My Final Portfolio by Rownak Choudhury

Think Piece – “Robots are Taking Over Your Work Field

Podcast – “Are You Professionally Prepared for Robots Taking Over Our World?”

HTML – “A Peck with HTML and Markdown Coding”

Twitter Rant – “Tweeting about le Robots from Think Piece”

 


 

The project created for this class required an initial ‘think piece’ blog post following its conversion to different medias, such as a podcast, series of photographs, a short video, online HTML writing, and a series of tweets on Twitter.

I had a difficult time converting my think piece into different medias on a few occasions. This was partly due to the fact that I was new to the usage and making of these medias, the podcast and the video. I had never indulged myself in even listening to podcasts in the past so creating one of my own posed as a challenge. On the other hand, creating the video posed as a challenge, not because I was unfamiliar with watching videos or lacked the knowledge of what happens in the background of creating a video, but because I had never attempted it myself. Until my attempt, I had no idea of the kinks and meticulous thought process behind a video production.

The most direct and positive conversion of the ‘think piece’ essay in my opinion is of its conversion to online HTML writing. Not only was I able to retain the exact information as it was intended and portrayed in the original essay, I was able to add more context through the usage of font manipulation and images. HTML conversion did not require of me to extend my tools to a microphone, camera, etc. beyond what was immediately always available to me to produce suitable work.

Similar to this experience was the experience of a Twitter rant using parts of the initial essay. The rant did not require anything of us other than a computer with online access. It does not compare to my satisfaction in using HTML, however, because of restriction in character usage when posting. It was a fun challenge to try to pinpoint the main ideas, then tweet them in a cohesive manner with the help of tools in inserting screenshots and web links. The direct connection with my viewers about what they can do in real time with this information that I am presenting helped. Direct feedback felt great.

The podcast falls next in list of enjoyment with the direct script of the think piece being useable to me with the slight change of it being heard by an audience instead of being read.  Like HTML, I was pleased to have the affordance of adding more context to my project using sound, speech emphasis, and directed pauses. I was also relieved to not have had to upload the podcast onto a public platform because of my unfamiliarity with public podcast platforms.

Lastly, the video production and series of photographs were of similar experiences to me. Both required a sketched out planning to put my ideas into immediate work. The platforms that were required for both, such as YouTube, Flickr, and Instagram, were of interest and background knowledge to me. I feel that my familiarity may have been the reason for my delay in producing results ultimately.

Coming to the End of Writing with New Media by Ashley A. Dunlap

Post One: Think Piece

Original think piece post w/ attached update

Post Two: Podcast

Original podcast

Podcast Script

Post Three: Flickr

Original Flickr post w/ updated attached

Final Portfolio Flickr Text Sources

Post Four: YouTube

Original Youtube Post

YouTube Scripting Draft

Post Five: HTML

Original HTML reflection

Post Six: Twitter

Original Twitter Post

Twitter Draft


From the beginning of the semester, the term affordances and constraints have played a large part in the development of each project and the ways in which new media allows versatility in the messages being delivered.

The think piece, being in a basic essay format, had the most affordances. Created using Microsoft Word, it allowed me to express my ideas on cultural appropriation. For this piece, I was determined to shed light on an issue that I take personally. The problem of cultural appropriation is one that is so dominant because many do not see it as an issue worth acknowledging. With each project, I saw more information and ways that the piece could be elevated. The final result is more refined and elaborated on some of my more underdeveloped ideas.

Working with a podcast was an interesting experience. Although there were less restraints than the think piece, finding audio that was not covered laced with strict copyright laws. Finding audio and supporting clips that I could use was the hardest part of putting this podcast together. Also, fine-tuning the audio I created took a lot of practice and time. As the second project, I feel like the podcast allowed more freedom of expression in the music and ability to be heard by the audience. This is very different from every other project because it only engages the ears of the listeners.  Being able to pair my voice with the think piece made the message feel more powerful.

The photo project was possibly the most difficult because it required me to understand the value of original content. The constraints of creating images is that for every original created, there are 500 copyrighted pieces. Originally, my idea was to use different females throughout the school with strong facial ques to convey my message. For the final portfolio, I added two additional images with text to send a more concise and connected message.

Similar to the podcast, YouTube has more constraints than affordances. When I was planning this video, my original ideas required more time than was allowed for this assignment. When looking at many popular vloggers and the ways there videos were designed, I noticed that many used the Snapchat app and combined all of the videos to create content that was visible on two platforms. This allowed me to combine two media platforms to give the same message. This also avoided copyrighting issues because all content created on Snapchat is owned by the user.

