Starting a new semester is a bit like starting the year all over again. New subjects, new classes and new teachers… Maybe for some a new haircut, or even some brand new Nike Airs. On an semi-related side note, I’ve come to realise I have a problematic shortage of winter clothes as I’m currently in savings mode and resisting the temptation of retail therapy. If any of my fellow class mates are reading this, please don’t judge me if I continuously outfit repeat!
Okay, back on topic. The initial nerves I felt about starting fresh wore off quickly however as a cohort of familiar faces filled the classroom. Our tutor, Betty Sargeant, introduced the subject Networked Media and all of the work and major assignments that stand ahead of us. Needless to say, it’s definitely going to be a busy upcoming thirteen weeks!
I am looking forward to the challenges that our four major assignments – our blogs, participation assignment, a HTML task and a critical essay – may present. The HTML task (in which we are required to produce two basic HTML pages) is slightly intimidating as it is pass or fail only, and if we fail, we fail the entire subject. Funnily enough I used to be quite the expert in the area back when Myspace was cool, using HTML to make a mean layout to impress all my year seven pals… However, as we are all very aware, Myspace days have been and gone and with it went my knowledge of anything HTML-related. Shame, really. Anyway, my point is that I’m looking forward to rejuvinating my old skills, and hopefully it gets me the pass. Hit me with your best shot, Networked Media!
After a long, relaxed and let’s face it, extraordinarily lazy six weeks of holidays, semester two of uni was into full swing as soon as we entered the lecture theatre on day one. The subject Networked Media began with an interesting yet slightly overwhelming (not going to lie..) lecture, essentially about where our media degrees are going to take us and how. Adrian Miles drew particular attention to the ideas of scarcity in the industry, with some of his main points summarised as follows…
– The scarcity of industrial media (print, TV, radio) – eg. minimal broadcast channels which only allow for one program to be screened/aired at any one time.
– The PREVIOUS scarcity of equipment, which now exists abundantly (access to equipment used to be a major reason for studying media at university in the past).
Immediately I felt somewhat alarmed, and very surprised, at this peculiar way of introducing a subject. His points however were eventually justified in the way that the study of media at RMIT has been adapted to account for such scarcity (phew!). Instead of focusing on knowing ‘what,’ our course intends to highlight ‘knowing how.’
If we were given say a detailed guide on how to operate one brand of camera, or how to use one particular editing program, this learned information would soon enough be useless. New technologies are continuously emerging, so instead of merely learning instructions (the WHAT), we need to have the capabilities to mould our knowledge and skill base to keep up with change (the HOW). For this reason, this degree is very much self-driven – there is no ‘formula’ to success in this industry, and our lecturers cannot give us the ‘answers’ to be able to walk into a job. It is very much about experience, application and adaptation. Bit of a reality check to say the least, yet motivating all the same.
