Filed under: Reflections
Is digital media a sufficient mode of application in preparing for a university-level exam? Can students learn and retain information through context? Are ‘traditional’ methods of studying of greater or lesser value than ‘new’ ones? Is this measurable? Have the implications of web 2.0 and its associative abilities made it easier for students to learn by way of new media versus ‘old’ linear techniques? As a visual anthropologist and multimedia student in the digital age, is it the constant representation of information that motivates one to desire to attempt to make the invisible ‘visible’ through visualization?
Such questions are examined through this reflexive representative prototype. An evolutionary model that contains traditional written midterm exam guides from February 2009; a beginning student’s first gender studies test, based on course lectures and readings. In scrolling through the timeline, one will discover another type of gender studies midterm exam preparation; one year later, March 2010, by an intermediate-level student studying ‘Men and Masculinities’. This time, a digital render of themes discussed in the course; the notion of ‘masculinity’ in American culture, ‘masculinities’ in media and pop culture, the ‘crises’ of masculinity, hyper-masculinity, hegemony, feminization, and consumption as depicted in the controversial 2010 Olympic Winter Games Men’s Figure Skating event. This digital ‘information visualization’ utilizes Wordle to generate and illustrate these dominant themes that called both athletes’ and the sport’s ‘masculinity’ into question, highlighted by professional and citizen journalists alike.
This representation is juxtaposed with its February 2009 ‘Childhood, Birth and Reproduction’ counterpart on a timeline with the purpose of examining the measurability of digital media and learning. Note that the user can also view a documentary on February 15, 2010; filmmaker Byron Hurt’s Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes, which provides a concrete glimpse of actual exam material for the March 2010 midterm exam. Finally, there is a ‘participation’ link below the Wordle piece that connects the user to the author’s twitter stream, used to share the Dipity prototype with others and encourage interaction between users.
Filed under: Reflections
Multimedia for Social Change was an enriching and engaging experience. This multi-faceted course incorporated a collaborative learning process, hands-on learning with the community partners, learning in virtual space vis-à-vis the wiki, and reflecting on all of this knowledge via the blog.
I enjoyed learning about all of the thematic topics introduced over the course of the semester; issues of access, multimedia literacies, subcultures, public art, stylistics, entertainment education and games were particularly stimulating. The fact that each member of the class was asked to participate in devising the class syllabus (enabling all of us to be active in our education) was inspiring and unique to other courses at USC. In addition, structuring the course syllabus as a wiki that allowed for flexibility and change depending on our interests supported this three-dimensional learning style. At the IML, we are constantly immersed in everything simultaneously; learning new software, academic material, virtual communication, physical communication, research, media, the list goes on! This is the beauty of the IML in its entirety – it teaches students to function in a non-linear manner just as new technologies require us to do – entirely relevant and necessary given the current and future day and age! At the IML both the readings and media clips are viewed equally as literacy tools and this course was no exception. For example, studying remix videos was a good way to illustrate tactical media. The workshops were helpful in increasing skills and understanding of various technologies, the introduction and inclusion of Prezi and Vuvox was especially useful as they communicate the information at hand in exciting ways.
In regards to MM4SC, we learned to ‘design social change’ both conceptually (by creating projects that would empower communities and provide opportunities for social change) and literally (by physically carrying out the projects and designing them to extend across multiple platforms).
The challenge of this course was juggling all of the different components, balancing time between doing the work for the nonprofit and the work for class. I would tell other students to come up with a concrete plan so that they can manage their time appropriately and stay on top of everything. There are many people and many people’s schedules to consider throughout the process. Developing the work plan was crucial in the success of the project. I would also tell them to utilize the workshops offered and keep building on those skills to enhance their projects, seeking assistance when necessary.
In terms of ways the course could be improved, just ensuring that it is one cohesive course with the discussion and lab time put together for four units. I wish I could have attended the discussion portion on the readings in its entirety (as I found all of the material interesting) but I appreciated that my class conflict situation was understood and accommodated, and I still got to experience the readings and media clips through the wiki and blog. In addition, maybe choosing a few things to spend more time on would work well, whether they are skills learned in the workshops or the themes discussed. I liked that we had exposure to lots of different things all-around, just wish we had had more time to spend on them! On the other hand, this format lent itself well to our class because we were a small group, thus everyone was able to contribute and participate evenly.
I thoroughly enjoyed Multimedia for Social Change and would encourage any student to take it. The course stimulates different and alternate modes of thinking while teaching ‘real’ skills that can be applied to academic and professional environments. I look forward to future courses at the IML!
