Reflections+EDLD+5366



I felt like the experience of creating a newsletter in EDLD 5366 was a very valuable experience for me. Before this assignment, I was not familiar with any desktop publishing software programs, nor was I familiar with the basic principles of design. Throughout the course, I learned that the most important elements of design are contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity. I feel that these principles are not only important in designing a newsletter, but they are equally important in creating or designing any piece of graphic art. The knowledge of these design principles was very helpful in making decisions on the layout of the newsletter. I feel like it was also very important for me to become familiar with the program Pages, which I used for my newsletter. I felt like this was a valuable experience because I think it is important to have a variety of methods to communicate with all stakeholders in the educational process, especially since many parents are still unable to use technology or simply do not have access. This form of communication (newsletter) helps address the issue of communicating with parents who do not have access to the Internet to view electronic communications, such as blogs, websites, email, etc. Although I found the readings to be interesting, especially the use and development of paper, I did find some of the readings to be a bit lengthy and extraneous. Aside from the historical value, some of the readings were not very useful to me. However, I did find it interesting when viewing some of the historical documents, that the aesthetic design principles have dated back to documents so long ago. The longevity of these design principles demonstrates their contribution to the creation of visually pleasing graphics historically, as well as presently.
 * Course Reflections:**

This assignment did not necessarily call for collaboration; however, I did find it very helpful to communicate with my peers to compare and contrast their newsletters with mine as they developed and changed throughout the week of the assignment. Their opinions on my newsletter and the ability to compare mine to other's work caused me to reconsider, edit, and revise, until I felt like my final product was visually pleasing and informative. As a result of the assignment, I came to understand that the design of a newsletter can be distracting and unpleasant, which will result in a lack of effectiveness as a communication tool. Also, individuals with little experience in this type of work need the design principles to help guide their work, or the task could be overwhelming, with creators feeling no sense of direction or how to go about using this important communication tool.

Additionally, I felt like this experience will be valuable in meeting TF/TL-V, which states that technology should be used to communicate and collaborate with peers, parents, and the larger community in order to nurture student learning. Clearly, this tool could be a valuable resource in informing the community of important events and announcements regarding educational issues. Although I did not go beyond creating a sample newsletter for the assignment in this course, I do have plans to use this program (Pages) in the creation of a newsletter in the upcoming school year. I feel that this will be a valuable tool in keeping all stakeholders informed about important events and information that will ultimately facilitate student learning. Depending on the new roles and responsibilities I am given for the upcoming year, I plan to produce a newsletter bi-weekly or monthly.

As far as issues that puzzle me in regard to this assignment, I did find myself wondering why our district is not more proactive in training teachers to use all of the software applications available on district computers, such as Pages. In examining this question, I did discuss the issue with our campus technology facilitator, and she informed me that within the past four years (since I've been hired), the district has implemented a new teacher training session that does cover Pages. As noted, I was unaware of this training, since it was not a part of the new teacher training when I joined the district. I am, however, impressed to learn that this training has been added, since it appears to be a valuable communication tool. In addition, I am glad that I was required to experiment with the program. I felt like it was user friendly and very intuitive. Not only will I be implementing it in my plans for next year, the campus technology facilitator asked me to conduct the district training for new teachers as the school year begins next year. I am very excited to have this opportunity, and I feel that it will be a valuable learning experience for me, since it will be a small scale training session that will give me some experience in the area of leading a staff development. I feel like this upcoming opportunity will give me a boost of confidence and help prepare me for more large scale professional development training opportunities. I have come to believe that the information and communication tools I have learned about are very important to the advancement of my school and district; thus, these tools should be shared with other educators.