In the beginning of the semester: 

I have learned so many things so far in this class. So now:

→How am I doing in CT101? Honestly, I think I’d do better in CT101 if I was a creative person. I do not think I am overall a creative person. I am someone who is good at following instructions and get an assignment/task done by the due date it has to be done. CT 101 is a great class, in fact one of the best classes ever. So, while answering this question, I would say that I am doing great in terms of attending the zoom sessions, completing each assignment weekly following Professor Ryan’s instructions on each particular assignment. But, the quality of my assignments could be better only if I was a more creative student.

→What grade do I believe I am maintaining and what evidence shows my assessment?  (List each completed blog post as a hyperlink and also state what assignments you are missing)

I believe, actively participating in all the zoom sessions and completing assignments on a weekly basis, I am maintaining an A- so far. I do not think I am maintaining an A because my creativity is not that great. I did not miss any assignment so far:

Assignment#1

Assignment#2

Assignment#3 

Assignment#4

Assignment#5

→What have I learned the most? What is my greatest learned asset in this class so far?

I have learned several useful things from CT 101 so far. Not only course materials, but also life hacks that can be useful for me in the long run as a student. “Digital Storytelling” course made me realize how creating art like GIFs, memes can also be meaningful. While completing the assignments in this class so far, I have had to read articles assigned by Professor Ryan which gave me insights into how GIFs started their journey as internet breakers. I got to know that there are so many people passionately working as GIF and MEME makers by maintaining their own exhibitions. I loved it. It made me realize once again that it’s never the wrong choice to follow your heart and do what you actually want to do with the potential you have. I don’t think I’d ever think so deeply about how GIFs and MEMEs can bring so much into someone’s life if I didn’t enroll in this class, honestly. We only see them as the options to send to a friend and laugh at it together. But I never thought of it this way that there are people out there who are creating and submitting these for us to use and communicate. I think this is the best asset CT 101 has given me so far. I learned to make GIFs and MEMEs on my own, how to decorate blog posts, how to think deeply while answering assignment questions. From the blog posts of my classmates, I have noticed various thinking capacities of each individual. Another important life hacks this class has taught me so far is that, it is equally important to stay mentally healthy to be a successful student. So, all the academic pressure that we all take upon us will result into zero if we cannot stay well both physically and mentally.

→What new skills have I developed, cultivated and displayed regularly in my posts?

Professor Ryan taught us the basic skills to organize a meaningful, educative blog post. He taught us skills which I did not have before taking this class. Hyperlinking texts, images, making GIFs, MEMEs. He introduced us to different sites like Photopea.com, Pixabay.com, etc to manipulate images so that they can be used for the purpose of a particular kind of assignment. On my posts I regularly hyperlink texts and images. I use imageries to better express my thoughts and ideas. I keep in mind to maintain an eye-catching format for each of my assignment posts. Being able to use websites like imgur.com and giphy.com has helped me to have fun creating my own GIFs. For every assignment, I think of how can I be creative differently this time. It is difficult for me because I am less of a creative artist and more of a writer. But I read assignment instructions attentively so that I do not miss out on any part.

→Aside from publishing my blog post assignments, how do I assess my participation, commenting, and discussion performance in this class?

I regularly join the weekly zoom class sessions with my camera on. But I rarely comment on my other classmates’ assignment posts. But whenever I do, I make sure I have the time to read their posts attentively and make a relatively useful comment. I am looking forward to continue to do so. While in the zoom class, I answer to Professor Ryan’s questions if I think I know the answer. Before starting to do each week’s assignments, I go back to the zoom tutorial he posts.

→What do I know now that I did not know before taking this class?

I have learned the importance of the level of creativity, immediacy, intuition while making an art, or any creative piece. Together, these three elements can help us produce a unique material. I have learned several unknown facts by reading the articles assigned by Professor Ryan. Meme-maker Lauren Kaelin’s project “Benjamemes” sounds like a dream come true for any kind of passionate person towards their work. This class introduced me to various platforms that helps creative people expand and express their creativity. Professor Ryan introduced us to an awesome page named “DS 106 Assignment Repository” that has so many different options and categories to creatively complete different types of storytelling assignments. Platforms like the mmm.page can be great to extend one’s skill to be creative and express their imagination into a visible piece for others to enjoy. 

→Do I see my weekly blogging work expanding creatively? If so, please explain how –  or am I stuck in a loop where my posts seem to look the same most of the time, how will I change that?

As I have mentioned before, I am not that much of a creative person in terms of creating arts. Putting my imagination into an empty canvas and call it art will not be my best work because I don’t think I have the great potential to be an artist. I am more of a writer. So, when I look at each of the assignments for this class I have completed so far, I do not see my creativity expanded so much. I am following the instructions, answering all the questions and completing each part of each assignment. My posts do not look the same because each week we are working on different things like GIF, Meme, mmm. page etc.

CT 101 is a great class for every student. Students like me who are not that much creative at least gets to start or learn a journey into the world of images, animations, etc. The format of this class is different and creative than all the other classes. In this class we realize that there is a whole different universe of art. Artists live their lives creating art that not only they love themselves, but they spread their work for others to value it. Internet plays a major role here. Any individual using internet can connect themselves to a piece of art most probably created by someone they do not even know. CT 101 plays a major role by connecting and introducing students to platforms which were unknown to us before joining this class. This form of communication establishment can also be considered as an achievement.