Filed under: Reflections
Below is my first blog post. I had posted it to the wiki at the time (from my blog) but am moving it here with the rest of my blog entries!
Coup d’etat
By kathleencamarda
I have been giving a lot of thought to issues surrounding “the digital divide” as of late. As Brett Meyer (Brett Meyer) discussed how technology has the power to finally mend socioeconomic gaps, he referenced Bharat Mehra:
“The internet has tremendous potential to achieve greater social equity and empowerment and improve everyday life for those on the margins of society.”
However, we seem to be re-writing history, as oppression finds its niche in the twenty-first century, quickly seeping into virtual space… As Meyer went on to say “With revolution, however, comes the unknown — and unintended consequences.” Danah Boyd’s article (Danah Boyd) illustrated this new reality by studying Facebook versus MySpace, concluding that though MySpace seems to have fewer users than they used to, in fact they still have the same amount – as many or more than Facebook – it’s just a different user than it used to be…
It makes sense that if we live in a culture that has created class differences that the virtual world would be no different than the physical world. However, if communities that lack access to these new means (i.e. computers, social networking, and information of all kinds) are able to amass…
Would we suddenly be living in a world where every citizen was “equal”? What would happen in the domestic sphere versus the international sphere? Would it be utopian or anarchistic? How would information travel and how would it manifest?
I was surprised to read that even in rapidly developing twenty-first century nations such as China that have seen a recent increase in their number of internet users “…just over 19% of Chinese people have access to the Internet and the digital divide is growing due to factors such as insufficient infrastructure and high online charges” (Wikipedia). It is already difficult for me to conceive of a world without the web, though I certainly grew up in that world, as computers barely existed when I was a child and my family didn’t have a computer or internet in the house until I was well into high school.
I am signing off with a YouTube clip on the “Social Media Revolution” whose description poses the question:
“Is social media a fad? Or is it the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution?” (Social Media Revolution).
Filed under: Reflections
Thank you all for your comments – Meghan and I appreciate all of the feedback very much! We both enjoyed ourselves and learned a lot throughout this entire process! Immediately following our final presentation we emailed LACAN requesting that they review the final versions of the blog, map, and video. As a result, we have a few updates since we last met and since our original final post last week…
Currently, we are in the process of adding the LACAN website link to the final frame of the video, and plan to re-upload it asap. The week prior to the final (Prezi) presentation we sat down with LACAN and reviewed the video frame-by-frame to get their feedback. The video that we showed for the final presentation (the same one that is posted on here) is the by-product of the requested changes. On a related note, we were considering switching the host from Vimeo to BlipTV (as mentioned in our final presentation), but after carefully reviewing Blip’s Policies and Penalties section, we were afraid the video’s audio would quickly suffer the same fate as it did on YouTube (yikes!) so we chose to stick with Vimeo.
The map has undergone a few changes too since both last week and the final presentation. We went back through and added the screenshots to the Ordinance Passage, changed the LACAN video screenshot to look uniform to the Ordinance, and changed the screenshot images for San Julian Park and the Alexandria Hotel KTLA video. Aside from adjusting the screenshots, we took another look at all of the text and content to make sure everything is clean and consistent, checked for typos, grammatical errors, etc.
In terms of the blog, we played with the layout of the sidebar one last time (in hopes of bumping up the Blogroll that contains LACAN’s main website and the VozMob link) but due to the fact that we can’t get multiple icons/links on the same plane, it shifted the Pages section down too far. Unfortunately this section needs to be visible right when the user opens the page, thus we left it how it was on the day we presented – the same version that was posted here last week.
In regards to the distribution, we had discussed tweeting, blogging, and reaching out locally at our final meeting right before the final presentation. We recently received an email from LACAN stating that they have sent the blog, map, and video out to supporters and people are responding really positively. In addition, they would like to add the video to the website, but will have to go through their consultant in order to do so. In the meantime, it is their current tweet, they made it a featured page on the blog (like the map!), and it was the top post when it first went up! They thanked us for our work and were happy with the blog, map, and video. All great to hear!
This week we compiled a comprehensive list of all of the account information we created for them throughout the semester (including their existing accounts) and sent it to them for future reference so that they have a single complete list that is ongoing. In addition, last week we returned the remaining CDs that were in our possession to their office.
