Pale Blue Dot

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:33:19 -0500

Reflections on Louisiana INTECH

Mon, 3 Aug 2009 22:21:24 -0500

ITECH provided several revelations and perspectives for me during the Summer of 2008. While possessing considerable experience in the integration and use of technologies into the instructional process, I still found considerable value in certain components of the course and and equal if not greater measure of concern over the apparent stagnation of others.

INTECH is primarily designed, as I understand it, is largely designed as a vehicle for instructing teachers in methodologies for making technology not just a value added proposition for their instructional repertoire, but a pervasive and integral part of every day instruction. Indeed, I found useful classroom management techniques for technology in the classroom were modeled quite effectively throughout the course. Many of these I have adopted in my own instructional process. As the course focused primarily on the pedagogy of technology instruction, however, little time was allocated for instruction on the usage of the tools being utilized. The focus was product-oriented rather than tool-oriented. While this is an admirable and highly desirable goal, the disparity in technological experience and skill levels among participants seemed to leave some lost in a sea of techno-babble terminology, perplexing keyboard combinations, menu buttons, check boxes and respective software minutiae. It is ironic that, while we take great pains and expend enormous resources (both financial and man-hours) to ensure that No Child is Left Behind, little effort seems to be focused on ensuring that our teachers, all possessing different aptitudes and experience levels, receive the individualized instruction they so desperately need to achieve the success in technology integration that both they and our educational institutions desire. A tighter focus on the instructional needs of the participants by a separation of the program into ability and/or experience levels of the participants would provide for a more effective and efficient return on both the time and financial resources of both the teachers and sponsoring educational institutions providing INTECH. A fracturing of the course into such level, however, would necessarily be accompanied by a need for increased funding. The more efficient and effective return on investment would hopefully be perceived as a mitigating influence on the associated pressures to allocate additional funding.

A second, and perhaps equally important, observation was the dated nature of some the technologies used and demonstrated during the weeklong INTECH course. This revelation occurred to me as I was completing a slideshow on a particular Louisiana Plantation, that nothing I was doing could not have been completed in exactly the same manner ten years prior. All of the tools and software titles we were using existed substantially the same (or a close analog) ten years ago from a functionality standpoint. The advent of Web 2.0 and the dizzying pace of advancements of new media seem to have left INTECH behind. Teachers and students should be instructed not only in the tried and true methodologies of the past, but also in the current standards and emerging classroom technologies. Such a change would necessitate a considerable rewrite of the course, but would greatly benefit the participants as it would prepare them more effectively, not only for today’s classroom, but for tomorrow’s as well.

Web 2.0 Presentation to Student Teachers

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 10:24:18 -0500

This is the presentation used during the Web 2.0 overview session for student teachers on the St. Joseph's College campus.

Crisis of Credit

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:58:35 -0600

The Short and Simple Story of the Credit Crisis.
Crisisofcredit.com

The goal of giving form to a complex situation like the credit crisis is to quickly supply the essence of the situation to those unfamiliar and uninitiated. This project was completed as part of my thesis work in the Media Design Program, a graduate studio at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.

For more on my broader thesis work exploring the use of new media to make sense of a increasingly complex world, visit jdjarvis.com.

iLife 09: Worth The Price Of Admission

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 13:50:10 -0600

I finally managed to get my hands on a copy of iLife 09 today. While I’ve only had time to put the upgraded suite a cursory run-through, I can confidently state that it is well worth the $79 price of admission.

The suite is comprised of several applications--all but one branded with the dreaded lower case “i” on the front end.

• iPhoto
• iMovie
• iWeb
• iDVD
• Garageband

The shining star of the suite this time around would seem to be iPhoto. It adds facial recognition algorithms for tagging your extensive photo collection with names. Another interesting addition is location tagging for placing your photos on a map. Many prosumer and even some low-end cameras now have integrated GPS chips that automatically record your precise coordinates into the picture file. iPhoto niftily integrates this data onto a map. There are quite few more enhancements to iPhoto that are worth checking out. Check out the Guided Tour for iPhoto 09 to see how it all works.

iMovie 09 has undergone significant changes as well. The previous version (iMovie 08) replaced the venerable design paradigm to which so many had become accustomed. The change involved a complete rewrite of all the code. This in itself wasn't an issue so much as the number of features that were stripped out in the name of progress. To state that iMovie 08 was a work in progress is perhaps too kind. While I have yet to do any serious work with iMovie 09 yet, I have played around with one its coolest features: video image stabilization. It takes those shaky hand-held video camera movies of yours and smoothes them out to make it look as if you have a really expensive steady-cam and actually know how to use it. Very impressive. See the guided tour here.

iWeb has, finally, added the ability to upload via FTP to servers other than Mobile Me (formally .Mac) accounts. This is long overdue and, frankly, a head-scratcher as to why it took so long. I suppose Apple wanted to accentuate the ease of publishing to a paid Mobile Me account. Again, as with the entire suite, there are more new features to explore at the tutorial page for iWeb 09. Apparently iWeb doesn’t rate its own guided tour, yet.

I suppose people still like to make homemade DVDs. For those that do, iDVD received the spit and polish as well. Most of the feature upgrades were largely cosmetic or user interface tweaks. The newness can also be found on the tutorial page here.

Last, but certainly not least, is Garageband. The only member of the iLife family not tagged with the aforementioned dreaded “i” prefix. As I have only had a cursory looksie at the new iLife, I cannot speak intelligently as to its upgrades. I could most certainly speak unintelligently. If you are still reading this far, though, I don’t want to press my luck and indulge in a blind and ignorant review. Check the info page, instead.

