criticalthinkingseychell

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Studies which show that Mixed Reality can improve education

A study carried out by a group of professors from the University of Central Florida in an article ‘Mixed Reality in Education, Entertainment, and Training’ describes how they, projected their idea through ‘MR Sea Creatures: Flights of fancy’, where they replaced a typical digital technology present at the Orlando Science Center, when the visitors approach screens or sceneries 3D animation will appear around the visitors to make them part of the scenery,. Their intention was to inspire curiosity towards the topic and engage visitors in such a way to keep talking about it long after the experience itself. A questionnaire was given to the visitors and the results showed that 98% stated that it encouraged them to spend more time there and 80% not only were encouraged to go there again but also to visit exhibitions with the same technology.

A research was held by Goldman Sachs Global Investment about who uses mostly their mixed reality software case and shows that Education was the least involved. This proves that it is of utmost importance to include more mixed reality into education as it a great source of learning. They added that in less than 10 years Mixed Reality will be in the line of business like mobiles, everyone buying one to communicate with each, which for sure it will make a huge advance in changing technology. From their chart shows that for now it's mostly being used for Video Games, where one can wear a headcase (mixed reality or virtual reality glasses) and the user will view another virtual word around him.  

References

Hughes, C., Stapleton, C., Hughes, D. and Smith, E. (2005). Mixed Reality in Education, Entertainment, and Training. IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, 25(6), pp.24-30. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7454465_Mixed_Reality_in_Education_Entertainment_and_Training [Accessed 11 May 2017].

Sena, P. (2016). How The Growth Of Mixed Reality Will Change Communication, Collaboration And The Future Of The Workplace. TechCrunch. Available at: https://techcrunch.com/2016/01/30/how-the-growth-of-mixed-reality-will-change-communication-collaboration-and-the-future-of-the-workplace/ [Accessed 11 May 2017].

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How did  I come with this idea and why ?

As students, we spend a lot of time in school and in classes. With technology this is going to change – in fact, it is already changing in the way we receive tuition. Being part of this change and possibly influencing it is something that I always wanted to. The feeling of achievement that one has when something difficult (or new) is grasped after overcoming difficulties is wonderful. Technology will make learning easier, faster and more encompassing. I would like to be part of that. Mixed reality will further make it interesting (at least from my point of view) because it will give a form to abstract teaching.

Mixed reality provides a vital opportunity to allow students in all aspects of education to increase their skills and knowledge. For sure it will be a helpful tool to help the teachers to teach. Mixed reality has great potential to enhance learning outcomes by allowing everyone to progress at his/her own pace. Mixed reality is progressing fast even though it isn’t that much popular for now, so one needs to pay attention to its issues, laws, local background, and practices.

With every year that passes, every teacher tries to improve his lectures in order to be more efficient in their way of teaching and eventually be of more help to the students. The idea of introducing mixed reality to tertiary students is that when they will use mixed reality for the first time they will be amerced with an experience which will have the ability to alter their ideas in relation to a particular profession.

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How mixed reality can improve education?

One may ask ‘How mixed reality can improve education?’, maybe by making it easier for the user to use instead of using the traditional pen and paper, something handy all the time. Lessons can be more entertaining by using animation for secondary education or lectures can be more in detail, showing and explaining information in a 3D way and students can move from one topic to another at their own pace. 

The idea of having Mixed Reality is to join visual media on the environment. During classes, one might use laptops, books,  graphic, tablet, books etc where they will find a different type of media and by having augmented reality it allows their media to stick out around the class to make the lesson more interesting. Having mixed reality will help the students by having less weight in their bags and its cost isn’t that expensive as laptops or tablet. It will be a tool which will help the students to focus more on their lessons. An example of this having a  biology class student around a model of a human skeleton and by wearing the mixed reality glasses, the students can observe the humans body on the skeleton moving in 3D and if this will happen in class for sure students will have more interest and will pay more attention to the lesson. Mixed reality can be created by having markers with barcode around the environment and by having a mixed reality glasses or a device with a screen and camera the user can view the virtual media around him.

