My NMI Journey
The New Media Institute is an interdisciplinary academic unit dedicated to helping students explore all dimensions of emerging technology. The curriculum focuses on the constantly changing technology and media world and teaches students how to become more “Techknowledgeable”.
I started my journey with the NMI during my first semester of my junior year. As a student journalist, I know that my generation is the future of media. It was important to me to learn everything about future career field. The courses I have taken in the NMI have challenged me to fully understand new media technologies and how they can be used in the mass communications field. During my time thus far, I have had hands-on experiences in my classrooms and amazing networking opportunities. From emerging myself deep into the world of HTML, CSS, and WordPress, to learning about healthcare insurance, to exploring how Artificial Intelligence could change our world, I have acquired a great understanding of emerging media.
NMC Courses
New Media Production/Web Development
“Web Development provides a solid foundation of technical skills that students can build upon for the rest of their careers. Students learn how to design, develop, and code interactive web products that function effectively across multiple platforms and are introduced to front-end web development.”
Digital Brown Bag/New Media Industries
“New Media Industries is a weekly seminar that explores new media technologies, industry trends, and the secret to getting a J-O-B. Students are introduced to new media professionals who share their insights and experiences.”
Multiplatform Productions
“Students will be expected to merge basic journalism principles, reportorial and research skills, writing abilities, and production skill sets into a cohesive approach to the presentation of documented, objective, professional, well-researched news stories.”
Photojournalism
“Students will become proficient in the technical aspect of image creation and workflow production. They will be able to control focus and exposure, will understand composition and digital preparation, and will be able to write captions. Students will produce portraits, news, and feature photographs suitable for a mass audience.”
New Media Capstone
“New Media Capstone students work together to build a new media solution that addresses a specific client problem. Students call upon all of the skills gained throughout their certificate journey to develop, design, and debut these projects at the end of the semester.”
New Media Production Portfolio
Project Three:
WordPress News Site
Project Three:
WordPress Commerce Website
Final Project:
WordPress Client Site
Before this class, I had zero interest in learning how to code, but quickly this course turned into one of my favorite classes at UGA. Not only did I learn a numerous amount of new skills in HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, and WordPress, but I also developed an an obsession over maintaining my online portfolio.
While I was nervous coming into this class, it helped me find a new interest in designing and creating websites. I am proud of the skillset that I gained throughout the semester. It still impresses me to think back to the beginning of the semester when I have no coding experience to now where I feel confident in creating a web product.
I am most proud of the online portfolio that I have developed for myself. This website showcases my proudest works and also shows the web design skills that I have learned in this course. All of the projects that I completed in this class never felt like homework and I always looked forward to researching new ways to make my website modern and sophisticated.
Digital Brown Bag
The DBB was a weekly seminar that aided in my professional development and taught me all of the secrets about getting a JOB. Each week we had the opportunity to listen and network with professionals, all in the media industry. Many of these professionals were NMI alumni, so it was great to poke their brains and receive helpful advice. On a few of the weeks, I was lucky enough to listen to the amazing Megan Ward’s famous “Life 101” lessons. These lessons included the do’s and dont’s of credit cards and how to handle my health insurance.
Throughout this course we also completed professional development projects where I learned about my personality type, researched my digital identity, and obtained a google analytics certificate. Both the personality and digital identity projects allowed me to learn my strengths and weaknesses to develop a better understanding of myself. The certification taught me how to monitor and analyze the traffic on websites, a very useful skill in the digital media world. While this was not an intensely demanding course, it is clear to me that I was learning something new every week. I leave this class with so many new professional and life skills that I will carry with me into my future career.
Multiplatform Productions
This class counted towards both my journalism degree and my NMI certificate. In this class, we explored a variety of different ways of reporting. I got to spend the entire semester focusing and reporting on one story. This allowed me to deeply dive into one subject, UGA Baseball. Baseball does not get covered as frequently as other major sports, so my group took this chance to cover the popular baseball twin brothers, Cole and Connor Tate.
Not only did this class allow me learn more about baseball, but also develop my technical skills. I Not only did this class allow me to learn more about baseball, but also develop my technical skills. I have had experience with video editing in the past, but I got to refine my skills with FinalCut Pro with the news package on the brothers. Along with editing, I also gained more hands-on experience with interviews and writing stories. I am proud of all the work I have produced in this class relating to both journalism and new media.
Photojournalism
This course also counted for both my degree and my certificate. Starting as a novice behind the camera, this class helped me become more proficient in my photography skills. I learned about the mechanics of a camera, how to frame the subjects in my photos, the triangle exposure, workflow, and the rules of composition. After becoming well versed in essential camera skills, we learned how to take photos specifically in journalism. Attention to detail, communication, caption writing, and flexibility are just a few of the skills I gained. Telling a story through images is interesting and I look forward to working more with my camera in the future. After this course, I feel prepared to take my stories to new heights with my career in journalism.
New Media Capstone
Click on photo for a fully explanation on my semester long project.
