#engl149

[digital149]

The Limits of Technology in the Classroom

We have frequently discussed the boundaries of the digital in our class this semester, but I am interested in going deeper into that study specifically relating to teaching. I want to be a teacher after I graduate, but I am nervous that I will not be able to teach to the best of my ability unless I know how to use the technology that this age depends on. Because of that, I would like to focus on technology in the classroom for my final project.

I am not entirely sure of how I would like the project to look, but my most recent thought is that I should gain some classroom experience by visiting a local school. Some of my friends are teachers in the area, and I am planning on visiting at least two of them who teach in local elementary schools to observe how they use technology in their classrooms. I want to analyze the different softwares that teachers use in schools and I also want to discover which programs are the most effective in the classroom for a child’s learning of a subject.

Speaking of subjects, I realize that different types of technology can be used in different types of classes accordingly. For example, a timeline tool would be more useful in a history classroom than a math class. Also, twine may be more effective as a medium in a literature class than a science class. I understand that there has been a shift in education around the world to using more technology, but how helpful is it in the classroom? Can it be distracting rather than beneficial? What do current studies say about technology in the classroom? These are all questions that I am excited to possibly answer.

[yomeg13-blog]

Scavenger Hunt

2. Met Julie Riegel in the Art Library and she loves Adrian Piper!

[globmont]

My Experiences with Korsakow

After finishing up the course, this is my review of Korsakow. 

The software has potential. I have no doubts about that. However, its uses are, in my eyes, restricted. It can be used to make a "make your own story" type video, and it can be used to convey a scatter of unrelated information. But that's about it as far as I can see Korsakow going. I feel like the way we used Korsakow in this course went against its intent and as a result, the experience was horrible. We had plenty of issues and we had to rethink our ideas into ways we didn't like. As a result, I feel that our project didn't come out as well as it could have if we made it in anyway we saw suitable. 

My other gripe about is from a UX point of view. Many "simple tasks" were made unnecessarily difficult because of Korsakow's UI. For example, relocating all of our videos made it hard for Korsakow to find them. As a software developer myself, I understand how this can cause issues. However, it wouldn't be that hard for Korsakow to implement simple tools like picking a folder for all of your videos and changing that folder. Instead, our group had to painstakingly go through each individual video and find it again. Secondly, Korsakow is meant for visual communicators -- people who like to communicate their ideas by making beautiful projects. I think that if you're making software for people like that, the software should embody those principles. Korsakow doesn't. Simply put, it looks like it was made for Windows 98 -- not something for Macs and Windows 8. And while that may seem trivial, for people that like art and visual design, an ugly piece of software is off-putting. It builds a natural wall against the software. Finally, there were loads of bugs. I spent almost a week exchanging technical emails with the developer of Korsakow because of some simple bugs. Similarly, Taylor had issues with the export. After using Korsakow for this long, I can honestly say that it doesn't seem like it would be that hard to make this software in a proper and reliable manner. 

[carolinamatt]

This is what it looks like to put together 58 videos into a collaborative video project using Korsakow. Or, rather, what the planning kind of looks like. 

As the project comes to a close, it is very cool to watch the final product. We've been working on this for so long now that it's interesting to see how it has all come together. It's not perfect, but i don't believe that was the point of this experiment. A couple of my videos were not filmed the correct way with my phone and therefore have some strange orientation in the Korsakow player, but in our project's case, it somewhat fits the theme luckily. 

Overall I'm pleased with the final result and enjoyed working with and learning about this new video making tool.

[carolinamatt]

Inquiry iBook

My Inquiry Project's (re)Presentation is coming along very nicely. I was in a bit of a rut for about two weeks, somewhat confused as to the direction I wanted to take my project. But, after a minor epiphany this past week, I've been able to make some great progress and I am pleased with the way it is turning out. I believe that interaction was a nice choice of a keyword, as I was able to grab a very wide range of topics, footage and images and relate them all under the keyword through the discoveries that I've made over the last month or so. I'm excited to finish it up in the coming days and release the final project to be viewed.

[carolinamatt]

K Video Final Draft

After putting a whopping 58 SNU's into our Korsakow collaboration yesterday afternoon, our final draft is coming to a conclusion. A few more videos to be edited and a bit more text to be added and it will be done. It's a bit strange saying that it's nearly complete after two drafts and many hours of working on the vide, much less all the time we've been taking footage to use for the project. It's been a journey over the past couple months gathering the videos and images and sound bites, but an enjoyable one on the whole. It's made me think about documenting more of my life with a camera to have something to remember things by. I am not one to take many pictures and so I have to say that it is nice to have some video evidence of things I've been doing in my life over the past several weeks. Some of the clips are also great for a laugh, as you'll see in the final project. 

[lilyfagan03]

Final Deadlines

From Jason: "All: So to confirm. Our Final Exam meeting time is scheduled for Thursday, May 1 at 12:00. We'll meet up then and plan to go no later than 2 (if that late). Here’s the details about finishing UP: DUE MONDAY: Final versions of Korsakow Projects and the “Accounting of Things” for that project. I will be on campus Monday. Have a member of your group schedule to meet-up with me to transfer files. If a member of your group is not able to meet up and submit your Korsakow materials on Monday, then plan to have your final version done by Friday, so we can get files transferred in class. You have a couple of options for submitting your “accounting of things”: 1. Add it as a page to the main English 149 Scalar site. 2. Use Wordpress, or other blogging platform, to integrate your “accounting of things” with your Korsakow project. Final versions of “Inquiry Projects” and the “Accounting of Things” for that project. To submit these, create a new page on the main Scalar site that links us to your project and the accounting of things. Link that page to your personal page on the scalar site. DUE THURSDAY, May 1 A cleaned up personal path on the main 149 Scalar. Items on path should include: 1. 30 second videos and any related materials (accounting of things, any alternate drafts, if available) 2. Your “linear” sketch film. This was originally uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo. 3. Your “nonlinear” sketch film (if available). Remember, we used the nonlinear sketch film to get our hand dirty with Korsakow and ultimately I didn’t require that you publish to the web. That said, if you have your “nonlinear” draft materials still available, I’ll get those files from you on Friday and we can publish them. 4. Links to your group’s Korsakow project drafts, including the final and to your final “accounting of things” for that project. 5. Link to your Inquiry Project (Re)Composition, related materials and the “Accounting of Things” for that project. Remember, to submit the accounting of things for your Inquiry project just publis it as a new page on Scalar and link it up to the page where you embed, link or otherwise publish your (Re)composition. 6. Link to relevant materials in your Social Media Experiment and the accompanying “Accounting of Things” for that project. If you’ve experimented with iBooks, or another form not traditionally publish to the web, we’ll discuss on Friday how you will both submit this project to me and add it to your Path."

[cjatkins19]

Shortcomings of Korsakow

As much as my group and I would love for things to flow smoothly, they aren't. Our first draft with 60-some videos worked flawlessly, but our luck ran out by the time we got to the second draft. Taylor first tried on her computer and when that didn't work, I stepped up to the plate and volunteered to try on my computer, thinking that would solve the issue. Well, it didn't. I ended up getting the same error message that Taylor got upon exporting as both a draft for web as well as for web. We tried reaching out to Korsakow, but the help we received was fruitless.

Moving forward, we pretty much abandoned the idea of a smaller scale second draft of our Kfilm. We have moved back to Taylor's computer in order to modify the first draft and hopefully it will still work when we try to export it. If it doesn't, I'm not quite sure what we'll do.