Like others, I was fascinated by iMovie and all it can do. I love details and the ability to play with different parts. That certainly got me into a bit of trouble, as I don’t think I knew exactly what I was taking on, but I had a ton of fun. That said, working on the video today gave me a whole new appreciation for production. I knew it takes time. How much time I underestimated. I got caught up with the cool “tricks” I could do and then realized that something I had just worked an hour or so on was only about 20 seconds worth of video, and I had a lot more to go. It’s extremely gratifying when it comes together, but frustrating when you realize the ratio of process to product. That sounds negative, but as I’ve been thinking about it, it’s not so different from working on a paper. I just have better writing skills since I practice those more. I guess my takeaway: practice makes product.

I saw a lot of my students in myself today, so again a humbling experience.

In terms of teaching, my digital story was actually a trial run for an assignment I was thinking about giving my classes in the fall. Having completed it myself now, I’m not sure using the digital story for this particular assignment is best, as it posed some visual challenges I hadn’t quite thought through. I am still thinking about this type of assignment for the intro course, as the questions I struggled with today (audience, soundtrack, misc. sounds, visual, etc) are a great starting point.

Finally, Ken & Hil – thank you for all your help. This has been a fantastic experience!