Vivero has been an excellent opportunity for me to learn a variety of digital skills. I entered this semester a little intimidated by most digital projects other than PowerPoints. The most important thing I learned as a Vivero Fellow is that, given the necessary time and space, I am capable of learning a variety of digital tools. If I could give my past self advice, I would tell myself to ask more questions, even if they seem small, during my bi-weekly check-ins. I would also tell myself to find a regular place and time to work on my project work. I would tell myself to print the teacher guides that I have been turning into lesson plans because I have been much more efficient working with fewer OneDrive tabs and documents open at one time. I would let myself know that communicating regularly with Tierney, Libby, and Professor Michaels has helped my work a lot.
I found the Vivero training model well suited to my learning style. I like working at my own pace. Having the time to focus on the aspects that were most confusing or frustrating for me was helpful for me to target the areas I needed to improve. I found the trainings easy to understand, so I kept looking forward to finding ways to use the tools I was learning in my work or life. Sometimes I found it difficult to collaborate with other Fellows on the trainings because we did not work at the same pace. I got more out of the trainings that I did entirely individually, because I learn new skills best individually.
This semester, I changed directions on my project work. I started by working on the Meskwaki History Unit for Professor Michaels’ Native History Project. We decided to change directions and now I am working on the Taino Unit. I am currently working on the Lesson 4 lesson plan. My next step will be to finish the lesson plan and materials for lesson 5, the last lesson. I will not be working on the Native History Project next semester because I will be a Community Advisor. I made sure to compile the research I did for the Meskwaki History Unit so that the student who takes over that project for me can begin from where I left off. I also created a document explaining the style and design choices I made for the lesson materials.
In the future, I would like to explore more of ArcGIS’s capabilities. I get the sense that I am only scratching the surface of what I could be doing with ArcGIS. In particular, I would like to get better at creating data that can be creatively and informatively mapped using ArcGIS. I also need to practice creating metadata. Quality metadata will be important for me so I can include digital components in my historical research in the future.
