Chapter 1.- Once Upon a Time

Blog 1- Make-Up

In the old days I would shuffle through campus as the sun-beamed down my back, squinting at a map supposedly designed to help me navigate my way around, yet inevitably providing me no sense of direction, as a I try to find my classroom.

I would often have to ask a passing student what the name of the building I was looking at, or if they knew were building X was located. Although I would have given myself a 30 minute head start, I would inevitably arrive to my class often a minute or two behind. Leaving me embarrassed and quickly hurrying to try to get settled.

But now, it’s 2018, I no longer need to search for classrooms and buildings, instead I search for the web address in which my class is now located. I have done this several times already, so I was sure this experience would be just like the others, but I was wrong.

As I began my journey into this learning environment, nothing was the same. I was once again that lost student, searching and finding, trying to decode messages, hoping to ask for directions but now no one was there to ask. I had located the website, but now what. The teacher wanted me to find something, to complete a scavenger hunt, but where to look, even more importantly when to look. I had realized I was starting a journey that had no path, one that I was lost in already, and the only way out was to transverse the web and technological tools at my disposal.

Unbeknownst to me I was beginning a “hero’s journey”.

A concept I had never heard, yet intimately knew. I learned about the concept through the Ted Talk video, “A Hero’s Journey”, https://youtu.be/Hhk4N9A0oCA?list=PLNmInf92IjehaqmGaJaQqw8bNrxVwUhm.

This was one of my favorite videos, as I began my own journey, because I liked not only the compelling visuals that accompanied the video, I learned that throughout the history of storytelling there has always been a formulaic recipe that has captured the human imagination for centuries when telling stories, the story of the hero. I found that this formulaic recipe, a concise explanation, could be used as my own template for my storytelling. Enlightened with this new recipe I gained strength in my own evolution as a storyteller, creator, designer, and of course, the hero of my own learning adventures.

I was really impressed by the work of Kyle Smoker, my fellow classmate, who created his rendition of a superhero, he called The Phoenix Hound.

According to Kyle, “The Phoenix Hound: Uses his super powers of combustion to scorch the land with fire, that from the ashes might rise a world of justice and truth. On the weekends, he enjoys a good scratch behind the ear and the occasional game of fetch.”

I was really impressed by the level of technical skills my classmate seemed to possess. For my own creation of a comic hero I was quite limited in what my character could look like, the position I could put them in, the clothing they could wear, and even the background, because I was only able to use the programs ( free programs) that were available online. Kyle’s work looked very authentic in that he was able to make the necessary customizations that he wanted for his character.

As I mentioned, I created my own superhero. Which was the beginning of my learning adventures, to be a creator and a storyteller.

My hero was named NNeala. Her super powers were controlling all the earth elements, creating earthquakes, and the ability to mountains and rocks. Also she had healing powers. She defeated her enemies by using her sword of love to bewitch anyone into only feeling the joy of love.

I also created a Radio Commercial, for my weekly challenge. The challenge was to take a “sign from the near future” a create an advertisement around it. I chose the sign that said “you are entering an AR shopping area” which was located near a subway. I used iMovie and YouTube’s Free Music Library to create my advertisement.

As I journeyed on in my creations, I produced a poster. The concept was to make a visual of a class topic, I chose the concept of “transmedia”. Transmedia is a the practice of using several platforms to tell one story, often with each platform such as videos, social media, or audio, to tell different aspects of the same story. My poster was an advertisement for a character named Holiday, telling her fans to follow the story on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Instagram, and what each platform would provide. I wanted it to look futuristic and mysterious. In the background you see different icons of platforms, and the words “keep following”. In the center are the words “transmedia” as a way to promote the concept to the audience. At the bottom is a hand with a translucent person standing on the hand, to suggest that this transmedia experience is focused on a particular character. I used Google Slides to edit, and Google Image search for “free-to-use” images to create this work.

As a recount, in those beginning days I remember how lost I was, how strange everything was, and how difficult it seemed to get a grasp on what was going on. My biggest challenge during finding what I needed to complete and keeping up with the class. Online, time has no boundaries, no existence, no definition. For instance it doesn’t matter if I took two hours reading an article and writing notes in my journal, if I don’t add a comment, like it, or hypothe.is it, it’s like I was never there. But to add a comment, a like, or hypothe.is adds more time to completing a task, and add to that being in the right place. All this took time, time I often just didn’t have. To write a paper, even a paragraph it could you maybe 30 minutes to a hour. But when creating things for online it will take often 2 to 4 hours just to complete. My biggest challenge was finding ways to use the little time I had to create quality projects for social engagement.

My second biggest challenge was not necessarily learning how to use the new technology tools, but learning where to find the information I needed within these new systems. I often would spend hours trying to figure out what page I needed to be on, what information was I missing that all my classmates seemed to know, and what was going on. It’s makes me weary to know how capable I am to pick up new technology tools, especially ones for communicating, because with limited time it made it hard to fully grasp. I will have to be aware of this in the future.

My journey continues with Module 02- Mediascapes.