CNG CA2 Paper

SC8123 - Creating New Media Genres (CNG) Continual Assessment (CA) 2

Case Study: The First Choice of All Future Writers In Singapore

An Engaging and Unique Learning Experience for DTVM Students

A Concept Paper Written By: Simon Koh (0921585) Lim Ee Seuu (0921671) Nur Sulyanna Sumali (0921910) Ynex Lee (0921767) Jared Tan (0950613) Elynur Saad (0962245)

DTVM/FT/3A/02 Date of Submission:

15 July 2011

The following proposal contains original ideas, recommendations and other intellectual compositions that constitute the intellectual properties of Singapore Polytechnic, DTVM. These cannot be copied, imitated or used in any way without prior contractual agreement with Singapore Polytechnic, DTVM. All rights are reserved whether or not this proposal is accepted in full or part.

Table of Contents

Concept Paper - Page 3-9

Introduction/Background - Page 3

Empathy and Deep User Understanding - Page 3-8

Concept Visualization - Page 8-11

New Media Genre For Target Audience - Page 11-12 Conclusion - Page 13

1: Introduction / Background
The main purpose of this project is to find out how to create an engaging and unique learning experience for Diploma in Creative Writing for Television and New Media (DTVM) students in Singapore Polytechnic (SP). This project aims to promote DTVM as the first choice for all future writers for Singapore.

Currently, SP uses an online portal, BlackBoard Academic Suite, to provide information on the modules students are having each semester. There are tutorials, lectures and activity based lessons to reach out to students of various learning styles. There are also occasional appearances by media industry practitioners to give a deeper insight into their fields.

For Year Three, there is also an On-Location Production module, which allows students to experience real-life production in a foreign environment. They have to apply all that they have learnt in the past three years (scripting, camerawork etc.) and plan and execute it to their best ability. The greater challenge is adapting to changes and the environment, as they have to overcome the language barrier issue and work within a tight time frame.

Our potential stakeholders consist of: - Current DTVM students - Potential DTVM students - Ex DTVM students - Parents of DTVM students - Current DMC students - Current DADP students - Lecturers - Technical support officer

====''' 2. Empathy and Deep User Understanding ' After coming up with our list of potential stakeholders, we then proceeded to conduct interviews with various individuals who fit our target audience, which included: ''' - DTVM students (Year two and three) - Media and Communication (DMC) students (Year three) - Applied Drama and psychology (DADP) students (Year two and three) - Lecturers (DTVM and DMC)

For the purpose of this project, we utilized an informal style of interviewing in order to obtain more genuine and anecdote-based answers that were more personal and honest. The full list of interviews can be found in the interview transcripts section of this concept paper on page ___. Based on the information that we collected from the interviews, we gathered the following information and clustered them under the five themes of identity, emotional, social, academics, communication and physical:====================

''' IDENTITY '''- “I am Self-motivated…I like to work hard in order to achieve a good GPA. - “I have a positive outlook in life.” - “I want to be busy.” - “I Will go to school only if there's something new to be learnt that can't be learnt at home” - “I am motivated by the prospect of going to a good university.” - “I Love everything about DTVM and CASS, the people, the lessons, the environment, even the “colorful, attractive walls” in CASS.” - “I prefer to have more than just one location for learning. - “I read e-books on her Samsung touchscreen mobile phone during breaks to fill up the time.” - “I love to read, write, dance, blog, arts and craft, and photography. - “I prefer creative work, like stella’s class.” -“I am a workaholic…I need to be efficient or I’ll feel lost.” -“ I would actually try to use Korean dramas to teach and conduct lessons as in, mix in one or two Korean dramas into the wide spectrum of English dramas we have there so as to get everyone’s attention, from Korean drama lovers and English show lovers alike.” - “I work hard because I do not want to waste my parent's money.” - “I want to publish a book in the next two years.” - “I am motivated by the knowledge that what she learns is going to have a positive impact on others in the future.” - “I believe that passion and interest are things that can be developed” - “I like writing about things that I know, like a group of girlfriends going through problems together. Something like The Sisterhood of The Travelling Pants.” - “I also like writing about diplomatic ties for the countries within my new world.” - “I often think about the Meaning of Life, as all I would do in this lifetime would encompass around what I interpret my life to mean.” - “To me, my friends and family are my life and I hope never to make a single enemy when I live.”

