I am now understanding the importance of networking in academia. This makes solving problems easier. People are out there ready to render a helping hand, give suggestions and make meaningful comments. Their individual social networks may also prove useful. There is no longer a need for anyone to suffer alone or to be apprehensive about facing uncertainty as they work on a project.
I have not done much formal work with multimedia before. As a challenge to myself, I chose a project that required multimedia inputs. With advice and tips from co-learners and tutors, I have managed to use additional social networking tools or open source software in my work. These include the use of Powtoon (a video maker with a free 14 days trial) and Mahara e-portfoli (an open source online tool you can use to document your work which can be integrated into your institutional virtual platform).
I am working here with WordPress (an open source site building software). At this point I am using wordpress.com (easy and convenient to use). I am also still learning to use PowerPoint effectively in creating multimedia documents that are largely accessible and usable.
As I seek to improve my digital skills, I have enrolled in some free courses offered by OpenLearn and followed (and tried) links shared by fellow learners via the OU forum or open-studio. These added tasks provided me with some additional knowledge I need to effectively participate and perform required functions.
Though all this required the expending of sparse time, I am finding the entire experience very rewarding and satisfying.
KayDoc's 