Using HTML coding felt very similar to formatting and perfecting a document with a basic word processor. There is a constant need for revisions and corrections and a simple error can impact the entire document. This was the process I endured with Notepad. While the constraints mainly surround the learning curve, the affordances are the ability to create a website with a program that is similar to word processing. With practice, coding can be a vital part of my journey through the PTW major.

For the Twitter project, I was very satisfied with how my tweets came out because my audience was primarily young adults and the unintentional cultural appropriators. This piece hit all the points I liked, however I truly understand the constraints of Twitter. 140 characters really isn’t enough.

Overall, each project with all its affordances and constraints, led to the end of the road in Writing with New Media.

Final Portfolio by Christopher Navarrete

Project 1: Think Piece Updated

Video Games Struggle on Violence Updated

 

Project 2: Podcast

Culture Shock Gaming Podcast

Podcast Script

 

Project 3: Images

Video Game Violence Images

Images Storyboard

 

Project 4: Youtube

Video Games Struggle on Violence Video

Video Storyboard

 

Project 5: HTML

Learning how to be “Dangerous” with HTML

Website

 

Project 6: Twitter

Getting the Word Out About Video Game Violence

Twitter Script


 

Throughout the semester, we learned how to work around the affordances and constraints of certain mediums, including essays, podcasts, images, videos, HTML pages, and tweets. Although each medium contained the same information, their affordances and constraints played a huge role in how the message was conveyed.

The essay format (think piece) was perhaps the easiest in terms of working through these affordances and constraints. An essays affordance is the ability to inform with words and visual design. In order to appeal to an audience with words, I made the essay easy to understand by explaining key terms, being straight to the point, and having flow from paragraph to paragraph. In terms of visual design, I wanted to make the essay easy to read and locate information, so I chunked the essay into smaller paragraphs, used Verdana, an easy to read online font, and added sub headings. As for the essays constraints, they didn’t bother me because I’m used to getting information across to the user by words alone.

As for the podcast, its affordance is informing users through audio. With this medium, I was able to appeal to a broader audience because users are able to grasp information easier through spoken words than with written words. I took advantage of this fact by changing the wording of some sentences in the script to sound better when spoken, including appropriate pauses so that users can understand what was said before moving on, and speaking in a clear and flat voice for clarity. I worked around the podcast’s constraints by including video game sound effects so that users can visualize what makes the described game so violent, appropriate music that lets users understand what each section concerns and if they are about the same topic, voice clips, and interview material.

Trying to work around the affordances and constraints of the image medium was a difficult process for me because we couldn’t use outside sources. However after much thought, I was able to take advantage of its affordances and reshape and retell my think piece essay through it. An images affordance is being able to tell a story with pictures and text. With Photoshop, I was able to let users quickly understand what each image is about by adding text, splicing images together, and have images be at a certain angle.

Like the essay, the YouTube video was easy because of its affordances. Its affordance is informing users through video footage, images, and audio. I used these elements appropriately throughout the video, for example, I showed gameplay of Grand Theft Auto when I talked about it. Overall, I believe the YouTube video didn’t have any noticeable constraints because its multiple affordances far exceeded any negatives.

As we used HTML and compared it to CSS and markdown, its affordances and constraints become quite clear. Its affordance is being able to combine the think piece essay, images, and YouTube video all into one. Despite this, it couldn’t display them in the way I wanted. For example, I couldn’t edit a texts line spacing, white space, and font size. Also, depending on the browser that was used, certain elements appear differently than expected. For example, Google Chrome and FireFox may show the website with different font sizes. As a result, HTML was one of the hardest mediums to work on due to its constraints.

Finally For twitter tweets, its affordance is being able to write to a large audience, include images and videos to each post, add comments, and share things with other people. Despite having such a great affordance, it has an even greater constraint. In Twitter, one can write a post with only 140 characters max. I originally had difficulty overcoming this constraint because I wanted to write in complete sentences. But after several hours of trial and error in Microsoft Word, I adapted to Twitters format and pieced together an effective Twitter rant. Afterwards, the entire class shared each others rant and commented their thoughts.

