Blog Post #7

Hello everyone, and welcome to my seventh blog post of the semester! This post will break down a small couplet of assignments for Currins 547. We were instructed to pick three texts from a list that all were considered to be eco-narratives. They all tackled the top of water and animal conservation, pollution, and damage to the environment. We then recorded videos to a platform called FlipGrid that allows people to share videos they create in a community. We then had an open prompt to create a mini multimodal response to the texts we consumed. I was elated with my decisions off of the list of texts as they contained three different ways of delivery (graphic novel, video art essay, picture book, and also included three different ethnic and cultural author voices. I chose to create a call-to-action music video in response to my text set using Kygo's remix of Whitney Houston's recorded version of "Higher Love." The link to the video is below: 

Kapwing — The collaborative video editor for modern teams

In reflection, this didn't have to be a challenging assignment. There were multimodal deliveries that I was more comfortable with, but I intentionally chose music video because of my lack of experience (and skills) at video editing. The first step began with finding a free video editor that was of good quality but essentially free because I am on that full-time student budget. After checking three or four different platforms out, Kapwing seemed to have everything I would need to do this assignment free of charge. I was immediately impressed that a software that user-friendly and capable was free. All of the videos I used in the music video were free to use on Kapwing, and between you and I, I used a YouTube to mp3 converter to obtain the audio for the song. When it comes to the YouTube to mp3 converter, if you know, you know. It was a way to obtain music for free before the popular streaming services we use today came of age.

Kapwing also allows users to upload media from their devices, which essentially opens the gates of creativity--the world is your oyster. It was humbling though because I did seem to experience some glitches on the website. My internet connection appeared to be okay, so I am assuming the software was responsible. Attempting to edit a small layer of the video occasionally edited unrelated parts which became frustrating, but an obstacle the was able to be overcome. The biggest disappointment I experienced during the creation of the music video was that once I made it through two-thirds of the song, I could no longer export the file because "The file was too large to export using the free version of Kapwing. To continue, upgrade to the professional version of Kapwing." Bleh. I got the experience I needed to receive, and I am much more confident about creating and editing videos in the future. 

This assignment influenced my thinking of the text set in the context of transferring this information to my students. It is one thing for any of us to read a text set, digest the information, and allow that information to add to our existing perspectives. It is a new challenge to be able to transfer that information to students or other people that are unaware of what you have learned. Not only transferring the information, but also developing enough understanding for the audience to not only learn and digest the information, but to also be able to use that learning experience to navigate other learning experiences. This assignment really opens the door for creativity, and transferring information in new ways that may be more effective than those in the past. So yes, I read and enjoyed my text set fully, but it influenced my thinking in exploring creative new ways to transfer the information that I need my students to understand. These practices can be used to amplify learning by introducing new, stimulating, engaging, exciting, entertaining ways of learning. If we are creative enough, our students may even forget that they are in class during our period. These styles of instruction also benefit learners that learn better visually, auditorily, or in a hands-on sense. They also can be a form of classroom management, keeping students busy, engaged, and excited to learn will likely result in the students behaving satisfactorily (whether they are aware of it or not). 

Furthermore, if we are using multimodal instruction to transfer information to our students, why can't we ask the same of them? We have the power to encourage students to use multimodal delivery and explore the ways that they learn effectively, confidently, and comfortably. Many of these projects (podcasts, tik toks, music videos, book trailers, etc.) have the potential to be collaborative assignments as well. Because these assignments aren't ten-page papers, the students may develop a sense of community, appreciate the creativity of themselves and their peers, be proud of what they have created, use skills learned to navigate other learning situations, and may possibly even have fun while doing it. This is one facet of education that has a bright future, and I am so excited to explore more. As time goes on, it feels like the strides forward will be more and more significant!