My aim for the study will be to contribute new learning outcomes by improving education. My research is important to improve mixed reality to a point where it merges real and virtual worlds to produce new teaching and learning environments, where it will combine physical and digital objects to coexist and interact in real time.

References : 

Mercer, C. (2017). How virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality could be used in education. ComputerworldUK. Available at: http://www.computerworlduk.com/mobile/how-vr-ar-mr-could-be-used-in-education-3653710/ [Accessed 29 Apr. 2017].

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Thesis Title Idea

Actually it was real hard to come up with a title at first, as I’m a student, still studying, education can be improved so I made a list with things that can help the students to increase their education and make their lectures more interesting. As media nowadays is important in our lives, tried to combine it with education.  For the list of keywords came up with the title, ‘Inspection Of Mixed Reality On The Tertiary Students Learning Experience’.

The whole idea is that whilst technology is changing the environment around us, it will make learning easier, faster and more encompassing. Interactive mixed media will further make it interesting (at least from my point of view) because it will give a form to abstract teaching. Students will be able to understand concepts quicker and in more detail, also teachers will be able to give their lessons in different ways.

The significance of this study is all about interactive media and how it can leave a better positive effect on students by improving lessons and making them more interesting for the audience (the students), and easier to explain to the user (the lecturer). As mixed reality is becoming more and more part and parcel of education, I want to explore how both virtual and augmented reality offers educational and training opportunities that are not possible with traditional instruction methods and other mediums. This would be a source of info for MCAST and other teaching institutions should the wish to explore better ways to communicate with students from home to school and vice versa, arises.

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Game Expo -  Beneficial  of working in a group of people

During the game expo, we had the benefit to work in groups of four. Sometimes working in a group it might be a bit difficult, even more working with people from other courses but in our cause, at the end of the expo, we had an amazing experience working together. The best thing which you need in a group is that everyone will communicate with each other.

During a three-day game expo, we had to design a game by the name of ‘Re-Creation’ which the teacher gave us in the beginning. The first thing which we did was brainstorming about the title see what can come up with. We ended up what if one can change his daily routine so we created a game about a man having his routine (wakes up, go to work, back home, sleep and repeat) and we wanted to change it, so we made the user choose to re-create his routine by enjoying his life.

The work was divided into two teams, game arts creating the assists and Dylan and myself do the code of the game. The only problem which we had was the time passing fast so we had to hurry things up. Once someone was stuck the others tried to help. The experience which I got from the expo was that working in a team the more things which we came up with or we were stuck with, I learned more from it. For sure this won’t be the last expo of game jam and hoping that I will work with the same team. 

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Debate -PC vs Console

For the second debate which I’m going to be assessed on, is going to be about PC vs console in gaming which I will have the side of the console and my opponent will be Liana which will be taking about PC in gaming. I’m not a pro-gamer in games but when it comes to what console or PC to buy, I do a backup research to check which the best devices to buy are.

Buying a console game is based on what taste the buyer have which it may vary from one to another. Popular consoles which have for now are PS4, Xbox One or Nintendo Switch and the other option is PC gaming.

Many people check the cost of the consoles and PC which shows that consoles are cheaper as they cost around €350, while if you want a powerful PC for games, you need to have at least you need a minimum of €800.  But when it comes to buying games, console games are priced more than PC games as one can access them from game platforms like Steam, Origin, and others where they will be about 60% sale from the price the console game. An advantage which PC has over consoles is that it can be customized.

If you really care about the performance of the game, such as the resolution, graphics, smoother and faster, I would tell you to buy PC, as you can upgrade your PC by buying PC components but if you don’t care about these, just by games to enjoy playing them, I would tell you to buy consoles. Both consoles and PC can be played using a television by using an HDMI card if you want to connect PC to the television, where you can stay comfortable on the sofa using the PlayStation controller to play.

To conclude with consoles and PC are similar to each other buy can be played differently. It depends on how the player would like to play and depends on how much the player is pro in gaming.

Reference :

Garcia, N. (n.d.). What’s better for gaming, PCs or consoles? Find out here.. [online] Lifehack. Available at: http://www.lifehack.org/277460/whats-better-for-gaming-pcs-consoles-find-out-here [Accessed 9 Apr. 2017].

