Week 2 of the project. Behind the scenes, progress is being made. This was the week where we planned to test an Interactive Narrative in Ashburton. This would be both to give the group a first-hand experience of how the project should work, as well as highlighting any potential problems. We met at 10am and got started.
However, our old friend technlogy was not playing ball as usual. We found that the software had to be changed slightly to work on the software on some peoples' iPhones. This cost us valuable time. We also came up against another potential problem (albeit beyond our control) - The great British weather...
From the process, we highlighted a number of strengths and points for improvement. We also learnt a few things that would be important to take into account during the creative process. (A full list of these will follow soon)
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While the groups were going out to test the software, I ran a session with the remaining students. I called on them to share some of their ideas for the content of the project. In hindsight this was not a very positive session. By allowing a large amount of creative freedom, many people got carried away with discussing smaller details and outlining problems for all the various ideas. The session began to lose its structure. It was at this point that Sandy stepped in and suggested to me that I should take another look at my role. She reminded me that the creative process was my own, and that the details would ultimately be decided by me. While I could consult my students for opinions, I should not give them too much to create themselves.
We took a break, which gave me time to reflect. I concluded that I needed to take control of my project and assert myself in my role of working on Creating and Devising. I had planned a meeting for that afternoon, which I intended to use to try and bring the process back on track.
It was then that it occured to me. The key thing to remember is that this is a long process. It has been scheduled in such a way so as to pace the work. It seems that people began to worry too much about the finer points of the project, and as such the session became unproductive.
Looking back, it was all part of the learning curve for everyone. I now feel a lot more secure in my head with regards to my role.
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