make the tutorial as relatable and understandable for all types of people. In addition, I was also introduced to Screencast-O-Matic program. I have seen various “how to videos” use this and have always been curious as to how it was done. Screencast-O-Matic is very user-friendly and an excellent source for this tutorial video.

2.    Briefly comment on your experiences with Creative Commons in your course Discussion Board.

Creative Commons was very informative in regards to licensing one’s work. It went into detail in regards to the “layers” of licensing and on to the different types of licensing one can choose from.