JAM Project Updates 1/31/2024

I am hard at work getting read for my next YouTube video release. In this post, I share my progress updates for January 2024 and some targets I have for the coming month. This includes a sneak peak (in draft form) of my next YouTube video.

JAM Project Updates 1/12/2024

In this post, I share updates on my professional projects from October, November, and December 2023. In 2024, I want to get better at sharing regular reports on my progress on the projects that matter most to me. One of my Patreon subscribers recommended that I not only publish my updates on that platform, but I also find other ways to publish. Thanks to that person for the suggestion and cheers to the process of developing this system.

Budget proposals for departmental change

In this post, I share some budget proposals that I have created for the Foothill College Math Department in order to systematize anti-racist inquiry to improve learning outcomes and success rates in Foothill College Math classes. I share this to support other college math professors who have an interest in making changes at their school. These budget proposals do not cost our schools a lot of money and can result in some very powerful changes to policies at the local level.

Jeff Anderson’s Applied Linear Algebra Fundamentals (ALAF) Textbook Project

In this post, I describe my goals for my Applied Linear Algebra Fundamentals (ALAF) textbook. I started work on this textbook in 2013 and continue to build, refine, and improve my writing on a daily basis. I present the larger vision for this work and also provide links to my current progress on this book.

Foothill College: Create a Video Production PDL Project

This post is for faculty members at Community Colleges who are interested in applying for and successfully completing a sabbatical project that focuses on video production. The sabbatical system at Foothill college, where I work, is called a Professional Development Leave (PDL) and allows faculty members to apply for a 1-year sabbatical once every 7 years. The application process happens in year 6 and if approved, faculty members can take 3 quarters of sabbatical starting in year 7. This sabbatical can be taken all at once (3 quarters in one year) or broken into pieces across many years (eg. one quarter per year over three years). For more about this process, read the language of our employment contract published by the Foothill-DeAnza Faculty Association Union (focus on article 17).

This article is the first of a three part series. Below is an outline of each article in this series:

Article 1: Create a Video Production PDL- This article introduces more about the application process. In this article, I share all of my application resources that I used for my first PDL and discuss lesson that I learned as I applied.

Article 2: Execute Your Video PDL project- This article walks you through each step of the project to show how I managed the production process. I include all documents I created to execute my vision and produce what I promised in my proposal.

Article 3: Create your final report and get ready to finish your project- This article shows how you might create a final report to verify that you did what you promised and to communicate your work across campus (and to the state of CA if needed). I discuss lessons learned and share ideas to save you time (things I wish I would have done differently during the project process).

This blog post series is related to a larger goal of mine to create a robust network of support for Foothill Faculty who have an interest in creating educational videos for students and classroom use. Let’s get started by exploring the PDL application process and how you might create a video-based project.

Educational Recording Studio Equipment

This post is a revision of one of my previous posts on how to build an at home recording studio. The goal of this post is to provide concrete ideas about technology you can use to create a functional recording studio to make educational videos in your home office.

Example Equipment for a Home Recording Studio

One of the most difficult parts of creating video content for in-class use is getting started. To produce a single video requires a functional recording studio, a video distribution network (like YouTube, Vimeo, etc.), a workflow process, and a vision for how these videos serve your target audience. In this post, I show you the equipment I would buy today (Friday 8/14/2020) if I were to set up a new recording studio. My goal is to give you some ideas of how to save time and money in creating your first studio.

Criteria for Purchasing Video Studio Gear

In this post, I share some of the criteria I use to make purchasing decisions for any and all video equipment that I buy. I’ve developed these criteria over the last 10 years. As discussed in one of my previous posts, I believe that in the early stages of development, the best strategy is to buy low-cost, simple items that work well. Then, the goal is to learn to use those items to produce the high quality videos. In other words, as I begin my journey, I want to as productive as I can be with a minimum up-front cost. As my expertise grows, I earn the knowledge I need to look into more expensive gear only where I believe it will boost my productivity or enhance my ability to produce creative content. Below, I list the features I search for when purchasing video production equipment to build a functional studio.

Three Core Ideas for Video in College Classrooms

This post is designed to help you get started on your journey of learning how to create videos for in-class use. Specifically, I share three ideas that I hold in my mind at every stage of my video production work flow. These ideas also impact and inform my equipment choices for building a functional recording studio.