oneplusonefilm

One Plus One: A Human Network from Brian Mehrens on Vimeo.

What I've Learned...

Adobe Bridge

adobe bridge is by the most useful asset i've gained in this class. it really helped me understand how i've organized my media. most of my media has consisted of pictures and i've just began to use those pictures in photoshop. part of my school's commitment to further education relies on participation in a 'professional learning community'. the theme for my plc this year is using photoshop in the classroom. by using adobe bridge, i've open a number of possibilities that interact with photoshop. to me, adobe bridge is the greatest example of media convergence. it takes almost every media that i've made/used and collides it applications that are most useful to its presentation. i see much of my work on my final media project working from the adobe bridge platform. furthermore, i plan to teach my fellow teachers in my plc how to use adobe bridge so that our work in photoshop will be more ingenuitive and productive.

Stickam

i feel somewhat slighted that i did not get to participate in the group session of Stickam on Feb. 26. prior obligations needed my attention and time. however, after watching the tutorial, i've decided to set up an extra credit assignment for my students where we will set up profiles in Stickam and use the forum as a way to review for one of our benchmark exams. i've already sent an email out to parents to let them know about this opportunity and request their permission. i have also welcomed parent interaction during the session so that parents will gain experience in this valuable communication tool, and will be able to dialogue with the children about content covered during our review session. i plan to screencast the session to show to other teachers so that they might be able to use the forum for future instruction and dialogue.

another idea i had that relates to Stickam would be to use it as a platform for teachers at school to plan their curriculum implementation outside school. with each year, districts have been facing further budget deficits and this could possibly be a way for teachers to interact and bring about concerns if common planning times are taken away in effort to cut costs.

Jeopardy PowerPoints

my students love Jeopardy and especially when it's boys versus girls. i actually made the game before i realized that there were templates out there for me to use. they are simple, but the younger kids love them. they also think Alex Trebec is funny-looking. it's a great tutorial for review purposes and i've often posted the powerpoint on my blackboard site for students to use at home. i like it because it's interactive, but still taps into more behaviorist models of learning. for extra credit, i've allowed my students to make their own versions of the powerpoint with their own questions and categories. it really helps the monotonous task of making these presentations become more learner-centered. i have also found that other teachers love to use them (especially when they are made prior to the lesson or test). parents have emailed me that they enjoy playing the game with their students at home because it allows them to brush up on some information that they haven't thought about it years while having some valuable time with kids. simple, but very useful...

YouTube Uploads Make Life Easier...

Facebook Phenomenon

i joined facebook in 2004 when my roommates in college told me that it was the "new" thing to do. after spending multiple hours finding people i had not talked to since high school, i realized that it was a huge waste of time. i began slowly tapering myself away from the site because my studies dictated so. when i graduated and started looking for a job, i deleted the entire profile because i was, and still am, under the impression that school districts can use it in their hiring process (if i were a principal, i'd be looking at a potential hiree's page). two years went by and alas, i found myself at Full Sail and had multiple professors suggest (almost require) that I rejoin facebook. since then, here are some things i've thought about the site (decide what you may if they are positive or negative):

1. it definitely wastes time
2. it helps the old and new generations converge
3. it lessens boundaries for educators who chose to interact with their students on the site
4. it makes educators more vulnerable
5. it helps people network
6. it allows socially inept, 8th-year college seniors to find "true love" with a 19-year-old (or vice versa)
7. it lets me communicate with friends who've moved on to other places
8. it only operates within time parameters based on when participants check it (very little real-time interaction)
9. it promotes gossip and allows other people to post innappropriate things that might be associated with you
10. it can get teachers in trouble for using it at the workplace (i've seen it happen)
11. it allowed me to be proud of my newborn son in ways that i never thought possible
12. it made me examine myself (even in the most minute ways)
13. it made me pay attention to details (trivial or not) that i hadn't before
14. it made me start taking pictures again
15. it made me write this...

facebook status: ambiguous...