The Writing with New Media Experience by George Gordon

Project 1, Updated Think Piece:

YouTube vs. Content Creators

Project 2, Updated Podcast:

Digital Autopsy Episode 1: The Problem with YouTube

Digital Autopsy Podcast Script

Project 3, Flickr Images:

Flickr Album

Image Storyboard

Project 4, YouTube Video:

YouTube vs. Content Creators

Video Storyboard

Project 5, Markup/Markdown:

Website Reflection

Project 6, Twitter:

140 Characters or Less

Tweets Draft


Reflection

Throughout the course, we had to adapt an original 750 word think piece across various new media. Some of these I’ve used before, like making a video or working with HTML, and others, I’ve had to learn for the first time, like making a Twitter account or making a podcast. Ultimately, they were each fun in their own right and proved to bring about new ways of expressing an opinion and ways in which that message could be hindered.

When writing for an online audience, we had to think about how they read differently online than from a book. Our piece had to be tailored to that experience and be short enough that those same people would actually read it, thus the piece had to be limited but still get our point across. Adapting that piece to a podcast gave us the liberty of extending the piece as this was going to be done in an audio format that people will generally assume will take up a bit of time. I was able to include more content than in the initial piece, however, being audio only meant pauses, music, and sound effects needed to be added to the whole experience.

The images were much more difficult, expressing an issue that is of an online nature through pictures made me have to think differently about the whole piece. The video was easier as it is done similarly to that of a podcast, but now has a visual component added to it. This allowed for me to showcase even more of the issue through the images used within the video.

Due to the nature of our fifth project, where we couldn’t work with CSS, only HTML, made it more challenging. I had worked with HTML and CSS in the past and CSS is what allows for the websites to include all these nice effects. HTML only provides a basic structure and not the freedom to have everything look the way you want it to. Then, twitter was a whole new creature, one I had no experience with. Adapting a piece to series of 140 character tweets wasn’t the most difficult thing, however, hashtags and links could be used as these are parts of the medium and allowed to create a more cohesive experience.

I even noticed how the initial think piece grew and changed based on what I was able to say and show throughout the use of alternate medias. The original think piece was wordy and didn’t cover the general topic I was discussing and I believe through adapting to a video and podcast allowed me to go back and add in better content to cover the topic.

Overall, through these projects, I learned much about different ways one can express the same message. Some may be better suited for certain topics or they may be tailored for a specific audience. Twitter can definitely be used as a way to interact with a community and keep the audience updated instantly while a podcast can reach a huge amount of people at different points in their day. Knowing how to utilize various different mediums can help one successfully broadcast themselves to various different audiences. The message may have to be adapted or tailored to the specific medium but they each can highlight something new. There is not one that can clearly be said stands out against the others, but learning to work with more than just one will allow for a better message as a whole.

Getting the Degree: City Tech’s Resources and Study Tip

Introduction

This is a collaborative project that has been completed by Rownak Choudhury, Ashley Dunlap, George Gordon, and Christopher Navarrete. The focus of this project is the issue of student retention. Two of the top reasons we’ve heard students are struggling are poor study habits and not understanding the resources available and the requirements of the college they attend. In City Tech specifically, there are an abundance of tools that are made available to students but remain unknown. Some of these tools include the College Catalog and DegreeWorks.

We would aim to make sure that students know exactly what they need in order to graduate and prevent them from having low GPAs. This includes providing tips to help students stay motivated and develop good study habits and a clear understanding of the road to graduation when students enter a program (degree transparency). Through media platforms such as Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and Soundcloud we will be using the knowledge gained throughout the semester to bring awareness to students.

Project Proposal

Project Proposal

New Media Project Components

Twitter: Keys To Success by Ashley Dunlap

The Twitter page is designed to be a quick bundle of information that links out to articles as well as the other components of the project. Being that Twitter is popular amongst college students and the school has several accounts, it will allow the college to see the work tha is being done while motivating students.

Keys To Success Page

Ashley Supporting Documents

Getting the Degree: City Tech’s Resources and Study Tips by George Gordon

This is video revolving around interviews conducted on various students throughout City Tech. The purpose being to see how much students knew about what is available to them at the
college and potentially inform others on what they can utilize to succeed in college.

Youtube: Getting the Degree

George Supporting Documents

Getting the Degree Podcast Episode 1: Study Tips by Christopher Navarrete

This podcast discusses the best study tips and study habits as recommended by students and professionals. It intends to inform, motivate, and encourage all college students. Most of this information was obtained from interviews we collected from City tech students.

