TDC DS106: What is Silence?

The Daily Create: DS106

Silence is...

Silence is not a stranger
Or an enemy to sound
But waits for our attention
Before letting thoughts abound
For there we see without our eyes
The constitution of our soul
For there we hear without our ears
The song of our heart's goal.

DS106 Assignment Bank: Moving Object with Vine

I admit, I completely overlooked the Assignment Bank for this week so I'm just now putting something together. I selected the assignment of creating a Video using Vine

I had heard of Vine before but didn't really know what it was. I thought I would give it a try and I'm hoping to gain experience with any web tool I can - especially something that I can utilize down the road in an eLearning setting. Vine is an online and mobile tool where users can capture video and create loops. These loops can be uploaded to Twitter, Facebook, or even just on Vine.co

My son has a toy Caterpillar Backhoe that he is always leaving around the house. I keep finding myself tripping over it or accidentally kicking it. When this happens I, first wait for the pain to go away or my anger to subside, then joke about kicking the cat or tripping over the cat. Get it? Trip over the CAT?! A lame joke, I know, but hey we're happy...

Here's my first Vine loop called: Runaway CAT

Reading Response: Post-Modernity and a New Ethos

For this week’s response to Lankshear and Knoebel I would like to first contribute to the discussion on the transition from modern to post-modernity in regards to new literacies. Then I will comment on “new ethos”.

A Transition, Not A Break

Lankshear and Knoebel help set the stage for defining ‘new’ in terms of literacies by helping us understand that the transition from modernity to post-modernity is exactly that – a transition (Lankshear & Knoebel, p. 52).  They define postmodernity as “a transcendence, in which elements of an earlier state of affairs are carried over and reshaped to become parts of new configurations.” I wanted to share an experience that highlights this concept in a different way.

A couple years ago I decided to put together a family tree, realizing I couldn’t keep straight who my great-great grandparents were. So I registered with an online genealogy website and got to work. I was able to quickly find who my grandfather’s grandparents were including their birthdates, deathdates, and other relevant information. What I did not expect to find were some links to other “social” information about my ancestors. It turns out that the local newspaper for my great-great grandfather, The Mahoning Dispatch, used to print the social happenings of the residents of the various towns in the county. Luckily for me, the Library of Congress has a program for archiving local newspapers and the Mahoning Dispatch was one of them. Here is an example of one of the pages: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84028473/1921-09-09/ed-1/seq-1/#date1=1900&index=5&rows=20&words=Burgoyne&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=Ohio&date2=1922&proxtext=burgoyne&y=11&x=8&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1

As you can see, the paper includes updates family ice cream socials, out-of-town guest visits, and even newborn announcements. This was like the Facebook of the 1920s - People reading about the trivial events of everyday citizens. To get that kind of information, people needed to volunteer it to the newspaper editor and then subscribe to the paper to read the results.  That newspaper clipping is almost 100 years old yet a century ago people still had interest in that kind of social information. What is different between then and now is the technology! According to Lankshear and Knoeble, “ideas and practices evolve rather than become displaced.” I think the emphasis is placed on the evolution of practice and the introduction of technology fuels that evolution.

A New Ethos

I enjoyed the reading of the text pertaining to new ethos with examples of Web 2.0. The internet has evolved from being just an information source to being a collaborative tool – a forum if you will. Today, users are a primary source of data. The example of Wikipedia is illustrates that notion completely. I remember college professors during my undergraduate degree cringing at the mere mention of Wikipedia in a classroom setting.

I believe there is an inherent danger that comes with such a high level of collaboration and that is the danger of the truth getting lost. I recall the last presidential election and the amount of rhetoric that was passed over social media. Facts, quotes, everything you can think of was thrown out into the cloud often without a tie to primary sources. When people mold their opinions based on knowledge that is unfounded the truth becomes subject to the majority or the sways of society. I think it’s important to recognize all of the factors that come with new and emerging technologies and how they contribute both positively and negatively to new literacies.

