Category Archives: Blog

Student Journey: Edwine Pierre Louis

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Edwine Pierre Louis lives in Jacksonville, Florida, and is a graduate student in the Emerging Media Design and Development low-res program. EMDD low-res students attend a four-day workshop at the beginning of each semester and the rest of their coursework is delivered online. Edwine is an Associate, Sales Strategy and Support Analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Whenever I mention that I’ve traveled from Jacksonville, FL, I’m often asked, “Why Ball State University?” My response is actually, “Why EMDD?” The EMDD program was something I didn’t even know existed. I was considering pursuing three separate graduate degrees to gain a comprehensive understanding of human-computer interaction, design thinking, transmedia narrative, and design execution. To my astonishment, EMDD encompassed all of these areas. Even as an out-of-state student, the components of this degree are set to shave years off my educational journey.

Regarding my experience with the low-res, in-person component—I have spent my entire life intentionally avoiding the snow, yet the weather ensured that I encountered plenty of it. Despite this, the atmosphere was incredibly conducive to learning. It gave me a clear expectation of what I would be studying in those two classes. Additionally, from my perspective as a distant learner, the setting helped to diminish any proximity bias.

Get to know Edwine:

What are you passionate about?

  • Learning – Science, Technology, Art
  • Understanding – Listen to understand not to respond
  • Social justice – Equitable treatment and opportunity

What is your ideal culture?

A place where everyone can belong and is celebrated, inconvenient truths, and past injustices are recognized and amended. Somewhere that failure is part of the learning journey.

Favorite Things

  • Landscape Photography
  • Podcasts
  • UX/UI Design
  • Documentaries
  • Reading
  • Remote Control Cars
  • Gardening
  • Weightlifting

Favorite Quote

“If I didn’t define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people’s fantasies for me and eaten alive.” ― Audre Lorde

Fun Facts

I am a published photographer for minor league baseball from two years interning with the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. I am also a skilled jib camera operator, a field that unfortunately has very few women.

Want to know more about Edwine’s journey and our other EMDD projects? Follow EMDD on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Visit our Ball State University webpage for more information on how to join the EMDD program.

Growing by Design: EMDD visits the Rinard Orchid Greenhouse

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Dr. Tong Li’s EMDD 650 course, Interactive Media Design and Development, has spent the beginning of this semester working with Erica Oliver at Ball State’s Rinard Orchid Greenhouse to create new ways that patrons might engage with this space.

EMDD students examined the greenhouse and worked to brainstorm, research, prototype, and present their ideas for ways that the greenhouse may find opportunities to better engage with their visitors, Ball State students, and the Muncie Community.

“As a professor, I appreciate this collaboration opportunity with Greenhouse and the support from Greenhouse coordinator Erica Oliver for EMDD students. I am also impressed by the innovative ideas generated by our students. They are great!“

Dr. Tong Li

Students use design thinking methods to develop new ideas for their prototypes. They then presented their ideas to Erica Oliver to test their prototypes and get feedback for the next iterations of their designs. Apps, websites, interactive spaces, and practical innovations were all part of the prototypes on display. By presenting to and engaging with their client, students learned the possibilities of their prototypes becoming a reality.

“The students asked great questions during our tour about the plants and animals here at our facility, and how we communicate information to our visitors through signage, social media, and in-person engagement. Following the tour, the students presented their prototype ideas with me. The students were very animated and excited about their prototypes, with a clear interest in creating a project with a purpose. I was very impressed by their attention to detail in the cardboard models of apps and websites they created, that gave it a very real feel. Their ideas are creative, engaging, and I think will really benefit the community members who get to use the final products. I look forward to seeing the next stage of their project when they return to the Greenhouse ready for the trial stage with the community.“

Erica Oliver, Environmental Educational Program Coordinator, Rinard Orchid Greenhouse

Want to know more about this and other EMDD projects? Follow EMDD on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Visit our Ball State University webpage for more information on how to join the EMDD program.

Student Journey: Gabe Eastridge

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“There isn’t just knowledge but a visual and physical atmosphere of excitement to learn challenging technology and concepts.”

