Course Reflection

The creation of multimedia artifacts is essential in the development of engaging and compelling material that aids the transfer of knowledge. The Multimedia Specialist (MMS) like that the course started with the exploration of photography for education and the impact images can have on the learner as an appropriate method to introduce the various multimedia mediums educators can use to create learning materials. Moreover, how multiple camera settings and lighting situations allow learners (educators) to play with the digital canvas as part of the creative process with the intent of capturing a moment that is relatable and communicates a thought, ideas, or concepts necessary for learning to occur.

Furthermore, as the various image editing techniques explored in this course demonstrate it is essential that educators understand how easy it is for anyone to edit printed or digital images for purposes other than education. Likewise, the latter serves to enable them to create innovative and purposeful photos (images, graphics, charts) to entice the learners' innate curiosity towards the exploration of topics and ideas on their own as they constructively gain new knowledge through self-discovery.

However, it is worth mentioning not all educators will be artistically inclined thus alternative methods to acquire, create, develop, and modify multimedia are needed to help them work through the design aspects of the instructional design process which in the end benefits everyone involved in the learning activity. For this reason knowing where to search for royalty free images, graphics, illustrations with creative commons licensing, and sounds is an essential component of the media creation process. The exploration of vector imaging applications such as GIMP and Inkscape is necessary as both of these applications expose educators to the various methods and techniques available to create and manipulate images for learning.

Admittedly, some applications were more challenging than others because they have a steeper learning curve and eight weeks is not enough time to uncover everything there is to learn about digital imaging, editing, and podcasting. For this reason, the MMS recommends that both learners and educators continue their pursuit of knowledge through self-directed learning and the exploration of topics and techniques which piqued their interest throughout this course. For example, the MMS will delve further into the creation of vector images in Inkscape and the multitude of options for the import and export of the various image formats supported within this program.

The learning experience throughout this course was satisfying in that many of the concepts and ideas presented were not new to the MMS but supported by his previous knowledge and experience. Thus enabling him to appreciate having to learn technical terms for things like the golden hour, aperture priority settings, skewing, and other specialized techniques. Likewise, the introduction of podcasting in the course was refreshing because in his opinion it is an underutilized resource that most learners and educators could benefit from integrating throughout the learning process.

Correspondingly using Thinglink to demonstrate the creation of an online multimedia lesson was not an enjoyable experience due to their exclusion of taggable audio uploads pinned to the background images. However, not everything was lost in translation as the MMS cleverly devised a workaround to introduce audio using YouTube videos and static images to create a visual podcast (vidcast). Finally, the MMS will apply everything learned in this course to further his knowledge about the integration of multimedia in the curriculum and to help other educators as they endeavor in their pursuits to leave text behind through the delivery of media-rich learning environments.