Digital Critique: How To Develop The Best Employee Training Through E-Learning

Digital Critique:
European Commission: How to develop the best employee training through E-Learning

 

 

My focal theme for this course is corporate eLearning, a theme I've maintained throughout the various courses my Master's program. In my search of digital stories I've noticed a deluge of videos promoting eLearning companies and their solutions. I find this an interesting observation and a sign of the importance of eLearning within enterprise business. Afterall, in a capitalistic economy, a presence of supply is an indication of demand.

 

Amidst the many promotional ad I found this short video produced by the European Commission specifically for the Tourism industry. In fact, the YouTube channel where this is found is the Tourism Business Portal with the video originating in the United Kingdom. The description of the video is as follows:

 

Discover the main characteristics of e-learning as well as the advantages that this training provides to workers in the sector. You will also learn how to identify a quality e-learning course.

I chose to share and evaluate this video for a few reasons. First, the European Commission, an intergovernmental organization, is telling the story to a vast audience and I wanted to examine the effectiveness of the message. And second, I want to highlight which content is present and which what is potentially missing. To do this evaluation, I draw upon Jason Ohler's "Assessment Traits" with specific attention to story, content understanding, and presentation and performance:

Story

The title of the video is How to develop the best employee training through E-Learning but the story is not much of a how-to. Instead, the story promotes tells of the advantages for implementing eLearning curriculum and lays out some of the different pedagogical formats of eLearning. The story is told in a visual display, almost like an animated powerpoint presentation, and contains text and illustrations with music in the background.

The story being told is logical and informative but ultimately lacks an ethos that would make the story more meaningful to those watching. Because it looks like an animated powerpoint type of presentation without any narration or live images, its hard to make a personal connection to the message. Instead, it feels more like a video brochure/pamphlet of sorts.

Content Understanding

As for the content, the information presented is laid out very clearly and concisely. The graphics with text take the viewer on a logical course to understanding the importance of implementing eLearning within the company. There is also an outline of different eLearning formats that could be explored in more detail. The text was simple and did not bog down the viewer with too much reading. And the moving graphics guided the viewer to each point with good pacing so that the information came not too slowly and not too quickly.

The content was altogether easy to understand as there did not appear to be any outside distractions to take away from the message.

Presentation and Performance

Again, the video had the feel of an animated powerpoint. There's nothing wrong with that necessarily. The presentation was clean and organized with varying movements so that it wasn't always left to right. The background music added an interesting component but did not distract from the reading or graphics. The presentation was colorful and the text was large enough to read on the displace. For a short video, the message was laid out effectively and although it addressed the Tourism industry, the video could apply to any type of company contemplating an eLearning implementation. Certainly, the presentation had a professional look and feel which gave the content validity to the viewer.

What would I change?

Really, the only things I can find wrong with this digital story is the lack of potential. I pointed out earlier that it wasn't really a How-To. It was made for the Tourism industry but didn't feel like it was really tailored that area. I think a lot could have been done to make the story more compelling. It needed a human component, perhaps with video examples or testimonial. Not a lot research was done with an overall lack of statistics or empirical data. If I was a tourism executive, I would think that eLearning is a good idea from watching this video but I don't know if it would call me to action.

Digital Story Critique: The Importance of Roughhousing

Digital Critique:
The Importance of Roughhousing

My wife showed me this video and I had to share. It doesn't quite align with my focal them but it definitely hits home. As a father to two rambunctious young boys, I have enjoyed the time honored joy of roughhousing and hope to continue to do so. I roughhoused with my dad and I'm sure he roughhoused with his dad too. It seems as though many of my friends experienced the same thing growing up and, therefore, I assume everyone has roughhoused with their parents as kid. So if my assumptions are correct, why the need for a video promoting it?

"The Importance of Roughhousing" is a five minute video produced by the Youtube channel, The Art of Manliness. This particular channel contains a number of videos including topics such as How To Deal With A Patchy Beard, How To Develop A Manly Voice, and How To Smoke Brisket. It's a humorous video blog addressing...well...manly subjects. After seeing this video, I chose to critique it because 1) I thought it was well done and 2) because of the subject matter. The arguments made for roughhousing address several societal issues related to children today despite them being made in a humorous light-hearted video. The thing about comedy is that it sometimes permeates the truth.