About Gabe

Gabe Eastridge graduated from the University of Indianapolis in May of 2023. He started EMDD in the fall of 2023. A creative designer, he went to school for Graphic Design and hopes to pursue that in sports. He enjoys art and visual media, which inspired him to pick up a camera and join the yearbook during high school. He loves taking documentary/street-style photos and enjoys shooting sports. He hopes to keep learning new software and using the projects in EMDD to grow his design skills, along with the understanding of storytelling to enhance his photography and video skills. Visit his portfolio here: eastridgephotoz.myportfolio.com

Thoughts on the EMMD Spring Workshop

I just attended my second set of EMDD low-res in-person classes. The first semester in the fall was a bit daunting as I had recently graduated that previous spring and decided to start my master’s, and I wasn’t sure what would be required of this higher program.

I quickly found out that the professors, Drs. Moloney and Fisher were very outgoing and excited to teach the classes. With a lot of banter back and forth and everyone getting to know one another, I was eased into this new adventure of education. I found I had similar interests and knowledge of areas that piqued the two different professors’ interest, and when brought up, it was noticeable that I had piqued their interest. They were quick to open up and start discussing the topics of AI, photography, design, varying media platforms, etc. Seeing their excitement, wealth of knowledge, and desire for discourse, I was drawn in. It’s hard to explain, but I haven’t had anything like this before in my undergrad classes. There isn’t just knowledge but a visual and physical atmosphere of excitement to learn challenging technology and concepts. They do excellent jobs pulling you in and continuously engaging. 

I say all that because those ideas remain true and are why I enjoy the EMDD program. We took an exciting trip to an escape room during this last in-person session. We were briefed on what to consider during this experience. It was also super interesting because, in the previous session, we visited the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis and spent a day exploring and analyzing the exhibits. This was a whole new story of engagement, and instead of just watching, you were a major piece in solving the puzzle. It was a great way to engage ideas of gamification concepts, storytelling, critical thinking, and overall design concepts. With this experience under our belt, we dove quickly into lectures and content that we will be working on for the rest of the semester.

Of course, just like the professors, the lectures are engaging and filled with funny moments, clips/imagery from real-world media, and concepts that help tell the narrative of the concepts. It was always enjoyable to see tidbits of fun during lectures as an undergrad, but these take a whole new level. They keep your attention, and I take mental notes because the content sticks with me. I am very visual and hands-on, and the way they teach works well for me. In one class, we focused more on jumping into software and starting the development process. We faced various challenges, and both professors were ready to add their problem-solving methods. They had broken us into two groups for the escape room and this short project. The two teams were the same for both events, which helped in the bonding process and the complexities of software. Having multiple minds on the topics helps solve the problems much quicker. I enjoy these short moments when we all meet in person. I love the professors and look forward to seeing them next time we meet.

Would you like to join Gabe on his journey? Follow EMDD on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Visit our Ball State University webpage for more information or to join our program.

Student Journey: Jo Beth Bootz

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“The right stories can open our hearts and change who we are.”

Janet Murray

About Jo Beth

Jo Beth Bootz is the Media Communications and Broadcasting Program Instructor at the Southern Indiana Career & Technical Center in Evansville. She embarked on her media journey during high school with a focus on radio broadcasting during her senior year as part of the Career and Technical Education program through the EVSC. Building on this foundation, Jo Beth pursued her passion at Indiana University, earning a degree in Telecommunications and Communication and Culture.

Throughout her college years, Jo Beth demonstrated her dedication to media by collaborating with the IU Office of Communications and Marketing. She produced a syndicated program for high school radio stations in Indiana and gained valuable experience through a summer internship in video production with KSTN in Seattle, Washington. Jo Beth earned a prestigious summer fellowship from the International Radio and Television Society after graduation. This opportunity led her to New York, where she interned with the Sesame Workshop, contributing to home video production for Sesame Street.

In her professional career, Jo Beth worked in marketing communications with Windstream Communications, Youth Resources of Southwestern Indiana, Habitat for Humanity of Evansville, and Macaroni Kid National. In 2020, Jo Beth transitioned to education, channeling her passion for media to inspire the next generation. Despite her diverse experiences, she circled back to the program and radio station where she started as a high school student. In addition to her full-time role, Jo Beth engages in freelance projects focusing on marketing communications and provides voice-over services to clients regionally and nationally. Her work can be heard on iHeartRadio’s iRead2Know literacy station.

Jo Beth is in her second semester of the Emerging Media Design and Development program.

Thoughts on the EMMD Spring Workshop

As a low-res student, the journey to Indianapolis combines excitement, anticipation, and genuine education alongside fellow professionals. In online learning, our weeks are often consumed by work, family, friends, and extracurricular activities. However, Ball State’s four-day workshop for EMDD at the beginning of each semester, where professionals convene, serves as a welcoming gateway, fostering connections with the curriculum and peers in the cohort.

