Wk3-1 DB Quickies: Difficulties starting new programs/breaking the norm

There are many times I have felt like a change agent on campus.  I seem to constantly come up with ideas of how to do things differently.  These ideas are usually supported, but only if they do not cost any money.  The largest task is to come up with cost effective solutions to production problems.  One project that has been successful is live webcastingour college basketball games.  In the two years we have broadcasted the games the college has invested less than $100 dollars in the project, yet we have been able to webcast every game with students.  We have had to deal with low bandwidth issues, control and interface problems, and lack of effective design solutions.  Our highlight so far was having 1500 viewers during one of our games this year.

Wk2-3 Discussion Deeper: Podcasts in Education

Podcasting has become a mainstream way of getting your message into the world.  You are now able to study and share information you are passionate about with people who share that passion.  I am finding I am passionate about many topics and therefore struggle staying focused, but that is the beauty of podcasting.

If I want to know more about creating Flash media there is a podcast for that. http://podcasts.creativecow.net/adobe-flash-tutorials-podcast

One Podcast site I find very helpful in stretching my perspective and way of thinking is Ted.com.  They offer many of the highest thinkers today talking about their specific areas, or where they feel the world is headed.  There are hundreds of topics covered on a variety of topics.

Another podcast series I have used in the past as a teaser and to jump start creative juices in my class is the Ask a Ninja series on iTunes.  It is fun while providing material for my classes to talk about.  This can be found at, http://askaninja.com/.

Lynda.com is another major factor for me and my classroom due to the nature of my classes.  There are days worth of podcasts dealing with the software we work with, technical knowledge we are learning, and provides materials for my learners to learn at their pace.  I have learned Flash, Premiere, web design, graphic design, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and many more tools through the podcasts offered on this site.

Outside of the classroom setting, I also use podcasts as a devotional for my walk with Christ.  There are many podcasts dealing with Spiritual growth and Biblical knowledge, but my favorite storyteller at this point is Rob Bell out of Grandville, Michigan.  There are many uploads from his sermons spanning many topics and truths.  These can be found at, http://www.marshill.org/teaching/.

Wk2-2 DB Quickies: CD Ownership, Music Sharing or Spontaneous Listening

Topic #1

Can you remember the first song that really touched you emotionally? 

I thinking back in my life I know there were many songs that impacted my ways of thinking, my mood, my understanding of the world.  My preferences as far back as I can remember have been some form of Christian music.  All of these have a message that encourages, challenges, teaches me.  But, the song I remember most is one whose background is totally false. 

The Phil Collins song "In the Air Tonight" was described to me as written by Collins as a response to a drowning of one of his close friends, and there was a man who could have saved his life, but refused.  Immediately I was drawn and pulled into the story and spent a lot of time analyzing the lyrics.  I was moved by the emotion and often imagined being in that setting and watching a friend of mine die, while someone could have saved them. 

In reality He claims he wrote the song as a narrative of his divorce to his wife.  It was, and still is, amazing to me of the power of our minds to create such emotion.

Week 2 1 DB - CD Ownership, Music Sharing or Spontaneous Listening

I used to be a big purchaser of CD's, as many as 4-5 a week.  Then, I got married and cut my purchases to 10-15 a year.  Now, with 2 daughters and another due April 22nd I don't purchase CD's anymore.  If I hear a band I like I might buy a song or two, or possibly the album from iTunes, but I rarely purchase a CD.

We have constant music playing at our house when we are not watching a show.  We find this light music in the background calms the house and fills our space with pleasing sounds.  I listen to pandora.com when I am doing homework or reading and stick mostly to instrumental guitar.  I have found I need a little background sound to help me stay focused on what I am doing.

At work we use music for our chapel services as welcome sounds for the prelude.  We get albums from all sorts of people who want us to play something in particular and have memberships with the main 3 music copyright license companies.  Music has a way of drawing our students into a shared environment instead of the separate lives of college life.

