Summary of this portfolio:
This portfolio, compiled for EDET 603, brings together most of the products developed in fulfillment of the course's weekly assignments as well as a final multimedia project, which is a PSA video. The products, grouped by category, are linked in the navigation on the left and at each link are brief details about the products and how they were developed.
Self-evaluation:
This semester, I made considerable gains in my awareness of online "2.0" Web utilities about which I was previously unfamiliar. Prior to this course, I really only thought of "Web 2.0" in terms of sites like blogs that have visitor comments enabled. I was really completely unfamiliar with online utilities as part of the "2.0" landscape. I also made new use of features within software like Illustrator and Photoshop that I use nearly every day, but not in the same ways used in this course. The area that proved the most challenging and the most valuable to me was the work and lessons learned in the area of editing a Cascading Style Sheet, such as the one used to create this portfolio.
Reflections:
In compiling this portfolio, I was reminded of how very many products had been developed for this course and their variety. I enjoyed the creative freedom that we were given and I was able to find new aspects of even familiar software that made all of them learning experiences. I made the most gains in using software with which I was the least familiar, such as Audacity and iMovie. Because of the scope of the final multimedia project, I am now much more comfortable using both than I was when I began this course, even though I had successfully used iMovie previously in my job. However, I now have a much better understanding of some of its less obvious features like making a title into a "green screen." In comparing Video Activity One with the final multimedia project, it is easy for me to see that much was gained.
One of the topics that I was most concerned about coming into this course indeed proved to be the most challenging and that was working with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). It is essential that I become proficient not just in revising it, but in generating original CSS and I am not there yet. I also learned that trial and error is a terribly inefficient way for me to teach myself how to use it. At present, it is very perplexing to me in that it has a syntax that looks logical and intuitive on the surface, but often doesn't (seem to) behave in ways that would support that view. I am really glad that I had the opportunity to edit two different CSS files for this course and I look forward to finding ways to become proficient in generating original CSS of my own, either through a more structured instructional experience that I may pursue outside of USC or through CSS-generating functions that exist within the Adobe Creative Suite. These may hopefully allow me to take advantage of the visual approach to design with which I am much more accustomed.
In considering interconnections between this course and previously completed ones, EDET 722 is the most closely connected in its focus on instructional product development. I was a little surprised by the difference in the degree of emphasis given to user accessibility between the two. Because of my 722 experience, I was always mindful of, even when the assignments didn't require addressing, user accessibility through functionalities like closed captioning for the video projects.
I cannot honestly think of any significant issues or aspects of the assignments that I would have approached differently. This course has however helped me clarify for myself that for the long run, Web content development is indeed a much greater area of professional interest for me than the print-oriented work that I have done to date. This also brings to the forefront some concerns I have about the depth to which the content that interests me most will be addressed in the remaining coursework for this program. I look forward to finding out what the next course in this Design and Development tools sequence covers and exploring what other options may exist to help supplement skill areas to which I would like to give the greatest focus so as to meet my specific professional goals within Instructional Design.