M00_02_DIG3521

Succeeding in the Course

[00:00:12.93] Hey, what's up, everybody. Welcome back to class. My name is Tim. And in this
class, in this video, in this sprint, we are going to go over succeeding in the course. What are the
steps? What's the recipe to succeeding?

[00:00:25.86] In previous tasks and videos, we talked about the welcome to the course and how
the course is structured with Agile Scrum, metaphors, and language. And then in the next one,
we're going to get to know each other a little bit with a little bit of history and bio of my
background. But for this video, for this task, let's talk about ways to succeed.

[00:00:47.07] All right, everybody. So how to use this course. Well, the first thing is you've got
to read the course syllabus. You got to make sure you know what you're in for. It's like
embarking on a project, but you never read the scope of the work. You're about to animate
something, but you never read the script. You're about to make a game, but you never read the
game design document that explained how many levels and the feel. And is it a 2D animated
platform sprite game? Or is it a 3D Mario 64?

[00:01:16.32] You got to read that syllabus. And that's going to help you figure out, OK, what's
the pipeline for this class, or what are ways that we're going to be assessed? Go through that.
Check it out. Make sure you're all good. Cross those Ts. Dot those eyes.

[00:01:29.43] And then I want to make sure you complete everything in this orientation. We've
got a lot of good stuff for you. You've got some software that you need to get familiar with. You
need to get some logins going. You need to make sure you do that in this orientation, or it's going
to be really hard to keep up throughout this class sprint.

[00:01:45.73] There are some great resources. There are some great resources. And just like in
project management, things happen, change occurs. You can have the best plan in the world, and
halfway through the project, something changes. You need to update it.

[00:01:58.75] And I want to make sure you all know that throughout this course, if things change
or happen in your life, that you've got some resources available for you and to you. So go check
out those resources that are here in our orientation module. They are great. And as always, you
can check out contact information, ways you can get in contact with us while going through this
course.

[00:02:17.74] So what's the workload and evaluation look like? Well, we talked a little bit about
this in the previous video with the way the class is laid out. And we had to explain that Agile
Scrum method. So let's just detail it here. So daily Scrum. Again, in project management, that
daily Scrum is where the team comes together. We huddle up every morning, and we talk about
what we did yesterday, what we want to do today, and what are some complications that could
stop us.
[00:02:43.92] Now for this class, I have a weekly discussion post I need you to do. So in that
sprint, look for that Scrum and make sure you write that post weekly. Now we do have some
points in the Scrum instructions for you. So every week may not be exactly the same.

[00:03:01.57] There may be times I need you to go and build this big chart in some software that
you do need to sign up for. Or I might ask you to go to a project management software and build
out some tasks for a project I give you. And then post all of those links on the discussion forum
or the Scrum. That will be an assessment point.

[00:03:20.01] Another assessment point or checkpoint is this weekly retrospective, that is an

individual weekly quiz, if you will. And a reminder, this weekly check point, you can take it as
many times as you want. It's just to show me that you've watched the material, and you are
learning.

[00:03:36.85] So if you screwed up, check the feedback I give you and do it again, do it again.
Do it till you get that 100. Easiest A you'll have. But you've got to keep up with it weekly. It's
just like in project management. Every week, we would come together, and we'd say, how did
the week go? Anything we need to improve? What were things we did really well? Let's
celebrate.

[00:03:56.37] All right, we also have something called the stakeholder/client delivery. We talked
about this. After every two sprints, two weeks of content, I'm going to quiz you. It's an official
quiz. That quiz is to be done on your own. We will have four quizzes throughout this class every
two weeks. And each quiz is only going to cover the two sprints before it. So sprint 1, sprint 2,
quiz. Sprint 3, sprint 4, quiz. You get what I'm saying?

[00:04:26.61] Now at some point we also have an exam. We have a midterm exam and a final
exam. Those are cumulative. The midterm will cover every sprint before it. And the final exam
will cover every single sprint in the entire class. And then finally, we have a final deliverable
called our project. Just like we talked about in the last video, around sprint 11, I'm going to let
you choose between three case studies, a game, an animation, or a digital production.

