If any doubt existed that learning is an active, social process, then I disproved it tonight. Constructivism prevails again as I never would have finished this assignment without the guidance of a friend.
Making a DVD seemed easy at first. I had done it once previously in grad school using iMovie. In any case, here’s what my learning experience transpired:
9:30 p.m.: I found my Nero DVD-R burning software that I bought with an external CD/DVD+R drive. I tried to install the product, which I had never done before, on my both normal hard drive and on my external hard drive without any luck. The entire process was slowing my computer down to a stand still for some reason. I kept trying multiple times, but it took me awhile to even get my external DVD drive to appear on the “My Computer” screen.
10:15 p.m.: Annoyed with the failing process, I decided to give up on the Nero software and burn the digital clips I had using Microsoft Windows Media Player. I burned the files within minutes on a DVD+R and then played it on my DVD player without success. I happened to be chatting to a friend online who told me that I can’t make a DVD that way. I decided to continue playing with the software I had.
10:30 p.m. While still chatting with my friend, he asked if I had Roxio or other burning software on my computer. Around the same time, I successfully got my computer to register my external CD/DVD drive and was hopeful that it would install the burning software that wouldn’t install on my internal CD/DVD drive.
10:45 p.m. Again this software fails and I’m still not sure why. On the bright side, I successfully found Roxio on my computer and realized that I had never even used the software in the 2 years that I had owned this computer! (I guess I had other things on my mind during those years!)
11:00 p.m. Roxio opened successfully on my computer, but things were still horribly slow. I finally closed two programs out and miraculously things sped up. I put my digital clips in the Roxio program, created a quick menu, and then started to burn the DVD.
11:40 p.m. The DVD ejected from my drive, I popped it into the DVD player, and BINGO! Success!
Wow, I had no idea what a learning adventure (or misadventure) this was going to be! Despite this assignment testing every bit of patience I could find, I actually enjoyed it because it was hands-on learning and I felt like I was learning so much about my computer. Because I’ve been through the entire process, I feel my next DVD projects will go much faster since the biggest challenge is ensuring that I have enough time for burning the DVD, so preparation is key.
Given the practicality of this project, I can definitely see myself making digital clips when I got to Quebec this summer and burning them onto a DVD to show in class. I’m actually excited at the thought because I now know I have a program on my computer to help me make my future project a reality.
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