Media Technology UG2

Media Technology course aims at presenting the knowledge-based foundations to the digital media undergraduates. It covers:

• Image, Video and Audio acquisition, processing and compression
• Fundamentals of Light and Sound
• Digital information storage and Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) In the BCU module guide, three learning objectives should be fulfilled, which are:
• Demonstrate an understanding of the operating characteristic and applications of systems involving capture and processing of Image, audio and human-interaction.
• Explain the application of communication and networking in media processing and distribution systems including: how audio-visual information is transmitted on the internet.
• Present original analysis of technologies and markets from wide ranging research.

This course is different from most of “design courses” for it requires students to write a logical essay rather than use the learned knowledge to create a work (Video, Audio, Website and so on). However, the report’s topic is decided by students who should address a specific area related to video compression.

The Challenge

The students struggled not only because the essay should be written in English, but also the way to “create” their own essay. Usually, “art-based” students are trained think and create a work(artwork) subjectively. However, they are confused by presenting “objective” knowledge and are required to write an essay to address their own thinking.

Trained as an Interaction Designer, I reminded how effective and efficient the “card sorting” method is when we designers try to learning new information under unfamiliar conditions.

Usually, the card sorting is conducted between two people (one interviewer and on interviewee). In my previous experience, I found the essential part of card sorting is by asking and speaking out the thinking inside the brains. In my teaching activities (tutorial classes), I generated several questions based on the lecture contents and asked students to search answers after classes. The students are encouraged to ask their own questions and will receive additional credits when they proposed good questions.

From “Knowledge” to “Questions”

The courses include lectures, workshops and independent study. I used the workshops to guide the students to practice the learned knowledge (for example, shown the “Wagon Wheel Effect” by let them shoot a rotating wheel). However, I also help them formulate the questions based on their lectures. Students should use independent study as their own time to answer these questions and propose more valuable questions.

Here is an example from “Week1: Foundations of Digital Camera” to show how I “transfer” knowledge into questions

Lecture Covered

1. Visible Light Spectrum
2. Additive(light) vs Subtractive(paint)
3. Blackbody Radiation and Color temperature
4. Digital image sensors
5. CMOS vs CCD
6. RAW format
7. Aliasing
8. Moiré pattern
9. Rolling Shutter
10. Wagon Wheel Effect
11. Partial Exposure

Questions assigned to Students

1. What is light?
2. What are the differences between RGB and CMYK?
3. What does a color filter do?
4. What are the different between Full Frame Camera and APS-C camera?
5. What is bit depth?
6. What are the differences between 8-bit and 16-bitWhat is crop factor?
7. What is crop factor?
8. Which one of CCDs and CMOS sensors is using “rolling shutter”?
9. Why there will be a wagon wheel effect?

Card Sorting for Writing

The final assessment asked students to use the knowledge of this course to generate an essay about “why compression is important”. This is the card note from one students about the question “what is bit depth”:

Bit depth is the number of different values which quantify the intensity of a pixel, for example, in color images, bit depth refers to the number of values for each pixel in each color channel. 8 bits = 256 (2^8) different values

Here is how she linked “bit depth” to the general topic “compression”:

In terms of image and video, the visual information in the physical world is captured by pixels, which is composed of bits and will be rendered by the computers. As the digital technology samples the physical signals into digital information, the main challenge (or problem) is to keep as much as “useful information” while constraints the file size affordable. From the business point of view, the digital video has to be kept as the enough quality and be as small as possible to keep in the server. Therefore, compression is one of the most important things in the process of capturing, storing and distributing videos.