Group Leadership Project

The Tool 

Our group used Camtasia Studio to produce our professional development tutorial. We decided on this tool out of a shared interest in screencasting and, on most parts, a shared desire to try out a new piece of software. Furthermore, it seemed the obvious choice, since Camtasia was the subject of the tutorial and we could all share our learning experiences while producing the video.
Camtasia turned out to be an excellent choice, as far as I am concerned. I started this project with a little experience using some free screencasting software and I was blown away by the differences I discovered in a more professional project. The increased amount of add-ins, like callouts, transitions, and highlighting, the ability to cut and splice existing videos, and the ability to craft audio tracks separately all impressed me. While Camtasia is a little expensive for me to purchase on my own, I plan on speaking with my employer about buying a copy for use in the office.

Lessons Learned 

I learned a great deal in a short time with this project. The biggest, or steepest, learning curve was definitely the software. While Camtasia is set up in a very user-friendly way, I was a bit overwhelmed by all of the options. There are a few that I did not have the opportunity to explore, because the task seemed a bit daunting and I could not see a natural way to use them. I would like to spend a little more time exploring the use of webcams in screencasts (if/when I can find a good reason to do so) and the use of hotspots to make the videos interactive.
As a group, we learned how to use Google Hangouts as a way to collaborate online. We were able to talk face-to-face with a minimum of technical difficulties, which made collaboration much easier. Compared to past group projects,
I took on a much stronger role as a leader in the planning phases and encouraging the group to make solid, actionable decisions on a timely basis. We did have some difficulties with one of our group members dragging his feet, and being out of touch for longer than was comfortable for the rest of us. These breakdowns in communication continued until the last minute (I finally got the link to the final draft at 8pm on the day it was due).  Additionally, this final draft did not include a conclusion, which this member had been assigned (and had agreed) to do.  I think the parts of the project that made it into the final draft work very well, it just would have been nice to have a conclusion to wrap things up.

Changes? 

The main thing I would change about this process, although it was a bit out of my hands, is the communication issue mentioned above. It's very difficult to work on something as a group when one member is difficult to reach and doesn't deliver.  I would have liked to have more face-to-face time with the group in order to produce a more streamlined, together project. In my section of the video, I feel like I did not do the greatest job of writing a script that matched up with the timing on the screen, and the reader was a little rushed in sections. I feel like issues like this would have been easier to work out with more time working together as a group. That said, I do think we produced a solid video by having a good plan of action that everyone contributed to.

Final Product

Here's the video our group produced.