Brian Barkhurst's e-Portfolio

The following are my thoughts regarding a recent group work assignment in which we had to develop a rubric to evaluate a learning management system (LMS):

I actually looked forward to working with a group again because I find collaboration in action to be fascinating and frustrating at the same time.

I think my group would agree that despite our best efforts to work via e-mail, attachments, and Google Docs, we still needed to have a meeting to accomplish this task and have everyone’s voices heard.

Our coordinated effort to organize 3 Canadians in two different time zones, an American, and 3 Jamaicans in an online meeting via Skype and chat all at once took a lot of patience. Half an hour of technical mishaps later, we worked diligently until after midnight for some of us to produce a product that not only took into consideration everyone’s thoughts and opinions, but also was simply a better product than any one of us could create on our own. I felt that everyone had a role and a purpose in our team, ranging from making suggestions to making edits to connecting everyone on Skype/chat. I think we were all pleased with our overall product.

My take-aways are the following:

1) I refreshed the tech skills I used in other courses and learned a few new tricks on Skype and Google Docs.
2) I learned how to better help in coordinating communication and collaboration efforts across time zones.
3) I have a more solid understanding of what LMSs are and how to evaluate them.
4) I feel more comfortable working in a group setting, even if it’s solely online and across different time zones.

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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