Our Digital Journey
From our humble beginnings as the Digital Production Corps, the Digital Corps grew and changed in countless ways each semester. We’ve experienced so much together and, along the way, adapted to the fast-paced technology industry. In more recent years, we’ve established official Communication, Project Management, and User Experience Teams. The office is now home-away-from-home for 75 students — and we’re still expanding! To celebrate our twelve years of collaboration and achievement, let’s take a look at some of the projects of our past and how we’re breaking new ground in the future. Together, we will reflect on the creation of the Chirper application, our new equipment checkout system, new methods of visual storytelling with the Charles W. Brown Planetarium, and analyzing the website for Ball State’s Online Orientation program.
The Chirper (For Release Soon)
The Digital Corps’ first iOS project was developing the Chirper mobile application. Originally released in October 2008, the app chirped when users shook their phone. Years later, we’re finally revamping and modernizing the app.
“It was one of the first iOS apps ever made by college students. After Apple recently notified us that the code was outdated, we wanted to do more than just fix the code. We wanted to add some features to make the app better and smarter,” said Brandon Smith, Director of the Academic Project Support Office.
Digital Corps Design Apprentices, Amber Turner and Nicki Manis, designed digital stickers for the new Chirper app. They used flat colors and simple shapes to create fun representations of Charlie Cardinal, the Shafer Bell Tower, and even the Scramble Light. Most of Amber’s previous projects dealt with print and web design, so this more artistic enterprise was creatively refreshing.
“This is definitely new for me — I’ve never done anything like this before,” said Amber. “I’m excited for the stickers to go out to so many people.”
The new Chirper app will feature Charlie Cardinal games, Ball State University digital sticker packs, and a fight song sing-along (Go Cardinals!). Look for Chirper in the App Store and Google Play Store soon!
New equipment checkout system
Five years ago, we started the equipment checkout venture, establishing it as one of the longest-running Digital Corps projects. Development Specialist, Seth Campbell, joined the project last January to help replace the old, Google Calendar-based system.
“The day we rolled it out was big, because it became something that people actually used,” said Seth. “Eventually we decided to completely remove the old system.”
He liked the opportunity to learn more about programming languages such as JavaScript, PHP, and MySQL. The final system has three front-ends, two back-ends, and integrates with our office communication system, Slack. We now use this system to efficiently and easily scan equipment in and out.
Capturing b-roll for the planetarium
In November, the Digital Corps took on another unique project: shooting b-roll for the Charles W. Brown Planetarium at Ball State University. This set the precedent for production focused on b-roll, rather than filming for specific events. Video Specialist, Selena Webb, is the Junior Project Manager for collecting the b-roll. Though she was not involved with filming, she scouted the location and planned the shot list for production.
“It was nice because I specialize in production. The planetarium was a hard environment to film in because of the darkness, so I could recommend different shots,” said Selena.
Most of our previous video shoots for the planetarium showed people in familiar, classroom settings. Shooting in the darkness of the planetarium, however, provided technical challenges and learning opportunities that took our videographers out of their comfort zone. Focusing on b-roll and experimenting with different filming locations helped diversify the Video Team’s skills and add to their experience within the industry. This project exemplifies the Digital Corps’ continuous search for educational opportunities and ways to improve our work.
Online Orientation Analytics
More recently, the Digital Corps began implementing measurement plans to evaluate website and mobile application data for projects we create. Though we’ve tracked the data from our digital products for years, we’re finally changing our processes and applying a plan for success.
“Any time you start a project, even if it’s not online, you need to figure out a way to measure the effectiveness of the project,” said Eddie Metzger, a Communication Master.
The Digital Corps is evaluating data from the Orientation for Online Students website through Ball State University’s Division of Online and Strategic Learning. This site provides information about the Ball State basics to online and distance learning students. Eddie and Jolee Edge, a User Experience Specialist, used Google Analytics to analyze the website’s data and provide the client with recommendations on how to improve their website. After presenting this information to the clients, we collaborated and made changes to the site based on our findings.
Over these last twelve years, the Digital Corps adapted with the industry and established itself as a prominent Ball State University agency. We continue to expand our teams, work on more projects, and progress with the ever-advancing tech industry. Despite all of this change, we still embody the original ideas of innovation and student learning that built the foundation of the Digital Corps. Though we tend to focus on possibilities of the future, taking time to celebrate our history allows for reflection. Thank you for being a part of our digital journey!
