Hello, World!

This is my very first post, on my very first blog.  It seems like enrolling into UPOU had the interesting result of pushing me to try out a lot of new things.  Less than a month as a distance education student and I'm already meeting people, learning new skills, struggling to wrap my head around readings, and getting intimidated by the sternness of my Profs.  It's college all over again, without the commute!

MMS 100: What is Multimedia? isn't what I expected.  I expected a brief introduction and a series of examples throughout history, but the lessons really went into depth about the origins of multimedia.  It was interesting to learn that cave paintings and elaborate opera pieces could be considered multimedia, by definition.  Even as a person with a background in Fine Arts, I was surprised to learn that interactive installations where exhibited as early as the 60's with Jean Tinguely's Homage to New York and Robert Roschenberg's Soundings.

But what surprised me most was how wide this course's coverage actually was. The online class even covered the different fields concerning computers and how to distinguish one from the other.  It was a very interesting read.  I was never very good at academics but after two and a half weeks of getting into the habit of doing my readings, I found myself at least retaining the key terms and definitions laid out in the course.

I managed to score high after two attempts at the first quiz. If memory serves me right, I had two mistakes during my first attempt and no mistakes during my second.  All that kept me from getting a perfect score was me not realizing that a certain item had four correct answers and I only checked three.  I really hope this doesn't happen again, should there come a time when the difference between a pass an a failure is a single point.  Prof. Al seems strict, but fair.  I do appreciate that he words the lesson modules like he's doing a lecture; structured, but with a comfortable casual air that doesn't confuse the reader with an overuse of jargon.  Perhaps that's why I find his modules to be the easiest to understand in spite of how wide their coverage is.

Overall, the short time I've spent studying this course has been interesting and enjoyable.  I hope to learn more in the future and I'm looking forward to the days ahead!