Digital Literacy & Me

When I looked at the first assignment, I knew this was going to be a challenge. I had never created a podcast before and had only viewed a handful of them. I tend to think in terms of abstract ideas, ultimately corralled by textual representation. Although I have experience with a number of different hypermedia applications, my role has primarily been one of a user, rather than creator. My limited interaction has consisted mostly of commenting on blog posts and other forms.

Given the tight deadline for this assignment, I knew I would have to scale the learning curve quickly. I had no idea even what type of software was required, or how to use it. Fortunately, I had access to a 14 year-old who explained it to me. (A 14 year-old who has already posted over 300 videos to YouTube and even been paid for some of them.)

My goal with this podcast was to somehow convey the strangeness that is me while still answering the questions in the assignment. I think I achieved this goal in a modest way, although I feel I could significantly improve the end product if I had more time. (In fact, as the video was uploading to YouTube, I thought of at least three improvements I could have made.) Initially, my planned process was to write the script first, and then think about what images/sounds would enhance the presentation. However, I was surprised to find that while I was writing the script, I was consciously thinking about images and music, and these thoughts ultimately had some influence on the shape of the narrative. This was an interesting discovery for me, and will consequently influence how I approach future hypermedia projects.