Final Reflection Paper EDT 180 Cade Murphy 1

Looking back on my previous reflections, a few things stick out as repetitive. In all of the

different projects I didn’t have a detailed plan going into them. I figured out what I was going to

do as I was doing it. I tend to think of things on the spot opposed to scripting things out, but

often times I seemed to rely too much on my improvisation. Something else that came up a lot

was I tried to tackle the whole project at once. Instead of focusing on one part of the project at a

time I was too worried about the entirety and could have gone much more in depth with them.

The last thing that was repetitive in my reflection was I started the projects before I truly

understood what I was doing. This is due to the lack of questions I asked. I would end up

figuring it out and getting the projects done, but I started behind as I was constantly trying to

figure out how to work different things because I didn’t ask how. None of this surprised me as I

already knew I like to improve and don’t tend to ask questions.

Throughout the course I have had many challenges with getting things done well and on

time. In the Expression Module I was originally intending to write a song to explain my

educational philosophy, but I couldn’t find lyrics to connect technology to it. The way I made

this work is I made my project a different way. I created a podcast and implemented my song

into it. I created a jingle for the beginning, explained my philosophy of education and how

technology ties into it with spoken recording, then finished with an original song describing what

I want to do for my future students. This project helped me think outside the box. I learned that

when faced with a challenge I don’t have to roll over completely and do what’s easiest. If that

were the case I would have just done a podcast, but I was able to express myself like I know how

with music and still complete the assignment in its entirety. Another challenge I overcame was

that I didn’t have much experience with audio editing. When we were required to make a podcast
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I didn’t know at first how to add music behind other audio tracks or how to put clips together and

make it sound natural. The way I got through this was by experimenting with the program and,

again, adding clips of me singing. I still don’t know how to put music behind other audio, but I

learned a lot about audio editing and now it is something I really enjoy doing and am considering

doing something with it in my future. This encourages me to try new things that may be

challenging, because I might end up finding a new passion.

At the beginning of the year I thought that there are many possible applications that

aren’t useful enough to be successful. This may be true to make money off of an app, but there is

an audience for any idea of an app. I realized this while doing the Construction Module. I did

mine on how to build your team in the video game Blood Bowl 2 (football type game). When I

first started making it I didn’t like the concept because I didn’t think anyone would use it. As the

project went along I realized I had used similar applications when I first started playing the

game. The applications I used weren’t as interactive as the one a created, but it’s the same idea.

Throughout the course my approach to the module projects changed. At the beginning of

the year I procrastinated the entirety of the projects. I didn’t start thinking of a concept for the

projects until a couple days before it was due. I didn’t know what technology I wanted to focus

on in the Inquiry project, but slowly improved. In the communication project I at least had a

subject from the start. In the construction project I had an entire concept planned out in my head

before starting. In the expression project, not only did I have a concept planned, but I also had

plans on how to execute it. I went from having no clue where to start with the inquiry project, to

having everything mapped out in the expression project.

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Something exceptional i’ve seen in classmates’ is their ability to break down a project

throughout their process. They broke down the project into smaller parts to keep them from

being overwhelmed. I have always been good at seeing projects as a whole and making sure it all

fits together. I would like to try breaking it down first and then editing the pieces to fit together.

If I could go back and change any project I would change my expression project. For the

base of the project I would have liked to have a better script. I did have a script, but looking back

it was very broad and could have been more specific to help me get my points across easier and

with less stuttering. The music is the main thing I’d like to change. I had a chorus, or a repeating

line, stuck in my head so I thought I’d record and see if I had a start to something. I ended up

really liking the words I sang but the singing didn’t sound as good as I’d like it too. The sound

was off because the microphone was out of position.The singing was way later than the

instrument accompaniment. Due to time constraints and lack of a solid plan to make sure I sang

the right words again in the correct way lead me to keep the original recording.

A goal I have for next semester is to think ahead. I really like to live in the present, which

is good, but it makes me ignore the future at times. I often decided to play video games when I

knew I should have been working on homework. Thinking ahead will give myself more time to

do assignments, allow me to go more in depth with them, and overall give me less stress. This

semester I had times where I had trouble getting homework done, and a lot of that had to do with

poor planning. Overall I believe that if I can plan better next semester, I should set myself up for

success.