JOURNAL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS EDUCATION - naspaa

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Operation PSA: The Action Learning of Curiosity and Creativity stakeholders. These points promoted Revans’ (1980) summative belief that no presumptive resolution exists when encountering unusual circumstances. Instead, the collective infusion of energy during trying times and unknown circumstances results in change and signifies excellence. Step 5: Media Selection and Experimentation There were only two criteria when selecting the software for the project: free and user-friendly. In order for students and faculty to share PSAs crafted from common digital resources, the team perused the Internet for programs that shared these characteristics. VideoThang (http://www.videothang.com/) was selected as the primary media tool for mixing video clips with images, background music, titles, and transitions, because it could be learned and applied within one sitting. Wink (http://www.debugmode.com/wink/), a tutorial and presentation software system, was chosen because it permitted the team to incorporate personalized screenshots and explanation boxes about using VideoThang. Some of the problematic areas associated with VideoThang were the needs to (1) ask participants to speak slowly in order to capture whole sentences rather than run-on phrases, (2) find filming areas with little or no background noise, (3) keep lighting on the interviewees and not behind them (as this led to a shadowing effect), (4) import music files in the MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 or MP3 mode to compress music without affecting its quality, and (5) recognize that editing takes longer than expected when dealing with multiple respondents. Comparable concerns when working with Wink were figuring out how much detail one could include in a tutorial while still keeping it simple and under five minutes. Given these factors and the team’s varied media talents, even the person with the lowest skill level was able to navigate the chosen media resources. Step 6: PSA Formation One element of leadership is the ability to fashion targeted communications, such as PSAs, for different, applicable audiences. For instance, the 90-second PSA created to develop awareness of leadership skills acquired by undergraduates in an introductory public administration course was differentiated from those created to represent the talents of graduate students, educators, or practitioners. At the conference, the common goal of crafting applicable PSAs served as a source of encouragement for the novice who might want to begin experimenting with media resources, while simultaneously inviting input from more seasoned media specialists. The transcripts for the undergraduate PSA definitely illustrate the elements of creativity, branding, and technology (Appendix C). Creativity, which deals with “a process of becoming sensitive to a problem … and communicating the 370 Journal of Public Affairs Education
Operation PSA: The Action Learning of Curiosity and Creativity results” (Baker, Rudd, & Pomeroy, 2001, p. 163), was reflected through one student’s remarks about the importance of undergraduate public administration studies: Public administration is critical to our lives, as I had mentioned. We really do need this field, and particularly at the undergraduate level like we are. It is one thing to talk about it as an academic and it’s another thing to actually go out there and impact the lives of people (Appendix C, Respondent #1, April 2008). Students illustrated evidence of a branding process or “a shortcut means of identifying an organization, program, or cause in a way that differentiates it from alternatives” through the naming of individuals and institutions that had influenced their pubic administration goals and objectives (Herman, 2005, p. 289). For example, the same participant stated that he had “learned about it [public administration] from the former Mayor of Grand Rapids, who had made the comment that people weren’t learning civics anymore, so I got interested” (Appendix C, Respondent #1, April 2008). Another mentioned a former institution, “Muskegon Community College, when I went and talked to my advisor and she suggested public administration would be needing a lot of solid educated individuals to fill the careers in upcoming years” (Appendix C, Respondent #3, April 2008). Technology is defined as a branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of media text and its interrelation with life, society, and the environment (Kimoto, Frasco, Juta, & Mulder, 2008b). It is not simply electronic gadgets, such as videos and computers, but the manipulation, interaction, and creativity of using learner-generated media for knowledge creation (Lee, McLoughlin, & Chan, 2008; Littlejohn, Falconer, & McGill, 2006; Yang, 2007; Yeh, 2006). The reinforcing effect of technology was adeptly depicted by a student who said: … to be able to put all of the seriousness which needs to go into the field and to watch Happy Feet [an animated movie about an Emperor penguin who is born unable to sing, but who can dance] and to be able to relate that to public administration was really, really, really cool. It really made a difference and you can make a difference in society (Appendix C, Respondent #3, April 2008). Instead of shrouding the vitality of students’ messages under fancy transitions and elaborate music, only titles were flashed on the screen (a) to reflect the questions posed during the taped interviews and (b) to draw attention to students’ reactions about how others might develop their own leadership skills through the impact of teachers and mentors. Journal of Public Affairs Education 371
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