Course Evaluation for Digital Media

Although I was a little wary about Digital Media when I first learned about the course, I ended up liking it a lot more than I expected to. It sounded impossible since I was so technologically impaired before taking this course, and the work did end up being hard. But I still had a great time messing around in the different programs such as PhotoShop and Flash. When I first made my poster, I realized that I had built up the work to be harder than it actually was. I became more confident with the skills I was learning how to use and I'm really happy I had the chance to learn more about this aspect of Radio and Television.

I think the lecture was helpful just to give us some background on Digital Media itself. It was good to know the history and reasons behind every aspect that we learned about and how they're used in day to day situations. The lab was helpful to teach me the basics of the programs we had to work with. It gave us an idea of the variety of tools we had right at our fingertips and lead us to explore further into everything we could do and work with.

I think that the lectures worked well for learning the background, but it seemed like it could've been improved in its format. Although it was a lot of fun to watch all the YouTube videos that served as examples of the ideas we were learning, it might've been more helpful to learn more about the programs we would use. For example, if we had learned about the different tools that PhotoShop had to offer and what they each did it might have been more helpful when we actually got to apply this in the labs. To improve the labs, I think we could have been more time efficient. We had to sit and watch the prof run the examples for the first hour of class even though it could've been done more quickly to give us more time to work through the tutorials. I would have learned more if I had more time to practice hands on with the programs while having the prof and lab assistant there to help me.

This course changed me in a number of ways. It changed my perspective on Digital Media and the type of work that it entails. Before I thought it only dealt with technical type stuff like creating computer software whereas now I realize it also includes making commercials, posters, animated film, websites, etc. When I first applied for RTA, I was set on doing broadcasting. Now that I've had a chance to learn more about the different options, I'm looking further into maybe staying in Digital Media or Audio Production. I realize that there's a whole world of possibilities for careers that would fall under this category and there were lots of things I enjoyed about working in Digital Media. I think it's helped to expand both my creative ability and improve my knowledge and skills with computer software. I am now able to think up my own projects and how I would interpret things differently from others. I can do anything I want through the software I've learned to use. Before coming to Ryerson, I had never worked with programs like Flash or DreamWeaver or even PhotoShop. Now I know how to efficiently work in these programs and make projects of my own. It's amazes me how technologically advanced I am after taking Digital Media!

The most important lesson I've learned from Digital Media is that I have the ability to learn and do anything that I set my mind to. As cheesy as it sounds, it's true. Before the course started, I was dreading how bad of a failure I would be when it came to animating a film or creating a simple poster. I had never worked with it and I built it up to be much worse than it actually was. Once I took the time to work with the software and explore all the tools that I had right at my fingertips, it was obvious that I could do anything I wanted to. This course has really helped me expand my personal skills and I really did love all the projects I accomplished [although I wasn't too happy spending a bajillion hours in the labs at the time]. The final products always made all the effort I put into them totally worth it.