EMOTIONAL - “I am Calm and composed” - “I Handles stress well” - “I never give up.” - “I am learning how to get through every day without losing my sanity.” - “Family is important to me.” - “I feels that goal in life need to be clear.“ - “Vulnerable to many things because my thinking is rather naïve.” - “I am stubborn, and don’t like to be told what to do” - “I will cry over things like Syria protests, quarrels with my boyfriend and also animes like Ano Hana.” - “I am not happy with the current curriculum that her course currently provides…I feel that it is too imbalanced.” - “I feel that DTVM is stressful especially near deadlines” - “I don’t see a point in getting angry or upset over people, as in, just do your best and what you cannot control, you don’t take a knife and go through it or anything.”  SOCIAL 

- “I feel that teachers are essential to providing a conducive learning environment, and play a big part in how motivated they are to do work.” - “I want a 'movies-in-demand' entertainment station where students can watch a movie in groups during long breaks (probably at the Underground DTVM Clubroom)” - “I am quarreling with my boyfriend occupies my mind for the rest of my day and affects my mood completely, which renders me unable to do anything else sometimes.” - “Although I may not agree with the ideas my teammates have, I will go along with the majority decision.” - “My best friend always keeps me in check and prevents me from going insane. I wish I could meet up with him more often.” - “SP BP Mentoring camp and mentoring sessions that I frequent once a week cause it’s fun bonding with my CCA friends.” - “I want to collaborate with classmates in the future.” - “I likes hanging out with classmates.” - “Friendships are important to me.” - “Problems with group members, and project work, and sometimes people may be challenging. It hasn’t been easy.” - “People have told her that I write well.” - “I Don't like that course is project-based and assignment deadlines tend to get crammed towards the end of a term together.”

''' ACADEMICS '''- “I Sometimes feel that the foundation we had in the first year of the course was not solid enough and perhaps this is why some, or at least me are struggling with some of our story ideas.” - “I Feel that DTVM is clear in the sense that we're creating writers, content producers etc instead of DMC which is too broad based.” - “Grades are also a problem because I’m constantly thinking of how to make my grades better and getting demoralized by others who don’t seem to put in effort but end up doing much better than me. Also getting good grades puts a lot of pressure on me.” - “Academics matter to me a lot because it plays a role in where I will move on to in the next step I take in life. Other than that, academics affects me a lot because I give my all when doing my work, so that I can able to take pride in it. That usually entails spending lots of time with my work, which takes a toll on my sleep and spending less time with family and friends.” - “I hope one day to publish my story, and what better way to develop it tan temper it through fire.” - “I had to write a romance story with my group for the module Drama & Sitcom even though I don't like writing romance genres.” - “Sometimes my classmates and I feel restraint due to the supposed genre we are doing and sometimes find it irrelevant and redundant.”

COMMUNICATION - “I wants to possess basic knowledge in media-related software (photoshop, dreamweaver) so that she can rely on herself if there is a need for it in the future.” - “I want good equipment that is up to date with industry” - “I feel that it’s awesome that we have iMacs, otherwise we won’t be ‘suaku’ Singaporeans who never use Apple stuff before.” ' PHYSICAL - “I am often not at home, usually in school doing work or out recovering from stress of school work.” - “I believe that the environment you work in is a factor in how efficient one works.”

Creating our fictional persona, Ringo, and listing down his unmet needs.

After compiling the information, we then selected certain traits that were either interesting or common among our stakeholders, and then proceeded to create a fictional persona; the following page is the profile page of Ringo, a fictional 3rd year DTVM student who we feel essentially embodies the spirit of the average DTVM student.

From our discussions, we analyzed our created persona of Ringo and finally decided to focus on one particular unmet need: '''My foundation in year one is not strong enough. '''We feel that a good foundation is of utmost importance, as knowing the fundamentals are more or less compulsory in literally any profession, and not having a good grasp on them will have a direct effect on one’s learning experience due to the fact that some modules in the second and third year utilize the techniques and theories that students learn in their first year. With that, we moved on to the next step of the business design process: concept visualization, to delve further into the problem.

3. Concept Visualization
' Creating seven different themes to delve further into our unmet need. ====

'''With our unmet need chosen, we now had to break it down and examine it even further in order to produce the most specific and clearly defined idea possible. For the concept visualization aspect of the business design process, we proceeded came up with seven different themes that could potentially account for why a student would have a weak foundation in their first year, and proceeded to suggest a number of changes to each of them in order to create a more conducive DTVM learning experience. Listed below are the seven themes and the respective changes that we suggested for them:   Lecturers ''' Based on our interviews, we found out that most students agree that lecturers play a big part in shaping their attitude towards school work, and therefore a capable staff is key to creating a conducive DTVM learning experience. Listed below are some measures that can be implemented to ensure optimum efficiency from lecturers:

- Hire more lecturers. - Fire ineffective lecturers. - Regularly conduct one-on-one feedback sessions. - Reinstate Christopher Gill as a lecturer in Singapore Polytechnic. - Make the PTN of a class more involved in their student’s school life. - Make lecturers intervene when students do not contribute during group work. - Lecturers do not assign groups and allow students to choose their group members.

