Canvas Graphics

Well the semester has come to an end, and I surely will miss this class, DS106. When I first read the class description, I thought to myself that this is the perfect class for me, for someone who love’s creating media – and it fulfilled a general education as well. It was too good to be true. However, from my freshman year till now, I could never get into the class as it always got to full capacity and closed during registration. Finally, this semester, I successfully registered for the class.

At first, I had no idea what digital storytelling really meant, however, I have been able to understand the meaning and the reason for digital storytelling throughout taking this class. I still didn’t know exactly what to expect from the class, however, it turned out to be more than I expected – which was a good thing. The fact that I had prior skills on topics such as design and video and I’d be able to exercise those skills and learn new techniques was more than enough for me to decide to stick with the class. Rather than scaring me off when giving an overview of the class (which I believe professor Groom and Levine were trying to accomplish), I just started loving the class more and more, and dove right into the assignments even before some were assigned (particularly design) and started customizing my blog. I’ll admit, some weeks, especially video week, was really time consuming and challenging, however, it was well worth it since I enjoyed doing the assignments (of course much more than the monotonous assignments I had from other classes).

What I loved about this class was that you were able to share your own work as well as see other peoples work in a well organized blog. I’m also really glad that I now know how to setup a Word Press blog and what tools to use to manipulate them, which will really come in handy in the future. I definitely enjoyed doing both the design and video assignments – two things I’ve already enjoyed doing prior to this class. This class has also convinced me to invest in a SLR camera, as some of the visual/photography assignments were really inspiring and something I’d definitely want to get into. Some of my best works I believe included some from design such as the Light Saber Warning Label and the Transformers – If Movies Posters Told the Truth Poster. Also, one from audio that I believe turned out well was the On My Way to Work Sound Effect Story. Finally, my video projects such as the Toy Story 3 Horror Recut Trailer , The Walking Dead Opening Credit Remake, and the Star Wars Trilogy Mashup were some of my favorites. My final project turned out pretty well too, and I really enjoyed creating it and learned a lot from it. I really regret not being able to get into this class earlier in my years so I’d have much more time I could devote to the assignments.

The meaning and idea of a cyber infrastructure has mostly remained the same for me even throughout the semester. My definition being a virtual space in which you create your own identity and share your own stories, thoughts, creations and opinions – something DS106 allowed us to do. Throughout the semester, I was able to see my own cyber infrastructure as well as the global DS106 community infrastructure grow. Again, as I stated in my previous blog post on cyber infrastructures, I’m glad to be given the opportunity by taking this class allowing me to have my own personal learning environment.

Overall, I learned more than I thought I would by taking this class, and some of the topics have really impressed me such as learning all about the idea Web 2.0 and digital facelifts, which I was previously completely unaware of. I would suggest this class (and already have) to anyone who’s looking to gain some skills that they can’t get else-where from any class. The DS106 community is rapidly growing and having the opportunity to be part of it is something you really need to take advantage of. If there was only a second part to this class that I could take during the summer, I would…DS107 anyone??