The workshop became an immediate hub for bonding, featuring Dr. Maloney’s engaging stoke activities, an escape room challenge set to the backdrop of 80’s music and cars, and Dr. Fisher’s commitment to teaching a new system for crafting interactive digital experiences. Discussions traversed diverse topics, from Star Wars to Westworld, exploring storytelling models from Freytag, Kishotenketsu, and Vonnegut, and embracing Janet Murray as our personal Godmother of IDN. The exchange of knowledge and ideas during these sessions was unparalleled.

The workshop concluded with a creative challenge amid discussions, lectures, and group activities. Teams drew on their love and understanding of impactful storytelling, combining it with the structure of digital narrative using Unity for the first time. And boy, was that a challenge! Drawing inspiration from our escape room experience, two teams “competed,” weaving narratives featuring a casino mob boss to a spooky treasure hunt complete with a haunted mansion—all constructed within a text-based experience, challenging our storytelling and programming skills. Undoubtedly, each of us embarked on a Hero’s journey from Wednesday through Saturday, initiating or continuing our education journey with the EMDD family.

Would you like to join Jo Beth on her journey? Follow EMDD on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Visit our Ball State University webpage for more information or to join our program.

The Center for EMDD Presents: The Great Escape

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“When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

– Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Last week, the Center for Emerging Media Design and Development launched its spring low-residency workshop at the Ball State Fishers Center. This immersive four-day event provided team building, networking, educational components for EMDD 630: Nonlinear & Interactive Storytelling and EMMD 640: Transmedia Storytelling & Publishing, and fun!

The week began with a pit stop at EscapeUSA Fishers’ The Race escape room, which is best described in the style of Arthur Conan Doyle via ChatGPT:

“In the dimly lit Vintage Race League garage, motor oil and adrenaline thick in the air, a mysterious veil cloaked the season’s final race. High stakes, higher tension – you and your rival teetered on victory’s edge. A clandestine caller, night-shrouded, delivered an ominous message – both race cars sabotaged, carburetors damaged. Fate’s gears took a sinister turn.

“Race rules demanded inspection two hours before engines roared. Within 60 minutes, navigate the labyrinth, find a spare carburetor, or face a penalty. The Parts Department key was left at the track; a security code guarded the crucial bastion. Unravel the mystery, find the code, secure the carburetor – destiny’s race against time: triumph or bitter defeat, the final race hung in the balance, a spectacle of cunning deduction. The game was afoot!“

At the workshop, Dr.’s Kevin Moloney and Joshua Fisher created a novel experience for their classes. Competing against one another in two identical escape rooms, the students created narratives that will inform the stories they tell via their coursework in the upcoming semester. Dr. Fisher said, “the escape room allowed students to gather story data to put theory into practice in the emerging discipline of interactive and digital storytelling.”

Students used a series of user personas to select their escape room type and sorted into two teams of five: The Perfect Mix and The Wrecking Balls. These teams raced against the clock and each other to see who could escape first. The Wrecking Balls crushed The Perfect Mix’s hopes of winning with a well-timed, if accidental, bit of sabotage, but in the end, both teams escaped with the spare carburetor!

After receiving the checkered flags, students took a pace lap and met with faculty and alums of the EMDD program at a dinner mixer at the Fishers Test Kitchen before heading to their respective homes and hotels.

The rest of the week featured morning sessions of storytelling theory and afternoons of story creation. Dr. Moloney’s course focused on how to build stories, “we used the escape room experience to seed discussions of how to structure a story. The students chatted with me as they developed nonlinear stories about how the points on a variety of story arcs could work in nonlinear form.” Dr. Fisher worked on fleshing these stories into an interactive form via Unity and Twine.

Would you like EMDD to be part of your story? Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Visit our Ball State University webpage for more information or to join our program.

End of Semester Update: DLLE

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This semester, the David Letterman Learning Experience (DLLE) project team has embarked on a captivating journey to explore the art of storytelling through the innovative medium of projection mapping technology. With a focus on harnessing the power of personal narratives, they have collected a diverse array of stories from current Ball State students, each offering a unique glimpse into the experiences and perspectives that shape the university community.

Now, the DLLE team is working to transform a physical exhibition space into an immersive storytelling hub, where art, interviewing, and community converge. Inspired by David Letterman’s iconic interviewing style, the exhibition will delve into the transformative power of conversations, showcasing the ability of storytelling to connect individuals, foster empathy, and illuminate the rich tapestry of human experiences.

