Big Ideas Project Summary

As the remainder of the groups began winding down and completing the final bits of their project, our project was just beginning. We had to provide all of the groups with a website to which they could publish their videos and photos. We also had to make a newspaper to publish the articles of the other groups. At the time of writing this these things were only barebones, skeletal framework. Now all of the content for the newspaper is finished and the videos will be put onto the site soon.

What I did:

As an individual, I contributed what knowledge I had of computers and technology to help in the effort to prepare for the reception and publication online of the projects form all of the other groups. At the outset, I was assigned to with the managing and uploading of project videos onto a website. To that end, I familiarized myself with several website design platforms, including Wordpress and Weebly. In addition, I gave myself a few sample papers and video clips to practice what would be needed for when the stories came in. In addition, I familiarized myself with video editors, at first WeVideo, and later iMovie after we decided that it was simpler. I made a few test clips to test my editing skills. In addition, I checked all of the videos that were sent to the email set up for the purpose to confirm that they were the appropriate type and playable. Alongside that I checked the news article to ensure it could be opened. I also performed the extremely important task of putting together pages of the newspaper, even coming to school on a Saturday to push through the final hurdles.

Reflection:

So far, every aspect of our project is going well. All of the other groups have at least a basic understanding of shooting and editing video, and the custom domain is up and running ready to accept the content that will be put on it. Hopefully the rest of the execution of our project goes as smoothly as how it is going currently. Throughout the course of this project I learned several useful life skills. One was the use of technology to transmit information, in the form of text and video. Another was the creation of videos for release to the public.

Effects:

Our project has made a profound impact on the other groups and hopefully on future classes of students. We have provided the basic structure for each group to obtain video that is an integral part of the project. In addition, we provided a platform upon which all of the students can upload this video as well as the news story, another integral part of the project. These basic parts will allow the students to prepare for much larger thing in life, such as creating full-blown movie projects and news stories. The greatest impact, however, is setting a template for future classes who do this project can follow. It is this base structure of the media aspect of the project that will prevail most clearly for quite some time.