What is the New Media Certificate?
The New media certificate is all about becoming “tech-knowledgeable.” After changing my major from Computer Science to Entertainment and Media, I was concerned that I would not learn as many marketable or technical skills. This certificate alleviated that worry and has been a perfect bridge between my creative and technical passions. As an aspiring cinematographer, I have already noticed a huge amount of new technology in the film industry and I know that the skills learned in this certificate will be extremely beneficial in my journey.
NMIX 4110: New Media Production
New Media Production is an introduction to front-end web development. In just one semester I learned the fundamentals of CSS, HTML, Bootstrap, JavaScript, and WordPress. Our first project was to make a website with three pages only using HTML and CSS. It was ugly, but as the semester moved on, our resources and skills compounded. Our project on Bootstrap allowed for dramatically more comprehensive website designs while still directly working with the code. Our last project was with WordPress. By the end of the semester, I was able to quickly make websites (like this one) using WordPress. The fact that 28% of the internet’s websites made with WordPress proves how useful this skill is. Beyond basic development, I gained a general understanding of how code works. This class equips you with enough foundational knowledge to go out and make countless beautiful websites without relying on services like Wix or Square Space. Most importantly, it has given me a starting point and direction to learn more about what we see on the internet. 6 websites and 326 Free Code camp lessons later, I am more confident than ever to create on the web. Check out my projects below.
NMIX 5110: Advanced New Media Production
Advanced New Media Production (5110) is ultimately a coding course, and it certainly pushed my skills to a new level. The fast paced lessons challenged what I had learned in New Media Production 4110. With various projects that combined the abilities of CSS, HTML, and JavaScript, we covered a wide [array] of use cases. Our assignments were designed to challenge us, while also quickly exposing us to the endless possibilities of these three languages. In the early part of the semester we spent some time expanding on our CSS and HTML knowledge. For example we learned the ins and outs of flex-box cascading style sheets. We then took a dive into JavaScript which was scary to say the least. I was amazed at how all three languages seamlessly worked together. We later learned how to use a public API, which was very empowering. I had no idea that so much information was readily available to anyone in the form of APIs. I used an emoji api for my midterm project – JavaScript Jamboree – which can be found below. We also had the chance to work with Java Script frameworks, specifically Vue.js. My final project – Sticky Notes – was based on Javascript, but used CSS and HTML extensively as well. This class revealed just how much more there is to learn about web development, while at the same time instilling confidence to learn more languages. Since this class deals directly with the code for the entire course, I feel more capable than ever to write, interpret, and learn more about coding. Check out some of my projects down below!
A full list of my 5110 assignments and projects can be found here
NMIX 4310: Rich New Media / Native App Dev.
Rich New Media was an introduction to native app development, teaching the fundamentals of building IOS applications. All our work was done in Xcode 13 with the modern programming language, Swift. I completed many lessons based out of the Mastering SwiftUI textbook by Simon NG. Throughout my time working with Swift I learned a lot about the programming work flow and really enjoyed how SwiftUI allows for quick and easy designs, animations, and previews. This is the third course I have taken that involves programming, and I feel as if I am just starting to understand how to work with code. This class was a challenge, but I now better understand the fundamentals of object oriented programming. Check out some of my projects below!
Midterm Project: For my midterm project I built a Recipe App that uses multiple views, arrays, lists, and allows for user input. This project shows how much can be done with swiftUI in a short amount of time. One of the biggest challenges I faced was learning how to get data between views and stored into an array. Click the link to see how it works and to see some of my favorite recipes.
Final Project: For my final project I decided to create an App that aligns with my film interests. I used a free movie API from omdbapi.com which provides a JSON feed of movies. This project tested my patience, but ended up being pretty cool as it allows the user to search for movies within the API. I must note, that I was only able to get it to work with a lot of help from my professor, Mr. Aldridge. This project really tested my swift knowledge and I learned that not all API’s are built the same. Nevertheless it works and looks pretty good too. Here’s one other project: Earlier in the semester I built a random trivia app which used an API to produce a list of trivia questions. You can check out my Random Trivia App here.
NMIX 4220: New Media Industries
New Media Industries: provided numerous professional learning opportunities. Each week a guest speaker from various media related industries spoke to us about the lessons they have learned from their professional endeavors. We heard from people working in big corporations like Twitter and Verizon, as well as self starters like Shep Ogden at Offbeat Media, and Luke D’Agastino a freelance videographer. Our class lectures covered more specific life lessons such as how to build credit. Over the semester I completed three professional development assignments as follows:
Digital Identity Assignment: This assignment encouraged us to polish our online presence and forced us to consider what future employers would see if they were to Google us. As a result, I updated some of my accounts such as my LinkedIn. The more jobs move online, the more important my digital identity will become and this assignment helped me to stay aware of this reality. When’s the last time you Google’d yourself?
Credit Cards Assignment: For this assignment, I set up a Credit Karma account and further analyzed my credit card usage. I reflected on my current credit score and found the main factors impacting my score. After learning the ins and outs of building credit from our class lecture, I was easily able to take and make note of concrete steps to build my credit.
Credit Cards Assignment: For this assignment, I set up a Credit Karma account and further analyzed my credit card usage. I reflected on my current credit score and found the main factors impacting my score. After learning the ins and outs of building credit from our class lecture, I was easily able to take and make note of concrete steps to build my credit.
NMIX 4410: New Media Capstone
New Media Capstone: is the last step in the New Media Certificate journey and most reflective of the “real world”.We were assigned into teams of 4-5 and given a semester long challenge that involved working with a client and building something truly useful. I was assigned to the Mac App team, in which my team and I were tasked with building the New Media Institute’s first ever MacOS App. Over the semester we had to brainstorm ideas, build prototypes, create logos and branding, build a website, create a video trailer, and finally build a working Mac Application with hopes of launching to the Apple App Store. At the end of the semester we presented our project in a public UGA Grady event called SLAM.
Blitz, Flashcard App: After analyzing what makes a great Mac specific app, we concluded that Mac apps should be built for long and meaningful concentration. Which is why our team decided to build a new and innovative study app called Blitz (german for flash). Blitz allows users to quickly create digital flashcards by using our photo to text feature and has a variety of study modes that we found were most requested for students from our user research. You can learn about and see everything we built at the Blitz website. Blitz is available in the Mac App Store now and I would love if you checked it out! I could go on and on about the work that went into this project, so please check out our website for more information. I could not be more proud of what our team accomplished in 1 short semester.
My Role: My role with team Blitz was to provide help with both the technical and creative side of the app and act as a bridge between the two. My major contributions to our team came in the form of building the website, developing digital assets in photoshop, assisting our lead app developer, Owen Reynolds, by finding useful resources, branding and creating our video trailer. I also helped plan, organize, and present our app throughout 3 in-class presentations and at 1 public event.