Hearandnow

Giddy like a school girl

2007-10-04T12:13:00.000-04:00

In case you haven't heard, there is a new Radiohead album coming out next week. Wait, let me repeat that: THERE IS A NEW RADIOHEAD ALBUM COMING OUT NEXT WEEK!! HOLY MONKEY FARTS!

As you also probably heard, ol' Thom and Co. have finally accumulated enough hard currency and devout followers to DIY the thing (yes, "DIY" is a verb). They've even gone so far as to outsmart those who were just going to steal it from a P2P site anyway. In what could prove to be a new trend in digital rights (mis)management, the googly-eyed scare bears are allowing you, me, and everyone else we know to pick our own price.

Personally, I think the concept is genius. First, consider the number of people who will order the album for download, just because they can pay $2 or $3. Now, consider the percentage of those people who would have ripped "In Rainbows" from his/her P2P site of choice. I would be willing to bet Radiohead make more money selling the album on Radiohead.com for $2/head than they could possible make through a $9.99 download at the iTunes store (you know, that place where sad sots like myself go to not-steal music).

In the words of Devendra Banhart, "I feel just like a child"

Jim Lehrer v Margaret Spellings

2007-08-16T15:37:00.000-04:00

I caught a pretty interesting segment on the News Hour with Jim Lehrer. Peep it here. Aside from the satisfaction I glean from actually watching a news program without all the requisite bells and whistles (i.e., text scrolling in three directions, four simultaneous video panes, and a screaming Bill O'Reilly), Lehrer's correspondents can always find something uplifting that would otherwise fall between the cracks.

This particularly gossamer piece of reporting depicts two schools in San Diego who recently went Charter to remedy their failed attempts at standardized achievement. It took quite a fight for the schools' teachers, parents, and administrators to make the break from the San Diego school district. But they did. Their collective efforts have shown a remarkable shift in student discipline and test scores.

After years of churning out disenchanted students and turning over new faculty members every year, the schools seem to have found a niche. And, consequently, the district suffers, because parents and students want to attend these seemingly new schools. What a tangled web we weave.

Does your Bible glow in the dark?

2007-04-25T16:09:00.000-04:00

I'll first say I haven't written a music review/critique in a long time. At one point in time I was convinced I could make a career of borrowing from Lester Bangs. Eventually, however, reality set in and I realized I don't have anything close to Bangs's tolerance for amphetamines, bourbon, or poverty. Nonetheless I recently was lucky enough to pick up a copy of Arcade Fire's Neon Bible and it has shaken me so deeply I am giddily dancing atop a bail of hay on their bandwagon.

A few years ago I was pretty ensconced in the North American post-rock sound. Pretty much everything I bought either came from Canada's Constellation label or Chicago's Thrill Jockey. Both labels specialized for a while in grandiose swelling crescendos and a collective gazing-at-shoes due to incessant droning and concentration on abstractly (intertextual, maybe?) inserted field recordings.

I loved and still love the theme and variation model of composition, building intensity with incessant layering of percussive pulses. This style was perfected by bands like Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Do Make Say Think, and Trans Am. Yet I sadly longed for a band who could add a note of accessibility to this genre.

And then there was Arcade Fire.

I initially shied away from AF's media buzz due mainly to their consistent association with fellow Montrealers, Broken Social Scene. While I think BSS has an interesting ethos and correspondingly big approach to sound, the romantic in me wanted a crooner to step up to the mic and usher in a new musical paradigm.

After seeing some YouTube videos, I picked up Neon Bible. Now I can't put it down. I have honestly listened to the whole album (cover to cover) three times a day for the last 2 weeks.

The production is fantastic. Somehow all 7 members seem to get ample say in the mix, while vocalist Win Butler chews the mesh off his microphone out front. Each track swells with intensity, encouraging listeners to stand up and lean into the wind until it abruptly stops and they fall flat on their faces.

The band relies on acoustic instrumentation for the most part, illustrating the potency of their collective fingers and forearms with each track's pounding bridge. Yet, on the rare occasions when an electric guitar floats to the top, it does so with tingling, morbid effervescence as in the chorus of track 6, Ocean of Noise. This repeated guitar wail, has me repeatedly welling up as the violin helps to hold it up.

