CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FRANCISCO

BCST 119: Digital Media Skills

Spring 2022

Section 934/CRN: 30930 (Online Instruction)

Instructor: Michele Sieglitz

email: msieglit@ccsf.edu

Office Hours: Tuesdays 1-2pm by appointment

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

A hands-on overview of computer operations, equipment common to digital video and audio production, industry standard software, media storage, and manipulation of video and audio media with proper management of files.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:

Upon completion of this course, a student will be able to:

A. Apply basic knowledge of software and hardware commonly used in audio/video/multimedia production.

B. Move and edit media projects across platforms and between different software programs and convert to various formats.

C. Use foundational audio/video/multimedia production techniques as applied to creative media projects.

D. Explain issues and impacts of new technology in the broadcast industries.

COURSE ORGANIZATION:

Since this is an online course, there are no face to face meetings, unless requested by appointment with the instructor. Students will be expected to use their own computers and internet access from home in order to keep up with the course material and all efforts will be made to accommodate students who need additional technology.

The course is organized such that a new week will open at 9am (PDT) on Mondays with all required assigned work due the following Sunday at 11pm (PDT).

Each week will build from the next with one week open at a time.

Most weeks you will be assigned readings and other content within the modules of the course. Within the week are tasks that must be completed by the Sunday evening deadline, which will include a variety of quizzes, assignments and discussion forums.

It's best to start the habit now of opening the course early in the week and make note of all that is required. Then you have the rest of the week at various times to complete your tasks. It's very stressful to wait until Saturday evening to open the week when everything is due the next night.. So be sure to plan ahead and remember that the best way to have FUN in this class is to be prepared.

We will be using Canvas as the primary means of communicating as a class. If anyone has a problem with the material or would otherwise like any guidance, please feel free to schedule time to discuss by sending an email through Canvas and we can set up a Virtual Office Hour via Zoom. I look forward to a great semester together...

ONLINE COURSE INFORMATION:

This 12-week online course will open on Monday February 22, 2022 and close Friday May 25, 2022. Login and password information will be sent to student CCSF gmail accounts on that day (this account was opened automatically for you when you enrolled at CCSF). If you don't know your CCSF gmail account, you can find it in your Web4 account information here.

BCST 119 is offered on Canvas, CCSF's online learning software. To use Canvas, students must log in using their RAM ID. All students at CCSF have a RAM ID, but you must 'claim' it (activate it for the first time) before you can use Canvas. Here is a link with instructions about how to claim your RAM ID and how to log into Canvas.

If you have a problem with your RAM ID login, you can contact the ITS Helpdesk at 415-239-3711 or Toll-Free at 844-693-4357. If you have already claimed your RAM ID, here is the link to log in to Canvas. Remember, the course will not be available until the first day of instruction.

Once the course begins new content will be available to you each week. This is not a self-paced course, so you will be busy for the entire duration of the 12-week course. Students should allocate 6-8 hours/week in order to stay up to date. A new week will open on Monday morning and will stay open until the next Sunday evening at 11 pm. I encourage you to do the readings and assignments early in the week, so that you don't run out of time when things are due on Sundays.

WAIT-LIST/ADDS/DROPS:

If there is no room in the course you may request to add the course. The CCSF website describes how to request to add a course. If you are on the waitlist, please check your email frequently before and after the course start date. The registration app will send you notification that a seat is available for you, but you will have a limited time to add the course before the seat will be offered to the next student on the waitlist.

Once you are registered in the course, if you don't log in within the first two weeks of instruction and do some significant work, such as take a quiz, submit an assignment or participate in a discussion, I will have to DROP you from the course. Please get started as soon as you can!

COURSE CONTENT & ASSIGNMENTS:

BCST 119 "Digital Media Skills" consists of a series of 12 CANVAS MODULES that consist of readings, discussions, guided assignments, quizzes and exams to be done on your own computer for the online version of the course.

There will be a discussion forums, quizzes and assignments every week. The assignments are usually quite practical, and they include Editing HTML code for a web page; Editing and Compositing digital images for a Graphics Assignment; Editing a Soundscape; Recording, Acquiring online footage and Editing a Short Video.

Since this is a fully online course, you will need to have access to your computer throughout the week to do readings, assignments and quizzes. Your computer can be a Mac or a PC, but you must have an up-to-date operating system and web browser. (Tablets or mobile device are not sufficient to do the assignments for this course, although they might be useful to read the optional PDF textbook).

Some assignments will require that you download and install recommended software on your computer (such as an image editor, audio editor or video editor software). In most cases I recommend industry standard applications, but I also recommend a free alternative for you to consider.

CCSF does not provide free software and it'll be up to you to download and install the apps you decide to use.

DSPS: If you need disability related accommodation, you may contact Disabled Student Program and Services (DSPS). Students with disabilities who need academic accommodations should request them from the Disabled Students Programs and Services (DSPS) located in the Rosenberg Library, Room 323, 50 Frida Kahlo Way on the Ocean Campus. Telephone: 415-452-5481 (V) 415-452-5451 (TDD).

REQUIRED HARDWARE & SOFTWARE:

You will need regular access to a personal computer every week for several hours to do the assignments for this course. Tablets and phones will not be adequate to do the assignments for this course. If you don't have regular access to a Mac or PC computer, you won't be able to keep up and complete the assignments so please be sure to reach out to me in advance of the semester if you have any technology questions or concerns.

Audio and video production is pretty demanding on your computer, so you will want to be using computer hardware that will be able to do the job. Most personal computers these days are either 'Macs' (made by Apple, running the Apple operating system called OSX) or 'PCs' (made by many different manufacturers, usually running a version of Microsoft's Windows operating system).

We will generally be using computer software that is included with your computer when you buy it, or available for free on the internet. To be on the safe side, your computer should probably be no more than three or four years old so that it can run these applications without problems.

We'll learn more about hardware and software in this course, but here is a recommendation for the minimum that you'll need to complete this course. Additional software recommendations will be made during the course.

PC

Hardware: Desktop or laptop computer with dual core or quad core processor, and Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, 8 or 10.

Software: Notepad, Internet browser: Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Windows Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Audacity (free audio editing software), Adobe Creative Cloud (available for $39 for the semester)

Mac

Hardware: Mac Pro, MacBook, Mac mini, iMac using Apple OSX v. 10.5, 10.6, 10.7, 10.8 or 10.9

Software

Internet browser: Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Audacity (free audio editing software), GarageBand, iMovie.

ADDITIONAL SUPPLIES: flash drive (16-64GB) or USB 3.0 drive (optional), headphones with a 1/8” jack.

GRADING BREAKDOWN:

Canvas Discussions/Participation: 25

HTML Project: 25

Dream System: 25

Graphics Assignment: 50

Audio Editing Assignment: 50

Video Editing Assignment: 75

Midterm: 75

Final Exam: 75

Quizzes: 100

TOTAL POSSIBLE: 500 pts.

Grading Scale: 450 + = A / 400 to 449 = B / 350 to 399 = C / 300 to 349 = D / Less than 300 = F