A final reflection

After six months of research, interviewing and editing, my project has finally been completed!

When I first started this project, I had no idea how much I was going to learn. I wanted to do my major multimedia project on something I did not know much about and I have always been interested in finding out what it is like to be living without one of the main senses. Over the summer I asked my good friend who is deaf a little bit about what happens when it comes to his studies, does he have a helper, a scribe, or any technology to help him listen and communicate in class? This made me think about younger children, and how they cope in a classroom environment when they are learning subjects like Maths and English. Then I researched a little and came across the National Deaf Children's Society's statistic that deaf children are falling an entire grade below fellow hearing students at GCSE's. This was when I felt the idea for my project fell into place. I wanted to investigate why this was happening as I thought it was wrong for students with a disability like being deaf to fall so behind in their education and what was being done to try and change this.

After my initial pitch in front of my supervisors, they pointed me in the right direction regarding my target audience. I was originally targeting BBC Radio 1 listeners who are statistically aged 15-29, but my feedback made me think- would parents want to listen to this more than students. I couldn't make this decision until I had completed all of my interviews, as it was down to the content I would gain from each of them. In the end I decided to take the advice from the feedback I got from my pitch and targeted my podcast to BBC Radio 2 listeners who have a target audience of ages 35 and over. This was because I had a stronger interview with Karen and also was able to interview Sarah, Ruby’s mother which made the podcast cater more for the adult generation, as they can relate more to the feelings that a professional and a mother has, rather than the younger generation.

One of the main struggles I had during the editing process was how to create an engaging opening. I played around with different options like opening with the sound effects from a cochlear implant, or powerful quotes from my interviewees but in the end I decided to open with day-to-day sounds, like birds chirping and sirens. I did this because it would grab the listeners attention straight away and would make them think about not taking their hearing ability for granted. I wanted them to feel like this because this is how I felt whilst creating this project.

I have never had a blog before

I have found making this blog both challenging but also rewarding. I never had a blog before I started this project and I knew it would be tough making sure I regularly post and create engaging articles as well as making the website colourful and eye-catching to fit in with the subject. I feel very proud of myself for keeping on top of it and I love the final design of the website. I chose the colour scheme blue and yellow because these colours are the primary colours and remind me of my school days which directly relates to the education theme.

This project has really opened my eyes into what it is really like to be deaf, and the struggles that a deaf person goes through every day. When I first set out to complete this project I didn’t have any idea of the types of ways hearing loss could be treated/ helped and now I have learnt the different ways of helping deafness, the struggles a deaf student goes through every day, what is being done in schools to help deaf children and I have even experienced what it is like to hear through a cochlear implant. I have thoroughly enjoyed this project, it has made me a more confident journalist and helped me to think about ensuring I am impartial and sensitive to all subjects I will investigate in the future.