As yet, I haven't quite cracked the egg that is the title track. On an album of repetitive swellings, the irony of a title cut being not so is perfectly fitting. I can't wait to taste that yolk.

a great black wave in the middle of the sea

2007-04-19T09:49:00.000-04:00

So here I am, feeling down and hoping to exorcise some emotional/intellectual demons on my slice of Blogistan.
This week has been one of the ugliest weeks of news I can remember. In one week we have had several horrible events and I just want it to be known that I am paying attention. For those who haven't had the time, energy, or impetus, here's the news since Monday:

A disaffected student unleashed his frustration with anonymity on the campus of Virginia Tech University. 33 are dead. Millions are mourning. And, to add insult to martyrdom, the student sent a YouTube-style package to NBC to tell us all why we're wrong. I know I'm wrong. I didn't need a pathological individual to prove it to me.
This has been one of the bloodiest weeks in the 4-year "conflict" in Iraq. Close to 200 people died in 24 hours of bombings and, according to The Great Decider, more will die before Iraq embraces Christianity, Democracy, and the pursuit of opulence.
In a 5-4 decision, supreme court justices denounced years of progress toward upholding a woman's right to choose, thus imparting an religio-ethical decision on human rights. It was a major victory for the current commander in chief. Hopefully those victories will be fewer and farther in between for the last 500 or so days of his iron grip on the world.

This is an utterly selfish post for I have hoped that writing it all down might make me feel better. I'm not sure it has worked. I guess I'll go back to watching this video showcasing a musical act, Arcade Fire (to whom I credit the title of this post), repeatedly. It seems they are trying to use theater to show us all how to get up and move in the right direction.

the ultimate instructional design project

2007-04-11T16:26:00.000-04:00

While perusing the recent C-Net stories I ran across a photo story of the first distribution of $100 laptops to children in Nigeria for the One Laptop Per Child initiative. It hadn't really occurred to me what the design of such a machine would entail, let alone the interface design for kids who have literally never seen a GUI before.

This was perhaps the most complicated interface design project since the Mosaic browser was designed for point and click access to the web. The interface they came up with totally baffles me, due to its reliance on entirely graphical clickable regions.

It's really tough to imagine the semiotic domain wherein a computer interface would be a wholly foreign concept. Yet, according to the story, the children immediately "took to" their new (cough, cough) educational toys.

About two years ago I had the opportunity to work on a documentary on the Garifuna culture in northeast Honduras. One of the more interesting aspects of the project was figuring out how to engage the villagers in what we hoped to accomplish. As recompense for gaining access to the village, I had to give the kids in the small school English lessons.

We found the children really took to the camera. So we tried to incorporate basic film theory and production in to the lessons. As constructivist learning theory would suggest, the students were much more engaged when we simply handed over the means of production.

-Rest in Peace, Kurt Vonnegut (1923-2007)

final cuts

2007-04-05T10:09:00.000-04:00

Well, after about a 6 weeks of work, I finally was able to get a rough cut together of my little video, 'Information: the new Ritalin.' It took quite a bit of post-production wrangling to get it in to a watchable state. But I am happy with the way things eventually turned out.

I'm still amazed how much more work it took to get live video in HD1080i60 in the same sequence as computer screen capture in HD1080p30. Let's just say there was a lot of math and garbage matte layering involved, and leave it at that.

However, I got some really positive feedback and I am in a good position to tighten up what I have now into a solid final cut. I would like to be able to post a clip, but I don't really know how I would do that. The video is in 1920X1080 resolution, and a lot of it is in an even wider aspect ratio (something like 2.5:1), making it pretty unfit for streaming on even the fastest connections and/or viewing on anything less than a nice LCD or HD display.

It was also tough getting the dialogic screen capture text readable from more than about 2 feet from a screen. I plan to keep cracking at it, but I'm not really sure I have the technical chops to "make it go."

All in all, working in video again was a really satisfying experience and I'm glad the audience who has seen it found it mildly thought-provoking. That's about all I was aspiring toward.

-cheers

post-production party

2007-03-30T16:43:00.000-04:00

A few days ago I finished production on the video I have been working on. I plunged headlong into the post-production phase on Wednesday. It's definitely bringing back some memories. I'm really excited about digging in with a digital razor.