Wk1 Media Project - Content Proposal

Content Proposal

Retention Web Service: Retaining Students Through Community

EDM-613 Media Asset Creation

Education Media Design & Technology MS Program

Full Sail University

Prepared by:

Isaiah Veale

March 7, 2010

I. THESIS ABSTRACT

     Institutions of all sizes and types have the need for students. Students who are dissatisfied with their current school may look for an institution they feel is better for them. There are key factors playing into these decisions and unless the student is forthright with their concerns there can be little opportunity to effectively impact their decision. The goal is to monitor these key factors, as they happen, in order to address them before the student is lost to attrition. Research of effective retention strategies will be used to design a web service to implement strategies and connect faculty, staff, and students within an online community providing instant information vital to retention.

II. Introduction

Problem Addressed
     Colleges and universities are a business. If a college does not have the funds to continue, it will close and the students will need to find a new place to earn their degree. Of those who enrolled in a four year institution, the U.S. Department of Education (2002) reported only 55% of all undergraduates who began their studies at a given four-year institution in 1995-96 with the goal of a bachelor’s degree completed that degree within six years at that same institution (including 59% of Caucasians and 41% of both African Americans and Hispanics). There are many factors leading to this attrition, but many key factors can be addressed if the right people know the student is considering transferring or dropping out.
     Laurie Schreiner (2009), director of the doctoral programs at Azusa Pacific University in a research study published by Noel-Levitz, Inc., suggests it is important to connect the student with the campus as soon as they arrive on campus, because the college experience has a significant impact on their decision to persist at a university. With the integration of a web service providing institutional networking, monitoring of key factors to student success, and connections between vital departments, colleges and universities can improve the student experience and therefore the probability of retaining them.
Target Audience
The target audience for this project is college and universities looking to improve their student retention and willing to change their strategies and philosophy to create more connections between students, staff, and faculty.
Sharing the project
     My plan in sharing the retention service is to offer it to the university I currently work at as a test subject as well as learning opportunity to learn what needs to be fixed, changed, or deleted. Once the service is proven effective it will be marketed to other colleges and universities for as a fee based service. At the start of the project it will be developed by myself with the help of a few friends who are graphic designers and code writers. It will be created primarily with Adobe Photoshop and web code.

III. Goals and Objectives

Instructional Goal
     This project is not designed to be instructional as much as it is designed to aid institutions by providing the students and therefore financial income to support the programs offered. Through the training process faculty and staff would learn the strategies and philosophies of the institution preparing them to assist their students to succeed and improve retention.
Learning Domain
     If there were a learning domain within this project it would be both cognitive and affective through the training process of why the institution is choosing to use this service and how it will affect their daily process. Faculty and staff would learn what key factors to monitor for student success and how to address them or who to send them to. As the students become more successful the faculty and staff would experience more pride in what they are accomplishing and grow more emotionally attached to their position.
Learning Objectives
     The objectives for the retention service would include:
          * Provide social networking between students, staff, and faculty.
          * Providing structure for the institutions retention strategies and philosophies to be implemented.
          * Provide training for faculty and staff, to clarify their responsibilities pertaining to retention.
          * Provide a site for key factors to be monitored and reported as desired and needed.
          * Provide a single site where retention employees or advisors can track student progress and  
             address needed issues quickly.

IV. Presentation

Instructional Approach
     The approach I am taking for this project is to design a web based service to aid retention strategies by connecting key individuals with students. Through these connections students will desire to succeed in their institution.
Lesson Structure
     Michael Cain (1999), in his book, The community college in the twenty-first century: A systems approach, believes campus life needs to be effective at connecting the student to the college, but that,
the teaching faculty is the key to the ... college's work. Other factors in the system, such as the support staff, administrators, politicians and students might help draw up the route for the trip, but it is the faculty members who drive the bus. (p. 47)
     If the student connects with their faculty, especially in their degree field, they will have a connection with their desired future. Training and equipping the faculty and advisors to connect in a meaningful way with their students is a key to the success of the student and the program.
     The web service I am proposing is designed to accommodate these needs. The format would be built around a social networking platform, but be closed to the members of the institution, able to track and report chosen key factors, provide communication tools with individuals and groups, and offer the college a single site to manage their retention strategies.
     My site will be programmed to connect to existing college programs to run scheduled reports and check for the key factors the college desires to track. This information will be generated and sent to the corresponding individual. Built upon this is connecting these individuals with others who have responsibilities toward the student.

