ITL Reflection
Introduction
Most of us are finally finished are ITL Projects. Everybody has done an amazing job with their videos. Now, Mr. Fisher has asked us to write a reflection on our ITL Project, mainly to know how to improve so he can do something like this next year. Also, I think he wants to get inside our heads a little bit.
1)What have you learned about your topic?
I have learned many things about my topic of poverty. First, I learned that developing countries have more poverty than developed countries because since the developing countries are just starting, they are unstable, which can lead to poverty. Although, developed countries still have lots of poverty as well. For example, while I was researching about poverty in Canada, I learned that Canada has the second highest amount of child poverty in the world. I also learned that although poverty is a big issue that needs to be stopped, we aren’t able to stop poverty right this minute, so we can’t get our hopes up. For now, ending poverty will only be a dream.
2)What have you learned about collaborating locally and internationally?
Collaborating locally and internationally are two different ways of collaborating. One requires very little, while the other requires quite a few. Guess which ones’ which?
Collaborating Locally
Well, when you are collaborating locally, all you need is the person(s) you are working with that live in your area and all the materials you need (pencil, paper, etc.). This way of collaborating is what we are used to, because we didn’t have the technology to work on projects like the International Teen Life Project. Also, when you are working locally, you can easily collaborate with the person(s) you are working with because they are right beside you. This is different when you are working internationally because, obviously, you aren’t beside each other.
Collaborating Internationally
When you are collaborating internationally, using the internet is essential. I find this because the way the internet is used nowadays; you can communicate to people from all over the world. For example, using a PBwiki (like we did for the ITL) is a great way to communicate with people from all over the world because you can write on it, then the person you are working with can easily write something back on there, commenting on what you wrote. Instant Messaging (IM) is also a great way to communicate internationally. All you need is each others email addresses and whenever both of you are online, you can talk to each other for however long you want. The only thing with IM is that you would have to do it at home, because IM is inappropriate when you are at school. So, communication is very important when you are collaborating internationally.
3)What would have made this project easier/better/more interesting?
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Longer Dead Line: I think that a longer dead line would have been better because I, and probably everybody else in my class, felt the pressure to finish on the dead line. A longer dead line would have been better because we would have more time to come up with something better, if we had the time. Also, we could have created something even better than we already have, if we had the time.
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If Kids from Virginia Participated in the Same Project as the Kids From Canada: I think that if the kids from Virginia did the same project as us, it would have been easier because we would do less work, better because the collaboration between us could have made the video itself better, and more interesting because we could communicate and collaborate with kids from Virginia.
4)What have you learned a bout telling a story combining pictures/music/video/audio/text?
What I have learned about telling a story combining pictures, music, video, audio, and text is that you have to almost “weave” everything together. For example, you can’t just have all your pictures, all your videos, and all your audio in that order. You have to tell a story with what you have. I think that this is important because when you tell a story, more importantly your story, you have to convince people that you have something good to say, and “weaving” what you have does that. Take the “An Inconvenient Truth” trailer for example. I think that Al Gore told his story very well, “weaving” everything together almost perfectly. To be perfectly honest, I almost found the trailer better than the movie.
Conclusion
This was a very good project to work on. I had a lot of fun working on it with kids from all over the world. I’m just sad that this project has to end. The good thing is that now that the ITL project has been accomplished, who knows what’s going to happen next.