Thus far I have encountered the requisite issues inherent in using cracked software to accomplish a task I haven't attempted in almost 2 years. I was admittedly nervous about working in Final Cut Pro for the first time in a goodly while. But once I was able to open and update the app, the controls quickly started feeling comfortable again.

I have about 3 hours of HD video between the live action stuff shot by my friends at HNP and the screen captures I have done over the past few weeks. The goal is to cut it down to around 3 minutes. The more I look at it, the longer I think it will take to fit everything in coherently. I have developed a plan of attack for the early stages of the editing process. But I'm really nervous about pulling off the split screen narrative thing. The narrative will be driven primarily by the "dialog" portrayed in the screen capture portion, and the video will depict me acting as something of a Greek Chorus, gaping at the strange goings-on.

Let's call it an experiment in my ability to depict a Human Computer Interaction...quite literally.

Waxing politic

2007-03-28T11:24:00.000-04:00

Last night I caught a glimpse of an email from a friend of Tammy's. The email was primarily a response to a question Tammy posed about Barack Obama's qualifications and potential as a presidential candidate.

Her insightful compatriot offered a sound diatribe on the dangers of democrats backing a possibly un-electable candidate. Most interestingly, the friend offered these words about the democrats' collective inability to support a centrist candidate like John Kerry:

"So we ended up with Kerry: tepid water, milk toast, vanilla, Republican-lite."

Longstoryshort, the statement got me thinking. First, about the poetics of the line, then about the blinding truth it represents.

I can't come up with any witty snippets of knowledge to expound upon this line of political poetry. All I can come up with are questions:

Is there a possibility for true progressivism in our modern landscape?
Are we chained to our adopted consumptive collective mindset?
Is there a foreseeable alternative?

/hmmmm

the nerdiest thing i have ever seen

2007-03-11T22:38:00.000-04:00

Massive Multi-Developer Online RPGs

2007-03-06T11:24:00.000-05:00

I found this article pretty interesting. It describes an effort to develop an MMORPG using the input of the actual players. All of them, if possible.

A couple of game developers and Acclaim put their heads together to tap the aggregate creative energy of MMO players and developers in a collaboration intent on releasing a new title in less time than any legitimate studio could hope to take. The initial response to the call was huge: something to the tune of 20,000 eager little beavers.

Dave Perry, the puppeteer who holds all the strings, describes the project as a serious business venture. "I hope it will prove to us that consumers are useful, " says Dave.

I hope so too, Dave.

film for thought

2007-03-04T11:47:00.000-05:00

My mind hasn't been abuzz with intersecting plot lines and narrative celluloid twists for a while now. But I have a video project to put together for my Society, Technology, and Culture class. The project (along with a little liminal free time) has given me a little inspiration.

I have been thinking a lot about bio-technology and cognitive changes over time. Plenty of literature and studies have been done looking in to how our cognitive mapping and synaptic connections can be modified. For my little movie, I want to look in to how we are re-wiring our synapses on a daily basis.

Computers and the web are giving us infinite possibilities for knowledge acquisition and retrieval. I have to wonder whether our bodies are ready for the intellectual hyperactivity navigating the web enables within us. Or are we going to reach a system overload somewhere down the line?

I will be adding links to relevant literature soon, but for now, here's a PhotoShop thought of what I have in mind.

virtual soccer network

2007-02-28T09:57:00.000-05:00

In the past few days some members of the soccer team I have joined put together a blog site. I'm really interested to see how the blog works out.

Context:

The team just formally got together a couple of months ago. Many of the 20 (or so) players didn't know each other before our first real practice. I suspect several of the players are unfamiliar with blogging and probably lack a lot of web-efficacy. There are a few of us techies who could potentially facilitate if there are any problems.

Future?

As yet we haven't found a really good means of communication for the large group. Different personal schedules and several city league cancellations/schedule changes have made it tough to get to know and appreciate one another's abilities on and off the field.

