David Oakes Learning Journal

 Here at the end of week 8, on a Saturday. I already hope that the 'due at 5 pm' thing is only for this first, already cut short week, for, as such, this post is overdue as an assignment. The video project roster, when I last checked, didn't have the videos that I was tasked with reviewing. That fact basically defeated this week's prompt altogether. Not that I particularly mind, I was never particularly great when it came to reviewing.  In any case, the orientation for the Software Engineering course that'll be occupying the next 8 weeks of the program went very well. I already feel as if I'm going to get along with Dr. C. Though I am concerned with whether or not my Java skills are too rusty to get things going. It has been years since I last sat down and wrote any sort of code for any sort of reason. And the fact that we aren't using the same program as I did when I was studying Java code at Gavilan, granted while not wholly unexpected, is a little dauntin...

With the passing of week 7, I'm now officially wrapping up my first two courses at CSUMB. This went by leagues faster than I expected it to. The last major project to consider is a research video project. Both the videos' links will be part of next week's post. Honestly, I didn't expect the whole process to go as smoothly as it did. With a large portion of the research being handled by my teammates and video editing, my contribution to the project was mostly in the form of providing the voiceover work for the videos. For the longest time, I had always had the idea of trying my hand at voice work. More or less for the fact that I had often been complimented in middle and high school for my voice. When you're told that your narrating voice compared to that of Morgan Freeman, of course the idea is going to start sticking around in your skull. I'm still working out whether or not I was surprised when the project's video editor messaged me on our discord server s...

 Week 6? Already? I knew they said it would go by quick, but I didn't think this quick. In any case, the week's work was fairly straightforward enough. The most difficult thing about it was the mock resume and cover letter that had to be set up. It was a theoretical, taken with some seriousness, but it was nevertheless a challenge. Primarily on the account of the fact I have difficulty with long-term planning due to a bad overthinking habit. I wish I had more time to go over it before having to turn it in, but I suppose that's how these things go.  I was able to have at least a little bit of a brainstorm regarding capstone ideas with my team. The computer game idea was somewhat well received, having been verified as a valid project type in the initial assignment prompt. The idea of a game mod saw a bit more conversation. The conversation there turned to perhaps coding a mod that integrates some degree of machine learning into the game's mechanics. This would allow the g...

With the conclusion of the fifth week, I now find myself past the halfway point in the first 2 classes of the program. It really did go by a lot quicker than I thought it would. This week's module put further emphasis on the use of AI in our writing assignments. I'll admit, I'm still very much on the fence as to how much I'm willing to lean on AI as a tool to assist in my assignments. Don't get me wrong, I very much appreciate its help, but I am left with the sneaking sensation that perhaps AI is making it too easy. Of course, this is my first time using it to the extent that I am. So maybe it's just a sort of knee-jerk fear of the unfamiliar. Not sure yet.  Speaking of new things, this week I finally got a more in-depth explanation as to what the capstone project is about and was about. The short version is that the capstone is a demonstration of everything that's been learned through the program. The capstone project is a software engineering project that ...