Learning Journal Wk3

We looked at a brief history of Digital Media during session 3, and I drew out the timeline of important inventions starting from the Paleolithic cave paintings of 32,000 BC, to Microsoft Windows in 1985. Then, working in small groups, we had to choose a topic off the timeline to complete a research task within the library. Though I struggled with this task, I also learned valuable skills such as how to search for books in the library online, how to use the Dewey Reference system, and again furthered my communication skills through group work. I found using the library quite difficult due to our group changing our topic too many times, as we couldnt find many relevent books using the online search tool. I later learned that it is a good idea to just take a selection of books from the relevant section of the library, but did not manage to research our final topic choice 'Radio' enough in time to give a good presentation. The topic of 'radio' is just too broad and I should have narrowed it down, but now I know for next time. The library and the books within it are reliable and valuable research sources, and I will make sure to use them in later projects. The last task of the session involved a presentation on 'Planning Digital Media', where we looked at the three stages of digital media production; pre-production, production, and post-production. We particularly looked at pre-production as it is a vital part of any project, it involves writing down initial/conceptual ideas, research, scripting, storyboarding, flowcharts and prototypes. Our last task was to work on the pre-production of a made-up project, in order to gain experience in these particular areas.