Stay tuned as the DLLE team continues to bring this exciting project to life next semester. 

AMA

End of Semester Update: AMA

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The Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) team has been working diligently to immerse themselves into the world of flight. Our team has visited the National AMA Headquarters here in Muncie several times this semester—taking in the rich history of aviation and the hobby. We met with the historians, educators, and many other staff throughout the fall to generate a project to benefit the local and national community. 

As a collegiate group, our team took advantage of the thousands of students around them at Ball State University to dive into the reasons we chose hobbies. In their research, they found just how important hobbies are with educational and degree paths. This information has helped the group understand who the members of AMA are, and who their future members could be. 

Before they head off to their winter breaks, they are excited to launch their project developments in the spring. Our team has split into three main projects: social media management, local event planning, and gamification. With only a semester left, it’s a massive undertaking to pursue all three, but that won’t stop these incredible students. We look forward to showing you all the hard work that has gone into these projects in May—until then, sit back, relax, and enjoy our flight!   

End of Semester Update: DWNTWN AR

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The Downtown AR stories team will be using augmented reality to tell the stories of historical buildings in Downtown Muncie that no longer exist. There are now parking lots in the places where these buildings once stood. The team narrowed in on four key locations, each with its own story to tell. After meeting with a representative from DWNTWN Muncie, and developing a user journey, the team took a trip Downtown. Seeing the locations in person helped them identify possible usability and even safety issues they needed to consider. They also explored the possibility of using projection mapping. 

The team decided to focus on one story which would serve as the foundation for how the other stories would be developed. They started with the story on the Indiana Union Traction and developed a low-fidelity prototype for how the story would work on Figma. After a series of tests among their team, a mid-fidelity prototype of the story was developed. The team brought in external people this time to test the story flow on Figma using the Wizard of Oz method. 

The team is working on the project in three distinct phases; content, development, and marketing. The content team has developed a script for the first story and has tested it. They worked with other departments like the Department of Theatre and Dance and have recruited actors for all the stories they will be developing. The actor who will be playing George Rolland (the main character in the first story) has been taken through a script reading and will be filmed on Friday, December 2nd. The team will also be working with a costume shop director to provide costumes for our actors to make the story look more authentic since they all take place in the early 19th and 20th centuries. The development team is working to move the story into an augmented reality software called 8th wall. The marketing team is working on designing signages that users can read and scan to experience the stories. 

After recording the actor, the team plans to create a 2D video to be placed on the 8th wall. They will continue to work on the script and storyline for the other stories. They have already started drafting the script for the next story. They will also meet with a project partner, Cheryl, who is a representative from DWNTWN Muncie to update her on the progress of the project. 

A Year in the Life of a Second Year Emerging Media Design and Development Student 

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Spencer Ozbun is the Vice President of The Remnant Trust and a 2023 graduate of the EMDD Master’s Degree Program at Ball State University.

Written by Spencer Ozbun

My second year EMDD story began at Pitch Night 2022, when my classmate Alec Piggott and I pitched our project idea to our classmates  in hopes of forming a Year 2 project team for the EMDD 670 Creative Projects Lab. Our idea was to continue ideating with The Remnant Trust, a nonprofit organization that shares a collection of rare antiquarian documents with the public, to enhance the unique hands-on experience with emerging media technology and storytelling. To our delight, the project was chosen by a number of our peers and the EMDD faculty to move forward.

When the project began in the Fall, our group attended an in-person workshop at the Ball State Fishers Center where we began to define our individual interests/roles within the team. We swapped ideas about outcomes each member hoped to gain experience in via the project. This set the groundwork for a positive team dynamic as each person had an individual stake in the project’s end state. The semester proceeded alongside the EMDD 660 Applied Research Lab, which also focused on the Trust’s problem space. I worked with a classmate on a research subteam focused on the effects of awe, and the other subteam researched the digital preferences of our target audience (18 to 25 year-olds). 

To develop our project past ideation, we narrowed our ideas by conducting empathy research with our client stakeholders to determine which of our ideas was of greatest interest. From there we defined a possible design solution as a group and began creating low-fi prototypes. During the course of the semester we had the opportunity to attend the Trust’s 25th anniversary and had our picture taken with former Vice President Mike Pence, who spoke at the event. Later in the semester, we shared our proposed design solution with our client and gained additional feedback, allowing us to further refine our approach. In addition to testing with stakeholders, we tested our three-tiered transmedia storytelling strategy with our target audience and began developing mid-fidelity prototypes using Figma. At the end of the semester, we delivered our final client presentation and presented our finalized plan for what we would build. 

