Throughout this course I learned more than I ever imagined about hypertext, Dreamweaver, machinima, Secondlife, iMovie, and all of the other tools and programs that we used to create comic strips. Figuring out how to use these programs and realizing how difficult it is to learn to use them proficiently gave me a greater appreciation for the professionals who use them on a daily basis. It was very difficult for me to use Dreamweaver and Secondlife when we first started using them, but with time and practice, I feel like I made much progress from where I started at on day one.

The first project we had in Dreamweaver was the personal hypertext. Although this project was one of the most emotionally difficult ones to do because of the personal connection I had to the topic, it was the project that I enjoyed the most. I learned how to navigate through Dreamweaver while reflecting on one of the most inspirational people in my life. I was happy with the way my first project came out, considering that I had never even heard of Dreamweaver before this class. A few of the links no longer work, however, I was not able to fix them when I tried to figure it out. This project really meant a lot to me and it was very good example of and introduction to one the most effective ways to use hypertext. I liked that we were able to cater it to our lives and let the topic go in any direction that it took us. I feel like I could have used a different background to make this website more effective, although I do feel that plain and simple was the way that Pieter would have liked it.

My second project was a little easier than the first one and I was slightly more comfortable with using Dreamweaver. It was still a difficult topic to do research on because I have seen so many people battle cancer and witness all its effects on the family and friends. I enjoyed how we had to get firsthand accounts and information regarding our topic. I liked how I got to interact with people to get research and I feel that the first hand stories and experiences I received from close friends about their cancer experiences illustrated my point about cancer’s effects on family members very well. In this hypertext I could have used more images to better connect to the viewers.

My third hypertext was a lot more research than the first and I changed my topic multiple times before settling on why EMTs work for such low wage. I was happy I chose this topic because I ended up learning a lot about EMS which is beneficial to me since I am now a certified EMT and on the SCU EMS squad. I thought about varying the background on the pages a little more, but in the end I decided that the standard EMS symbol was a strong, serious symbol that represented the reality of the job.

This quarter, I was not exactly looking forward to the machinima movie project because of the intense technological aspect of it; however, once we dove into the project and assigned jobs to each person, I got really into it. It was very interesting seeing the team dynamic and learning how to cooperate with technology and each other when using technology. There were multiple times when I was beyond frustrated either with Secondlife or with iMovie, but everyone in my group was really supportive of everyone else and we kept each other pushing through it. The movie turned out much better than I had ever expected and it was a good learning experience. I now feel a lot more comfortable working with iMovie as well as Secondlife.

I feel that my last and final hypertext was my best one this year. While I still had a decent amount of issues getting certain links to work, images to show up, and the server to connect, I feel that the end product is much improved from my first websites. It was really interesting doing the research for this project, and I actually leraned more about my topic than I expected.

At first, I was not sure what to expect out of this class and I was a little bit skeptical of it. Throughout the course I started somewhat seeing how the technological aspects could be helpful in other courses or for other projects, but it was not until after we finished creating the movie that I realized the full benefit of knowing how to use all the programs that we did this year. While I still need a lot of practice to become an excellent website creator, I now feel very confident in my abilities to make a basic and somewhat advanced website, should the need ever present itself in my future at Santa Clara or later in life. I will admit I got very frustrated at times throughout fall quarter and this quarter, but looking back, those frustrations with technology ultimately taught me more about the programs and made me realize how beneficial it is to have the technological skills that I have gained through this course. Looking back on my first website and comparing it to my last website, I feel that I have made great progress in terms of navigating Dreamweaver and improving my websites.