I’m teaching Gender Issues in Language and Literature this spring and as part of it, will be blogging along with my students. At first, I thought I might have then=m blog within Blackboard, thinking that would make it easier all around if not a little boring, but hey! easier is better, right? Well, it wasn’t;t easier. Doing something that any two year old can do on Facebook or Instagram such as adding fast little video became an insurmountable technical task. The cute little video button won’t add a mp4, which is probably the most common video file type these days. No, it admonishes me for trying, saying that it is not the right file type, which may be true>The only “types” in the menu are not file extensions but categories and the default is Flash. I tried them all in turn and had some hope with the Quicktime choice since Quicktime will play mp4 files, but no. I concluded once again that the “convenience” in Blackboard is like a bad boyfriend–convenient for them, not you. It may be convenient to discourage video use that is housed in Blackboard. It takes up space.
So, back to the drawing board for my blog assignment. Individual blogs this time and in WordPress.com so we can follow each other. That also lets them do the fun part of blogging–the decor–aka choosing a theme, colors, fonts, making or choosing a banner.
I tried something different with the video this time. Instead of iMovie, I tried out Adobe Premiere Rush on my iPad Pro. It was fast and very easy. Here is the result: A SFF Manifesto, the first blog prompt for the semester for ENG 580/682.
Lanette Cadle 