DS106 has been a very interesting course. I enrolled the course with no real preconception of what it would contain, and maybe that’s the best way to take this course.  It’s not for everybody, I would assume, and there were parts of the class that I enjoyed (mash-ups) more than others (radio show). That’s going to happen though, you can’t please everybody all of the time.

I couldn’t really decide what I wanted to do for my final project, so I went with indecisiveness, and ended up doing a whole slew of assignments from ds106.us. This turned out to be pretty fun, and gave me an excuse to do some photoshopping and general image editing/design for longer than what was originally set for the course. I also exerted some creativity in making up a few assignments, which really was harder than it might sound. I think my combined contribution through all of my completed and submitted assignments was substantial, although I will admit that I wish I had more time available to put towards this section of the course.

My favorite assignment had to be the last assignment we were given, which was to create a mash-up. I got to work with a large (interesting) data set, JavaScript (I’m a Computer Science Major), and visualizations (who doesn’t like them), and this really made me regret my choice of final project. For the time allotted, I think I did an okay job, but I really would’ve liked to put more effort into it. If I had even thought of doing a data mash-up earlier in the semester, then that’s probably what I would’ve done for my final project.

Really, in typing this “final reflections” post up in WordPress, I get the feeling that this is probably the most dull and inappropriate way to sum up this class. A blog post. And I guess that sums up what I’ve learned from this class. It doesn’t take much to tell a story well. Know your tools, and use them as needed. (cue explosions, zombies, and crazy sound effects)

Oh, and seriously, Martha Burtis & Jim Groom put a lot of effort into this class, in a way that is unheard of in most other courses.