In three days the blog has been populated with about 10 members and a dozen or so posts/comments. It will be fun to see how such an intimately detached social technology as blogging will facilitate the growth of a nascent football club.

rolling along

2007-02-27T10:09:00.000-05:00

I seem to have fallen in to a comfortable stride recently. Despite being sick for the better part of the past week, things are clipping along at a good tempo. Coughing late at night has left my sleep schedule in shambles, but that's neither here nor there. Though it has given me ample time to tighten some of the screws on my personal site, and finally collect artifacts for my portfolio.

I have a pretty big job interview in a couple of days. The results of said interview will have some pretty lasting effects on how Tammy and I pursue the next few years. I know, it seems like a lot of weight to put on an interview. But the position seems like it would make purchasing a living space and giving Gainesville the ol' college try (again) a worthwhile investment.

For those of you who missed the show on 2/17, the opening band put together a short film about the evening. Have a gander (said the goose).

Back in the saddle

2007-02-12T08:35:00.000-05:00

Personal News

It's been a while since I have sat down to add an entry. Hopefully things will get rolling again here soon.

I recently had a run in with the pesky little fairies that make my computer turn on and talk to the web. Apparently they weren't very happy with the Bloglines subscriptions I have maintained for the past 6 months or so, and they decided to get rid of them. I emailed the nymphs in CA that maintain the Bloglines servers, but I think it may have been too little too late. We'll see.

My old band, Edward the Bear, will be getting back together for another famous reunion show Saturday, Feb. 17, around 10 or 1030pm. Any and all are welcome. I believe the cover will be a 5 spot. Hope to see you there.

I am in the process of changing jobs. I fell in to a bit of a financial hole last semester and decided I was better off working full-time, and going to school part-time. I can't really see any problem with slowing down the progression of school if I can get hands-on experience in the mean time. All of that should be straightened out in the next couple of weeks.

In other news

I was pretty excited to see Barack Obama declare his presidential candidacy via a live web cast this past Saturday morning. He is quickly mounting a strong campaign presence on the web. The site devoted to his campaign, BarackObama.com, actually provides a portal to a social networking community developed specifically for interested voters. One can develop a personal profile, network with like-minded individuals, and create a political blog.

I think this is pretty ingenious and it shows quite a bit of connection with contemporary trends. And probably a well-recruited group of advisers.

beware the GoogleZon

2006-12-14T15:33:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to say this semester has been a great (sometimes harrowing) experience. I will keep updating this blog in the future, so...um...beware? I wish you all the best. As an epilogue to this chapter there's a video I think you would enjoy here. It's a fantastic concept for an animation: a look back at the history of media from the year 2014.

-tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow

6 words, nothing more

2006-12-05T16:00:00.000-05:00

Automaticity
Connectivity
Interactivity
Productivity
Simplicity
Simulation

The mating dance of the techno-sexual

2006-12-04T09:17:00.000-05:00

I usually like to come up with odd titles for my posts, but the title of this article is just too good. C-Net -- as per usual -- does an excellent job of looking at the myriad networking and dating sites specifically devoted to tech nerds. And for the extra nerdly, many of these sites focus specifically on members of the Trekkie community.

-still living on the holodeck

Teetering on the fence

2006-11-30T13:48:00.000-05:00

I found the readings for this week pretty interesting. For someone new to the field of education, I am glad to see there clearly are oppositional theorists firmly entrenched in their respective ideologies. As far as I know, differing ideas lead to collaboration which leads to progress (in a perfect world). Unfortunately, clashing opinions in the real world often lead to stoicism, ignorance, and agoraphobia. But I'll leave that alone for now.

To add to our discussion, I found this article by Norm Friesn, an Instructional Technology professor at Athabasca University, in Alberta, Canada. Friesn offers three strong objections to current trends in the design and implementation of learning objects.

His first objection sites the lack of a clear definition for what constitutes a learning object. With so many vague, esoteric definitions for learning objects, legitimate research into their efficacy is virtually impossible, Friesn asserts.

The two other objections cite organizations like the IEEE Learning Technologies Standards Committee and ADL for taking a militaristic approach to standardization and homogeneity. According to Friesn, learning objectives vary with context. Who knew?

In pondering all of these readings as a whole, the only consistency lies in the focus on sound pedagogy and Dewey and all that. It seems to me that cheap digital technology is here. It's in education. It's in socialization. Pretty soon it will be in your refrigerator, your car, and behind your ear (or in your wrist, if you prefer). There's no use fighting it.

