Week 1 of 540

As ridiculous as it might sound, I'm looking forward to a statistics class.  Given my mathematical background, I love the idea of a class centered around analyzing data.  Despite the fact that it has been awhile since I have dealt with higher order statistics, I'm excited for the experience.  In reference to the work for this week, I thought the videos were very informative, along with stimulating.  Whereas the first video was a little bit older, it very clearly pointed out how statistics are used to make pivotal decisions all around the world.  The video about the correlation between annual income and age of death (over time) was very stimulating and to the point.  It was very effective in making statistics interesting.  I'm glad I didn't live in the early 1800's, as I'd currently have one foot in the grave!

Week 5 of 530

This week's work seems like it is the beginning of the end for this class (I didn't mean to make it sound so morbid).  By developing a multimedia rubric based on everything that we've learned, I think it's clear that we're starting the process of tying together everything we've used.  I believe that this is a great way of using our previous knowledge, applying it to our classroom instruction.  I also thought that the advice on how to properly shop for multimedia was a good way to wrap things up.  As we continue our adventures into digital storytelling, it's important to be able to shop efficiently and with purpose.  Lastly, finishing off the Pecha Kucha is a little bit difficult, but certainly interesting.  Twenty seconds per slide doesn't seem overly difficult on the surface, but it's hard to get the rhythm down on a consistent basis.  Regardless, I think it is a great, concise way to give a presentation.

Week 4 of Digital Storytelling

I thought the content of this particular week took presentations to the next level.  Not only did we finish up our 28 picture project, but we also got to put it to use.  Also, Presentation Zen hit on a couple of principles that although simple, were vastly efficient.  The two that really stood out to me were Naturalness and Appropriate Timing.  It's much more pleasurable for the audience and the presenter when said orator gives off a sense of calm, or naturalness.  Also, less is more.  We've all sat in presentations that have been overloaded with way too much information in desperate need of being condensed.  I think this is why making a presentation shorter than expected benefits all parties involved.  I also found the concept of Prezi to be quite interesting; bucking the norm of working with slide after slide.  The "canvas" idea is a great way to lay out all of the information, without shoving it in a person's face.  The DigiTales Chapter 7 reading was also informative.  I found the Image File Vocabulary list to particularly helpful, as I've often seen these terms, but haven't always known their meaning.  Finally the Pecha Kucha story boarding was good in terms of forcing me to think of how to condense my information, but still have it be meaningful.