The final project is a fairly open-ended assignment. You may choose any topic that will benefit your classroom and create a multimedia project for that topic. You have two options for this project:
Additionally, you have two other options:
You should decide in advance which of the first set of options you are doing (stand alone vs. assignment for your student) and which of the second set options you are doing (PowerPoint/VBA vs. media intensive). That is, you must choose
You may work on your final project in a group of up to four. It is strongly encouraged that this be done as a group project (with at least one other person), but this is not a requirement due to the fact that many of you teach different grade levels and subject areas. Group work allows you to experience the joys and troubles of cooperative work and is the best and most authentic environment for creation of large projects. If you work in a group, each individual member of the group should turn in an assessment of his/her own contribution to the group and a confidential assessment of the contributions of the other group members using this form. Note that you must use a recent version of Adobe Reader to fill out this form (I believe it works in versions 8 and above). This form works on a Mac as well, but you cannot use Preview on a Mac to fill it out. If you need the latest version of Adobe Reader, download it for free here.
Toward the end of the semester, we will discuss copyright, but this discussion is likely to take place after you have begun work on your final project. If you have specific copyright questions before our discussion, ask your instructor for clarification. In the meantime, it is best to find media from copyright-friendly sites (look for Creative Commons). If you must use copyrighted media, consult your instructor for limitations. For any media you use, you will need citations so be sure to keep track of the site from where you got the media.
Prior to the completion of the final project, you are required to complete a storyboard of your project. This is a critical step in the design process. While moving straight to the development stage gives you a better feel for the materials with which you have to work, skipping design encourages an over-emphasis on media and glitz and an under-emphasis on content and appropriate interactivity. Certainly, you will collect some media and play with some of your development tools before you complete your design, but emphasis on the design phase makes for a much better project, and for this class, it is a requirement.
Your storyboard should act as a proposal for your project (although given the tight nature of the schedules this semester, your storyboards will not be returned far in advance of your final implementation). You should include:
Your final project will not follow this storyboard in every detail because you will continue to enhance your design as well as discover limitations of what is possible to do in the time allowed. However, your final projet will follow your basic design and most of the details.
Your final project will be an implementation of the design you created in your storyboard. The Final Project is a significant interactive multimedia project. It will use basic PowerPoint buttons for simple navigation and VBA scripts for complex interactions. This is true regardless of which option you choose. For details about assessment of this project, see the Final Project Rubric.
Another option is to forego PowerPoint and/or VBA and use a substantial
amount of media in your project. This is likely to include large
amounts of video and audio content that you create yourself. An example
of this might be a series of videos taken around your school or
community to exemplify points. The project should still involve
interactivity that allows users to navigate through the content. The
word "substantial" is not well defined, but if you are not spending
more than ten hours on your media elements, it is certainly not enough.
The first semester that this project was introduced, a music teacher
chose to create an interactive introduction to playing the double bass.
He had videos of basic techniques and exercises. This was something
that he could use with his students as well as with other music
teachers who did not have a strong background in the double bass. This
project exemplifies the powerful use of media to teach something that
could not be taught without it.
If you choose to create a stand-alone multimedia project for your students to use, you should create a powerful full-featured interactive multimedia project that teaches something that relates to your classroom. It should make appropriate use of media and be fully interactive. You should justify why this is better than a book or paper for your students. You should include:
If you choose to create an assignment for your students, you should create a complete assignment including everything you will give to the students. You will use PowerPoint to create a full-working interactive multimedia example of the type of work you expect from your students. You will also create a method (possibly in the form of a rubric) for assessing your students' work. For this option, the multimedia project will be somewhat less extensive than for the other option, but the supporting material will be more extensive. You should include:
You will present your projects on the last day of class. This is an important part of your class participation grade.
This page was prepared by Dr. David M. Marcovitz.
Last Updated: May 9, 2013