-Peace, Love, Gap...I mean...er...oh, whatever

Customer Service

2006-11-28T19:57:00.000-05:00


Redesigned signage at the Customer Service desk in the Squirrel Hill branch of the Carnegie Library; From the Information Architecture Institute conference "User Interfaces for Physical Spaces"

civil disobedience

2006-11-17T21:10:00.000-05:00

I found this article pretty comical. It describes the plight of an open source user in the UK who installed Linux on a newly purchased Dell laptop and requested a refund for his unused copy of Windows XP.

Ironically, Dell only took 2 days to issue a refund for about $100. The refund showed up on the guy's credit card statement as "goodwill unspecified."

-tee hee

Positioning myself in front of the computer

2006-11-16T22:44:00.000-05:00

I have pretty much finished the skeleton for my information architecture website. This has proven to be a fascinating endeavor for me. My investigation into IA gave me a lot to think about in terms of delivering a website as a final project. I have spent more time on developing a site plan and hand-coding the CSS and html than I have on filling in the pages with the content I have learned.

However, the site can be found here. I will continue to add content as the weekend rolls on.

-salud y dinero

random musical notes

2006-11-13T23:14:00.000-05:00

The other day I was listening to some music by Edward the Bear, the band I used to play in. I heard a cover we did of David Bowie's China Girl and thought I'd share it. I apologize for the audio quality, but click the concert poster if you want a listen.

presentations galore

2006-11-13T16:05:00.000-05:00

Mary's FlashDance

I enjoyed looking at TILT. It made me feel a little better about the unsuccessful attempt I made at designing a training module using Flash. The animation and interactivity were functional, yet not very involved and probably wasn't that difficult to create once the content was developed. However, I think we pointed out in discussion the fact that the TILT tutorial probably isn't that great at building knowledge in users.

Michael's Corporate Empire

I liked this look at e-learning. It definitely made me re-evaluate some ideas I have had about the functionality of corporate training. I had really only looked at the positive sides: low cost, quick uptake, ability to be done during down time at work. But the large scale dispersion of this training style probably has overlooked the contextual delivery of the training content. I had really been thinking I may like to go into corporate ID, but now I'm not so sure.

Ted's Copyright Conundrum

Great job Ted. This was a topic I have always found pretty fascinating. My initial interest came from reading numerous adverts for Creative Commons in Adbusters magazine and Kalle Lasn's book, Culture Jam. As a dj and videographer I had to think a lot about what was fair use of music and visual media, but I didn't have a really sound understanding of what fair use actually was. So I just assumed if I was using it, it was probably fair. But I do think the idea of 98 years of copyrighted Mickey is pretty absurd.

Jade's Broken Social Scene

When I first heard about MySpace a year or so ago I was pretty confounded. I hadn't really been privy to Friendster or any of the older SNCs. It's amazing to see how quickly these communities have teetered over the tipping point and how quickly the idea has spawned other similar ideas. The concept of being able to develop a virtual identity that won't be held to the same rigors one's real identity faces daily just seems comforting. It isn't really surprising that people, especially young people have gravitated to SNC as a social outlet because they have a safety net.
I read something related today in the NYTimes. Apparently, major advertising corporations are beginning to use consumer created videos as advertisements in hopes to ride the bull we now know as reality TV. The appeal of reality TV is simple: people enjoy seeing people like themselves triumphing and tribulating (if that's not a word, it should be) on TV. It makes them feel better about being average. In the same vein, if someone sees an advertisement akin to a YouTube video, it makes them feel as though they could be just as successful with their own home movies.

The new Big Blue

2006-11-09T10:54:00.000-05:00

The tech field is pretty well dominated by liberals and conspiracy theorists (i.e., terrorists). This article points out what the recent tipping-over-and-shaking-out of the senate/house may mean for strangely partisan issues like net neutrality and digital copyright.

It definitely makes you wonder who really is in control: the government, or the myriad corporations that fund it?

-sounding off

Textbooks vs Software Modules - a battle to the death

2006-11-08T09:05:00.000-05:00

Press, Larry. A Modular, Web-based Introductory Programming (2003).

