At the beginning of this project, we started researching and learning about labor issues of the industrial revolution and how it has shaped our labor today. We looked into living conditions, child labor, and movements and issues that were happening at that time. Then we wrote an in class-timed writing essay on a specific historical topic. I wrote mine about child labor and the advancements of technology. I looked into the rapid growth of technology in the industrial revolution and how it cost thousands of children their childhood. We didn't stop there and we kept learning about labor issues that are present today and compared the two. An example of this was our presentation on the local economy. The local economy is an economy that is local and we researched the pros and the cons. After this, we started to choose a specific topic for our podcast. My group and I did a podcast on migrant workers and their education. After completing our podcast we presented them to the public and I focused on the logistics part of the exhibition.
What was the greatest challenge faced in the project?
The greatest challenge faced was editing the whole podcast and sound. The sound wasn't the best due to all the outside noise (doors opening and closing and footsteps. We ended up having to re-record multiple times and even then the noise would most of the time continue to fluctuate which was very frustrating. As a result of this we spent a lot of the time recording and editing due to technical errors with soundtrap. Having done this our podcast was much better and we managed to finish our podcast. When we were about to turn it in all of edits had disappeared and the voice recording were out of order and meshed in the wrong parts. This caused our group to be overwhelmed because the podcast was due that day. We managed to fix everything by the end of the day going through and editing once again. This time it went by faster since we had done it so many times.
If you could go back and do the project again what would you do differently and why?
If I was to go back and restart my project again I would make sure to be the first person to reserve the recording room. It was very difficult to be able to reserve and my group never got to record in that room. I would have also started recording and putting my podcast together instead of recording different parts and waiting to put together our podcast when we had all of our recordings. This would have run more smoothly as well as getting our interviews earlier in the project instead of at the end.
What is the greatest insight you gained about the state of labor issues today?
The greatest insight I gained about the state of labor today was from our presentations and the local economy and how much it can contribute back into a local economy. It not only creates many jobs and brings money to the economy it also uses less plastic and carbon emissions. In one of my peers podcast I learned about how the #416 fire affected our local economy in Durango. I learned from the interviews they conducted their sales went down at a restaurant and from another interview at another restaurant yes they were affected but overall our economy hasn't suffered in comparison to places that have natural disasters and hurricanes. I gained a lot of insight of two completely different restaurants and their perspectives. It doesn't just stop there I learned about migrant workers and their education and how limited it can be. Therefore farm workers children end up following their parents footsteps and feel as if they have no other opportunities. Such as working in warehouses earning more then picking in the fields but don't have consistent hours. It can be very difficult to find a job without an education since jobs without an education are now outsourced It makes me appreciate having the chance to receive an education.
What are you most proud of in your project?
I was most proud of the content and research my group conducted. I gained a lot of insight from our interviews and it made me think very critical and I wanted the rest of the world to know more about the work a non-profit organization does. I wish I could have put my entire interview with Matt Karkut the executive director of los Companeros in my podcast he talked about the lives of migrant workers and the hardships they faced he gave a lot of insight about the work they do, their education, taxes, language being a barrier living in the U.S. The content reflected them in an honest and rhetorical way of how they are viewed and who they truly are. My groups podcast was not just about content but about finding a solutions for migrant workers and how they can too be successful.
Explain one way you grew as a student during this project?
I grew in my ability to be independent and find motivation to keep this project going. Not only that but not take on as much control and gave my group mates the opportunity to contribute as much as I did. It ended up working very well we each divided the workload and I learned to not be a dictator. Overall in this project, I grew as a learner wanting to learn more and more and found something I was interested in such at Cesar Chavez who was an influential labor leader for farm workers. I gained so much perspective and knowledge that will stick with me forever.
The greatest challenge faced was editing the whole podcast and sound. The sound wasn't the best due to all the outside noise (doors opening and closing and footsteps. We ended up having to re-record multiple times and even then the noise would most of the time continue to fluctuate which was very frustrating. As a result of this we spent a lot of the time recording and editing due to technical errors with soundtrap. Having done this our podcast was much better and we managed to finish our podcast. When we were about to turn it in all of edits had disappeared and the voice recording were out of order and meshed in the wrong parts. This caused our group to be overwhelmed because the podcast was due that day. We managed to fix everything by the end of the day going through and editing once again. This time it went by faster since we had done it so many times.
If you could go back and do the project again what would you do differently and why?
If I was to go back and restart my project again I would make sure to be the first person to reserve the recording room. It was very difficult to be able to reserve and my group never got to record in that room. I would have also started recording and putting my podcast together instead of recording different parts and waiting to put together our podcast when we had all of our recordings. This would have run more smoothly as well as getting our interviews earlier in the project instead of at the end.
What is the greatest insight you gained about the state of labor issues today?
The greatest insight I gained about the state of labor today was from our presentations and the local economy and how much it can contribute back into a local economy. It not only creates many jobs and brings money to the economy it also uses less plastic and carbon emissions. In one of my peers podcast I learned about how the #416 fire affected our local economy in Durango. I learned from the interviews they conducted their sales went down at a restaurant and from another interview at another restaurant yes they were affected but overall our economy hasn't suffered in comparison to places that have natural disasters and hurricanes. I gained a lot of insight of two completely different restaurants and their perspectives. It doesn't just stop there I learned about migrant workers and their education and how limited it can be. Therefore farm workers children end up following their parents footsteps and feel as if they have no other opportunities. Such as working in warehouses earning more then picking in the fields but don't have consistent hours. It can be very difficult to find a job without an education since jobs without an education are now outsourced It makes me appreciate having the chance to receive an education.
What are you most proud of in your project?
I was most proud of the content and research my group conducted. I gained a lot of insight from our interviews and it made me think very critical and I wanted the rest of the world to know more about the work a non-profit organization does. I wish I could have put my entire interview with Matt Karkut the executive director of los Companeros in my podcast he talked about the lives of migrant workers and the hardships they faced he gave a lot of insight about the work they do, their education, taxes, language being a barrier living in the U.S. The content reflected them in an honest and rhetorical way of how they are viewed and who they truly are. My groups podcast was not just about content but about finding a solutions for migrant workers and how they can too be successful.
Explain one way you grew as a student during this project?
I grew in my ability to be independent and find motivation to keep this project going. Not only that but not take on as much control and gave my group mates the opportunity to contribute as much as I did. It ended up working very well we each divided the workload and I learned to not be a dictator. Overall in this project, I grew as a learner wanting to learn more and more and found something I was interested in such at Cesar Chavez who was an influential labor leader for farm workers. I gained so much perspective and knowledge that will stick with me forever.