Journal #5

     Updates this week are pretty slim.  My semester project is still coming along slowly but surely.  I look forward to spending some time in the comfort of my own home (or my local Starbucks) tomorrow to get some work done on my project page.  I must say that I am feeling a little more confident with Photoshop since Josh Grasso showed me how to create a more interesting and appealing background to import it into Muse.  I must confess that I spent 30 minutes an hour on selecting the pattern I wanted to use and creating the background in Photoshop.  :-) 
     Over the past week, I have solidified my topics for the screen captures/recordings that I will include.  Next on the to-do list is to actually make them!  I am still having trouble with deciding on how I will house the recordings.  Ideally, I would like for the videos to appear directly on my website and not for those viewing my site to be directed to another page.  During the next class, I'll ask for suggestions from some classmates. 
    Nothing has changed with my community service hours.  I plan on presenting to my curriculum area on Wednesday about how to find games and game templates on the Internet.  I also plan on doing an extension to my last Mimio presentation.  I talked to our curriculum leader last week and she commented about how my presentation greatly helped her with using her Mimio in class.  She also said that she has referred to the handout that I made several times during class if she forgot the functionality of one of the buttons. 
    This week I chose to read The Studio Experience and Self-Organized Learning by Sebastian Fiedler.  I found the phrase "self-organized learning" to describe the studio experience perfectly.  As stated in the reading, "beginning learners are confronted with course structure that requires a very different role for students than traditional forms of instruction usually demand".  At first, there was an "adjustment" period for me when I did question if this style of learning was for me.  Fiedler also mentions the effectiveness of "flexible learning" strategies such as time-planning and managing.  I feel that these are areas in which I excel. 
    Now, eleven weeks in I am more comfortable and acclimated to this different style of instruction and am eager to continue this Studio journey. 



Fiedler, Sebastian (1999). The Studio Experience: Challenges and Opportunities for Self-Organized Learning. Athens, GA: The University of Georgia, Department of Instructional Technology [On-line]. Available online: http://it.coe.uga.edu/studio/fiedler.html