Technique Movies
 

REFLECTIVE STATEMENT
Description: This artifact represents my experience in developing QuickTime movies of a chiropractic technique taught at Sherman College of Straight Chiropractic. I collaborated with Leslie M. Wise, D.C., on the specific technique moves to be captured and the final presentation of the movies. The technique movies were created as reference material for Sherman College chiropractic students. The movies allow students to see an incremental breakdown and description of a chiropractic procedure, and then see it demonstrated in real time with a live subject receiving the adjustment. I digitally recorded the technique moves, edited them and rendered them using iMovie. The movies were mounted on an existing technique website to supplement still photos of the technique moves.

Analysis: I selected this artifact for inclusion in my portfolio because it represents one of the initial forays, by me, as well as Sherman College, into using online digital movies to enhance instruction. This artifact represents my portfolio framework by demonstrating my role as an instructional designer in collaboration with a faculty member to assess, design, and enhance chiropractic technique instruction through the use of technology. Being one of the first multimedia projects I worked on, this artifact also shows my ability to work with the technology at hand to produce the desired end product. This artifact is related to the Full Spine and Gonstead Technique website artifact, an existing website of an earlier collaboration with the same faculty members.

Appraisal: This was one of my very early experiences working with digital footage to be rendered and mounted on a website. I was learning the Macintosh platform, iMovie, digital rendering processes and QuickTime movie website embedding coding simultaneously as the project unfolded. The completed movies met the criteria set by Dr. Wise and myself, which were to provide a resource for the breakdown, walk-through and follow-through of “real-time” adjustments for each chiropractic procedure of this particular method. Initially designed as an instructional reference for Sherman College students, several other chiropractic colleges have asked permission to link to the technique website and movies as a reference for their technique courses. The movies, along with the website have been translated into Spanish and used in chiropractic workshop presentations in Argentina by Sherman College technique instructors. While the quality of the movies is a bit dated, they are still in use today. I believe this use of technology in a learning environment has proven effective in providing learners with a technological resource which enhances and enriches their learning experience

Transform: Working on this project allowed me to enhance my skill set by learning new hardware and software. This project was pivotal in helping me gain confidence in my ability to produce digital media in various formats. Because of my early personal success with these movies, I went on to create other digital streaming media projects and have continued to follow the latest advances and trends in this area, incorporating them as time, skill and funding allow. I have come to appreciate the best practices in movie making, storyboarding, audio, hardware and software choice when working on a project of this nature. Collaboration and communication is essential in a project of this nature, and I had the opportunity to hone my skills in this promising area. The weakness of this artifact was my inexperience with the Macintosh platform, iMovie and general camera, lighting and recording techniques. If I were taking on a similar project today, I believe my experience with the above-mentioned technology would allow for a greatly improved final product. Currently, there are no plans to revise these existing movies, but there are long-range plans to record similar movies for other chiropractic techniques taught at Sherman College.