Filed under: Reflections
Our final LACAN Prezi, Interactive Map, Promo Video, and Social Media elements can be viewed here:
http://www.prezi.com/1ittvrvd3ika
http:www.cangress.wordpress.com/map
I tried sharing this on slideshare, but was experiencing some technical difficulties so tweeted about it instead for the moment!
My final blog post regarding our LACAN presentation is coming but I wanted to post this in the meantime so you guys can begin reviewing our project! I look forward to your projects and posts! More to come soon!
Filed under: Reflections
Google Maps – My Maps
Creating Your Map
1) Go to: maps.google.com
2) If you are not signed into Google, click “Sign in” in the upper right corner of your browser.
3) Use the Search Maps bar to locate an area for your map
4) Click “My Maps”
5) Click “Create a new map”
6) Give your map a title and if you want a description
7) Leave the default selection of “Public”
8) Click “Save” – Note: if save button is grayed out, it has saved it automatically and you can move on to creating your map
Adding a flag to your map
1) Click on the blue flag @ the top of your map and drag it to your first location and drop it onto your map
2) Add a title
3) Add a description
4) Click on the blue flag in the pop up and choose your flag icon
Adding a description and creating a link
1) Click on “Rich Text” over the Description box and this will give you a WYSIWYG editor that you can use to format text, and insert images
2) Type in a description for this flag.
3) Highlight a word or phrase in your description and click the link icon and paste: http://annenberg.usc.edu
Adding and image
You will need the URL of an image – either use Creative Commons images that are already online or upload your photos to Flickr and then use the Flickr URL
Click the image icon on your toolbar and paste the URL that points to your image.
Lines and Shapes
1) Choose the Draw a line tool and then
- click @ the point you want to start
- move your cursor to a 2nd point and click again
- move your cursor to a 3rd point and click again
- move your cursor back to where you started and click on your original point.
This makes an outline around an area. You can add a Title and description of the area in the pop up box just like you did for a flag.
2) Choose the Draw a shape tool and follow the same path you did for the line tool above. This time you will see that instead of just a boundary, the box is filled in with a color
- In the pop up box, click the blue square in the upper right corner
This will allow you to change the color of the line as well as the fill color of your box if you want to as well the line thickness and opacity of the fill and line.
Filed under: Reflections
The final overview with Becky and Pete took place earlier this week, first thing Monday morning. They commented that they got goose bumps when watching the video, which was great to hear! They requested a few tweaks be made such as specific additional pictures be added that they had on-site (which they then gave us on CD), certain caption titles for members, and a short clip of another piece of footage they had be added for the ending.
We then went through the map and they decided we could delete one item, as it had been part of their initial brainstorming, and thought it wasn’t as relevant now.
We gave them copies of the instruction sheets for both linking the media and creating and adding content to the map, and they agreed we could go ahead and bump Twitter and Facebook up on the sidebar of the blog. We also discussed tweeting about the video once it was up, or getting the word out in other ways, which we will touch base on later next week, as they are excited about making the piece visible for the public.
At this point, we are focusing on making the adjustments to the video, the map, and the blog, and are getting ready for our final presentation next week!
Filed under: Reflections
I found The French Democracy intriguing, as its Machinima style made me think of Second Life. The notion of machine cinema – recording the action in real-time interactive 3D environments – is one which could transform the future of the internet, cinema, and media. “Machinima can be filmed by relying on in-game artificial intelligence (AI) or by controlling characters and cameras through digital puppetry” (Wikipedia). Indeed, ‘digital puppetry’ is a good way to describe ‘playing’ in Second Life. I say ‘playing’ because Second Life feels so real that last year, when I first ventured into it, I didn’t realize that technically it was a game. It felt like a combination of being online, being in some other realm, and some chat room from the ‘90s. My first experience in Second Life was through IML 101, however a year prior I had attended a technology conference where Wagner James Au (author of The Making of Second Life), and a woman who goes by the name of “Ophelia Dumont” were heading up the show. Ophelia (aka Jennifer) is a fashion magazine journalist in Second Life who focuses on Japanese designers. Previously, I had interned at a fashion magazine, and studying fashion in the virtual world was like looking through a fresh lens. That conference sparked an interest in doing more research; however it wasn’t until IML 101 that I finally got to venture in.
