Final Product Analysis

Bethany Robinson

Final Product

ED550 Documentation

1.      How can you think about yourself as a reader/writer with this product?

I actually am surprised at how well I was able to pull elements together to create a decent, respectable presentation which communicated my thoughts despite the few words I used. That’s a big change for me—I’ve always been verbose. I like to cover all the bases with my explanations but that’s unnecessary with digital presentation. I feel far more confident using digital means to communicate than I did before the class.

2.      What is the relationship between reading and writing in this product? What should it be?

My entire presentation is loosely based upon a series of novels I have always enjoyed—The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkein. Tolkein is like me in that he tends to be a bit verbose and over-explains concepts and details in his novels. I enjoy them, far more than the movies, but they do get word heavy at times. I am glad I was able to pare down my presentation and let the images and presentation take the place of all the words I’d normally use to “explain” my work.

3.      How do technology or digital affordances change how you think about reading and writing, if they do, in your creation of this product?

I now recognize that, as the old saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words”. Those images, shared in an instant, convey more than I could write in a week’s time. I’ve just got to get more comfortable with sharing digital materials rather than stacks of paper.

4.      How does your artifact meet the goals of the course?

My artifact uses parallel pedagogy: I chose a text I had read in paper format and applied it to the digital literacies our course embraces. I used information I gathered from the internet, added music and images I’d downloaded (Creative Commons), and applied Power Point to make the slides attractive and sleek.

5.      What readings/theories informed the production (from idea development to completion) of your artifact?j

I drew much of the idea development from examples provided by the course instructor, and fleshed them out using my own personal preferences. The slideshow was a bear to coordinate to run smoothly and advance properly, and much of my time was spent working out those kinks. I feel that my artifact would be attractive to adults as well as children, and doesn’t look “staunch and stodgy”, which is a problem I’ve had with slideshows I created in the past.