Reactions to BDC 101 Digital Media (Week 12)

It's been 13 weeks since I first started learning even what "Digital Media" meant.

It was a great experience to not only concentrate on Radio and Television, but rather get a taste of what RTA really has to offer as a whole. Getting exposed to the basics of digital media in today's multimedia world has made me realize that it's not for me. However, in regards to the course, it was good enough for people to figure out whether or not this is the kind of field they are interested in. Some people knew Digital Media wasn't for them and some people are still interested in learning more about this field.

I felt that it wasn't easy enough to allow people to think that this would be an easy field to get into, but it was hard enough to show people how much work it takes to create something that looks so simple on screen, but is actually very complex in reality. I felt that it was a good enough exposure for us to realize how important and how powerful digital media can be used as a tool of communication.

Although what could be changed/improved is the fact that some people have not been exposed to this field before, yet others have had some experience with some complex tools such as flash. I find it unfair that those who are still new to this is suffering in terms of marks because of their lack of experience. Due to the nature of these programs and it's complexity, I feel that it is necessary to mark an individual's effort along with the work they have produced. It's unfair to know that some people who have had experience with programs such as Flash to create their own work that is significantly more professional than others, thus leading to a significantly better mark than those who have tried (and usually spend more time) and created work that is not as great.

There also needs to be an improvement in the way labs are taught. Due to the sophistication of digital media, especially for newcomers, and with the lack of time we have to practice/experiment with these programs, every lab class and the time in the classes needs to be more efficient and more productive. The TA's tend to leave it mostly up to us and our own will to learn without much of a interactive guide to introducing us to content.

This course has provided me with basic knowledge of creative applications such as Adobe Fireworks, Flash and Dreamweaver. However, it was not my intended path before going into RTA to pursue a career in digital media. Therefore, I have decided to step down from this branch of RTA and pursue another aspect of it.

The understanding of digital media, how it works, how effective it is (especially with the development of the internet) is the most important skills I'll take out of this course. This is a new way of communicating to a mass audience and it's important to know that these options exist, especially when working on productions that require a huge audience. By using content such as digital media, you can gain attention very easily, thus benefiting your productions. I have enjoyed what this course has to offer and will step out of it with the basic principles of design and digital media.