When I decided to take this class, I expected to learn more about the publishing industry and the ways that digital publishing affect it. I expected to learn about the different platforms and media that are commonly used in digital publishing, and how to create things with those platforms and media. I thought the traditional publishing industry would be more of a focus, as a comparison to digital publishing and to show how the Internet has affected the way that it operates. I think overall I expected that it would teach me some skills that would be useful in the future, like how to use certain programs or platforms.
I think in general this class did meet those expectations, just not in the way that I was thinking. I didn’t expect to do so many hand-on, creative projects throughout the class but I think they were very helpful in understanding how digital publishing works and how it can be used. It was stressful at the time but I think being challenged to create things on my own was really useful in actually learning how to use what I learned. I think I learned a lot from the readings we had about how digital publishing works and how creators get people to find and read their work. The traditional publishing industry was not as much of a focus as I thought it would be, because I thought it would be brought up more as a comparison. I think the biggest takeaway of the class for me is the knowledge and capability necessary to create projects of my own in the most effective ways; in the future I can use that knowledge and capability at a job or for myself personally. If I could change something about the class, I would have more time built into the schedule to do the transmedia project, because I think that project was the most difficult for me and I would have benefited from having more time to complete it.