If I hear the word ‘game’ I immediately think of Super Mario Brothers, Tetris, and Pac Man. I have to fast-forward my brain to the present, because gaming has evolved quite a bit since the 1980s and 1990s. I went through the other games on the wiki (such as Darfur is Dying) and played them. In light of our discussion about entertainment education last week, I do believe that with rapidly changing technologies, children could benefit from games that enhance their knowledge of the world around them. They will inevitably be exposed to the internet and the electronic world, and play is an essential process in learning, especially as a child. Childhood in the digital age should include games, as long as it doesn’t saturate them. I will be interested to see how the machinima style impacts the internet in the coming years, as it could blur the lines even more between the virtual and physical world, sharply impacting each of them.
Filed under: Reflections
In thinking about entertainment education, I took a trip down memory lane to my early childhood – the days in which my mother allowed us to watch just one hour of television a day – and our choices consisted of Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers, and Reading Rainbow. My brother and I used to sit on the couch in anticipation, crossing our fingers hoping for our favorite episodes (especially the firefighter Reading Rainbow!) In fifth grade, a Muppet puppet (similar to Kami that Amanda discussed) came into our school and made a presentation to our entire grade about going through puberty. I remember being a gangly nine-year old sitting in the audience wondering why on earth a puppet with pimples was preparing to speak to us, as I anxiously awaited middle school. Clearly it made an impact, as I can still recall it many years later! Similarly, in first grade, it was Big Bird who taught our whole grade about Japan, as we proceeded to watch him learn to use chopsticks while wearing a kimono, then trying for ourselves. Puppetry can be a very effective means of communicating and reflecting upon aspects of the human condition, as the puppet acts as an extension of one’s self.
Yesterday morning, Meghan and I were in the IML lab working on our LACAN project, when a group of small children came in, exploring the IML in wonderment (hehe I was in awe of Gabe’s electronic name tag too!) Another flashback to the early years! My friends’ parents and mine used to organize trips to museums, science museums, and aquariums in and out of school. I am certain that visiting those fascinating institutions as a small child (and watching those programs on PBS as a pre and elementary schooler) contributed to a desire to explore the world around me that has continued into adulthood.
I believe that entertainment education can make a powerful impact on people of all ages in all of its forms, be it media, television, film, museums, the internet, etc. In reading Entertainment Education and Social Change, I enjoyed the discussion of the concepts of first- and second-order change; behavior versus value modification:
Table 1
Key Differences between First- and Second-order Change
First-order change Second-order change
Adjustments within the existing system Change of the existing system
Doing more or less of the same thing Trying things ‘outside the box’
Generally reversible Generally irreversible
Non-transformational Transformational
Not much new learning Requires new learning
No fundamental shift in values or behaviours Fundamental shift in values or behaviours
Old story can still be told New story is told
The text cited several examples including Japanese culture, and a smoker trying to quit. In my biological anthropology class we recently discussed the politics of the bushmeat trade in Africa, and how it is more threatening to the great apes than habitat destruction. Ultimately, we concluded that it would take social change – a change in cultural ideals – to get a handle on this problem if they are not to become extinct. Behavior vs. value modification can be applied to many scenarios and I look forward to hearing more about it in class!
Filed under: Reflections
Last week we had an in-depth review of our projects, and it was fun to see what everyone is working on and how all of our projects have evolved in the last couple of weeks! Meghan and I have been working with LACAN, and are on schedule with our work plan. Last week, we presented the following updates during our midterm review:
MEDIA:
Tweets were added to WordPress
Mobile Voices added to WordPress
YouTube tab fixed on FB
VodPod account created to add YouTube and WordPress videos to blog
MAP:
Skeleton GoogleMap created
LACAN Google Account created
LACAN sites and events added to map
Icons added to Map
Map made “Public”
Researched embedding options –> Map can be embedded as RSS or Link in blog!
ADMINISTRATIVE:
Follow-up email to LACAN about map progress and schedule next meeting
Prior to this, we had linked all of their current online media elements; Twitter, Facebook, WordPress, ensured all were in working order, and have been making adjustments as needed. Meghan and I received some helpful insights from the class to consult with LACAN about altering the placement of some of the content on the side panel of the blog – i.e. moving the ‘Archives’ section down and the Twitter and Facebook icons up toward the top to make them more visible.
We met with Becky this morning to show her the map thus far, and to collect the still and moving images for it. After consulting with her, we decided to stick to the Google icons on the map versus creating new ones. The plan for the remainder of this week is to load the footage, edit it, and put it into the map. At the end of next week, we are going to assist with editing through some member interviews for a short clip for the LACAN site on the map.
It looks like we will finish up just before Thanksgiving, so that we can use the last week to make any necessary changes and embed the final map into the blog. We are looking forward to getting into the footage and images this week!