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Debate  – iOS vs Andriod

My first debate is going to be iOS (Apple) vs Andriod as an OS which I will have the side of Ios (Apple) and my opponent will be Ludwig talking about Andriod, so for this blog, I’m gonna write on how Ios is better than Andriod in OS.

In the past years, I had mobiles which had their OS Andriod but now, the last mobile which I bought is iPhone and has Ios as an OS which I prepare most as it is more pleasant to manage. At fist, Apple OS devices ran Mac OS X and iPhone OS (iOS) was introduced in 2008 and it is applied on every Apple model which is being sold in the industry. It's known for being quick to go from one app to another and mostly for its security when you open an iOS for the first time you need to create a pin for the device. Its interface is friendly-user and simple to use and when its unlocked the user can notice that the apps will appear in rows and in the bottom (the dock), the user can pin his regularly used apps. The user can slide down the notification bar to view the notifications which he received and can even check the widgets such as calendar, weather, maps destination, reminders, etc which these can even be editable.  At the top one can find a status bar of the battery, wifi, and cell signal. The iOS have the apple store to download apps and the iOS has its own app such as maps, safari, facetime, iCloude etc. Software upgrades regularly, mostly on all devices. The iOS has its own voice commands which are Siri which can make many things.

To conclude, in my opinion, iOS is the best one so far in the industry as its OS is secured, one can’t get any viruses until it is jailbreak and it is friendly user to be used.

Reference:

Diffen.com. (n.d.). Android vs iOS - Difference and Comparison | Diffen. [online] Available at: http://www.diffen.com/difference/Android_vs_iOS [Accessed 29 Mar. 2017].

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Technology in our lives

Nowadays technology has become the key of everybody’s life, which one needs it wherever he goes to make his life easier and enjoyable because without it most of the things which we do during the day can’t be made or it would take a longer time to be made.

Most people use technology to travel around, work, communicate, past their free time etc.. Something which everyone uses as is useful in everybody life is a mobile which it is easier to communicate with other people anywhere and anytime, as in time of our grandparents they had to send letters, which will arrive a week after or travel to talk to the persons face to face. Fewer papers, one can write his assignment on Word not on paper and submit the assignment online, no need to send a letter, one can send an email online and won’t pay for the postage. Using the computer will let us search for anything online and can even by things online where one can get them cheaper. By using cars, boats or airplanes it will make our easier to travel around, we don’t need horses or boats without engines to travel as it will take a longer time to travel to our destination.

Liken any other things technology has it owe negative effect in our lives. Taking from television during dinner it won’t let families talk to each other instead they watch television while they are eating. Cars effect the global warming because of the exhausts which it will harm the health of the human. Most of the time mobile phone won't let people socialize with each other as the user will use it to view facebook, play games, view Instagram etc. This means that the humans need to have a limit how much to use technology.

Technology is a great thing to have in our lives but it has its own positive and negative things but it comes from the user how they use technology to have an impact in their lives.  

Reference:

Alert, D. (2016). The Impact Of Technology On Our Lives. [online] My Daily Alerts. Available at: http://mydailyalerts.com/impact-technology-lives [Accessed 25 Mar. 2017].

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Propaganda

Gonne write this blog on propaganda because in a unit with have to make a series game in a group of 4 about propaganda, how it effect the human lives.

Propaganda is known as to persuade someone by influence and manipulate them. This happens by spreading information to help or to hurt a cause and telling only the things you want people to know and hide the truth. Propaganda is mostly used by media, advertisers, military, politicians, etc.

Propaganda can be divided into 3 sections; Testimonial, Glittering Generality, Transfer or Card-stacking.

Advertisements use testimonial celebrity, so the audience will trust the advertisement and by the product which is being shown.

Glittering Generality is when the advertisement is being more attractive than it supposed to be so even if the advertisement isn’t saying the truth, people still thinks is a great product to be bought.

Transfer advertisement happens when on the adverts there are quotes or images which don't go with the advert, just it carry a message.

Card-stacking is when an advert shows the best things about his product and even shows the word things of the opponent.