I will evaluate the video on the following traits: research, media application, and originality - voice - creativity:

Research

This short video makes a compelling argument for how and why one should roughhouse with their kids. Although the video is generally humorous in nature, the points made by the presenter carry a more serious undertone. It's more than just a fun time for the kids; roughhousing contributes to the development of a child in multiple ways as laid out by the video presentation. As for research, however, I don't recall any specific citations for the studies referenced in the video. I hate to give this digital story low marks for research because of the lack of citation or sourcing because I find myself agreeing with many of the points made. It must be acknowledged though that much material on the internet comes without the proper research behind it - and this same material can mold people's opinions.

Media Application

The application of media to this digital story was completely appropriate and allowed the author to tell a story that was engaging and rich in content. What better way to illustrate roughhousing and all that goes with it than to compile video clips of examples and tutorials. The "how-to" instruction gave the video a professional feel and the editing allowed the story to be told seamlessly. Although, the video was professionally done, allowing the producer to incorporate both serious and humorous content.

Originality, Voice, Creativity

The Art of Manliness videos are fun to watch and touch a number of different types of topics. The star of each video is the same though he often takes on different personas. In this particular video, the voice is professional and instructive and takes a simple subject matter and makes it into something a little more serious. It's a fun and creative way discuss roughhousing in a manner that is not absurd yet not too uptight.

TDC: My Opening Line To My Latest Novel

Here is my contribution to today's Daily Create:

The only thing listening to my screams and my fists against the pine was the complete blackness that is found six feet below the earth's surface.

TDC: Pixar Story Spine

Here is a memoir for today's TDC using the famous Pixar Story Spine:

Once upon a time a mother had a two year old who had a lot of energy, a healthy curiosity, and a penchant for mischief.

Every day he ran, crawled, jumped, played and always looked for ways to get into things he shouldn't or find places he'd never been to before.

But, one day he learned how to climb...

Because of that he now had a desire to explore the world above him.

Because of that he searched for things to climb on in the house anywhere in the house from tables and chairs to sinks and countertops.

Because of that he discovered he could climb up the shelves in the pantry.

Until finally, he climbed up to the very top shelf of the pantry where he realized that he did not know how to climb down and was, therefore, stuck until someone could eventually come to his rescue.

And, ever since then he remembers to bring a chair or stool with him.

Digital Critique - Humorous Corporate Training Video

Digital Story:
Youtube - eLearningTV1 - Humorous Corporate Training Video
Link

Humorous Corporate Training Video is a brief animation of a corporate employee asking his boss for a raise. The animation is a bit low quality with over-exaggerated reactions, a robotic voice-over, and a laugh track / audio track. It looks a bit campy but those components contribute to the humor of the story. This video is one of a number of eLearning / training humorous icebreaker videos posted by eLearningtv - a channel on YouTube hosted by Cogentys. Cogentys appears to be a corporate training firm of some sort that is positioning itself as an industry expert through shared content and, of course, digital stories.

I came across this video in a search for corporate eLearning content. I began my instructional design masters with an eLearning emphasis with corporate training - specifically with the company I'm working for. Corporate eLearning is quickly becoming a major shareholder in the eLearning industry and I definitely see a need for it where I work. So corporate eLearning has been a theme of mine throughout this curriculum. Now I can examine it through the eyes of digital storytelling. For this icebreaker video I will evaluate the story, presentation and performance, and writing.

Story

 The title of the video is Humorous Corporate Training Video and humorous it was. At least I could tell that was the intent. The video was found on a Youtube channel as part of a collection of corporate training icebreaker videos. Mr. Employee is sitting across from his boss' desk, Ms. Boss, and is asking for a raise. Ms. Boss informs Mr. Employee of the company's recent billion dollars in losses. Mr. Employee makes the case for his raise by siting various accomplishments that were intented to be irrelevant and humorous. Yet in the end, he makes his case and the raise is granted.

