We live a world of constant innovation. Every time you turn around, a new gadget makes our lives easier.  Today, the face of technology is ever changing. 

As humans, we are creatures of habit; we do not adapt well to change. However, we have become so desensitized to these advances.  In terms of technology, change is now what we expect. 

This is not true in the way that we view education today.  While the methods of teaching seem to evolve with the times, - blackboards replaced by smartboards, notebooks for tablets - the platforms in which students are allowed to display their knowledge on a subject still reside in the nineteenth century. Even with all this new technology consuming our world, as students we are still limited to the archaic world of tests, essays, and research papers.

English 366: Literature and the Other Arts breaks this traditional testing mold.  For this class, we were forced out of the memorization-regurgitation feedback loop and into a world of the creative. Instead of scantrons and bluebooks, we learned programs to build dynamic projects in Audacity and Camtasia.

It sounds easy. Make a list of sounds. Record an audio essay. Compose an electronic poem. Record a video. 

From the first to the last, these projects not only stimulated my creative mind, but expanded it. They are required vision, attention to detail, a more time than I ever thought initially.  With these assignments, we were not just analyzing and creating literature; we were also developing media, engaging, interesting, and captivating pieces.

Growth was an integral part of this class. Starting with strictly sonic elements with our soundlists, the projects built on one another, culminating in audio-visual video projects on the novel The Road.  By the end of the semester, I have perfected my radio voice, learned how to layer and transition clips, and truly come to understand the value in a multifaceted education.