Scratch and Flash

i really enjoyed both tutorials over these applications. i had been frustrated with flash since we first started using it. i'm still having trouble with code and how it works. it's as if you're learning new languages and layers of language. to be honest, i've learned the most about flash from one of my sixth grade students whom i've previously written about. he suggested a site (gotoandlearn.com) that has really helped me work through some of the details of flash. perhaps, everyone should have a sixth grader put technology in their terms? maybe we'd (as mostly novices) learn more and in a new way?

i just began trolling around Scratch. the video on FSO was very informative, but the application has highly experiential components. it was great to hear ron smith discuss how he used it in his classroom. i plan to do something similar with my students. the only difference will be that i will give some parameters for the assignment since i am dealing with 6th graders.

both programs require much creativity and thinking "outside the box." it feels like you can almost do anything visually that you want. i think that is what makes both applications the most enticing of the ones that i've gotten to work with since starting at Full Sail. i just wish i had more time to devote to it. hmm...maybe a summer vacation project and then some...

Zander - Post 2

Art of Possibility 1-6

Wimba 4 - Recap

Ron Smith Q&A

Jenkins - Journey into Transmedia Storytelling

Photo of Nine Inch Nails by Cody Haefele (George Marshall Law School student)

Media convergence continues to evolve through the input of new consumers that enter the market of media daily. The "old" media conglomerates are inevitably losing ground to forces that are enabled by new technologies and new avenues of communication. Jenkins states, "Convergence occurs within the brains of individual consumers and through their social interactions with each other." To put it plainly, convergence is ongoing. It has been accelerated by the Internet and better communication tools like cell phones. It true manifestation has not fully been realized because it's always going to occur.

Spoiling is collective intelligence in practice because it pools the knowledge of various individuals to come up with a solution, or better yet, a picture of an episode before it happens. Collective intelligence relies heavily on communication. People cannot hold back information because it could be useful to one or many members of the collective. Spoiling and collective intelligence resemble a unique and elaborate scavenger hunt. Perhaps, it's more like a long game of Clue with more participants. As each member gets new information and makes hypotheses, the group comes closer to solving the game with the end postulation. The main difference is that spoiling and collective intelligence exist infinitely, which makes it far more exciting than any game.

American Idol has created a new generation of more active participants in viewing. It has forced viewers to use technology and communication methods that wouldn't have ordinarily used such mediums. If viewers have more at stake in the show, they are more likely to watch week after week. Furthermore, it allows for a new kind of advertising to be tailored towards the viewers of these programs. Active participation opens up new avenues for people to interact with each other, instead of passively viewing what's happening on the TV. In advertising, companies know that "80 percent of purchases are made by 20 percent of their consumer base." This phenomenon accurately illustrates the notion of 'brand loyalty.' Certain consumers are going to buy commodities just because they can and because they have been using it for years. As Jenkins points out, "love marks are more powerful than traditional brands command the love and respect of consumers." This is a sharp contrast between the old and the new way of catering to consumer wants and needs. It is the future though.

Transmedia storytelling is a "a story (that) unfolds across multiple media platforms, with each new text making a distinctive and valuable contribution to the whole." Jenkins goes on to say that "a story might be introduced in a film, expanded through television, novels, and comics; its world might be explored through a game play or experienced as an amusement park attraction." As the book clearly defines, The Matrix is by far and away the most successful example of transmedia storytelling, but many others are making working to fulfill this platform. Furthermore, The Matrix meets many criteria for cult classic status. It's quotable. It's identifiable. It's pragmatic, but flexible as well. It's full of information that is either new, old (religious overtones), or synthesized.

Another great example of a transmedia storyteller is the band Nine Inch Nails. Through music, artwork, theatrics at a live show, and a collaborative attitude with its fans, Trent Reznor has been able to break conventional molds of music-making. Each album for the past 20 years has unfolded in a streamline. There are stories of pain, fear, hope, etc. told across years of music. Artwork is valuable because the band produces it and solicits fan input. The live show is the best of music, theater, and art combined. They have also released their own multi-tracks for fans to mix their own versions of original music. I feel that this band been has meeting the demands of this new notion of transmedia storytelling without widespread notoriety. Even if you do not like their music, anyone can appreciate what they have tried to accomplish over the past 20 years. Too bad they make not be making media any longer (according to Trent Reznor's latest post on his website)...