This article describes a comparison between two introductory computer programming courses, one based on lectures and a text book, the other utilizes online lectures and series of short training modules encapsulating the content of the text. After delivering the course via online software modules for 2 semesters, the PI could not find any significant difference in the accumulated knowledge of the students. The author spends a good deal of time describing the design of the software modules and intimates the modules better captured the attention of the students due to brevity.

In light of last week's discussion of legitimate fields of study for online education, I think this is an excellent example of subjects learn-able in an online format. Computer programming (in my limited knowledge) requires a basic understanding of key concepts, rote under understanding of syntax, and an ability to apply knowledge in varying contexts. This type of learning does not necessitate an instructor standing by with all the answers. As far as I can tell, all computer knowledge requires active resourceful thinking on the part of the learner. Basic programming should not be an exception.

just a reminder

2006-11-05T22:10:00.000-05:00

This Tuesday is going to be an interesting day at the polls. Don't miss out.

Socio-political networking

2006-11-05T22:03:00.000-05:00

This article describes the process Valerie Ervin, an aspiring city council member in Montgomery, went through to secure her seat. She negotiated with potential campaign managers who proposed to secure the younger voters by launching a campaign across MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube. Ironnically, the campaign managers can't even offer their own votes being that they are only 17 years old. But they do speak SNC quite fluently.

Weekend Well Wishes

2006-10-27T14:41:00.000-04:00

As un-relaxing as weekends have seemed to be recently, I thought I might pass this along. It's definitely worth a 5 minute, 27 second stupid grin.

Yes, his voice is that good.

And yes, he is playing an electric ukulele.

-cheers

New Course in the College of Journalism

2006-10-27T12:34:00.000-04:00

I just got a heads up on a new class, MMC 6936: Developing Digital Online Learning in the CoJ. It looks like it should provide a lot of hands on training in digital media development. It meets on Tuesday mornings in a CIRCA lab and culminates in a semester-long, faculty-advised project.

I think I will take it because the Advanced Online Media Production course (also MMC6936) with Professor Mindy McAdams conflicts with Professor Ferdig's Society and Culture class.

-thought you (all) might be interested

Personal web presence

2006-10-21T13:08:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to pass along the url for the personal site I finished yesterday. It took me quite a while because I really wanted to get a structure in place that looked moderately slick but would be easily updateable (that can't be a real word). And I had to hand code the whole thing in notepad for my journalism class which further slowed my progess.

But it's done. Let me know if anyone has any input. I'd love to entertain some.

-cheers

Save the internet!

2006-10-10T12:20:00.000-04:00

I try to steer clear of politics on this here blog, but net neutrality is a bipartisan issue that seriously affects all of us. If you want to learn more or sign a petition to congress, look here. It's probably more important than environmental welfare; because once it's too hot to go outside, we will all be stuck inside surfing the net.
-salud

Academic Cross Training and Networking

2006-10-05T11:35:00.000-04:00

I have seen a lot of people posting about frustration with their respective knowledge of (x)html and CSS. In case anyone is interested, I have been taking a course in the College of Journalism called Electronic Publishing. In this course we attend lectures on the history and theory of interactive media, intermingled with web design theory. We also have small group (there are 7 students in mine) lab meetings in which we get to play in the Interactive Media Lab and bang our heads at coding strict (x)html and CSS by hand. This is giving me a whole new appreciation for web development and design. Both the Professor and TA are excellent. You can get a taste for their enthusiasm and knowledge by perusing our class blog.

Also, for those of you interested in social networking from the theoretical and/or technical perspective, our TA has developed his own networking portal specifically for gator grad students. Yesteday I mentioned to him there may be some interested individuals in the COE and he said he would love to talk shop to anyone interested. His name is Gary and you can contact him at this email address: gritz (at) ufl.edu.

-Where's the love song to set us free?

learning contract

2006-09-28T13:45:00.001-04:00

I have completed my formal learning contract for the Technical PD. It is available here. I realized I had piled on more than I needed when Professor Dawson reminded us Masters students only need to do either the PD or book review. I can't honestly say I'm disappointed. But I will still use the texts I have acquired as a backbone for my venture into web architecture.

