Eric Balak
Professional Portfolio
Internship Artifacts
Artifact 1
Alignment: I.A, I.D, II.C, III.C, III.
The overall appearence and functioning of the Secondary Technology Conference (STC) website depicts content knowledge mastery in regards to the instructional design and development of the interface and the migration of digital instructional technology materials from the expired wikispace as of July 30th, 2018 to the newly designed shell.
The STC website also aligns with performance standards as the shell was selected, created, and adapted to integrate instructional resources while in collaboration with the Instructional Technology Specialist, Ken Zimmerman, at the IU13 Instructional Media Services (IMS). Another feature of the website is that it integrates Google Suite applications (Docs, Forms, Sheets, Slides, Maps), social media platforms (Twitter Feed), and hyperlinks that link to extra resources and sites. All media used was within the realm of copyright laws.
Furthermore, the STC website aligns with professionalism standards since the content created between 2018 to 2015 was published online for other professionals, namely educators, technology integrators, and administrators via the IU13 IMS domain.
This site and its content will benefit this targeted professional community of secondary educators greatly by providing them access to key information and links to all presentation resources to the December 2018 Secondary Technology Conference and past conference resources, including the keynote speakers, agendas, session matrixesd, and sponsors as means to maximize student learning & teaching efficiencies through the use of technology integrations in general and specific content uses.
I learned the configurations based around web design with some HTML coding integration and how to collaborate remotely while implementing a design process as it aligns with the needs and goals of an organization (IU13 IMS). I also learned the importance of time management as I had only a month to transport several years worth of content from the wikispace before it expired which would have resulted in the loss of all instructional materials from past conferences.
Artifact 2
Alignment: I.A, I.D, II.C, III.C, III.
Similar to the first artifact, the overall user experience of the Elementary Technology Conference (STC) website depicts mastery of the content knowledge standards in regards to the instructional design and development of the interface associated with the publishing of digital instructional technology materials from the expired wikispace, and that presents information and includes links to a wide array of digital resources for K-6 elementary teachers and administrators.
The ETC website shell also aligns with the performance standards as its shell was selected, created, and adapted to integrate instructional resources while in collaboration with the Instructional Technology Specialist, Ken Zimmerman, at the IU13 Instructional Media Services (IMS). Another feature of the website is that it integrates Google Suite applications (Docs, Forms, Sheets, Slides, Maps), social media platforms (Twitter Feed), and hyperlinks that expand to extra resources and sites.
Additionally, the ETC website aligns with professional standards since the content created within ranged a whole decade worth of content (2018 to 2008) that was downloaded, curated, uploaded, and published on the new ETC site via the IU13 IMS domain for other professionals, namely educators, technology integrators, and administrators. All media used was within the realm of copyright and fair use laws.
This site and its content will benefit this targeted professional audience of K-6 teachers greatly by providing access to key information and links to all presentation resources to the December 2018 Elementary Technology Conference along with all past content dating back to 2008, including the keynote speaker, agenda, session matrix, and sponsors as means to maximize student learning & teaching efficiencies through the use of technology integrations in general and specific content uses.
Ultimately, I learned the ins and outs of web design with some the integration of some HTML coding as well as the importance of collaboration in the design process. Given evalautive feedback on the design of the ETC website, I was able to proceed through the instructional design process to improve the overall look and feel as it aligns with the needs and goals of an organization (IU13 IMS). Finally, I learned the importance of time management as I had only a month to transport a whole decade's worth of digital media from the wikispace given a limited window of time which otherwise woudl have resulted in the loss of all instructional materials from past conferences.
Artifact 3
Alignment: I.A, I.D, II.C, III.C, III.
As in the previous two artifacts, both the appearence and functioning of the Edcamp Lancaster website elucidates mastery of the content knowledge standards in respect to the instructional design and development of the interface associated with the publishing of digital instructional technology materials from the prviously utlized Weebly website that presents information and includes links to digital resources.
The Edcamp website shell also aligns with the performance standards as the shell was selected, created, and adapted to integrate instructional resources while in collaboration with the Instructional Technology Specialist, Ken Zimmerman, at the IU13 Instructional Media Services (IMS). Another feature of the website is that it integrates Google Suite applications (Docs, Forms, Sheets, Slides, Maps), social media platforms (Twitter Feed), and hyperlinks that extend to extra digital resources and sites.
Moreover, the Edcamp Lancaster website aligns with professionalism standards as of result of the created content being published and made available online via the IU13 IMS domain for other K-12 educational professionals, including teachers, technology integrators, and administrators. All media used was within the realm of copyright laws.
The Edcamp Lancaster site and its content will benefit this targeted professional community greatly by providing access to key information and links to all presentation resources to the April 2019 Edcamp Lancaster Workshop, including the agenda, session matrix, and sponsors as means to maximize student learning & teaching efficiencies through the use of technology integrations in general and specific content uses.
