INF520 First Assessment Reflection

So, my first assessment back this session was the second one handed in. It was one of the most practical assignments I’ve had so far in this course – especially in the degree to which the expectation was to actually emulate the real-world documents we were asked to produce. The three components were: a press release, an annotated bibliography of resources to back up the press release, and a podcast/two minute public service announcement. All of these texts were meant to highlight the importance and challenges of preservation in the context of local history.

I was not as attentive as I should have been to the features of an authentic press release. I was more concerned about presenting the breadth of the issues that I wanted to present versus a bit more depth and personal connection to “hook” the audience. Due to the variety of ideas I was presenting, I also used a fair amount of bullet lists for clarity, in retrospect I should have taken a more traditional prose style – which may have helped me elaborate more productively. I also missed the key feature of providing my contact details for further information (though I did give website references which might be assumed to contain that information – but which require more effort than one should ask of a busy media person). The press release section represents my poorest performance on an assessment task in this course to date.

I did a better job on my annotated bibliography – choosing for the most part relevant and accessible documents that supported the information in my press release. The major criticism was regarding my use of solely textual sources. This accurately reflects my personal information-gathering bias and is something it is good for me to be aware of. I did feel like many of the audio-visual resources I had come across in my subject resources were either too trivial, too specific, or too long and detailed to be appropriate for the audience and purpose intended. However, I could have put in more effort to represent different modalities in my bibliography.

Finally, there was the podcast/public service announcement. This was probably the most fun but also the most re-worked and tweaked portion of the assignment. It required learning how to use Audible to record, edit, and export my two minute recording. This time, I think my mention of a website address at the end gave enough linkage to further information, BUT I forgot to identify myself. This was the portion of the assignment that I did best on and probably the one I enjoyed the most and would change the least about.

This was my first assessment task to achieve below an HD, but it also the first session where I have tried to double up on subjects while working 3 days per week. There is still the possibility of completing the subject at DI or HD level, so I will again put what energy and motivation I have into the task for Assessment 2, and hope for the best. I will, however, also extend myself the grace to do the best that I can at the time and accept the marks that come with that effort. Well friends, that was the reflection, so … once more into the breach!

 

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