Test of Embedded Mobile Me Video

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 16:13:23 -0600

New iPod Gaming Ads: A Sign of Things to Come?

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:48:35 -0600

Apple has not-so-quietly been pushing the iPod Touch as gaming platform lately. As a biased Touch owner myself, I can attest to the device’s value as a hand-held gaming platform to rival the offerings from both Sony and Nintendo. The hand-held gaming market is both vast and mature. Such qualities make for a daunting, yet potentially lucrative market. Throw in the idea of the iPhone, and you have an all in one gaming and communications device.

Of a more geeky interest to me, however, is the new ad designs that Yahoo! is hosting on its “Yahoo! Games” page. The optionally loaded animated ad temporarily takes over the Yahoo! header and menu and incorporates the page elements into part of the ad. Very clever. Such ad designs are sure to spread rapidly as they are effective at capturing and retaining the viewer’s attention for the duration of the advertisement. In fact, I found myself repeating it just to catch all the nuances of the movements. To be sure, their is a novelty factor to such a design. Given time, such ad designs will seem pedestrian. For the immediate future, however, I see this as a sign of things to come. As long as the enhanced ads are an optional run, then I have no problem with them.

Fair Use Doctrine in Education

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 08:49:28 -0600

From ArsTechnica
As various forms of media have gone digital, it has become far easier to make exact copies of material, including material that happens to be under copyright. Content owners have attempted to restrict the copying of this media through laws like the DMCA and legal campaigns against file-sharing, but these efforts have often ignored the concept of fair use entirely. A group of academics involved in media studies has now issued a series of fair use best practices, some of which apply to an audience well beyond the group that drafted the document.
The field of media studies is expected to be especially sensitive to fair use, as the text of the guidelines notes. The basic material it covers will often be covered by copyright, meaning that even the preparing of a course outline or readying lecture materials will often involve making copies of copyrighted text, images, music, or videos. Any class assignments are likely to require that their students wind up duplicating copyrighted works, too. As a result, it's no surprise that the field is especially sensitive to copyright and fair use.
That said, parts of the work read like a defense of the academic worthiness of media studies. An entire section is dedicated to describing the field, and it contains the self-congratulatory statement, "Media literacy education helps people of all ages to be critical thinkers, effective communicators, and active citizens." As a heavy consumer of textual media, I've concluded that concise documents that focus on their central theses make for effective communications; on that account, this report fails.
The report does highlight some important aspects of fair use in an academic context. For the most part, using educational materials in a classroom setting doesn't run afoul of copyright laws, because the material is typically licensed for display in that arena, and the Copyright Act makes specific exceptions for educational purposes. More problematic are situations where the instructor needs to use some part of a copyrighted work—some music or a film clip—in a new context, such as a study pack or online class supplement.
The report notes that media studies as a field is especially prone to this, as one of its goals is to demonstrate how changing the context of media can change its meaning, but this sort of issue is likely to be widespread in academics. But its authors also note that fair use is clearly established by law, and the guidelines for what constitutes fair use are intentionally flexible. The key legal questions tend to be whether the use in a classroom context transforms the material (usually not a problem) and whether the amount of copyrighted material doesn't go beyond what's needed for educational purposes.
The authors argue that past guidelines on the use of copyrighted material have tended to be conservative, and counsel caution. Unfortunately, a lot of the subsequent advice treated those guidelines as if they were legally established precedent. To counteract that, they have issued a new set of best practices for educators and students.
In general, the document advises that faculty has broad abilities to use copyrighted material in educational materials, "including books, workbooks, podcasts, DVD compilations, videos, Web sites, and other materials designed for learning." But it goes beyond what might be expected, as it argues that curriculum materials that incorporate copyrighted works can be sold, provided that accomplishes an educational purpose. Students are given broad leeway for the use of copyrighted works in assignments but, provided their work is sufficiently transformative, the guidelines argue that they should also be able to perform or distribute their assignments in any context, including online.
In all cases, the guidelines emphasize that any works incorporated into new material need to be properly attributed, and an emphasis should be placed on transformative use and pedagogical value. That advice undoubtedly applies far beyond the media studies field.

Positives and Negatives of Technology in Education

Wed, 3 Sep 2008 22:28:19 -0500

Technology has facilitated an explosion of avenues and resources for reaching every type of student. Variant learning styles, specific learning disabilities, artistic aptitude, writing, math, and non-linear exploration of concepts are just some examples of challenges that can be accommodated and enhanced with the use of technology.
Technology has also, however, become a societal and political buzz word, framed as a cure-all for the educational woes in which many school systems find themselves mired. Technology, perhaps more than any other tool, has the potential to make the greatest impact on education, yet carries a high risk of misuse of both financial and intellectual capital. Too often I've seen technology in the instructional setting idled by apathy on the part of leaders and users--often precipitated by a profound lack of training, support and planning.

Ubiquity

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 10:31:15 -0500

Found this via a tweet from Merlin Mann (@hotdogsladies). VERY cool and VERY alpha.

Ubiquity is an experiment with two parts. It’s both an interface and a development platform. Ubiquity 0.1 focuses on the platform aspects, while beginning to explore language-driven methods of controlling the browser.

Read about the release here, or download it.
In this post, the creators talk first about the interface, and then the platform. For those who are really impatient, and just want to see how the prototype version works, check out all of the pretty screenshots and use-cases in the Ubiquity Tutorial.
A video overview can be seen below: