NMI Portfolio
My Certificate Journey
I chose to take on The New Media Certificate because I believed having a firm understanding and experience with new technology is essential to functioning in today’s market. The New Media Certificate helped bring a new depth to my creativity with a range of new tools and media skills to add to my repertoire.
Courses
New Media Production
This was the class where I learned how to swim – so to speak. I learned the basics of coding through HTML and CSS. I was also introduced to basic-level Javascript, as well as front-end frameworks with Bootstrap and Content Management Systems through WordPress. Through my education, I was able to build five separate projects (featured below) as well as the website this paragraph has been written on. I am amazed by how much my knowledge of the subject has grown in the span of a few months; I went from having little practical experience in coding to being able to comfortably code websites through a variety of means. It was a worthwhile, albeit very busy, experience.
Digital Storytelling
This was an extremely exciting course for me, as it was an opportunity for me to exercise the skills I’ve learned in my Entertainment and Creative Writing classes for new mediums. I learned to dissect digital narratives, such as Twitter fiction and animated online articles. Using what I learned from these dissections, I built another portfolio website and I learned how to adapt narrative principles to fit the unique possibilities of the digital space. My proudest example of this is the 5 episode horror podcast I created with its own webpage. With the experiences I’ve learned in this class, I am better prepared to create engaging, multimedia narratives for my clients.
Production Basics
My Entertainment and Media studies degree afforded me a unique opportunity in my New Media Journey. This was a required class in my degree, and it was part of my pursuit to broaden the scope of my storytelling capability. The goal of this class was to teach me the expectations of creating a film and of working on set. We organized ourselves into teams, took on different roles (I was to be the editor of my group’s film), and began work on the planning phase for our group film. As we worked on that, we practiced working on a set and familiarized ourselves with the technical equipment. Unfortunately, Covid-19 hit before we could start filming. As a result, I had to apply these skills into creating a short film all by myself without the school’s film equipment. It was this challenge that taught me the value of adaptability, and despite this challenge, I was able to plan, film, and edit a satisfactory short film. Going forward, I will not only know how to shoot and edit content well, but I will also know how to handle a significant, sudden change in plans.
Digital Brown Bag
While it’s nice to have all of this media knowledge, all of it goes to waste if I cannot apply it in the real world. Luckily, my Digital Brown Bag course was all about introducing me to the real world. We were introduced to a series of guest lecturers who talked about their career paths and the industries they were involved with, which helped us to orient ourselves for the future. We were also given a series of assignments to help us learn more about the industries we could be involved in, the professional practices we needed to adopt, and the money habits we should use to help us stay afloat.
Capstone
More than two years of work finally culminated in this class. The New Media Capstone was essentially a course in which we were divided into teams, and each team was assigned one project to complete over the course of our class. My team was assigned to combine the technologies of AR and App Clips into a singular product. I took on the role of team manager and content creator, due to how limited our team was and because I was experienced in writing and management. As a whole, this project was definitely a trial. We all had to adapt through failures, setbacks, and surprises. By the end, however, I learned how to better manage a team through uncertain circumstances. I also learned how to adapt when things didn’t go according to plan, how to create a UX map, and how to create assets through reality composer. After leaving this class, I know now how to better handle collaborative projects like this, and I know how to be supportive through the planning, communications, advertising, and designing of a technical product.
By the end of my journey, I found that I no longer felt nervous about working with digital media. Not only that, but I became more confident that I could handle myself as a content creator, and that I was capable of adapting to the ever-changing digital landscape. I came away from this certificate as more than a coder, but also as a more creative, more organized thinker and manager.