-hasta la semana proxima

Positioning Part Deux

2006-09-21T12:37:00.000-04:00

I intend on exploring the various theories and applications of information architecture. IA is "the practice of structuring information for a purpose (wikipedia.com)." I have always felt a strong subjective connection to all forms of visual media, yet I lack the theoretical knowledge to articulate why I appreciate, or glean information, from certain visual stimuli and not others. I think fortifying my knowledge of the develoment, assessment, and distribution of information systems will greatly enhance my ability to create instructional media.

Web design is a major focus in the study of IA. I started reading Robin Williams Web Design Workbook (which I plan to critique for my book review) and I am really intrigued with the way Williams presents her ideas. In the book, Williams practices what she preaches by reinforcing her theory with real-world examples and experience, ranging from screen shots to pictorial examinations of advertising materials.

I have also ordered a book called Ambient Findability by Peter Morville. This one takes a more theoretical stance in the investigation of psychological phenomena involved in searching and utilizing interactive information systems. I am compiling a RefWorks database (thanks again, Mary) with citations for articles, studies, and dissertations on IA with a focus on instruction.

My research will cuminate with a paper I plan to publish to a web server as a pdf, ideally with hyperlinks, embedded images, and possibly video.

Here goes....

Paradigms en place

2006-09-20T22:50:00.000-04:00

Constructivism

I was excited to learn about constructivism because it fully explained to me why a professor I had as an undergrad student was so effective in constructing new insight within his students. Terry Harpold is a phenomenal instructor who teaches absolutely mind-bending courses like the one I took from him, Eccentric Spaces and Spatialities. In the course, Professor Harpold chose texts ranging from short fiction (JG Ballard), to literary theory (Gaston Bachelard), to novels (Phillip K. Dick), and on to Freud's personal journals. He coupled (sometimes tripled) our readings with visual demonstrations of computer animations, video game interfaces, and movie trailers.

As a student in the course I had to step outside during our breaks and take deep breaths, then spend the rest of the evening after class trying to untie my mind. His lectures and demonstrations forced the class to think in completely new ways because we had to try so hard to recognize the connections Professor Harpold made between so many different forms of media. His brand of constructivist instruction encourages his students to deconstruct even the most seemingly simplistic forms of media. And, subsequently, discover a wealth of complexity.

Pandora.com is website dedicated to educating users in the existence -- and maybe appreciation -- of a wealth of lesser-known musical acts. Pandora creators sought to develop an engine to respond to the question "can you introduce me to new music?". I think Pandora does an excellent job of answering this question by allowing users to impart their own tastes into the process of creating an internet radio station.

Objectivism

This training module is used by the UF Health Science Center Privacy office to demonstrate compliance with HIPAA training requirements. It utilizes a PowePoint presentation modified for web delivery. The slides focus on the behavioral practices involved in handling various types of confidential information. The quiz sections ask the user to recall specific information delivered in the preceeding slides.

This game lets users play the role of Dick Cheney, Sharpshooter, in a drill and kill (literally) first person shooter. The user hones their timing in clicking the mouse to expel the opponents.

Schema Theory

This experiment is an interesting investigation in schema theory as it applies to memory in real and virtual environments. In the study participants were given the opportunity to explore a real office environment or an identical virtual one (via a simulator). The participants were then tested on the appearance of certain objects within the environment.

This study looks at cognitive load theory as a valuable concept in the design and implementation of instructional systems. It examines existing instructional systems in context of the varying capacities of short and longterm memory.

Computers, the bane of our existence

2006-09-14T13:06:00.000-04:00

Last night I set out to design a web page for my visual representation of chapter 6 from the text. I was designing a page similar to the one Jade made, using a layered navigation scheme and a single url. I haven't really ever designed a page in layers (though I have wanted to learn it), so it took me quite a while to get the navigation set up. I finished the page around noon today, and I was just going to add it to the site I manage with a discrete url.

But, naturally, when I went to upload the files to our network server (where I work) I came to find that the firewall that was installed this very morning had displaced our network drive and I couldn't get acces to it. AHHHH!

I don't yet have a site I host -- though this is as much impetus as I need to set one up -- so I spent most of the afternoon breaking apart the layers I had designed, converting them to jpg's in Photoshop, then dropping them in a Powerpoint slide show. But, since I don't have a site to host the .ppt on, I am just emailing it to myself and Professor Dawson for use in our class.