V. Evaluation

     The eventual evaluation for this service is at the end of the semester has the retention improved or not. During the training process faculty and staff will be instructed of the impact their involvement has, and as the semester progresses students will be tracked for certain meetings, showing whether the advisors are meeting with their students and whether students are fulfilling their responsibilities as students. At the end of the semester a report would be drawn showing the percentage of retention per advisor allowing adjustments to be made to the training or accountability.
     As these evaluations are followed the retention staff are able to communicate more effectively with students and faculty, allowing them to be more productive in their field and giving them more time to work with the students and faculty to improve their strategies and revisit their key factors. This service is a tool for reactive assessment of retention by providing reports and tracking, but is also a proactive resource by allowing retention staff to focus on what is and is not working, rather than on constant training.

VI. References

Astin, A.W. (1993). What matters in college? Four critical years revisited. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
     Inc.
Bloom, J., & Kelly, K. (2008). Increasing enrollment of first-time-full-time freshman (FTFTF) in
     STEM majors, year two. Retrieved February 18, 2010, from http://icee2008hungary.net/download
     /fullp/index.html
Cain, M. S. (1999). The community college in the twenty-first century: A systems approach. New
     York: University Press of America.
Inigril.com. (n.d.). Schools on facebook. Retrieved March 8, 2010, from http://inigral.com/
Noel-Levitz, Inc. (n.d.). Retention revenue estimator: Estimator for four-year institutions [Worksheet].
     Retrieved September 18, 2009, from https://www.noellevitz.com/Papers+and+Research/Retention
     +Calculator/
Noel-Levitz, Inc. (2007). Student Retention Practices at Four-Year Institutions. Retrieved January 10,
     2010, from https:// www.noellevitz.com/search/results.aspx?query=student%20retention
     %20practices
Noel-Levitz, Inc. (2009). Benchmark research study conducted fall 2008: Mid-year retention
     indicators report. Retrieved October 20, 2009, from https://www.noellevitz.com
     /Papers+and+Research/Papers+and+Reports/ResearchLibrary/Benchmark-Student+Retention.htm
Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: New tools, new schools. Eugene, OR: International
     Society for Teacher Education.
Tinto, V. (n.d.). Student success and the building of involving educational communities. Retrieved
     January 15, 2010, from http://aiea.syr.edu/vtinto/
Tinto, V. (n.d.). Student retention: What’s next. Retrieved January 15, 2010, from http://aiea.syr.edu
     /vtinto/
U.S. Department of Education. (2002). Descriptive summary of 1995-96 beginning postsecondary
     students: Six years later. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center of
     Educational Statistics, 28-32.

Week 1 - Discussion Board - Topic 2

I have the privilege of working in the Audio/Video tech field.  We use common pieces of technology, such as laptops, iPhones, and video cameras, to complex pieces, such as AMX control touch panels, 15,000 lumen projectors, and pre and post-production video.  I like to implement video into my classrooms to spark creative juices flowing.  Right now a project my students are starting is a stop motion video.  In order to get them thinking outside of the box I have shown them some old and new video incorporating stop motion. 

Other ways I have implemented technology in my workplace/classroom is production equipment to video-webcast our colleges basketball games with live commentating (our men's basketball team is last year's national champs and #4 in the country right now).  Our students have a lot of fun producing a basketball game and hearing from families and friends of how much they appreciate watching the games. 

Week 1 - Discussion Board - Topic 1

I have used a couple of programs to display the songs for our worship services at church.  We were often limited in what we were able to show, mostly we couldn't use videos and some motion backgrounds.  We had computer software or hardware malfunctions almost once a month.  I prayed a lot that it would work and not crash in the middle of a song or our pastors message.  When it did we had to acknowledge our shortcomings and restart the computer.  Once restarted, we prayed it would work or hope they didn't want to go back to where the problem was. 

We now use an iMac and a program that allows us to use any media format we would like.  In the past 2 1/2 years I have only had to restart the computer 1 time, and that was when we tried to play a Windows media file.