Really learning something new is such a unique feeling – it’s challenging, yet rewarding. In class this semester, I have felt so accomplished, as we’ve work our way through new programs and utilized various mediums. I taught myself how to create several different design and visual assignments, each with characteristics that make it a new experience. So when my professor introduced us to GarageBand, I thought it would be just another program under my belt. But, things did not go as smoothly as I had hoped.

As I met with my group for the GarageBand project, we tried out different effects and options that the program offered. Since none of us had ever worked with GarageBand before, we slowly began exploring how we would be able to harness its capabilities to our needs. After a few hours, we had it down! We planned out exactly how we would use GarageBand to make a girly radio show. With many elements involved, we finally realized how we could record, edit, transition and even insert emphasis on certain sounds. Once the ball was rolling, we were really enjoying it!

Fast forward to day 2: We returned to GarageBand, enthusiastic about our project; we thought it sounded great and were so excited to share with the rest of the group. As we were finishing up, our excitement grew! We had learned how to work a new program and manipulate it to our needs. Actually, not only had we manipulated it effectively, but we had created something new that we had never done before! The last thing to do was save and a wave of accomplishment shook through us all. Now just to save… but all of a sudden we were getting all these pop-up messages about “Corrupted Files” and “8 bit Formats” – we were nervous to say the least. Before we knew it, we were on the phone with Tech Support being told we would have to re-do most of it! We left our group meeting feeling so discouraged and defeated.

But as we recounted our sad tale to our professor, we weren’t penalized or ignored. Our professor was understanding and willing to help, even explaining that sometimes these things just happen with technology. And it’s true – not everything we create on the web is going to come as easily as we could hope for. So (thankfully) our deadline was pushed back a bit to make up for all our lost time and effort. As a pre-service teacher, it was a great lesson: we are all learning about these new technologies together, so we need to adjust to what it may throw our way. Instead of blaming us for the issue, the professor worked with us. All students should feel as comforted by a teacher who is willing to listen to the problems and be understanding. She gave us a few valuable tips and instead of feeling discouraged, we now felt more eager than ever to get back our great project and share what we have in store!