‘We want you’ poster is one of the best posters which was made during the war to rally the people.

After brainstorming about what are game will be about, we choose terrorism as we found a real event were they used propaganda to hide missions which went wrong.

Reference:

Bergstrom, G. (2017). Understanding the Mechanisms of Propaganda. [online] The Balance. Available at: https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-propaganda-and-how-does-it-work-2295248 [Accessed 19 Mar. 2017].

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Debate

Every debate has two sides of the topic, haveing the side which it agrees with the topic and the other side which disagree or have other options about the topic. Each side has its turn to talk by having the same amount of time (in our case we have five minutes). The idea of the debate is to create an argument to tell the audience why your side of the argument is better than the opponent’s, proving that your point is the truth from your opponent by having research and proof which shows your side is better than the opponents.  

Debate needs to have a form of a structure, starting by having an introduction to talk (each side need to have equal time to talk to each other) about their side of the topic, were the speaker need to have research about the background of the topic and his side and even needs to know some information about the opponent side. After the introduction of the topic is done, the speakers can start arguing about the facts which they found, trying to make the argument between the two sides by comparing things from your opponent to yours.

After each side ends their argument they can ask each other questions to answer back from the research which they found, the more facts they have better for them to prove that their side is the best choice. Afterward, the audience can even ask them questions.

Once no more questions are to be asked the speakers will have equal time to make their own conclusion about their topics.

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Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence is the science and engineering of making intelligent machines, especially computer programs. It has the capabilities to solve problems at a faster pace whilst thinking like a human. AI can be weak or strong, this means that a strong AI has the ability to act like the human brain and a strong AI has greater power over humans. Scientist are still unsure as they are in-between  AI  that can only input information (which the human asks for) to build data to answer back or do the command which it was asked for. For now, Artificial Intelligence doesn't have the ability to act on its own as this is a question which everyone asks but in the future, this might be a possibility. To build an AI one needs to have programs and devices to apply AI to work with things. At present, AI is present in cloud services, Siri, customer support, self-driving cars, Amazon Prime Air, News Generation, Security Surveillance, drones etc.  Event websites or apps can have AI, Facebook is an example of a website which uses AI when one uploads a photo it recognizes the faces of the people within the photo and Snapchat is an example of an AI app which captures the face and adds a filter to it. This is only the beginning of Artificial Intelligence as for now no one knows what an AI will be capable of doing in the future as it changes day by day, it might have robots answer your call, cook for you, drive you around or take over the world. But let's not go to that extreme, what is definite is that it is adding improvement to human life.

Reference : 

Lorica, B. and Loukides, M. (2016). What Is Artificial Intelligence?. 1st ed. [ebook] O Reilly, pp.1-2. Available at: http://www.oreilly.com/data/free/what-is-artificial-intelligence.csp [Accessed 4 Mar. 2017].

YouTube. (2016). What is Artificial Intelligence Exactly?. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWmX3pd1f10 [Accessed 4 Mar. 2017].

Marr, B. (2016). Forbes Welcome. [online] Forbes.com. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2016/12/06/what-is-the-difference-between-artificial-intelligence-and-machine-learning/#16d5b0752742 [Accessed 4 Mar. 2017].

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3D Modeling

For this semester I have an assignment which I've been looking forward to, and that is 3D modeling.

3D modeling can be used to create many things, such as graphic design, film animation, special effects, game assets, engineering, etc. A very important point one needs to remember when using 3D modeling software are faces, vertices, edges, and polygons. These are which one will have to work with when using such a program in order to model objects the perfect way possible. The idea behind using a 3D modeling software is to re-create objects in such a way that they are copied to every minute detail in order to look alike real-world things.

The software gives the chance to the users to model their 3D models in different ways, such as, add, subtract, stretch and twist the model in any way they want. They can also follow sketches in order to keep to the scale and finalize the copy in the right size. Also when using the software it gives the user the ability to view the model from different angles and can also zoom in and out. If one is using a different program from the others he can easily import and export models from other programs. 3D model programs need to be divided into 3 sections which are Modelling, Layout and Animation, and Rendering. As I said before Modelling is when one creates his own model,  Layout and Animation can be added to the model to make the object move or have animation during a scene using the keyframing or motion capture, and Rendering gives the model light to make it look more realistic, depending on the light it is given.