Spencer Ozbun (left) & Alec Piggot present at the EMDD Symposium, Tuesday, May 2, 2023. Image: Kevin Moloney

In my final semester I enrolled in three classes: EMDD 680 capstone class where I am designing an AR pop-up book for kids using Blippar; my elective ICS 600, a self-reflective technology leadership class; and the second half of EMDD 670 creative lab. This semester, my group has engaged in a collaborative effort with The Digital Corps to develop our storyworld website and a brand style for the project. We have continued testing our designs, developing puzzle sheets to gauge the reactions of our target audience at a tabling event with The Remnant Trust at the Indiana Statehouse. It was exciting to see real users interact with our creations! Recently, we completed a content gathering trip where we took photos and videos and began generating AI images using starryai that we will use to populate the tiers of our transmedia storyworld. We are busy creating content, planning an exhibit for the EMDD Symposium, and looking forward to seeing our work come to fruition by launching our project! 

Upon the project’s completion, I accepted an offer for the role of Vice President of The Remnant Trust. It was a pleasure to earn my graduate degree while working on a passion project I care about, and the results have been beyond my expectations. I am excited to see our work come to fruition as we plan to launch our newly EMDD-created storytelling website in the Summer of 2023. Great ideas belong to everyone!

Find Spencer on LinkedIn.

Kinsey’s Emerging Media Design and Development Journey

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Kinsey Reese is now a second-year, low-residency, Emerging Media Design and Development Graduate Student who will be working with the David Letterman Learning Experience this fall. She currently serves as the Admissions Social Media Strategist at Ball State University.

Written by Kinsey Reese

Nine months into my first post-undergrad communications job, I started yearning for something more. With my background in public relations and art, and a deep affinity and curiosity for transmedia storytelling, EMDD jumped out in my search as an interdisciplinary program where many captivating worlds collide. I wanted in!  

As a young professional working in a communications role at Ball State, I longed for an engaging educational experience to bolster my portfolio and knowledge—one with an emphasis on hands-on learning. Before starting EMDD, I wondered about the challenge of balancing my full-time job as I entered the brand-new world of grad school. While it has not always been a walk in the park to manage everything, EMDD, and my job have worked perfectly, complementing one another.  

As a first-year student, I’m constantly challenged beyond my comfort zone to explore and master the latest technologies and disciplines. One of my favorite parts of the program is the talented and passionate team of grad students. I’m lucky enough to collaborate and learn beside. My teammates and I have put our interdisciplinary strengths together for projects with design thinking and transmedia storytelling, and I continually find myself in awe of my peers’ outstanding talents. Some of my favorite collaborative projects so far include a campaign to connect young people to volunteer opportunities and another promoting upcycling, and my favorite independent project was a deep dive look at Hamilton through a transmedia lens. The constant focus on real-world application is energizing, helps me create clear connections between classwork and my full-time work, and encourages me to embrace new ideas and perspectives.  

One of my favorite (and unexpected!) aspects of the program is my growth beyond the skillsets I was prepared to explore. For example, Dr. Josh Fisher has challenged me miles outside my comfort zone and pushed me to grow in ways I didn’t predict. We’ve explored AR, VR, Snapchat Lens Studio, photogrammetry, and more. While I’m still a newbie to these subjects, I’ve greatly expanded my tech toolbox. I used to seriously doubt my abilities in tech-focused areas, and while I’m not an expert yet, Dr. Fisher has helped me prove that I’m equipped to thrive and conquer new and scary things. At my full-time job on campus, I now find myself ideating and suggesting tech-centered projects that I can help tackle, serving my team in new, forward-thinking ways that help Ball State stand out in our recruitment efforts. Strategic communications and design have always been at the center of my wheelhouse. These additional skill sets have exponentially elevated what I bring to the table.  

My experience in EMDD has surpassed my expectations and then some. I can’t wait to dive into year two and get deeper in the trenches, collaborating with teammates, faculty and project partners, and utilizing our EMDD know-how more than ever. EMDD continues to challenge and inspire me, taking me to new heights academically, professionally, and personally.

Connect with Kinsey via LinkedIn.

Or view her portfolio.