I am an Experimenter!

A response to the I’m an Experimenter! Activity
created June 17, 2021 by Marisa Rentas (@mrentas)

Number of views: 220

I chose to create a GIF, infographic and introduction video. I had experience using these tools before, but I tried to go outside my comfort zone-especially in creating the GIF and video.
One big lesson I learned is that new technology tools can be overwhelming at first, but the best way to learn how to use them is to play around with the tool. For example, I have created numerous instructional videos over the last year due to the move to remote learning. The videos I have created have been basic screen recordings walking through assignments or course shells. I was hesitant to invest time learning a more advanced video creation tool. I had heard about the OBS program through our school’s Microsoft Teams PLN, and thought it would be a great tool to try to use for the introduction video for the Experimenter Module. When I first went to the site, I almost decided not to use the tool because it was not intuitive (at least to me) on how to switch between scenes/views. I am so glad I persevered and just tried it out. In the end, it didn’t really take that much extra time to figure it out, and now have access to a valuable tool to make videos that will be more engaging for students and combine different visual elements. I also learned that presenting information in a visual way, needs to be planned out more so than the traditional ways we are used to delivering content to our students (I..e written PPTs, discussion). Both the GIF and Infographic activities challenged me to think about the core concept/idea I wanted to convey and how I convey without a lot of text. Lastly, I learned that I can also keep learning! I have used many of these tools that I tried out before, but there is always a different or more creative way to use these tools help with engagement.. For example, I have used GIFs before in my PPTs as a lesson opener/welcome visual, but I have not created one before. The infographic was easier to make than I thought, and I will be using it as visual liquid syllabus for my classes in the Fall. I have more confidence now to use these tools moving forward.
I actually missed the instructions t to do an activity using my smartphone, so I tried an additional activity using my phone (so it was not one of the activities listed below). I created a Padlet solely using my phone. I use Padlets quite often in my classes, so I was familiar with this tool already. I downloaded the Padlet app to make it easier to use. It was very easy using the app to make a new Padlet just by selecting the “MAKE” button that is found right at the top of the screen. The advantage to using my phone is that it is easily accessible. So from a student’s perspective, being able to answer a discussion prompt using Padlet can be done on the go at any time which I think it very beneficial. I think that the fact that I didn’t even attempt to do the activities on my phone speaks to the challenges that exist using a mobile device. I know some of my students actually do access most of the course using only their phone which really puts them at a disadvantage for many assignments (that are usually written essays or short answer assignments). Moving forward, I will be more aware of this and try to create assignments that are more mobile friendly to make it more accessible for my students.
The summary video I have posted below and also it is attached to this post.