How has my journey of learning to use multi and single media to teach been so far?

In the beginning of the class, it was a struggle for me to use a single media to teach because currently I use various formats of materials to deliver professional development lessons in our district. We offer a combination of professional development models such as face-to-face, online, and a hybrid of the two in which we develop materials and lessons during the year for our teachers and administrators. In my current position, I develop screencasts (visuals) with audio and provide written examples during the trainings. We also use various Web 2.0 applications such as PresentMe.com and Slideshare instead of the Adobe products. So, it was very frustrating for me to limit the lesson delivery to just one format while learning the Adobe products at the same time. And some lessons or concepts naturally lend themselves to being understood best through one specific media over another.  In addition, using various media formats can ensure that you are providing materials for students with different learning styles. In conclusion, limiting the lesson to a single media was somewhat frustrating and challenging at the same time. The most frustrating media to work with was using Photoshop to develop the visual materials. My visual project would have been better if I could have used titles and some text along with my visuals.  

What have I learned? I was familiar with the Adobe products but never pushed myself to learn them or use them as my productivity software. I mostly use the Office Suite, but I now realize how powerful the Adobe software can be. For example, we just purchased a district site license for students and staff, so that we can have the tools to create more professional documents and interactive presentations. Our Career and Technology Education students will add the Adobe product certification as a certification option upon class completion and successful testing. I think that providing the Adobe focused technology class will help meet the demand for people who can create multimedia products for the growing online class and credit offerings. While I was at the Texas Computer Education Association Conference, (TCEA), several presenters predicted that within the next several years, all high school students will be enrolled in some form of distance learning or online classes. So, my eyes have been opened to the need to provide skills necessary to meet the online learning demands of the future. In addition, I think that multimedia materials enrich the lesson and provide better instruction for many of our learners. Also, learners have more control of “what” they want to learn when materials are online and provided in multimedia formats.

 What would you still like to learn? I would definitely like to learn more about all of the Adobe products. I know that we barely scratched the surface of what these tools are capable of producing.

 What is still hazy? The class was packed with so much material and information in a short time frame that everything is a little hazy. I would learn a skill one week, then a couple of weeks later, I had already forgotten how I accomplished the task. I am looking forward to having more chances to review the skills in the future sessions.