At first, it was a bit difficult to maneuver the program but as any other program, you need to practice and view tutorials to learn about it. One can find many tutorials online to follow such as YouTube.

Reference:

En.wikipedia.org. (n.d.). 3D computer graphics. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_computer_graphics#History [Accessed 24 Feb. 2017].

Slick, J. (2016). 3D Modeling Process Defined. [online] Lifewire. Available at: https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-3d-modeling-2164 [Accessed 24 Feb. 2017].

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Game Design

Game Design is something new which we are going to learn this year, for sure what I know it has to program to build up a game but as in coding, it is different from PHP and the web. Like any other game design,  to create a game it needs to have a timeline which it start by having a concept of what the game is going to be about, were the designers start by making concept art, it can be 2D sketches/drawing  to have an idea how the game is going to be and 3D models of characters or building to now had they will look in 3D form. After a storyboard will be held with the sketches which have been created and when they come to a conclusion they can start working on the production of the game by have textures of the characters/buildings, rigging and animation of every character and programmers can start working on the code of the game were they need to code every character and level in the game and afterwards need to check that the game doesn't have bugs and it is working from the beginning until the end.

Many companies abroad are searching for programmers to help them design a game which can pay you high salaries and gives you your own environment to stay in. To create a game, the player thinks that the programmers just sum everything up together but in reality, after every game, there is a long process and tasks to be made and many people that will be divided into groups to have their own role in the game design.

Overall it is quite fun to create your own game and watch it being played.

Reference:

EDWARDS, R. (2016). The Game Production Pipeline: Concept to Completion - IGN. [online] IGN. Available at: http://www.ign.com/articles/2006/03/16/the-game-production-pipeline-concept-to-completion?page=1 [Accessed 17 Feb. 2017].

International Student. (n.d.). What is Game Design | Study Game Design in the US. [online] Available at: https://www.internationalstudent.com/study-game-design/what-is-game-design/ [Accessed 17 Feb. 2017].

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Projection Mapping

Some people if you ask them ‘what is Projection Mapping ?’ they’ll answer you with ‘projectors which are mapping light onto objects or surface which they use in cinema and schools’ but really projection mapping is turning an object into a dynamic visual display, it doesn’t matter if the object is flat surface or curved.  Projection Mapping has been used in decorations, theater, gaming, computing, concerts, advertising etc. to bring buildings & objects to life to produce astonishing experiences. To make an excellent final piece you need first many creative ideas and planning time. 

An easy process to do a projection mapping is to first make a 3D trace on what you are going to project on to show how the projection will be mapped to the 3D surface. Pick the projector & make it on the spot you are going to project from and make sure the setting are arranged as the way you wanted: zoom, focus etc. Once the above is done connect the laptop to the projector, open the full-screen drawing program. Grab the trace which you did in the beginning & align it precisely with the object you are going to project on. From there you can place the things you want to appear in their place. The important things are that there won’t be any wind (if on the outside) and negligible lightning.

As I said before projection mapping can be placed everywhere to bring building or objects to life, as for Architecture Mapping has to be placed on architecture were the designer focus on the architecture to bring it to life with effects. An example of this, BK / Digital Art Company had worked on sculptures to bring out feeling effects with architecture mapping.

Reference:

En.wikipedia.org. (n.d.). Projection mapping. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Projection_mapping [Accessed 10 Feb. 2017].

Johnson, T. (2011). Easy Projection Mapping How-to Video. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvvy86zvoX4 [Accessed 10 Feb. 2017].

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New Semester – Time Managing

Finally, the first semester is over. All the hassle and all-nighters finally passed away for now as it was an uneasy semester to finalize our deadlines on time.

For next semester I’m going to buy a notebook were to write note after each other (not having papers all over everything) and write the dates of the deadlines on my mobile calendar so I will know which deadline is coming next because as I went over the briefs noticed that we have the deadlines more or less every week. At least we have the progress week, to have a have a break between two semesters and have some time for ourselves.

