Significant Learning Experiences

The other day, my daughter asked me an interesting question. She said, "Do you remember the things that you got wrong the first time, and then corrected, better than you remember the things that you didn't make a mistake on?" I thought about it and realized my answer was, yes, I do remember things better when I've struggled to learn them. My daughter said this was true for her as well. This reminded me of the slightly annoying optimists who tell us that we should think of our mistakes as "learning opportunities." The reasoning behind the platitude is simple: if you don't make any mistakes, you won't learn anything new. 

If this is true, if a process of trial-and-error is beneficial, then what does this say about the role of teachers and students?  For example, if we as students are given simple, step-by-step procedures for using a preselected set of tools to create our archives, blogs, and portfolios, does that diminish what we learn or remember? Is it possible that a "spoon-fed" approach might inhibit, rather than promote, our learning? I'm not suggesting that I wouldn't prefer to be shown how to do things, to spend less time wrestling with tools and more time developing my portfolio content and presentation, but the question still interests me. What do I gain from flailing around in the technological waters, learning from my mistakes? Or, from another perspective, am I doing my son (or other students) a disservice if I "rescue" them from their frustation too soon, showing them how to do things they might have figured out on their own if given more time? 

The Final Stage: Copyediting for Usability and Consistency

My process for creating an ePortfolio has involved three stages:

http://docs.google.com

Stage One: Content. Inventory and digitally archive all relevant files. Use Google Docs, DropBox, or a similar tool. Save Microsoft Word files in both DOC and PDF formats. Also include: PowerPoint (PPT) files and other types of writing projects; descriptions of the assignments provided by the professor; discussion board posts; any significant email correspondence with professors or classmates; and anything else that might be needed to create a capstone portfolio with reflective summaries. Ideally, the archive will contain most of these items already because it will have been created gradually, over the course of the entire program, rather than all at once at the very end. Files converted to the Google Docs format may require editing to repair formatting problems (extra pages, duplicated text) created during the conversion process. Note that unusual fonts, which for example may have been used to create a special effect for a flyer or brochure, may become unreadable when the files are converted. Be sure to check every file in Google Docs after the conversion. In some cases, it may be preferable to skip the conversion altogether.

Creating a Digital Narrative (a Slide Show with Voiceover)

When writers talk about "voice," they're usually referring to a style of writing that shows some personality. Readers are left to imagine for themselves the timbre and pitch of a writer's spoken words.

Not so when it comes to a digital narrative that includes both audio and visual elements. This past week, my assignment was to write a script, select or create images, figure out a way to combine the text with the images, and then add a recording of my own voice reading the script in time with the slideshow. I felt oddly nervous about recording my voice, so I saved that step for last. 

I experimented with a combination of tools. I tried iPhoto, PowerPoint, iMovie, and something entirely new to me: Screenr.com, a free web-based screen recorder. The steps I took were as follows:

Giving Up the Devil You Know

One thing about tools: it's always tempting to remain loyal to the familiar ones. Once I've spent time learning how to use a new tool or technology, I'm inclined to keep using it. I need to be tempted away by the promise of better performance, greater convenience, or very cool features. Otherwise, my uncharacteristically conservative philosophy when it comes to tools can be summarized by this pithy bit of wisdom: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Perhaps this explains why I spent two years wrestling with Google Sites before I discovered Weebly and Blogger, or why I have until recently resisted switching from iPhoto to Picasa for Mac. Sometimes, it's the little things that make all the difference. For example, when I wanted to created tabbed web pages, Google Sites was no help to me. I suppose I could have written the HTML for a tabbed page (see this Elated article), but one of the reasons I was using a WYSIWYG editor like Google Sites in the first place was because I wanted to avoid doing my own programming. Sadly, instead of searching for a new tool, I settled for less and resigned myself to organizing pages with customized sidebars.

During the past two weeks, I have been researching different tools for creating blogs, wikis, and websites. I am delighted to see that Weebly offers a variety of tabbed web page designs. Other niceties, like drag and drop elements and instantaneous previews of template changes, make Weebly an easy tool to learn and use. No doubt, I will eventually encounter drawbacks to Weebly but, so far, I like it just fine.