Tuesday, July 13th

Today, I am happy to say that Window's Movie Maker and I became friends. I was familiar with the program leading up to today's class, as I had used it a couple of years ago to create a wedding movie for a good friend. At that time, however, it was my first time using the program, which resulted in heightened feelings of frustration. I was constantly losing my work, not realizing at the time that in order to use Windows Movie Maker efficiently, you always had to be using the same computer. So with that in mind, and the fact that I had three other group members to provide tech support, today's creation of a social story was seemingly smooth. We had a fun time creating the story, and I was also surprised by the capacity of "just" an ipod. I didn't realize prior to this course how behind the times I was getting in relation to technology, and it's the first time in awhile that I find myself really wanting a modern form of technology (like the ipod, ipod touch, or even better, the ipad). This course has really emphasized the importance of staying technologically relevant, because being even just a little tech-savvy can open worlds of learning opportunities for both myself and students.

In relation to the social story itself, I thought the emphasis on the student being able learn independently from the video was key. In addition, it is rare to meet a student in a learning centre who doesn't like watching a video. However, it is quite common to meet a student who doesn't want to read.