My name is Chris and these are my thoughts.
I made this video using only the iPad and iMovie. It took my a little longer then I’d like to admit to figure out how to split video clips but once I figured it out it was easy. I have used iMovie on my Macbook Pro, so the software is not foreign to me but as seen above creating what I consider great content is a challenge. In hindsight I should have used the case as a stand and recorded from a desk. It was a fun experience regardless.
The was a day this week we here I forgot to pack my laptop in my bag but remembered my iPad. With a little getting used to I was able to do all my tasks that day using only the iPad. Some of these tasks included taking notes for class, studying via ebook, sending and reading emails, and preparing a presentation. Earlier this semester I had mentioned a few qualms I had with the native keyboard and my “need” for an external keyboard. After 4 weeks of occupying the iPad I realize I may have been a bit to hasty to make a judgement. While there are some functions that would definitely improve the native iPad keyboard (arrow keys when working on cell based programs/apps), the native keyboard is functional enough for everyday use. Do not get me wrong. My iPad experience would definitely be better with an external keyboard. Cole shared a link to some third party keyboards for iOS 8. I’ll be checking out a few of them so expect a review in my next post.
I’ve been substituting the iPad where ever I can for all my classes. At first it was a bit difficult because there are some things that pen and paper do better than the iPad.
The majority of my classes this semester focus a lot on group work so using the iPad in conjunction with Google Docs has been extremely helpful. Editing documents on Google Drive is as easy as 1-2-3 but when it comes to entering data for my psychology lab class, tasks can be a bit difficult. For this data entry assignment my group members had to input responses from surveys into a Google Sheet using the app Sheets. Sheets is a great app but I do not understand why Google split up its applications. The group members in our group with laptops finished input all their data 4 minutes before the rest of us using tablets. Something. That might fix this minor annoyance would be arrow keys when using Sheets or any excel- esque app.
Overall the iPad has been a great addition to my backpack.
This week’s reading was on Wenger’s study of Communities of Practice. Based on what I read I saw Communities of Practice as a shared space where members of this shared space participate in the exchange of knowledge and creation of new ideas based on individual problems. A Community of Practice is made of 3 parts mutual engagement, joint enterprise, and shared repertoire.
Mutual engagement is an obvious requirement. If the members of the community do not sign that unwritten contract to interact with one another a community cannot be built. I would describe joint enterprise as the synergy of the members. I read shared repertoire as the culture of the community.
I watched this video to help me understand Community of Practice more and one thing I found really interesting was Wenger did not define wikis, blogs, or forums as Communities of Practice just merely tools. When I just started wrapping my head around Communities of Practice, I instantly thought of wikis, blogs, and forums.
I am a part of a group at my university called Computer User Digital Development Learning Environment or CUDDLE. During our CUDDLE sessions students of many different educational backgrounds come to collaborate on ideas and help each other out on personal projects. Based on the definition I understood from the reading, CUDDLE can be called a Community of Practice.
Some questions I have after reading up on Community of Practice are:
Team Name: Right Shark
Team’s list of participants:
Chris Williams: christopher.williams@stonybrook.edu
Kate Schwarting: katherine.schwarting@stonybrook.edu
Ken Fehling: Kenneth.Fehling@stonybrook.edu
Shady Azzam-Gomez: shady.azzam-gomez@stonybrook.edu
Team’s communication plan:
Collaborate in Google Docs – first option
E-mail – second options
Google Hangouts – third option
In person meetings – fourth option
Team’s code of conduct
Will we be able to vote people out of our team?
How will we handle team members who are consistently late to meetings?
How will we handle missed due dates for portions of assignments?
Here are some standards I ripped from the interwebs:
Team membership as coworkers – all team members are equal; every team member’s opinion will be thoughtfully considered; each team member will keep all commitments by the agreed upon due date; each team member agrees to constantly assess whether team members are honoring their commitment to the team norms.
Team member communication: Team members will speak respectfully to each other; will not talk down to each other; will positively recognize and thank each other for team contributions.
Team member interaction in meetings: team members will listen without interrupting; hold no side or competing conversations; follow the rules for effective meetings; attend the meetings on time; always work from an agenda; minutes will be recorded at each meeting; end meetings on time.
Team organization and function: Leadership will rotate monthly; the team management sponsor will attend the meetings, at least, monthly.
Team communication with other employees including managers: Team members will make certain they have agreement on what and when to communicate; complaints about team members will be addressed first in the team.
Team problem solving, conflict resolution and decision making: Team members will make decisions by consensus, but majority will rule if timely consensus is not reached; conflicts will be resolved directly with the persons in conflict.
For this weeks media create I played around with a music production app on the iPad called Auxy. The app has 4 different sections where you can change the sounds of the drum, bass, and 2 synths. The app was relatively easy and fun to use and very user-friendly. Auxy also allows the user to adjust the tempo, swing and major/minor aspects of the song.
The only trouble I ran into when posting this was saving the audio directly to the iPad. Auxy allows a user to export the recording in a number of ways including emailing, itunes, and using apps like AudioCopy or Airdrop and DropBox. I tried emailing the sound file to myself but found I was unable to save it directly from my email to my iPad. I also tried installing AudioCopy but could not figure out how to use it. I eventually gave up and ended up posting this from a sinc site since I couldn’t upload the file directly from the iPad.