Labels:crysis, gaming, online, fps, technology, pc
assignment,
community,
goals,
learning,
project,
school,
universityofbaltimore
Student: Charles Gough
Class: IDIS 101
Back in January, I started my first semester at the University of Baltimore with Simulation & Digital Entertainment as my major. In my Applied Learning and Study Skills class(IDIS 101), we were given a "Do Six Things" Project early on in the semester. The purpose of this project is to get students involved in learning outside of the classroom. The Do Six Things project includes deciding what kinds of learning experiences are imortant to you, finding six things that are happening around the campus, attend them, and then present an accounting of your experiences. So, if you haven't figured it out already, my presentation will be in the form of a blog. For my events, I chose items that were all listed on the student calender on the schools website. The events I attended are listed below with descriptions of what I learned, what I did, etc.
PC to Mac 101 (Feb. 2)
- I don't plan on switching to a mac anytime soon, but I attended this even for a couple of reasons. First, I think it is important to know the workings of more that one platform with most things that you do. Second, I wanted to attend something that had to do with computers.
- During this event, I learned some of the basic differences between the mac and the PC. I did not have time to stay very long, but I did a little research afterwards when I had some time. Another thing I found out was that the mac platform is capable of running Microsoft's Windows operating system. I would participate in more of these kinds of activities because being versitile with technology is a great skill to have.
XNA Game Studio Express Development - with Microsoft's Cy Khormaee (April 4)
- XNA is a development tool that can be used by advanced users or even beginners to create games for the Windows and Xbox 360 platforms.
- I chose to attend this event because of the fact that I am majoring in game development.
- At this event I learned some of the steps involved in creating a game with XNA Game Studio Express. Some of the stages include; concepting, planning, writing code, audio with XNA's X-ACT sound tool and graphics programming. I do plan to do more of these type of things because I find that meeting with industry leaders and hearing the details from them will be of great help with my future plans.
LAN Party (April 4)
- This was not the first LAN party I have been to, but everytime I hear LAN party, I have to go. LAN Parties are video gaming get-togethers where gamers compete with each other in the latest games on the market.
- Many LAN parties are centered around teams, which is a good way for people to learn to work together as a strong team to accomplish a goal. Plus, they are fun to compete in.
The Nuts & Bolts of Emailing (April 5)
- I attended this event to see if there was anything more that I could learn about emailing. Unfortunately, I didn't get any info that I did not already know. However, I would still recommend this type of event to someone else because the info that was given during the event did seem quite useful. I know that if I were someone who perhaps did not know anything about emailing, I'd be able to get a good start and improve from there, with the information provided at this event.
HTML with Style: Using CSS (April 12)
- I went to this event because that I knew that I did not know much about HTML with CSS (cascading style sheets). Before attending this event, I would still be able to identify a CSS if I saw one, but I could have told you nothing of how they worked. I've see them used often on sites such as www.myspace.com where they are used in profile pages to give them a specified theme.
- I would engage in another experience like this one because I learned a liitle bit more about CSS and how they work, so that's one more thing I'll know how to do once I continue to put time and effort into it.
500 Years ( I don't remember the exact title of the event) (April 15)
- I arrived late, but basically The 500 Years event was a video showing about slavery, and racism. In the presentation, people shared thier thoughts of what could be considered as racism, the trials and tribulations that African Americans went through during the days of slavery, and how many believe that racism still exists today's society.
Conclusion
Though most of the events that I attended were based around computers, if the future I do plan on going to other types of events as well. I'm really a PC Enthusiast, which is why I tend to take more intrest in computer-related topics. However, I know that great learning experiences are ones that cover more diverse topics, rather than just one central topic. So in my continuing studies at the University of Baltimore and beyond, I am willing to make broad-range learning my goal.
