Follow these steps:
Choose one of the items below. Insert your cursor below the item, and then write about the projects in this class in terms of that item for four minutes.
Choose another of the items, and then write freely about the projects in this class in terms of that item for four minutes.
Choose a third item from the list. Without discussing directly the projects, write freely about the activities and processes experienced in this class in terms of that item for five minutes.
- Creativity
I feel like I had not really had a chance to be truly creative in a class to the extent that I was able to be here in years. The freedom to create anything that I wanted, on any topic, was truly amazing. I was also able to create things in many ways. Though I was supposed to use a specific application for each project, within those applications there were so many ways to do things. Being able to create what I wanted made me more engaged in the creation of each assignment. It was almost hard at times because I had so many ideas and I wanted to be able to pick the best one immediately. But, I also learned that I could always restart. I also think that it is interesting that creativity is defined as "the use of the imagination or original ideas" when a lot of online creativity is not completely original. It takes from others, and others take from it in a reciprocal relationship. It is not people in isolation but rather is people's own takes on other's ideas. I think that this is more applicable to real-life rather than the strict definition of creativity, people always bounce ideas off of others and are inspired by others.
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Leadership
- Communication
- Collaboration
The first project that comes to mind is the podcast. We had to work with others to create an engaging 30-minute discussion. Most of the collaboration was within the discussion and division of topics. We each had our own individual subtopic, but all of our points were planned to come together within the questions. The most interesting part of the podcast was the most collaborative part when we debated the answers to various questions at the end.
Audio essay: had to collaborate with pre-existing material, made it more exciting, got multiple perspectives easily due to the accessible nature of the internet
App: collaborated in that we took the pallets from online, and drew inspiration from pre-existing apps.
Collaboration may take more effort, but it results in a more engaging, better project. Having multiple points of view, and refuting the one you disagree with, increases the strength of your argument.
- Information
- Risk taking
- Adaptability
Memes/gifs: I had to give up on multiple ideas because I realized that they weren't feasible. I was able to keep the same core idea/thought and just transform it into something that I was more capable of creating.
Podcast: I had to immediately adapt to what others were saying when we were recording the podcast live. It was way more on the fly than the audio essays, and I had to adapt to the format.
Audio essay: the transition from writing information to speaking it required lots of adaptation. Changes in sentence length, in the way that information was conveyed, and in the editing process. Additionally, I changed the way that I thought about what I was creating. I had to think about how it would sound not just look. The tone is important in writing but you have more control over it when speaking and thus must really think about the inflection of your voice etc.
- Curiosity
- Reflection
- Motivation
Finally, choose one item from the list below. Write freely about the projects in this class in terms of that item for five minutes.
- Logic versus emotions
- Role of visual, sonic, and textual media
I think that visual media is of great help to textual media. If media is only textual it is difficult to engage the audience. Additionally, some concepts are better understood through graphs. In our Twitter report, we created graphs to catch the attention of the reader, and to demonstrate the points we were creating.
Sonic media paired with visual media requires that one of the two, if not both, be more simplistic. The words in my audio essay moved faster and made more complex points than in my video portfolio. If the words and images had both moved quickly and both been complex at once within my video portfolio, the audience would have gotten lost. Striking a balance to find the most understandable yet interesting mix can be hard.
Sonic and visual media makes the audience feel more connected to the material. The memes and gifs I made are, I think, more engaging and more personal feeling than the twitter report. Maybe because they feel more casual and thus more authentic?
- Networks and social exchange