Introduction
I am currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Learning Technologies at the University of North Texas. I graduated from the University of Dallas in 2001 with a B.A. in History and a concentration in French. I worked at an educational software company from 2006 to 2013. While there, I managed a team that wrote and edited Social Studies content for 3rd through 12th Grades. I am interested in learning more about how technology can be used in the classroom or in other environments in order to enhance the learning experiences of students. Currently I am working at a company that sells furniture to schools, so I’m taking a bit of a break from the ed tech world. I have enjoyed my classes in this program, and I am not exactly sure what I will be doing after finish my degree. Click here to read my introduction in PDF format, and click here to read my blog.
Multimedia Educational Technology Statement
Throughout this semester, I have experienced multiple forms of media both as a designer and as a learner. As I designed the same instruction in various forms of media, I grew to have a greater understanding of what is involved in the design process and that factors such as the time and cost needed to create quality instruction will play a role in deciding which form of media will be used in a particular piece of instruction. In using the various programs throughout the semester to create different types of media, I felt like I learned a little bit about a lot of different things, but I still feel like there is so much more that I don't know! I feel like I was able to learn enough of a new program to complete the requirements of the assignments, but I realize that I am far from proficient in using the various programs.
As a learner in this class, I was more reflective on how media is used for instruction and how I learn when using different types of media. The instructional material for this class was mainly text-based with links to VTC training modules for the various Adobe products. While the videos were informative, overall I felt that it was not the most efficient way for me to learn the material. As I would try to watch all of the videos assigned, I would lose interest when the speaker was discussing some topic that seemed irrelevant to me, and I would start to do something else and would not be fully engaged when the relevant bits were being presented. Also if I saw something but didn't remember exactly how to do a particular task, I found it difficult to go back to the video and find the exact spot that I needed. I ended up rewatching several videos, and I felt that it was frustrating to have to waste time watching irrelevant bits of a video in order to get to the part I needed. In this instance, I feel that a different typ of media or perhaps videos that were specifically created to meet the needs of this class might have worked better. In designing instruction, the designer has numerous choices of how to deliver the content and which types of media should be used. The designer needs to create high-quality instruction and needs to understand the needs of the learners with regards to their learning preferences and the conditions in which the learners will be accessing the content.