I love how humbling technology can be.

Just to be clear...

2006-09-13T15:01:00.000-04:00

I mentioned in a previous post I intend to learn ActionScript 2 for my Authentic Technical PD. These are the steps I will take to complete this goal and deliver a finished product in the form of an Information Security General Awareness Training Module.

1. Finding resources: I have purchased two books on the process, "Understanding Macromedia Flash 8 ActionScript 2 (Rapo, Michael)" and "Beginning Flash Game Programming for Dummies (Harris)"; I have purchased the SoThink SWF Decompiler in order to deconstruct existing training modules designed in Flash; and I have compiled a bookmark folder containing various Flash informational sites and existing training modules Completion Date: ongoing

2. Writing the script: I am currently re-working the script from version 1.0 of the SPICE General Awareness training (this re-writing is a collaborative process in which I write and make edits based on input from my supervisor and the IS systems analyst) Completion Date: Oct. 1

3. Recording the script: I have equipment and narration training to make this process quick and painless Completion Date: Oct. 3

4. Design and program module: Here's where the hair pulling will start Completion Date: Nov. 1

I look forward to the learning experience and the future applications acquiring this skill will enable.

Tech, history, and future...

2006-09-11T10:18:00.000-04:00

I found this article on CNet I thought you all might find interesting in the context of our Ed Tech history reading. The author discusses returning to UC Berkeley 1.5 years after graduation and being overwhelmed by how tech-savvy the current students at her alma mater have become. Her references are purely anecdotal, and sometimes downright silly, but the topic is one virtually everyone feels.

My major issue with the article has to do with an analogy she tries to draw between Peer To Peer file sharing and vinyl records:

I grew up in an age when pirated music was prevalent; to me, the idea of paying for music online is still somewhat strange. I might as well go out and buy the CD for a similar price or cheaper, and get some great cover art while I'm at it. I guess to this bunch of college kids, CD art is as foreign as vinyl. Do I smell a generation gap?

As someone who actually enjoys buying music on vinyl, I think the author should know vinyl is selling more now than it has in almost 15 years. With a 12" canvas, the buyer really gets to see what the artist had in mind to accompany their music visually. And many record labels have made a very smart move by offering the buyer a coupon with a password allowing the buyer to download the album for play on their mp3 player.

-Ben

ps.........don't steal music.

Last night I dreamt I could get a real job

2006-09-08T10:47:00.000-04:00

I really enjoyed the conversations last night with the former Ed Tech students. Cheers to them for offering us their time and wisdom. I also found it very encouraging that there is, indeed, a job market for instructional design.

Like most of us, I entered the Ed Tech program through the side door. No, make that an unlocked window. I have never taken an education course before. Both of my parents are teachers and it never really occurred to me to go into the education field, except maybe as a professor at some tiny liberal arts college in my mind.

While working on my undergrad degree in Film and Media Studies I worked in various fine dining establishments and played in a band called Edward the Bear. After graduating, I was going to be a musician. We toured, started our own label, and eventually collapsed in disappointed frustration. In the mean time I had gotten pretty good at cooking and thought I might go into the food service industry. Nope, restauranteurship is just too hard. On to video production.

I started a video production company called High Noon Productions with a couple of friends from school and had a two-year course in trying to learn the inner workings of a field AND try and build a small business from the ground up. Then last December my fiance gave me an ultimatum: stop working 80 hour weeks and start helping out with the bills or find a new place to live. I chose to stick my neck out into the Gainesville job market. After a month of shaving, tidying, and bowing I found a job designing training media for the UF HSC Information Security program. At the time I was like "information security...that's like locking your laptop to your desk, right?" I've learned a bit since then.

I knew I wanted to go back to school. But for what? I looked in the Documentary Institute, the Digital Media program, Film Studies (again), the FSU Film Production program, and kept coming up empty. Until one of my supervisors (a doc student in Ed Admin) said "why don't you look into Ed Tech, that's what you do here anyway."

It was like a bolt of lightning once I met Professor Ferdig.

And now -- get this, mom -- I can actually get a job making decent money and helping people get better at whatever it is they do.

Grinning,
Ben