The Final Semester Project Report
Michael McNeil
Digital Photo Story Class- 7358
Briefly describe the topic of your digital story and discuss the major objectives of the project.
The topic of my photo story is the commercial and how it relates to popular culture. In the Popular Cultural class, I was assigned the topic of commercialism and how it related to popular culture. I thought the history that commercials are a great way to show us our past, present and future. The objective of the digital story that I have put together helps to show that even commercials give and show the past. I believe that many times we overlook commercials as annoyances and distractions but they show a lot about or culture. If we are to look back at our past should we include commercials in how we look at the past? I think that this is a great way to personalize our teaching to what is going on in our students’ life. The students will have more experiences with the commercial and can point out things that they see.
Why did you select this topic?
I selected this topic because I think often times commercials are overlooked by society and the classroom teacher. I think that when we have a topic that we are studying that the teacher should try to find things that will help the student remember them. The use of commercialism is a great way to link what students have in their lives and to what they are learning. The more the student is able to link it to their lives the better the chance that they will complete it and remember it for the future.
Who is the intended audience?
The audience that I wrote and made this digital story for was the 6th grade students in my classes. I think that when I teach students about advertising and popular culture that they will be able to relate to the lesson I am teaching if they are able to relate it to something in their own lives. In this case, it is watching television. Since a large majority of the students watch a large amount of television then they can relate it to their personal life.
Describe if and how this project might be used in a classroom or other educational setting.
This project would be used in an educational setting. I think that it would be best to use the digital story is in a unit or lesson over commercialism and popular culture. What I think is the best way to use it would be to introduce the students to the topic of popular culture then take about the various ways that popular culture influences society and then talk about the way that commercialism affects our culture. The students would in my opinion have to have background knowledge before viewing the photo story.
What technology hardware and software programs did you use in creating this project?
What I used in creating my project is as follows:
- Google Images- Still images in the photo story.
- YouTube.com- Source of background music and video clips in the project.
- Media converter.com- Program used to download the videos and music into Movie Maker.
- Movie Maker- Program used to build and make the project.
- Celtex- Program used to make script of the project and also the placement of the images.
- Olympus Digital voice recorder WS- 210S- Recorded narration for the project.
- Goldwave- Program used to modify and adapt the sound to the project and also help the narration of the project.
- Picasa 3- Program used to edit pictures that were used in the final project.
Where did you find the content for the project, including images, text, music, interview material, video clips, etc.?
The following sources were used to find sources such as images, text, music and video clips:
- A large amount of the media for this project came from
- The video clips and much of the background music came from YouTube.
What items in the project changed from the early stages of selecting the topic through completion of the final digital story?
When I started this project I think a fear that I had of how to complete the project was top of the list. In the early stages of the project I was more inclined to use images and company logos. As we progressed in the class, I began to see that video clips would convey the information better to the audience. So, at the beginning I wanted to just use clips but at the end of the project I leaned more to the use of video clips.
Describe any challenges you faced in creating this project and if and how you overcame them?
I think that the biggest challenge that I faced in making this project was what to do for it. I think that the topic was so broad that I could not decide on the topic I wanted to pursue. As I became more comfortable with the materials we would be using I found what I wanted to discuss and work on.
Another obstacle that was a challenge to me was the idea of how to put the project together. What program to use and how to sequence the slides and narration. As we progressed in the semester I found that it was easier to decide on what to do either by looking at examples from other students or from research on the topic.
The last obstacle and I think the most difficult was to put the project together with images, sound, and narration. This takes time and numerous attempts to ensure the best quality of the project. I think that the lesson that I had the most difficulty with was to produce the best quality of the project. Never being happy with the finished project.
What were the most significant things you learned from completing the final project?
I think the most significant thing that I learned about the project is patience and diligence. When you want to create a photo story it can not be hastily put together. Time and effort must be a central part of the project. Also the quality of the project must be questioned. I have in the past produced photo stories that I originally thought were great and well put together but, after taking this class I found that an excellent photo story must be personal and must show things of relevance. If you don’t have a good photo story then who would watch it.
The programs and applications that we used in the class helped to show me new ways to complete a photo story. I think that the classes that I learned from are those in which we used programs I was not familiar with or had no experience with. The information that I learned in completing the project will help me in the teaching of my classroom.
Please add any other information you feel would help describe your work on the final semester project or the course in general.
I think that the class in general was challenging and interesting. I feel as though I learned a great deal that I had not known. On many of the projects much of the information had to be practiced with and worked on in order how to use it. The class was very meaningful to me and has definitely improved what I am teaching in my classroom.
In regards to the final project it has shown me that in order to make a quality presentation that the subject should be of interest and the images must be of good quality. In the past many of the photo stories that I have developed have not been as detailed and personal as I would have liked through this class I hope to be able to create presentations that encourage interest and thought.