The story is simple and easy to follow. The animation is lower quality and the interaction between the characters is over-exaggerated but that is what makes the story funny. It works well as an icebreaker, especially for a corporate training class because it elicits laughter and warms the crowd to the topic. It's the digital form of an opening joke in a speech!

Presentation and Performance

 I already mentioned the low quality of the animation, robotic voice overs, and exaggerated gestures. However, put altogether the presentation and performance was well executed. Some viewers could be put off by its campiness but that goes to personal preference. If exaggeration is part of the humor then exaggerated animation is what sells the joke. It is perhaps not the funniest material out there but altogether it does the job of telling a joke and breaking the ice for a training.

Writing

The video was an animated production and clearly involved a script. The producers used robotic-like characters to run the dialogue which was one way of delivering the content. Live actors could have followed the same script and probably produced similar or even better results. I believe that's how we know that the writing was done well. It was a simple dialogue and was aided laugh / sound tracks much like a tv sitcom. For an icebreaker joke, the writing did the job!

Digital Story Critique - Radio Lab - 150,000 ft Drop!

Digital Story:
Radio Lab - What It's Like To Drop 150,000 Feet Straight Down
Link

What It's Like To Drop 150,000 Feet Straight Down is an 8 minute video put together by NASA that takes the viewer on wild ride aboard rockets launching a space shuttle into outer space. I did another digital critique last week that also highlighted science in a creative way. I explained in that post that my father is a scientist, my brothers are engineers, and I am neither. Yet although I don't quite have the acumen for science and math, I definitely have a bit of fascination for the subjects - especially when those subjects are brought to my level.

This video caught my eye because my one older brother is an engineer for a company that puts rockets into space. In his line of work, year-long projects are meticulously planned with high level detail to send rockets into the great beyond...mostly to deploy satellites.  This particular brother works on the control systems that guide the rockets into pre-calculated paths. The behind the scenes is certainly over my head but the end result is awe-inspiring spectacle. This video is a front row seat to the action. For this critique, I examine the story, media application, and content understanding:

Story

The story is very simple. Strap some cameras onto rocket boosters and follow the launch of a space shuttle as it travels upward into the atmosphere at increasing speeds. The video takes you as far as the last booster releasing from the shuttle and plummeting back down to earth and into the ocean. As a front row spectator, you can text updates to various stages of the journey as well as access to the complete audio - from rockets firing, to metal groaning in outer space, to the sound of parachutes flapping and water splashing. Meanwhile, the view is updated on some statistics such as the time elapsed, speed, and description of what certain sounds are.

For NASA, preparing such a video tells the story of the incredible work that goes on in space exploration. In a way, it was a documentary because certain phases were narrated through text. However, the raw experience gives the viewer a realistic snapshot into how the project planning and meticulous math culminate into one awesome feat. Perhaps the story could have been enhanced slightly by incorporating a persona but really none was needed.

Media Application

The video contained actual footage with real audio that gave the story a vivid and realistic feel that otherwise could not have been accomplished. Although, one bounces back and forth to different angles as rockets boosters are released, it is easy to follow the events that are taking place..with the help of the captioning. The best part of the video is the audio and hearing what it is like to be 28 miles straight up where barely a sound is audible.

Content Understanding

As I mentioned previously, as a brief documentary, this video did not have a persona or live narrator so the view is left completely to the visual and captioning for understanding where they are in the journey and what is happening. I think more could have been done to help the viewer along and understand what is taking place and when but doing so may have taken away from the first hand experience - which I believe is the true message of the story.

DS106 Assignment Bank: Color Changer

Alien Landscape

For this week's DS106 Assignment Bank activity I chose to do a "Color Changer". In this assignment I had to select a picture and change the hue to make the picture look completely different. I call this "Alien Landscape". It looks like something right out of Star Trek or some other inter-planetary science fiction movie. The purple atmosphere and eerie blue glow make for a foreboding tale of intergalactic danger.

