Links To Five Posts:
1) https://www.mediafactory.org.au/bianca-cornale/2015/05/14/music-for-project-4/
2) https://www.mediafactory.org.au/bianca-cornale/2015/05/01/brainstorming-task-4/
3) https://www.mediafactory.org.au/bianca-cornale/2015/05/20/week-11-lecture/
4) https://www.mediafactory.org.au/bianca-cornale/2015/04/20/audio-interview/
5) https://www.mediafactory.org.au/bianca-cornale/2015/03/25/week-4/
Learning Graph:
500 Word Reflection:
I’m generally quite pleased with how I’ve progressed in my first semester at RMIT, and most of that pride is due to the amount of skills I’ve amassed in Media 1. Amoungst conceptual topics taught through media lectures (the principals of media earlier in the semester, and also the artifacts of media these past few weeks) I’ve been honing technical abilities which I’ve coveted for years. I’m happy that I had the impetus, in the form of assignments and tasks, to guide myself through learning various editing software. I’ve always wanted to develop proficiency in Pro-Tools, Garageband, iMovie and Premier, and my confidence using these has drastically improved.
Through accessing these abilities I’ve also discovered that I’m a practical and visual learner. I like using my hands, getting stuck into things, drawing mind-maps, diagrams, using programs, etc. I had forgotten how these tools affected my learning, and found it very satisfying to rediscover. It also had a positive carry-on effect for me, as came to understand how to better utilize the more effective methods in which I work to complete tasks to the best of my ability.
What I did find challenging was the length of the classes and lectures. I have been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder and sitting still for long times, doing the same or similar tasks, can heighten or exacerbate anxiety. A few times I had to leave lectures or tutors early because I felt overwhelmed and panicky from trying to concentrate for extended periods of time. Though over the course of the semester I felt that the problems were not as crippling. The lectures became more diverse, with various guest lecturers.
This made staying in the same seat for two hours not feel like such a challenge. And I started feeling more comfortable, engaged and involved in tutorials, so my feelings of anxiety would not come on so fast. Also we began doing more hands on activities like using equipment and experimenting with editing and it better suited my methods for working. So in a way, what I found most challenging was not the course content but the structure.
In terms of creative practice I’ve becoming more aware of the style of content I’m interested in making. This has come about through the screenings of our class’s assignments, and being able to see comparatively how my work differs from my peers.
Overall I’ve been had a very positive experience of this program and I’ve felt that it has given me a good grounding in the tools I’ll need to progress in this degree.