Directed Study (CS4042) Digital Media Design Joanne Tobin & Kathryn Conway (With a little bit of help from Gabriela Avram)

Table of Contents  The Module: What we want you to get out of this; The skills we want you to learn; How we are going to support you in this;

Table of Contents  The Module: What we want you to get out of this: To be able to research an area; Report on it accurately; Why reasoning; Improved Co-op prospects; The skills we want you to learn; Self starting skills; Reading skills; Understanding skills; Presentation skills; Developing a web presence How we are going to support you in this?...

By the time you get to the end of University, what will you have?

Basis for ‘Why’ reasoning  Seeing the way things are now: How:  Observation / Direct usage/practice;  Media: Reading about it;  Media: UTube;  But you need to be spin-aware; Why:  Understanding why it came to be this way?  (So you can make them better in the future)

So, to make a change, you need...  To be able to: Find articles/examples in an area of interest; Report the facts; Understand material; Compare across material; Be able to report this back convincingly:

Modules Objectives  Students will acquire the knowledge and approaches needed to: Identify an area of interest; Undertake a review of that area; Acquire a critical appreciation of that area, based on listening, seeing and reading relevant works; The ability to present a ‘whole’ from these differing works (through written report and presentation). A sub-goal is to put work into your own words.

How we will do this  In groups of 3 you will research your chosen topic and will present to the class in weeks 8 & 9, using powerpoint slides as a support (20%)  You (in groups of 3-4) will produce a final essay for assessment (one per group – 30%).  3 posts in your portfolio(50%)

Topics Students are expected to pick from the following list, or pick something related to DMD that interests them, and carry out research into the topic:  Urban games  Social media for social good  Online technologies adoption in rural areas  Forums and online communities related to health issues  Examining and monitoring in healthcare  Social media growth through smartphone adoption  Promotion through Social Media as a new business model  The social side of online gaming  Biometric identification for personal devices  The secrets of designing mobile applications  Designing interactive installations for home, health and play  Using computers& the Internet for learning

To Help You  Lectures  Week 1: Briefing on the Directed Studies module;  Week 2: Reading and writing papers;  Week 3:Using the Internet for Research;  Week 4: Using the Library;Plagiarism  Week 5: Presenting your findings – Powerpoint;  Week 6: no lecture – Open Days  Week 7: TBC

Questions?  People do fail /do badly in this module: Not getting into groups; Not picking a topic quickly enough; Not picking a topic that will interest them, that they can find material on; Not settling on a good framework; Not following guidance; Not submitting drafts / practicing; Not being consistent; Plagiarism.

Online Portfolios: Building a professional profile

1.The role of a portfolio Definition: “a collection of authentic and diverse evidence, drawn from a larger archive representing what a person or organization has learned over time (or achieved) on which the person or organization has reflected, and designed for presentation to one or more audiences for a particular rhetorical purpose”.  National Learning Infrastructure Initiative US (2003). “But also reflects who you are, your achievements”

The advantages of having an online portfolio  Accessibility – sharing;  Storage (not only text, but also video, audio, photos and sketches)  Easy to create  Sociability (harnessing the power of Social Media)  Gives a boost of professionalism to one’s online identity  Allows for more freedom, creativity and breadth then just a cover letter and resumé  It also aligns strongly with your course.

Why maintaining a portfolio?  As learning diary  For marketing and self- promotional reasons- while looking for a job  For professional and creative self-expression  For networking with peers and establishing a professional identity  For performance appraisal and promotion in an existing job

Challenges  Information needs to be kept up-to-date  Relationships have to be maintained  Having a coherent online presence requires spending time – finding the right balance  Embarrassing information can be discovered by potential employers  Any little mistake in an online artefact can have huge implications!

5. Creating your portfolio online Sites that could host your portfolio, providing both the software and the hosting space for free: oGoogle Sites (10Mb) o( oBlogger.com (1Mb) oWordPress.com (3Mb) oWeebly.com

Examples: Portfolios of UL students and alumni  Karen Kiely – Digital Media Design, 2010, did an MA in Social Media in Birmingham, currently working in SF Karen Kiely  Olivia Kennedy –DMD 2011 graduate, Interaction Designer at IBM Olivia Kennedy  Sharon Brosnan - Digital Media Design, 2010,working with Avos in SF Sharon Brosnan  Triona Butler – Interactive Media master 2010 Triona Butler –  Lette Moloney – Interactive Media master, 2010 Lette Moloney

ePortfolio Resources  A presentation on Classroom 2.0- Helen Barrett oom20 oom20  A TEDx talk by Dr. Helen Barrett wjkA  Using Google sites for building a portfolio sites-tutorial sites-tutorial  ng-your-online-portfolio-using-free-web- tools-for-self-promotion

Social Media resources  “Putting your best foot forward”- by Jen LeeReeves ng-your-best-foot-forward ng-your-best-foot-forward  “How We All Became Elvis: A Note On Online Personal Branding” by Ben Grossman w-we-all-became-elvis-a-note-on-online- personal-branding