I learned the configurations around web design through an instructional design process while in collaboration with the IU13 IMS Instructional technology Specialist to ensure alignment with the needs and goals of the organization.
Artifact 4
Alignment: I.B, I.C, II.A, II.B, II.C, II.D, II.E, III.C
The images illustrate the professional workshop presentations that I assisted with or have helped lead, including sessions on current and emerging technologies and instructional strategies, such as Brainpop, Schoology for advanced users, as well as year one and year two hybrid instructional rotational model.
All workshops involved curricluar planning and preparation of instructional technology in-services provided through the IU13 IMS Schoology LMS course, collaboration with other presenters in the delivery of instructional content, the use of instructional theories and teaching models, and the implemtation of existing and current technologies. Curricular planning and delivery included curated digital content from past experience. While mornings typically involved lecture-based instruction, the afternoons were typically hands-on and experimental providing participants time to explore instructional tools further or to create their own instructional resources as I took on more of a facilitator role.
This artifact shows snap shots of myself either directly supporting participants or presenting instructional content, for instance, how to have your students design and develop the classroom while still integrating the hybrid instructional rotational model. Other images are of the Schoology LMS course page for the IU13 IMS which displays the course content, including the curated digital resources that I added during the co-planning and preparation of the professional workshop.
Finally, I learned various things about myself as a presenter. For starters, directly speaking from experiences through the act of storytelling seems to be an effective and engaging strategy to connect with participants. I learned that the more I presented, the more confident I grew in public speaking which resulted in less anxiety about caring what others think or if I made a mistake while presenting. Again, it's about being able to relate to those in the audience. I also learned of ways to differentiate for the various knowledge and skill levels of your participants. For example, a questioning technique where the participants can ask questions in a shared document at the start of the session which provides the presenter insight on where they may be in relation to the topic being presented. Those questions drive the workshop and are answered by either the presenter or even by the other participants by the end of the workshop. Another way to gauge your audience is to start the workshop with a survey, such as a Kahoot game that quizzes participants on the various features of an instructional technology tool.
Artifact 5
All Videos
All Videos
Brainpop Tutorial
Brainpop Promo
Discovery Ed Promo Video
Alignment: I.A, II.C, III.C
The following artifact depicts three produced promotional videos for the IU13 IMS. Each video highlights an instructional resource and tool offered by the IU13 IMS, including Brainpop and Discovery Education, out of which two of the videos are between three to six minutes providing a quick overview while the other is a longer tutorial (roughly 40 minutes) that provides a more in depth overview of each Brainpop feature. All media used followed fair usage and copyright laws.
Each promo video required the selection, implementation, and adaptation of various technology tools in the creation of each video in collaboration with the IU13 IMS Instructional Technology Specialist, Ken Zimmerman, who evaluated and provided in-depth feedback on each iteration until it met the needs and goals of the IU13 organization. An instructional design process was utilized throughout the creation of each video.
A screencasting extension (Loom) was used to record the various elements in both Brainpop and Discovery Education. Wevideo was an application used to produce and edit the promo videos. In the making of the Discovery Education video, I switched up my approach to designing the video. Rather than screenrecording and recording audio simultaneously with the Loom extension, I used a podcast recording tool (Spreaker) to seperately record what I wanted to say while screenrecording the various features of each web tool. I then simply cut and paste parts of the recorded video to match the timestamps of the voice recording within Wevideo. I also uploaded to cloud computing services including a shared Google Drive folder and Youtube for storage and publication purposes.
The content of this artifact directly benefits the target audience primarly made up of K-12 educators, technology coaches, administrators, and even parents by providing general information about all of the features in each instructional tool with the lengthier tutorial modeling each feature more in-depth for beginner users. This content enables classroom teachers and districts to have a firm understanding and ideas of how to best use these tools to both align with content standards and maximize student learning.
The biggest personal take-away in the production of the videos is that perfection is not necessary. In fact, when I first created the videos, I did many retakes due to making a mistake while recording my voice or screen. After multiple attempts, I decided to keep recording even if I made a mistake since the Loom screenrecording extension enabled a trimming feature, so I could remove any fallacies up to the nearest tenth of a second, which could be further revised within Wevideo. In my final recording, as noted above, I decided to take on yet a different approach where I silently recorded my screen as I explored each feature which I later trimmed down to align with the voice recording that I produced seperately within the Spreaker mobile app. I was able to dig deep with video production within the Wevideo platform which included adding audio overlay, clip and audio trimming, transitions, title slides, logo overlay, and speed adjustment. Finally, I felt that I naturally implemented an instructional design process in the development of each promotional video.