Web and Digital Media Development

Below is a general summary of my studies in the Web and Digital Media Development (WDMD) major at UWSP.

WDMD 100- Creativity and the Arts

This course reflects on simple art and design concepts needed for digital media and web design. Basic art and design principles are introduced in digital mediums such as Photoshop and Illustrator. There is little or no coding in this course.

WDMD 250- Intro to Digital Media Creation

Students learn the basics behind Adobe Flash. Students learn the concepts of basic animation, ActionScript programming, and animation without using the main timeline. This is currently the second course that revolves around Object Oriented Programming (OOP) that new WDMD students are required to take. This course is now listed as WDMD 201 at UWSP.

WDMD 270- Web Design and Development I

Web Design and Development I gives a foundational introduction to XHTML and CSS. Students create basic web sites using Notepad and Adobe Dreamweaver. A brief overview of JavaScript is also introduced. This course is now listed as WDMD 210 at UWSP.

WDMD 305- Web Design and Development III

This course gives an introduction to PHP and MySQL. Throughout the semester, students will begin working on small projects to get the concepts of PHP. Further along the semester, homework assignments are added on to the current project to create an online inventory and management system. SHA encryption, session variables, sorting methods, database integration, and cookies are some of the concepts covered in the course. This course is now listed as WDMD 312 at UWSP and also spends time covering ASP.NET during the semester along with PHP.

WDMD 307- Multimedia Authoring

Multimedia Authoring continues to dive in the Flash and ActionScript 3.0 realm. This course focuses on web/desktop application development using Adobe Flex and AIR technologies. An inventory system is created that parses XML and uses APIs like Twitter that are integrated in the project. This course is now listed as WDMD 302 at UWSP and is constantly evolving.

WDMD 310- Digital Image Development

Digital Image Development gives students an introduction to photography principles including lighting, rule of thirds, apertures, and shutter speeds. Adobe Photoshop is used to edit and manipulate photos. Dodging, burning, curves, levels, and channels are covered in the Photoshop aspects of the course. This course is now listed as WDMD 202 at UWSP.

WDMD 311- Digital Audio and Video Production

Digital Audio and Video Production is aimed at integrating Flash with other forms of multimedia. Time is spent learning about Flash Media Server (FMS), creating chat and video programs with FMS, film concepts, editing with Adobe Premiere and Adobe SoundBooth, and creating an interactive project at the end of the semester. This course is now listed as WDMD 360 at UWSP.

WDMD 345- Advanced Digital Image Development

This course is a continuation of Digital Image Development where the course focuses more exclusively on color theory, Adobe Photoshop tools, and image creation for print and digital media. The course ends with taking knowledge of Photoshop and web design and creating a basic website. This course is now listed as WDMD 368 at UWSP.

WDMD 346- E-Commerce and Online Marketing

Focusing on the business side of web development, this course offered and introduced solutions for online marketing and promotion with little or no budget, creating a stronger web presence online, marketing research, and working with a client to make their site more marketable on the web. Case studies and ad campaigns were also part of the course.

WDMD 365- Digital Game Development

Digital Game Development revolves around advanced animation and interactivity in Flash blended with the development process of programming to create online interactive games. Students choose a game at random that they will be researching throughout the semester and re-creating a variation of the game using alternative themes and concepts.

WDMD 345 – Mobile Development and Adobe AIR

With the rise in demand for smart phones and mobile technology, this class is aimed at developing mobile applications and services using Adobe Flash and Flex with the AIR runtime. This class served as preparation for the new mobile development features in the Flash platform. Now, with Apple’s rejection of Flash, the class’ overall objective was to prepare and educate students on Android development, features available in HTML5 compared to Flash, open standards, geolocation, SQLite, and local marketing (to name a few).