New Media Portfolio!

New Media Certificate Summary

I first began my New Media journey in the fall of 2017, taking Introduction to New Media in my first semester of college. Wow! That feels like forever ago! Since then, I've traversed the New Media Institute and, in my travels, I've learned a lot about the the tools, practices, and people of different disciplines. It's definitely been fun and useful to learn different toolsets such as XCode and the like, but it's in these experiences with different disciplines that I've found the most value here. As a Computer Science major, the most normally get to branch out is in learning a new language or toolset; however, the New Media Certificate has made me think critically about how I deploy my skills and how I work with people of other skillsets. Ultimately, I feel like I've become a more open, collaborative person as a result of having endeavored to obtain the New Media Certificate.

NMIX 4310: Rich Media Production

Rich Media! I loved this class! Here, I learned the ins and outs of making apps for the iPhone (or any Apple device, really) using XCode and the Swift programming language. Though I had had some programming experience through my previous CSCI classes, I had never really deployed an app on a device that I use on a daily basis, such as the iPhone.

In addition to learning XCode and Swift, 4310 introduced me to the idea of exploiting APIs. First, we made a simple Maps app using the Google Maps API. I found the Maps API very powerful, as it allowed me to expand the capabilities of my app beyond what I would normally be able to achieve on my own. So, now understanding the power of APIs, I decided to make a Spotify launcher app, which I call Quickplay. You can see a demo of that here. Anyways, I've always had a list of my favorite albums floating around in my head, so I thought it would be neat to make an app to store them for quick access. While the main Spotify app is nice, it isn't the greatest for finding what you're looking for, as the algorithms are always trying to push new content on you. So, using a Spotify API, I was able to make an app to store a set of albums for easy access. I quite like it!

Even though I don't ultimately plan to go into app development (at least not native iOS app development), I found the experiences in this class valuable. Learning a new development environment and language in such a short span of time was a good learning experience. Also, as I discussed earlier, becoming familiar with APIs has really helped me in my proximate pursuits, specifically web development.

CSCI 4300: Web Programming

Speaking of web development, this is that! Web Programming! For this class, I had to learn the basics of JavaScript, HTML, SQL, and CSS (along with some more ancillary things such as how to run web server). In contrast to my experience in Rich Media Production, I found it rewarding to actually dig deep and make a website from scratch, rather than relying on premade solutions. For my term project, I had to develop a sort of blog site with my group. While this might not seem like that big of a task, keep in mind that I wasn't able to simply set up a WordPress site. Instead, I had to write the HTML, style it with CSS, write any other functions with JavaScript, and ultimately store the blog posts with a SQL server. Here, I learned how to combine my knowledge of different languages and technologies into a cohesive product.

I also learned how to work from home during this course. I took this class in the spring of 2020, so during the middle of the class, we had to pivot to a remote learning scenario. I found it took a while to get adjusted to this workflow, especially in collaborating with my teammates; however, I feel like taking this class at this specific moment in time set me up for success in my summer internship as well as proximate semesters, as I was already familiar with working from home in a more collaborative capacity than simply tuning in for Zoom lectures.

NMIX 4220: Digital Brown Bag

DBB! If I had to step into the future and try and judge these classes in retrospect, I would probably point to Brown Bag as the course that I learned the most from (besides Capstone, of course ;)). I like the speaker series setup of the class, wherein a new person from a different industry comes to share their knowledge of their craft. As someone who sucks at looking for and applying to jobs, I feel like the lessons I've learned in Brown Bag are going to be the most helpful in improving my job search.

I also like the tone of the class. It isn't all business all the time. In fact, I'd say about half of what gets talked about in Brown Bag is more personal/life advice, which can be just as helpful if not moreso than the typical professional lecture. Specifically, I enjoyed NMI alum Kiley Dorton's tips and tricks for being an adult. Whether he knows it or not, he gave me a lot to think about in his time with us.

CSCI 4800: Human-Computer Interaction

This is definitely one of the more cerebral classes I've taken in my college career. Although it has the dons 'CSCI' moniker there isn't really any programming in this class, which I quite liked. Instead, I learned about computer interfaces from a more visual perspective. In this class, we kind of deconstructed what an interface communicates, both explicitly and implicitly. We talked about signals, affordances, and the like. We spent a great deal of time on accessibility and how to design interfaces for those with impairments.

On a more technical note, I also learned how to use Adobe XD, a mockup/wireframe tool for my term project. We had a group term project in which myself and three other members had to deconstruct a problem that we felt stifled the remote learning experience. For our project, we decided to take on the problem of Zoom chats getting ignored by professors. You can read more about that on our project site computersoverhumans.com. As far as takeaways from that project, I think the most relevant thing I learned is just to think critically about interface design. As someone who very much enjoys programming, I often neglect the usability of my projects. Having to work through the ideation and design processes of our Zoom chat problem showed me that critical thinking about interface design can lead to a better outcome.

CSCI 4810: Computer Graphics

Although I'm not counting it towards my two New Media electives, I'd be remiss not to talk about Computer Graphics, which I'm currently taking, for a second. I love this course. As a lifelong player of video games, it's been really interesting to get a peek behind the curtain on the algorithms and other techniques used to map objects in 3D space on a computer screen. Even at the very primitive level that we work at in this course (wireframes and the like), I can see the potential of continuing this line of study. Who knows? Maybe I'll keep at it and write a real-time 3D renderer at some point! I think that'd be cool!