When I originally thought of a digital publishing course, I expected it would be like a small press publishing course, except we would collaboratively create a digital magazine instead of a chapbook (or some similar large project). However, I have to say that this course actually exceeded my expectations. I came in with a limited view of digital publishing, thinking of it as simply print text on a digital platform with maybe a few visuals included. Now, I have expanded my view to include a broad range of “texts” (such as video, songs, podcasts, comics, etc), as well as explored how these digital media can be used to inform and even exceed the traditional print methods of storytelling. I also enjoyed having three smaller projects, each of which allowed me to work with a different platform and media, giving me a lot more freedom with creation that I expected.
My biggest takeaway from this class were the three creative projects, all of which I ended up using to explore the affordances of digital media (particularly the audio, visual, and spatial modes of communication) and how they each allow the creator to further immerse the reader into the world of the story and create meaning subtextually (through the spatial association of ideas and images).
In terms of improving the course, I think it would help to have less blog posts, or at least no more than one a week. They are a good way to understand and analyze the texts, but I didn’t feel I received the prompts early enough to be able to complete two a week. I especially had trouble with the posts due Thursday, since the prompts often weren’t up until late Tuesday night and my Wednesday schedule was crazy.
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