Getting the Degree Episode 1: Study Tips

Christopher Supporting Documents

Ace College Through Visuals: Study Tips & More by Rownak Choudhury

The goal for this project portion is to create five qualitative images aiding college students. Because only five are to be produced and presented, there will not be too many limiting factors used to connect the pictures. However, all pictures will have a social media hashtag unique to this project.

Flicker Album

Rownak Supporting Documents

Project Reflections

Ashley Reflection

George Reflection

Christopher Reflection

Rownak Reflection


Getting the Degree-Final Presentation

Catchy Project 7 Title: More Informative Subtitle (A Model)

Introduction

This will be where you collaboratively write a 250-word description of your. Include all of your names as the collaborators on this project. Also, it bears noting that you will delegate the posting of your team’s project and files to a single person. This means that you will need to share all of your documents with one another so that everyone can see your progress, provide feedback, and export PDF files as needed.

Project Proposal

Link to the PDF of your collaborative proposal and schedule.

New Media Project Components

Title by Name 1

Individually write a brief description, but follow the same writing style for the entire blog post. This should be about 50 words in length.

Link to new media component.

Link to PDF of supporting documents (saved as a single PDF). This includes scripts, storyboards, discarded samples, outlines, etc.

Title by Name 2

Individually write a brief description, but follow the same writing style for the entire blog post. This should be about 50 words in length.

Link to new media component.

Link to PDF of supporting documents (saved as a single PDF). This includes scripts, storyboards, discarded samples, outlines, etc.

Title by Name 3

Individually write a brief description, but follow the same writing style for the entire blog post. This should be about 50 words in length.

Link to new media component.

Link to PDF of supporting documents (saved as a single PDF). This includes scripts, storyboards, discarded samples, outlines, etc.

Title by Name 4

Individually write a brief description, but follow the same writing style for the entire blog post. This should be about 50 words in length.

Link to new media component.

Link to PDF of supporting documents (saved as a single PDF). This includes scripts, storyboards, discarded samples, outlines, etc.

Project Reflections

Project Reflection by Name 1 (link to PDF of your individual 250 word reflection essay)

Project Reflection by Name 2 (link to PDF of your individual 250 word reflection essay)

Project Reflection by Name 3 (link to PDF of your individual 250 word reflection essay)

Project Reflection by Name 4 (link to PDF of your individual 250 word reflection essay)

Beginning of Class Writing: Jones and Haffner, Understanding Digital Literacies, Chapter 11

For your penultimate beginning of class writing assignment, write a summary of “Collaboration and Peer Production,” Chapter 11, Understanding Digital Literacies. We will discuss the chapter after you have worked on your writing and posted it as a comment to this blog entry. Of course, you may write about how some of the things you read about in this chapter relate to the current project that you have been assigned.

Getting the Word Out About Video Game Violence By Christopher Navarrete

This is a collection of tweets that chunks the main points of my thinkpiece essay titled “Video Games Struggle on Violence.”

Before this rant was created, I had issues writing one tweet due to Twitters 140 character limit. Not only was it because I had never used Twitter before, but because I wanted to write in complete sentences and not use the internet’s language. After several hours of trial and error in Microsoft Word, I adapted to Twitters format and pieced together this rant. I then had to decide what tweets would contain the photos and video I created from previous projects.

Unlike my thinkpiece essay, the audience for this Twitter rant includes individuals who either don’t know or have little information as to how video game violence became popular. To connect with my audience, I gave a brief explanation on what the video games I discuss (Mortal Kombat and Grand Theft Auto San Andreas) are about, and why people considered them to be violent. I included photos on tweets that highlighted these games so that my audience can visually see and understand what made them so controversial.

As for how effective my tweets were, although it did manage to spark some conversation and interesting comments on the topic of video game violence, one student may have thought I wanted to ban video game violence. I believe this came to their mind because I wrote my rant in an objective point of view (not saying I was against it).


 

After reviewing the analytics of my Twitter rant, I was surprised by the numbers. I expected it to be much lower because I made a Twitter account only for this project. Besides outside activity, there was a good amount of comments and likes from those in our class as well.

Unsurprisingly, the tweet that received the most attention was the tweet that kick-started the rant (1/17) as it has 134 impressions. Overall, my tweets “earned 1.1k impressions over this 20 day period” and about 18 likes total.

Tweety Bird Couldn’t Have Done It Better

What happens when a class assignment meets Twitter.


 

This is a mini Twitter rant of my think piece. While full of emojis and personality, this rendition of my think piece summarizes my topic in 140 characters or less.