This YouTube video and blog entry are VLog assignment #2 for COMM601
During the second week of my current (and first) graduate level course I was asked to locate and download an article that represents the intersection of two of my interests. My professor noted in the assignment for that week that our class would use the article for a future assignment. I forgot that in my eagerness to “get it just right” I actually downloaded two articles instead of one – just in case. As I learned about the assignment for this week, I was extremely glad I thought beyond that week’s immediate need, and downloaded another article. As it turns out, the article I used for this week’s task is a much better fit for the assignment than the other one I selected.
I selected an article titled “#WorldSeries: An Empirical Examination of a Twitter Hashtag During a Major Sporting Event” (full citation listed at the end of my YouTube presentation, as it is important to give the authors credit for their work!). The article represents the intersection of two of my interests – baseball and communication.
The idea was to create a short presentation using the main headings of the paper. This is to prepare us (my classmates and me) for the appropriate headings for our own first research paper. The other intent of the assignment was to introduce us to different methods for creating content electronically.
I must admit, as I have done with a few of the other assignments in this course, I initially dreaded completing this assignment. I thought it would be confusing and un-nerving. Boy, was I wrong! I frequently create presentations for my job, so that part was not new to me. I actually enjoy creating presentations. The part that was new was using a site called Screencast-o-matic to record both the visual image of my screen (the PowerPoint slides) along with audio. The site was extremely easy to use, and fairly intuitive. I had to start over one time, but that was because of my own lack of preparation, not the process. I found Screencast-o-matic very user-friendly, and had fun creating my presentation.
The critical part of me sees several rookie mistakes that I made. Most obvious are the yellow circles that briefly appear in the lower portion of the screen at certain points. This is because I was attempting to press the “pause” button, and the software detected the movement of my mouse. The other thing I would likely correct in future presentations is my delivery. I paused and used verbal stalling or fumbling such as “um” more than I would have liked.
All in all the experience was useful, not to mention lots of fun! I will definitely use Screencast-o-matic for future assignments or recordings now that I know how fun and easy it is. One of the main purposes of this course and this program is to increase communication fluency and raise awareness and comfort level with new and different forms of technology used for communication. After completing this particular assignment, I would say mission accomplished!
WorldSeries (Copy of the PowerPoint presentation shown in the video)
Grad School Journey 