Reflection on Final Project

Reflection on Final Project

Russell Crooks

792E - Computers and Composition Pedagogy

The end of our iMovie project contained a great deal of reflection on the project itself and the concepts we were working on and how they connected, but there was not a reflection on the process. Our process was one of many changes. I personally began working with a concept that was a much different than the end result. I had turned away from exploring how new media literacy can enhance our understanding of cultural literacy to content that had to do with simply emphasizing the importance of expanding new media studies in the English department. It seemed I worked too much at first on making my ideas blend well with Melanie and Todd’s. After a week of meeting and trying out new plans for the project, I realized that I could indeed carry on ideas I developed through the quarter (i.e., my post, my literacy conference proposal) and expand on them while still staying cohesive with my group. This was not easy and I think the connections were still being made in the later stages of the project or during the executions of our plans. While my argument addressed purpose, Todd’s addressed pedagogy, and Melanie’s addressed theory, all of us were looking at how new media can be expanded in English. While our approaches to this were different in many aspects, I think this further validated our argument because our varied approaches to implementing new media in the classroom shows that there is much to learn for students and much to research for teachers.

While I had a rough start getting into a group and finalizing my argument for the collaboration, I feel I was a part of a hard-working, cohesive group. Todd and Melanie were open to change and encouraged me to add onto their proposal until I had something I really wanted to work with. We were a little worried at first, but as we started planning the steps and taking them (especially after we captured footage on iMovie), our confidence grew as well as our trust in each other.

Outside of our ideas and plans for the project, I had the opportunity to spend some time with Todd and Melanie talking about being a TA, managing the demands of grad school, and planning for future quarters. While this was not a goal of the project, the fact that it brought us together created a valuable opportunity for me to reflect on where I am going and issues I am dealing with being a first year Rhet./Comp. MA. We also took time to vent about how composing on computers outside of the word processor is undervalued by not only our common institution, but English departments nationwide.

The time it took us to complete this was considerable. Editing on iMovie is not a simple, quick process; it is repetitive and sometimes tedious. Given that we made ourselves a rigorous meeting schedule, we met our goals with time to spare to our suprise. While we leaned on my experience in editing and shooting because of time constraints, I think Todd and Melanie made marked gains in their comfort and knowledge of how iMovie works in the time they had to sit down and edit with me over their shoulders. Furthermore, I will be the first to say that I am not a pro at iMovie. I had to re-learn things from my previous experiences and I think my confidence grew by leaps as we neared our completion. Looking back on this project I realize that in order to expand and improve on my iMovie composing abilities, I have to do it regularly. I hope my future classes will support me in this effort and provide me with opportunities to continue studying the multi-modal discourse iMovie provides and how it is an asset to English studies.