tech tip cheezburger

Source: Cheezburger

Time Strategies

While I'm not the best at time management (far from it actually), I have been debating it over my head in how I should manage my schedules for this module and being able to complete my tasks. for now I've decided to dedicate myself for at least 2 hours each day and if I don't have any busy times I will put more hours into working on my tasks. In addition there are also the extra credits options to consider when having free time to work on.

A brainstorm chart of time management
Source:Flickr

One of the provided example articles I have read regarding Time management is "11 Ways Unsuccessful People Mismanage Their Time" by Áine Cain. The article goes on to describe the importance of making and planning schedules and importantly, the effects of what happens if you don't plan or at least keep up with a schedule. One of the points mentioned in the article is that it's easy to get distracted and I feel that applies to me as well as I sometimes constantly look around as an example. It's similar to procrastinating in a way which is also mentioned in the list. One of the suggested strategies in dealing with procrastination is to find some form of motivation to help get the task done. Quite often time managing problems usually involve failing to get the task done, but sometimes it involves doing too much work to the point that you would get too stressed to deal with the following task. Most importantly in this article, it mentions on how its important to set goals and deadlines in order to make sure the task is going at a steady pace.
I've read one more article and it's called "Realistic Study Plans" by Amanda Collins. This article discusses about how to manage your time some recommended solutions on how to organize a study schedule. The first step mentioned is about how you go about your daily routine while the next step discusses about how to slot in your study plans. After that, it talks about how long these study plans should take. Some example shown in the article would say "Research (4 hours), Write essay plan (2 hours),  write introduction (1 hour)" and etc. After fulfilling those tasks, they should be marked with a tick to show that it has been complete. Sometimes it is recommended to use a study planner put somewhere where you know you'll see it.

Class Tools and Technology

The technology tools provided to me for this course is vast. For starters there is blogging which is what I'm currently doing for this module along with my classmates. From my perspective, blogging is a simple way of keeping notes of progress and to make sure I remember what I'm doing, like writing a diary but also sharing said information with others that are subscribed to the blog.

Bookmarking is a simple process of just saving a website you like. Perhaps the easiest method of research so you won't have to keep looking for the specific website.

Social media tools
Source: Pixabay

Image editing is like a free photoshop but is mainly used for cropping. It usually comes free and installed in most if not all devices that can take photos or screenshots. For me, this feature is useful if there is a lot in the image and I want to show a particular detail of the image.
I feel the online environment compared to other classes go by a different pacing that I'm getting used to.
Unity is the app that I'll be using throughout the module, in particular I'll be using Unity 3D in which I'll be making an interactive game by the end of the module. Details about the game in question will be updated later.

Class Assignments

The class assignments in this module are starting to become more interesting as the weeks go on compared to the rest of the digital media course. Firstly, there is neither an exam or continuous assessments that have a long duration. Instead, there is a ordered schedule of a list of tasks to do along with tutorials on unity that go on every week in which usually ends with blogging. These tasks are usually short with a timer that usually suggests the recommended time needed to spend on such tasks.
There is also the extra credit assignments that is there for the main purpose for students who might have missed out on their deadline for their blog posts or can be used as an alternative way to learn more about the tasks. The extra credit tasks would include work like tech tasks for tools, wikipedia trials for research, Growth Mindset for those that are interested, H.E.A.R.T. which stands for health/happiness, empathy, attention, reading and time and then there's extra commenting for more sociable students to read blogs and comment on each others work.
Personally if there is an extra credit assignment I were to take, I wouldn't mind taking on the tech task and I'll be sure to check out the Growth Mindset but I'll have to wait and see just in case I end up with a change of plans.
Right now what intrigues me the most is getting to work on unity and seeing what I can do with it. I'm interested in knowing just how much stuff I can put into my game in unity.

Growth Mindset

I've recently learned of Growth Mindset, researched by Carol Dweck. The research focuses on what goes on in the mindset of students. I feel like this would have some relevance to me as well as the majority of students in general. Dwecks studies display that students are a bit much in the comfort zone in which they get praise for very easy tasks and she adds on that students should strive for a challenge as the new comfort zone in which they can feel better when they get challenging achievements.
When it comes to learning new things, it takes me a while to adapt to them and sometimes even the easy ones too. I often wonder if my learning difficulties have any connections to wether or not that I have been getting praise for some of the easier bits of work and if so, I hope this course will help me understand the challenging tasks better. I may not be so great when it comes to a challenging task but I would still want to try it if necessary and if I get help for doing so, I would prefer not to get much praise for finishing the task.
I'm sure that throughout the current year I will be learning more about Growth Mindset and learn more about what makes a challenging task challenging.
My personal goal in this year is to be able to see what its like for a game designer working on unity from a basic level and if it goes well for me, then I will consider looking for a career involving game design.
A sample of using Growth Mindset in video games would be something like a difficulty setting in which the playing on easy mode would feel like a walk in the park for a number of people. Generally people choosing this mode would be either people who haven't had much experience playing video games or just wants to experience the flow of the progression in a simple manner. Then there are those who choose a higher difficulty, mainly people who want their comfort zone to be challenging and feel like they've accomplished something worth the praise they've desired.

Relentless Fortitude (@RelentlessFort1), "Tweet message", 27th September 2019,  3:28 am 

Introduction and about me

I am Brendan McIntyre. I am a second year Creative Digital Media student at Technological University Dublin (T.U.D.) in Blanchardstown. My time spent there has been an eventful experience in a way. 

I plan to spend a few more years than the intended amount in my course so I will be able to finish my modules in a hopefully efficient way. By the end of the course, I hope to work at a company revolving around game design or animation though that goal might change depending on further experience in the course. So far my recent achievement from last year was working with a group to create a graphic novel using images, PhotoShop, Cartoonizer and InDesign to make the novel.

Outside college, my hobbies involve going on walks or runs around my local area with a bit of archery during the weekend though my favorite hobby is mainly my passion for gaming. 

As mentioned before, my favorite game was Monster Hunter World and I'd like to expand on that topic for a bit. My enjoyment for the Monster Hunter series began when Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate was released on the Nintendo 3DS and Wii-U and my experience through the series grew when Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate and Generations/Ultimate had added a lot more content. When I bought Monster Hunter World on the PlayStation 4, it felt like a big change in my experience in a good way as most of the gameplay felt a lot more refined and fresher (don't worry I still like the previous games just as much). Other than Monster Hunter, other series that I've enjoyed were games like Dark Souls, Fire Emblem, Super Smash Bros, Mario, Zelda and I could go on and on.

An image of Dark Souls created by From Software and published by Namco Bandai, 2011 with a remaster in 2018.
Image Source: Flickr

If there was any other hobbies I would like to do, it would be something like learning to improve my drawing skills in which the Creative Digital Media course is helping me do.

I hope this brief introduction gave you a general idea about who I am.

Favorite Game

Monster Hunter World by Capcom co. LTD 2018
Source: Monster Hunter World official website
Image source: Flickr

Currently my favorite game out there is Monster Hunter World. It is a simple game where you play as a hunter and go out into the wild and hunt monsters as the name implies and use their parts to create weapons and armor to become a stronger hunter. You can choose to hunt alone or with a group of three other players using up to fourteen weapon types with unique properties. My enjoyment of this game has only been getting higher since the recent release of its expansion "Monster Hunter World: Iceborne" in which there has been a huge increase of an already large existing amount of content.