Anne+Marie+Prangley+Article

ARTICLE DUE DATE Dec. 1, 2013

Write an article for publication that would tell the story of your project so that others could replicate what you did in their own parish or setting.

Great Expectations //by Anne Marie Prangley // When I enrolled in the Digital Discipleship Boot Camp (DDBC), little did I realize that I’d be learning humility as well as the latest technology tools for faith formation education. As a DDBC Capstone candidate seeking the Pastoral Technology Certificate, I was required to submit a proposal outlining my final project. The end result was to be a creative application for ministry of the tech skills gleaned from the course. My fellow candidates and I did a little brainstorming on the subject during one of our online classes and, to be honest, I was overwhelmed with the options. “Where do I begin?” was the question that kept resonating in my mind. I am not in a classroom or in charge of an army of liturgical ministers. Our parish website was outdated and could not handle some of the trendy tech tools. Paralysis began to takeover.

I then remembered our parish Facebook page. Recently, our tech-savvy priest, the creator of our Facebook presence, was transferred. The new manager of the Facebook page inherited the responsibility and has struggled to find fresh material for the page. I decided to figure out a way I could help my co-worker while completing my Capstone challenge.

A key part of the DDBC training is the respect and implementation of ISTE standards and other professional criteria. One element of ISTE is the importance of communication and collaboration. These factors guarantee a better outcome to any effort and they are critical when dealing with technology integration. I discussed the possibility of collaborating on an Advent-themed project with our Facebook manager and she was very receptive to such an effort.

I developed the idea of an Advent mini-retreat, something that could be posted on Facebook every day of Advent. I gathered Scripture verses from Matthew and Luke and was preparing to write reflections for the 24 days of Advent, per my proposal. A month of entries sounded doable. (Need I say that my motto is “dream big”?) My goal was to use different tools, such as mobile devices and Animoto ([|www.animoto.com]) and also to invite participation by selected teens who could utilize these technologies. I chose iStock as the source for the majority of my pictures ( [|www.iStockphoto.com]). Though there is a small fee per photo, the picture quality is excellent and the selection is extensive. iStock photos are royalty free and it also offers videos and music.

I chose Pixlr, a free photo editor available on the web, to edit the chosen photos (www.Pixlr.com). It is an amazing tool, especially when one remembers the cost. //I just never realized how much work went into editing// and, obviously, I did not know the nuances of using Pixlr. (Consider using the Pixlr tutorials on YouTube ([|www.youtube.com]) if you want to try photo editing.) About the time I realized I was in over my head, the Youth Minister informed me she could not find any available teens to contribute which was another set-back. The Capstone deadline loomed, these unexpected obstacles arose and my work demands increased.

My ideal of having a “reflection–a-day” for Advent came crashing down. The Capstone proposal was downsized to a more realistic goal of four Facebook reflections, one for each week of Advent. The Facebook manager was happy with the four reflections and unaware of the angst involved in their development ([|www.facebook.com/stpetersparisolneymaryland]).

My final Capstone project was not as grandiose as I had once envisioned, though it did generally meet my proposal description. I did learn the following: 1) as a beginner, one should start small; 2) allow time to really learn the tools before deadlines; 3) if at all possible, avoid your busiest season to develop new projects; 5) ask questions and 6) be able to laugh at yourself and enjoy the journey into the world of technology. Remember, your first bike ride is wobbly – but it does get smoother with practice.