This summer I have taken my first online course ever at UK. Also at the beginning of this summer I was employed at Online Ed as a part of the Media Mafia. Thus begins my experience with two new things which became more closely intertwined than I would have thought. Beginning my employment, my first major project that I got to jump right into was helping film lectures for Dr. Nadel's Intro to Film class. I quickly realized that he was teaching the very class that I would be taking a few weeks later in the 8 week Summer II session.

Dr. Nadel's course basically consists of 12 video lectures, most of which I helped film and/or produce the final product. Some of you may think that this put me at some sort of advantage, but it hasn't. Filming them is one thing, and watching them within the context of the text book and films is a whole other game. This class has become a fantastic exercise in reviewing and critiquing my own work here at Online Ed. So far the lectures have been great and we did a lot of things right while filming these, such as taking the time to find an intersting spot to film the lecture rather than having Dr. Nadel in an anonymous blank classroom somewhere. Most of his lectures we filmed at the Niles gallery in the Fine Arts building.

I also noticed a few things that I would like to improve on when going into my next shoot. Every now and then, like any human being, I would just start to drift off in my own head while this onscreen figure slowly faded from my vision. I tried to switch camera shots rather frequently for this very reason while I was doing the filming, but I realize that the lecture could still use a little more. Now I have a few ideas which should greatly improve not only the lecture, but the attention spans of students as well. More graphics and text to illustrate important points, more camera shots, and possibly a wider range of backgrounds to film lectures in. I think that a combination of these small additions will greatly add to the students experience in the class.

My experience in ENG 281 has been great so far for my first online class. Everyone at Online Ed did a great job and for the most part, minus one broken video link, the class has run very smoothly.