Media for Digital Environments

When evaluating trends and tools, I always consider two factors: how they will impact teaching and the instructor's workflow and how they contribute to student outcomes and learning experiences. Encouraging instructors to utilize electronic grading within the LMS aims to enhance assignment submission and learning with higher quality and more timely feedback using rubrics, electronic annotations, comments, and video messages. Additionally, we use course templates to standardize the presentation of course materials, aiming for a more seamless learning experience across the entire institution and enabling students to be more successful as learners.

In my role as an instructional technologist, I frequently evaluate tools to replace existing ones or address new needs arising from the evolving nature of our school and programs. The concept of self-organized learning environments resonated with me, emphasizing the importance of finding digital tools supporting collaborative and creative learning experiences in adopting successful learning technology. I plan to incorporate this idea into my future technology evaluations, advocating for emerging technologies that support peer-to-peer learning within our LMS, creating significant learning environments where students actively produce their own media, participate in open-ended activities, and experience social gamification engagement.

Resources I rely on to stay updated with trends and issues in EdTech are peer group listservs and meetups and attending education conferences, especially those focused on learning technologies. The peer group provides a platform to learn about challenges faced by other professionals, discover their solutions, and seek advice from subject matter experts. The archive of messages is a valuable resource for mining information on relevant topics: a communication that may not have been relevant for me a year ago might be useful knowledge in the future. Attending technology and learning conferences are a great experience, offering opportunities to learn from experts, network with peers (fellow nerds!), and delve into hot topics. I also gained insights into more mature technologies that I was less aware of and could find applications for in my work.

My background is in K-12, with 10 years of teaching high school. I have observed that higher-level teachers do not utilize as many digital tools as elementary teachers and are not using them as effectively. During K-12 EdTech conferences, I noticed a higher representation of elementary teachers than high school teachers. I always felt that this was a missed opportunity because digital learning methods and tools can translate to any level of education. Secondary teachers could leverage these tools in deeper and more meaningful ways, especially with platforms like ePortfolio, allowing students to identify their lifelong interests and career goals. There is untapped potential for digital tools to enhance learning experiences at the secondary and college levels, and I hope to see more educators exploring these possibilities in the future.

Teachers' limited access to modeling and resources hampers their growth and ability to effectively integrate technology into their instructional practice. Developing greater self-efficacy is a way to boost their confidence to research and experiment with new tools and methods. After transitioning from a classroom teacher to an EdTech role, I can attest that there isn't a clear pipeline or program to guide individuals in this direction. Most people with formal technology training (computer science, IT, engineering, etc.) often lack the instructional and pedagogical knowledge needed for such a role; typically, individuals with classroom backgrounds who have cultivated their technology skills work in EdTech.

My go-to for any work or learning collaboration is Google Docs and Drive. Since it is an integrated cloud storage and word processor, it is much smoother than using something like Dropbox, which tends to cause document conflicts. The interface is really user-friendly for multiple editors and commenting, and I also really appreciate how great Google Docs is for real-time collaboration in addition to being used by a group asynchronously; I have been on many Zoom calls working with a team where we have been adding to a live document. There are also good options for publishing and embedding into an ePortfolio. In the workplace, it provides the option to create shared drives not tied to a particular user, reducing issues when a collaborator leaves the organization.

Creating and incorporating educational media is a significant aspect of my professional role as an instructional technologist. This can range from producing screencast videos used for how-to guides or explaining processes for faculty and students, to developing entire courses with asynchronous lectures and instructional videos for online or hybrid classes. Screencast videos can vary in length from a brief 2) seconds to a couple of minutes. Since I primarily work on a Mac, I utilize the native screencapture tool available through Quicktime.

I typically capture the video separately and then overlay my narration. This approach allows me to focus on recording the visual steps cleanly, without the need to simultaneously worry about my spoken content. Later, I take the time to record and edit the audio, either in sections for convenience or in one take with a pre-written script, depending on the project's requirements. For quick editing tasks, I employ iMovie, while for videos requiring additional graphics, I use Camtasia.

For accessibility purposes, I strive to provide both visual explanations and accurate closed captions for any audio components in the videos. The goal is to ensure that all essential information in the how-to guides is conveyed both visually and auditorily, allowing individuals with visual or hearing impairments to get the same information as other users. 

Media can engage the audience with a "hook" and a rhetorical appeal. The hook serves as an attention-getter to engage the viewer and make them interested in watching. An appeal that combines ethics, emotion, and logic is known to be the best approach, along with timeliness and storytelling techniques. Presenting visually interesting and well-organized material can also enhance the viewer's comprehension and retention, which results in a higher engagement and a greater likelihood of them using the information in the future. 

I am always curious about what a good attention-getter could be for the audience and what emotional appeal to use. Logical and ethical appeals feel easier to accomplish using statistics and data for the former and the credibility and authority from the latter's publication, institution, and position title. To influence an audience, I try to highlight the relevance and significance of the content, emphasize something that provides unique value or insights, and provide a clear and compelling summary of the key points.