Jen Swain's Learning Report

My Thoughts


This whole process was a bit of a struggle for me. There were many obstacles that I personally had to overcome and that we as team had to overcome. I learned alot from this project and if I had to do it over again, there are alot of things I would have probably changed.

I have never had the opportunity to work with a team on a project in any other classes before, so this experience was brand new for me. I think this became a bit of an obstacle for everyone in the team because we were all used to working on things individually and at our own pace. At the beginning of this project our communication as a group was lacking which caused a separation of team members. I believe that this lack of communication was due to the small amount of time we actually had to work together as a team in class. Most of the time in class was devoted to lecture, instead of working with the team. In order to make up for lost class time with working with the group we kept in communication outside of class through various types of communication. We called each other, emailed, instant messaged, used NSCC discussion groups and Google groups.

Everyone on the team had different levels of experience with web design. A few members on my team had already been working in the field so they were more familiar with this whole process. I didn't have nearly the experience that they did, which made me feel like an underdog throughout this whole project. I felt somewhat lost and out of my element because of my lack of experience. I knew that I didn't know as much as they did about web design so I let them take the lead, while I maintained a supporting role.

Our websites were designed utilizing CSS which I didn't have alot of experience with from past courses. Sitebuilding 1 barely touched on the subject and I don't remember Beginning HTML discussing it at all. Everything I had learned before was based on tables and not CSS. Becase of this relatively new structure, I found myself doing alot of reading and research on my own throughout this whole process. Along with taking the Capstone class, I was also taking Sitebuilding 2 - which in the end, ended up giving me a better understanding of CSS. Now at the end of the semester, I am very familiar with CSS and feel confident in using this language.

Knowing everything that I know now, I would have approached this whole project differently and with a more positive attitude. Now that this semester is over and both projects are completed, I feel confident in my skills as a designer and know that I would be able to take on a project of this level on my own. Overall, I feel that this class and the projects were a success for me. I have learned to work as a team with people of different skill sets towards a common goal. After this class I am able to identify my strengths and weaknesses as a designer and coder. I am able to identify what I need to spend more time on and what I need to improve on. I know what resources are available and where I can go for inspiration and help.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I feel that the that the Capstone class was very beneficial to my education. It allowed me to demonstrate the skills that I have gained over the past 3 years at NSCC. This program has given me the capability to answer the two following questions:


1.) Why do I feel like I am ready to graduate from NSCC?
I feel that I am ready to graduate because I learned everything that I know about web design from NSCC. I came in to this program knowing absolutely nothing about sitebuilding and design. After 3 years of hard work and dedication, I know that I have gained enough knowledge in order to take on a job as a designer. I feel confident that I have gained the skills needed in order graduate and complete my degree in Visual Communication. The knowledge I have gained from this program has also allowed me attain my first job as a designer. For the last 6 months I have been working in the field as a graphic designer for BrandCentrik, a local promotional products company. I believe this is proves that I am ready to graduate.

2.) What value am I bringing to the workplace?
I belive that I can bring alot of value to the workplace. I have experience working with programs such as: Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver and Flash. I also have experience in HTML and CSS. I am a very dedicated and hard worker, always trying to improve my skills and extend my knowledge in web and graphic design. I have experience working with a team towards a common goal. I have also learned how to work under a deadline and manage my time effectively.