Looking back at the semester we had limited time to work or practice on programs as most of us works or have other things to do. We know that we are full-time students but everyone needs some tome for himself. By having €86 every month in our bank, for sure it isn’t enough to pass a month with this money so we need to have a part-time job after school hours. The idea of the teachers telling us to practice at home for sure we don’t have enough time to go over three programs. To create a website at least we need at least four hours to practice which this isn’t enough time and we have to practice other programs or work on our deadlines.

For the next semester, I’m hoping that as soon as I have the briefs, I’ll start working on them so won’t end up having everything at the last minute of the deadlines.

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Schon’s Reflective Model

Donald Schön was a philosopher, professor & author of the reflective practitioner which he developed. He is the contributor to the theory of organizational learning & also known as the great theorist of the learning society. In the early nineteen eighties he suggested that the capacity to reflect on action is to engage in a process of continuous learning one of the most defining characteristics of professional practice. He argued that the model of professional training which he termed ‘Technical Rationality’ of chagrin students up with knowledge in schools so that they could discharge when they enter the world of practice. His book The Reflective Practitioner, introduce concepts such as reflection on action and reflection in action which explain how professionals meet the challenges of their work. Reflection in action can be described as the ability of a practitioner to think on his or her feet whiten any given moment when faced with a professional issue. A practitioner usually connects with their feeling, emotion & prior experiences to attend to the situation directly. Reflection on action is the idea that after the experience a practitioner analyses their reaction to the situation & explores the reasons around and the consequences. However this idea goes beyond just looking back on experiences  and exploring the reasoning behind actions, rather it bring into action ideas of responding to problematic situations, problem framing, problem solving and the priority of practical knowledge  over abstract theory. There are concerns with this thinking behind the idea of reflective practice and individuals have challenged this theory asking themselves whether reflection really explains how it is that people learn professionally, will a practice make  a better teacher, worker, lecturer or even athlete? If the teacher levees the classroom every day and reflects on their learning, will this result be better in-depth understand about their lecturing. It may help you understand yourself and reflect on your own development. Reflecting with others may help you better yourself through social interactions and conversations with others reflecting with you.

Bibliography

Create, W. (no date) Reflection models and frameworks. Available at: http://www.bradford.ac.uk/wimba-files/skill-space/Reflective_Writing_HTML/page_04.htm (Accessed: 8 January 2017).

Linda (2008) Reflecting on ‘reflective practice’. Available at: http://www.open.ac.uk/opencetl/sites/www.open.ac.uk.opencetl/files/files/ecms/web-content/Finlay-(2008)-Reflecting-on-reflective-practice-PBPL-paper-52.pdf (Accessed: 8 January 2017)

SimpleP (2015) Thinking and writing Reflectively. Available at: http://www2.hull.ac.uk/lli/skillshub/ReflectiveWriting/reflection3.html (Accessed: 8 January 2017).

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What progress was made from the beginning of the course till now?

As last year we were in Honours levels, the course was combined with Graphic Design (the course I chose at that time) and Interactive Media. Had lessons about graphic design, live-brief, camera & sound and coding which are still useful till this day. At the begging of the year I was comfortable with graphic design and found it difficult to learn coding but at the end of the semester, when the marks were in, got coding a great mark which from that day everything changed in my life as it was the highest mark which I got. Lately I was hesitant if to take up Graphic design or Interactive Media, but the assignments grades helped me decide and chose. By the end of summer it was clear that my future was in Interactive Media, as for Graphic Design I can follow online tutorials or else take a part-time course in the following years.

The idea to choose Interactive Media was to learn more animation (my main choice) and to learn more about coding. As I’m still finding it difficult to code, our teacher Mr.Caruana is doing everything he can to help learn coding the easiest way to finalize our website and assignment. As I chose Interactive Media because I thought that I suppose be learning about animation too but found out that we will have an assignment next year. The only thing which we can’t understand is what happened about V18 projects which we did last year, as teachers told us that we will continue on them this year and might travel with the school but no mentioned anything about it this year. Hopefully in the upcoming year we will have an assignments about projection mapping, animation and news about the Valletta 18 projects.