No longer a “Touchy” Subject: WDIM Touchscreen is all systems GO!
Which "world" do you belong in?
Those of you on campus this past Wednesday may have noticed a glowing light outside room 216. Was it the brightness of Chappy’s smile?? A shimmering glint off Griff’s forehead? Nay- it was the TOUCHSCREEN! Up and running and fully operational!
The epic saga of the WDIM Touchscreen began long long ago, in a computer lab not-so-far away. It was built by the blood, sweat and tears of many students and the headaches of Dan Chapman and Bill Siebold (who battled with the AIPD tech ‘forces that be.’) Needless to say it was the lone Flash developer Earl Swigert (a.k.a. Flash Master Swiggy,) who was given the final task of eliminating the remaining Flash bugs. As I approached the screen I was stricken with fear of the dreaded “Error” pop up, but after some serious user testing by myself and Taylor Eke (pawing the screen like cats, rapid-clicking, admiring lightning-bolt fingers,) the touchscreen appears to be bug-free and runs great!
So here is where my role comes in. I get to tackle the job of uploading your beloved work samples to this beauty! In the past students were asked to submit thumbnails and descriptions for midterms and final projects, the intent being to add them to the touchcreen and also cement AIPD’s accreditation (providing proof we actually produce work in our department.) The only problem with those touchscreen “guidelines” was that a.) they were kind of a pain in the butt, and b.) not everyone *wanted* to submit work for the touchscreen (i.e. maybe it wasn’t the greatest work sample.) Well it is a new term now, so let me give you the key facts you need to know about the touchscreen in a segment I’ll call “the Touchscreen and YOU.”
The Touchscreen and YOU!
1.) All students will need to submit project assets as determined by their instructor. This means taking some screenshots, cropping them to specific sizes, writing two-line project summaries and checking some boxes. There are new guidelines for what to submit; it will NOT be the same requirements as in the past.
2.) I will come to your class to explain what the guidelines are! It will be clear. It will be easy. It won’t be a big deal. You will be able to ask questions.
3.) Submitting project assets will be MANDATORY, but you will not be signing your life away. All students will have to submit the project assets for the sake of department accreditation, but this does NOT GUARANTEE your work will be put on the touchscreen. If you create an awesome project that the department wants to display on the touchscreen, you will be contacted and asked if you consent to your work being shown. If you don’t want it up there for whatever reason no problem, it’s your call.
4.) YOU WANT YOUR WORK ON THE TOUCHSCREEN! The projects on there have a lot of eyes looking at them- having your work on display is great self promotion to other students, faculty, administrators and working professionals that pass through our school. The whole point of learning design and development is that your work will be displayed publicly on the web, so why wouldn’t you share it on the touchscreen? Not every project submitted will go on there but if you are proud of what you accomplished there’s a good chance it will. Consenting to have your work displayed is a smart move on all fronts.
I hope this post has cleared up some of your burning questions about the Touchsceen- now let’s get some new work on there so we can lightning-bolt tap to our hearts delight!
-Allyson Dutko