''' Learning Environment ''' In addition to lecturers, many students also agree that the learning environment is another big factor that affects their work efficiency. Below are a number of measures that would help create an optimally conducive place environment for students to work in:

- Abolish 8am classes. - Reduce the size of classes. - Organize a DTVM bonding camp. - Construct a DTVM room clubroom. - Provide refreshments during lessons. - Organize more overseas learning trips. - Hold some lectures in mass lecture halls. - Allow student to work with the other class. - Do not hold classes during the MST week. - Allow seniors to sit in during junior’s classes. - Abolish one hour breaks during lectures / tutorials. - Hold overnight study camps during major projects. - Implement a timeslot system during project consultations. - Reward Incentives to students who perform well academically. - Organize excursions to the beach to scream out loud and de-stress. - Issue keycards to students to allow access to classrooms at all times. - Ensure that students get to try out every production role at least once. - Reduce the curriculum to allow more free days for filming and projects. - Do not end classes during the lunchtime of other courses (1pm – 2pm).

''' Students ''' Classmates are an important part of a student’s academic life, and one must be surrounded a group of supportive peers in order to work at their most optimal. Below are a few measures that will ensure that students will always be around a good community of peers that will challenge them to do their best:

- Conduct regular peer evaluations. - Occasionally switch students in classes. - Make academically strong seniors tutor juniors. - Make academically strong students tutor weaker classmates. - Expel students who repeatedly do not perform up to standard. - Make good examples of work from seniors available to juniors to draw inspiration.

''' Syllabus ''' Even with a capable staff and conducive learning environment, everything will be for naught if students are not interested in class. Below are a few measures that will fine tune the current syllabus and ensure that the academic life of students will be both relevant and engaging:

- Abolish GEMS. - Hold more exams. - Give students homework. - Hold inter-class competitions. - Provide more filming projects. - Hold more discussions during class. - Conduct more activity-based classes. - Hold more “Gamar games” in classes. - Make note taking in class compulsory. - Implement physical education classes. - Do not teach any software in year one. - Hold more tests and give fewer projects. - Provide students with real client projects - Implement fewer modules in the syllabus. - Hold more Impromptu presentations in class. - Conduct regular movie and TV show critique sessions. '''- Implement Stella Wee’s late coming punishment system for all modules. - Allow students to experience the industry through more frequent internships.   Equipment and Software ''' DTVM students are a very tech savvy group of individuals who will greatly benefit from access to the latest equipment and media related software. Below are some suggestions regarding equipment and software that ensure that students will produce the highest possible standard of work: - Purchase more equipment. - Allow easier access to equipment. - Construct another creative media suite. - Allow easier access to media related software.

Access to Information

Currently, it is very hard for students to obtain lesson content from their past modules, and if they did not take notes down during that semester, they more or less do not have any resources to revise with. Below are a few measures that will enable students to easily gain access to content from past modules:

- Lecturers post video tutorials online. - Use social media and hold online courses. - Create a DTVM iphone / Android application. - Occasionally hold refresher classes for seniors. - Organize workshops held by industry professionals. - Open the creative media suite for DTVM students to use. - Use Skype to hold online one on one consultation with lecturers. - Create A DTVM portal where students can upload their stories and seek help.

''' Feedback Sessions ''' Students sometimes feel that they don’t have the means to voice their feedback regarding various matters of school life. Below are some measures that will give students a platform to communicate with the school, so that together they can create the best possible academic experience:

- Have students rate every lesson - Frequently hold feedback sessions. - Conduct tantrum-throwing sessions. - Hold one-on-one consultations every day after class. - Have industry experts give feedback on student’s works.

Among the seven themes that we have created, we decided to focus our efforts on the theme of '''Access to information. '''This is due to the fact that this particular theme will allow us to make the most immediate effect as compared to the other themes, which require slightly more time to implement (hiring of teachers, changing of syllabus, building of new rooms, etc). Now that we had selected a precise problem to tackle, the next step of the business design process was to come up with a new idea that would allow an easier access to information than what DTVM students currently have, and with that we finally came up with the DTVM Wiki, an user-centric online encyclopedia that will be fully explained in the next section of this paper.

