Learning through practice…

In the past the use of programs like Garageband and iMovie was a bit daunting for me, but last week has remedied my reluctance to use the software.  With the help of our guest lecturer, Karen Richardson, our technology class was guided through the basics of both of the applications.  Not only was the class well delivered, but the activities were engaging.  During the first fifteen to twenty minutes of class Mrs. Richardson went over pertinent information for using the technology and then let us loose on the Media Center located in the basement of Swem Library. 

Working in pairs on Monday the class split up to complete a public service announcement about forest fires by using video clips, audio clips, and photos.  The iMovie program proved to be simple to use with the guide, and we cut, edited, added transitions, and completed a video in one class period.  I was amazed at how simple it was to create the video.  I would definitely consider using this technology in an elementary classroom.

Wednesday proved to be another day of discovery in the Media Center.  Again we split into pairs and began to explore creating a Podcast with GarageBand.  This program was a bit more difficult to use.  Our microphone and speakers were not working with the initial attempts to record and it took my group awhile to resolve the problem.  After we had everything working (with the aid of our instructor) another issue arose.  We had no idea what we wanted to Podcast.  So for awhile we sat there with nothing to do.  I definitely sympathize with students who are given new technology to explore and don’t know what to do with it.  We had a step by step guide for the program, but we did not have any preplanned ideas.  After recording brief introductions, we ended up exploring all of the different Apple Loops and didn’t create a complete podcast.  GarageBand is simple to use and could definitely be used with elementary school students, but I would definitely want students to create written drafts of what they want to record to maximize time usage in the lab.