Our Masters of Digital Media program focuses heavily on real-world client work, and my particular group delivered a working beta of an Internet tutoriall for secondary students for our client, the Ottawa-based Media Awareness Network.
Our client had gained international recognition for work on a tutorial called Passport To The Internet, which was being used as a learning aid in Ontario elementary school classrooms. The not-for-profit MNet contracted us to build a companion game for high school students, specifically Grades Nine and 10. We had four months to take our clients content and design documents and transform them into a working online prototype.
This game/tutorial, formerly called Digital Decisions, is now called MyWorld.
My Role
I was the Project Manager and Client Lead for our team, which required working closely with a remotely based client via e-mail and Skype meetings, negotiating the scope and breadth of our deliverable, and then disseminating that to our team.
Because of our small group size and short schedule, it proved both challenging and rewarding to meet the ambitious milestones we set for ourselves. We worked closely with another student group, coLab, to employ design thinking into our planning and methodology, using white boards and sticky notes to determine what tasks need to be accomplished when and by whom.
And so my job ultimately was to guide and maintain the vision we agreed on with our clients, and to foster a collaborative environment where my team could thrive.
In addition, I played the part of homeroom teacher Mr. Billings for the Video Chat component of our game.
The Team
Nick Lewis, Ian McDonald, Jeunessa Cheng, Khadija Ghazi, Matthew Schade
Tools
Adobe Flash CS4 (AS3), Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Soundbooth, Word, Things