4. NEW MEDIA GENRE FOR OUR TARGET AUDIENCE
The Harry Potter Wiki – 8,893 Pages and counting.

Before we present our idea, we would like to draw your attention to The Harry Potter Wiki (www.harrypotter.wikia.com). This website is an online database of all things Harry Potter, and it relies on the community itself to contribute to the creation of content. In a period of six years, the website has grown to include an impressive 8,889 pages, allowing users to search practically anything related to the series, from potions to patronus charms.

In the same vein as the Harry Potter Wiki, our idea centers around the concept of the DTVM Wiki - an online portal created for DTVM students, by DTVM students. This website will serve as a one stop online portal that will serve to answer any questions a DTVM student might ever have regarding the current syllabus.

The primary purpose of the DTVM Wiki is to serve as an online encyclopedia of sorts; containing pages for practically anything that DTVM students are taught in class (Mise En Scene, Newsworthiness, Dreamweaver, etc). Therefore when a DTVM student is unsure about anything, he/she can simply log into the DTVM Wiki to use as a credible reference and clarify their doubts.

In addition to providing the general information of DTVM related subjects, the DTVM Wiki will also allow lecturers to post additional information that they may not have had time to cover in class. Video tutorials on more hands-on subjects such as camerawork can also be posted on their respective pages, and lecturers can even post links to other websites for further reading on the subject.

The DTVM Wiki will also serve as a platform for DTVM students to showcase their works, as good examples of projects can be posted on the site so that DTVM juniors can view them as a frame of reference or source of inspiration for their own projects. Also, DTVM students can post their personal works on the DTVM Wiki in order to receive constructive feedback in a controlled and supportive environment that consists only of a community of their peers.

Lastly, the DTVM Wiki will allow DTVM lecturers to share various documents such as lesson slides and CA briefs in one convenient online location, much like a more effective form of the blackboard system that students currently use. The portal will also have a live chat function, as well as blog posting and question asking sections readily available in their features, and this will give DTVM students from every year a platform to interact with one another, therefore increasing the cohesiveness of the course as a whole.

Unlike the Harry Potter Wiki which is made available for viewing to the public, privacy settings will be implemented so that only DTVM students, alumni and lecturers will be allowed to use the DTVM Wiki, and much like Wikipedia the content in the website can be edited by anyone who has access to it. With this feature, the website will require little maintenance as content will regularly be added by the annually increasing community of users, and will grow organically into a database full of DTVM related content over time.

With the ease of editing articles in the DTVM Wiki, there will always be the concern of students abusing this privilege and vandalizing the articles in the website. We believe that this potentially big problem can be easily solved by simply implementing an accountability system, so that students will leave an online signature every time they make changes to an article.

On a final note, the DTVM Wiki will be completely free to set up and maintain, and is therefore a 100% risk free undertaking that is more likely to succeed than fail due to its relevancy of the content and high level of user interactivity.

With the information presented above, we believe that the DTVM Wiki will fulfill the unmet need of not having a strong enough foundation in year one, as the website will provide students with an easily accessible database that contains everything a DTVM student would want to know in their syllabus. The various other features that the website offer not only make the DTVM Wiki an effective and interactive online encyclopedia, but also serves as an hub for the ever-growing community of DTVM students to challenge and interact with one another.

==== 5. CONCLUSION 

After intensive interviews with people closely related to the DTVM learning system, we unveiled with one glaring unmet need that if satisfied, would greatly enhance the learning experience and journey for future DTVM students.========

This unmet need stemmed from a current Year 2 student from DTVM, who feels that his foundation in Year 1 is not strong enough. As a result of this, he finds that his classmates and himself struggle with their story ideas in their current Year 2 modules. To counter this problem, our team came up with a solution – an online DTVM portal that all students and staff can tap into that consists of all the information relevant to DTVM, and much like a cloud computing system, all users can contribute and edit information.

The information provided in this portal includes featured works from all students, a forum-style module where students can upload their works and put it up for discussion by their peers. All the notes from classes will be condensed online for easy understanding, and lecturers can edit it as the syllabus changes. It will also include the latest updated Continual Assessment (CA) briefs. Students can also have a live chat session to share information and knowledge.

The entire system works on user-based input and each user will have an account to keep tabs on their input. This system is concentrated for only DTVM students, so only DTVM staff and students will gain access into it.