[00:04:51.27] At that point, you will pick which you want to plan for or what you want to do. Is
it a game, is it an animation or a production? Each student can pick a different one of those three.
Now based on which one you pick, you will then go and watch the corresponding videos for the
next sprint. So sprint 12, if you picked game, you will go watch the game videos. If you picked
animation, you'll watch the animation videos.

[00:05:15.22] And then in the next sprint, sprint 13, you will watch videos from another pipeline
you didn't pick and haven't watched yet. So if you did game in week 12, you can now choose if
you want to do digital production or if you want to do animation. Reminder, you are only doing
the final project on one of the three. You will learn all three pipelines, but you will only need to
deliver a project on one of the three.

[00:05:40.72] And that project, again, is not building anything. You're not building a video or an
animation. You are just turning in the production documents, the planning documents to me for
that final delivery project. And we'll talk more about that as we learn how to actually plan and
scope a project and how to fill out those documents and brainstorm and be creative and all that
good stuff.

[00:06:03.32] All right, here's the next one. Work smart. Work smart. As always, this can be or
seem daunting, can seem like a lot of work. But if you're consistent, you plan out your time well-
- When do I want to watch these videos? When do I want to do the tasks? When do I want to
check in on our daily Scrum, the discussion forum? And then when am I going to plan to do that
retrospective?

[00:06:27.61] If you start to plan out your work and manage it, just like a project manager would,
by putting your tasks in and making sure you're meeting your milestones, this is going to be
really, really simple and easy. Another way to work smarter and not harder is to start to identify
the things that you're interested in. Why are you here at Digital Worlds? Why are you a major?

[00:06:48.52] What drew you here? Is it games? The love of games? Is it the love of Pixar or
animation storytelling? Is it documentaries? Or is it the Steven Spielberg's of the world that
really drew you in? The Shawshank Redemption films that are just so compelling? What is it?

[00:07:04.84] Learn about those pipelines as we go along and apply the things you learn to those
pipelines. Reflect. Take the concepts that I give you, and in your mind, apply them to the field
that you are interested in. It's going to make it way easier.

[00:07:21.70] All right, other than that, look things up on your own. This is critical. And it's not
just critical for the class. You could literally watch everything, read the book, do your Scrums,
do your retrospectives, and then take your project delivery quizzes and midterms, and do
perfectly fine in this class. But what you really need to start developing and stretching and
working out that muscle is the ability to critically think, assess, and problem solve before you get
into the industry.

[00:07:54.61] Project management is not about just a prescribed recipe. This is how all games
are built. This is how all videos are built. This is how all animation-- that is complete garbage.
Every project is unique and has a unique approach and perspective to it. And every single project
is going to have a challenging moment that you need to critically problem solve and come up
with a new way of doing or thinking.

[00:08:23.90] And so the best way to learn and exercise that critical ability is by looking things
up on your own. When something doesn't make sense in the class-- let's say I explain something.
And I use a game example, but you don't know anything about games yet. So it doesn't make
sense, and you're an animator. OK, go take that and learn and apply it online and see if you can
fit it into a metaphor that makes sense to you.

[00:08:50.38] One of the best ways that learning psychologists have described and pedagogically
in the way we learn and assess is by taking in information and then spitting it back out. Reflect it
back. Maybe get into a study group with some of your peers here and teach it to them and use an
example that I didn't use in class.
[00:09:14.48] Apply it to a metaphor that makes sense to you and maybe something that's
different than what I gave. So if I give an animation example, try to come up with a game
example that you could apply that to. Look it up, critically assess, work in groups. These are the
things that are really going to prepare you for real-life experiences and the work field.

[00:09:35.80] So with all that said, how can you be successful? It's simple. Be steady. Be
consistent. Be aware and critically assessing and looking into information to expand your
learning, and just be open. Have an open mind. And who knows, you may turn and find yourself
having a love for project methods and management that you never thought you actually have.

[00:10:03.07] All right, everybody. That's it for me today. In the next video, we are going to get
to know each other a little bit better. I'll give you a little history of who I am and my work here at
Digital Worlds. And other than that, feel free to reach out to us. At any point, reflect back on
these videos if you need to watch them again.

[00:10:18.97] And as always, keep going. You're doing great. This is going to be an awesome
class. I'm super excited to get to know you all. All right, everybody, take it easy. Talk to you
soon.