Thoughts on the class

Based on my experiences this semester, the first thing that comes to mind that I've learned is a basic understanding of Flash animation, and a good introduction to using Dreamweaver. While Flash is a fairly user-friendly program, it was still valuable to have a formal introduction within even the confines of a class to get going properly. Likewise, having the feedback and exposure to the work of others (and their process) while using Flash and creating other web projects was extremely valuable to me. More than anything, this class has given me a pretty solid foundation that I can build on for future web authoring. It's difficult to stay current, though!

Similarly, I feel that my knowledge of web authoring has grown a great deal. I compare where I am right now, and what I feel I can accomplish, with where I was at the same time last year. Last year a bought a "Dreamweaver for Dummies" book just so I could get a handle on the basics and design a basic music site for my reel, which is called Amirbar Music. While I still use that site, I'm already planning on overhauling it this summer based on what I've learned in this class about Flash and more advanced Dreamweaver functions. This class has empowered me a great deal to take over the responsibility for my own presence on the web, and shown me what is possible.

The best part of this class was the hands on exposure to web authoring on a weekly basis. Watching Chianan work on projects, and be able to follow along at the same time was extremely helpful. While I wouldn't say I've mastered any of the techniques that we worked on in class (especially with the Flash action scripts), the exposure was enough to show me what I need to work on and look at in more detail. This class is great as a survey. Frankly, I wish I had been able to take this class first, in lieu of taking Tech Trends. It would be nice for the department to offer these advanced classes for grad students who enter with some real familiarity with computers and music technology. While I didn't really know that much about web authoring when I started last year, I feel like I would have been up to the challenge of starting with this class. Likewise, it would give Chianan more flexiblity to offer an even more advanced class as a follow up, OR provide the opportunity to do an independent study on web design in Music Ed/Music Tech with Chianan which could really delve into the more sophisticated techniques that are in use today. I don't know if scheduling-wise that's a possibility, but it might be an avenue that could be explored in future years. That having been said, the content of this course was great. A great exposure to web design and Flash, and useful tool in my belt, I think. I'm glad I had the opportunity to include this type of class in my Masters degree.