Reflection on Period 2
This second period already comes to an end and I can’t wait to be the 17th of December at 16pm to enjoy a well deserved Christmas break. Indeed, this period has been intense in term of workload. However, I learned many new valuable things I have not heard about before. What I really like about this period is that we started to practise and use very useful tools (Audacity, microphones, Voyant Tools) to actually make projects.
As it is state in the name of the course, in Design Thinking and Maker Culture, we actually started to make. When this course started, I was really enthusiastic about producing actual things other than academic papers. This is what we are currently doing with a podcast that you will be able to listen on this blog in a few days. For this podcast which is part of a bigger project, my group and me decided to approach the concept of multimodality. I realized by analysing it that this was probably the best way to communicate and make a clear and understandable meaning of a message. I also liked how we were introduced to multimodality in different environments such as academic, education or arts. It allowed me to get how it could be used and also incited me to maybe use it in further projects.
I was less enthusiastic about the second course, Machines of Knowledge. Indeed, at first glance, it looked like a traditional theoretical course with an academic paper at the end. However, I really liked how through different theories (Feminism, Post Colonialism and data sphere) we approached current societal issues with a very specific method; distant reading. I probably would have liked being introduced to this very new method a bit earlier in the period in order to grasp everything and not being in the rush to understand it two weeks before the deadline. However, I really liked that we had to make use digital programs I did not know because these are tools that could be really useful for our professional careers.
From today, I still have one complete week left to finish all the final assignments. Then I ‘ll probably take some days off to rest a little bit. Then, I’ll start thinking about our biggest project of this year, the master thesis.
2 Comments on "Reflection on Period 2"
Hi Thomas!
Your feeling of this period is super real haha. But we can not deny we have learned a lot from the two courses. You are right, making a podcast is not an easy job and it really needs a corporation between group members. I have to say I enjoy working with our group. I think it is meaningful to learn about multimodality in different aspects which can help you better understand it. Maybe you are also interested in some specific domain about multimodality.
For the other course, of course, the theories it provided are interesting and impressive. The method, text analysis is useful in social and humanity studies. And I agree with you the method is a little difficult to handle in two weeks.
I think you already have some plans for your future research. Good Luck!
Hi , Thomas! It’s 17th Dec now, so wish you have a good Christmas break😊
For the design thinking class, we also made a podcast about multimodality! As you said, recording and editing are very useful skills, and I am very happy that we can use these skills in the final assignment. I also think it is a very interesting class. And multimodality is also a very interesting topic. In fact, people have been using multimodality hundreds of years ago, even though the term multimodality was not coined at that time. I look forward to hearing your podcasts.
Regarding the MoK class, there are indeed a lot of tedious data to deal with. But I think there are still many topics that are very interesting, such as the public sphere. Indeed, this class contains a lot of information, and we also need to spend a lot of time to deal with it after the class. I agree with your point of view. But I believe that the information this class brings us is also very useful. For example, I had never studied postcolonialism before, but now I understand that many literary works in this era are postcolonial.
Wish you have a great grades in both classes, and happy Christmas in advance!