 

 

Since I live in Utah, I chose a picture of Delicate Arch, not far from Moab in the southern part of the state. Utah has some of the most beautiful and unique landscapes in the country. If ever you get a chance to travel through Utah be sure to check out the national parks in the southern half of the states. Some of the rock formations, formed over hundreds of thousands of years, seem to take on other shapes - including arches, towers, animals, and even goblins!

 

 

With today's technology, it's much easier to digitally enhance a background to make it look like something completely different. The entertainment industry is constantly seeking out locations that can double as some fairytale landscape. Here is another image of Utah:



 

 

 

This image is a scene from the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie. At this point in the film, Captain Jack Sparrow and his ship are caught in some other-worldly dimension. In reality, the production company digitally place a pirate ship on the Bonneville Salt Flats - a large expanse of flat salt deposits in Utah.

 

The thing about story telling is whether the story is told digitally or not, the key ingredient is always imagination.

 



 

 

 

 

 

 





Reading Response: Lankshear and Knobel Chapter 2

Clearly, challenging the definition of literacy began decades, long before Lankshear and Knobel started exploring the concept of new literacies. However, prior to now, I was completely unaware of this study. For my undergraduate degree, I studied International Relations. I chose the major because I thought I wanted to work for an international organization or even just learn “how the world turned.” So I had a number of classes in geography and political science which searched for ways to measure peoples and states. Of course, literacy rate was a common variable included in research studies, national profiles, and other published works. I’m glad to see that, by exploring the definition of literacy and its position within Social Theory, more value is placed within cultures and/ or societies.

Chapter 2 of the text does a great job of breaking down “new” literacy further and illustrating the concept of literacy being viewed as multiple (Lankshear and Knobel, p.49). As I understand it, literacy manifests itself through practices. This excerpt from the text helps me wrap my mind around this:

Humans, then, are bearers or carriers of practices, through which they do and be and understand. As carriers of practices, through participation in practices, individuals ‘perform” their bodies and their minds, their desires and ends, their emotions and values, in particular ways. They thereby achieve identity and membership, roles and relationships, understandings and accountabilities. In doing so, their ‘performances’ carry the social order. They ‘bear’ social structure and the ongoing maintenance of social order. Social structure – the social order – is located in social practices. (Lankshear and Knobel, p. 34)

I would like to personally thank the authors for using football as an analogy as that helped turn on he light bulb in my head. It makes perfect sense to me that football literacy is composed of many different parts, as described, including mental, physical, and emotional aspects. It does bring up a few questions, however. Going back to my undergraduate degree in International Relations, I mentioned that political scientists like to develop theories by measuring and modelling. My question then is, by redefining literacy, do we take away the ability to measure it or model it because it is too complex or contains too many variables? Does the new definition also eliminate the word “illiterate”? Take the facebook example at the end of the chapter: can a person demonstrate high literacy with facebook by being more active in the application and utilizing the features? Again with football, hundreds of statistics are kept in order to measure players and their particular values to a team. I wonder if this falls along the same lines.

I’m not really sure these are important questions. Perhaps it doesn’t really matter. This is just where my thoughts went as I read through the chapter. As for digital storytelling, obtaining a better understanding of literacy, especially with its place in social theory, help me to see that it is more than just blogs and videos. By redefining literacy and acknowledging that digital storytelling is, in itself, a literacy, I can break it down into its smallest pieces and really examine the concept more fully. Perhaps  in my upcoming digital stories, I will pay more attention to the literacy events and social practices.

TDC: Oh, to be a kid again!

My response to yesterday's Daily Create:

I loved my childhood. I was very fortunate to have had the upbringing that I had. Really, it wasn't anything spectacular and there certainly were no silver spoons to eat with but it didn't matter. What was important is I got to be a kid with room to run around and not a care in the world.

So if I were to go back and relive my childhood, the only thing I would do differently is "one more".

One more bike ride
One more wiffle ball game in the backyard
One tree to climb
One more night catching fireflies
One more dam built in the creek
One more cannonball off the high dive
One more sled ride
One more campout
One more soccer game with orange slices
One more ride on the roller coaster

What I wouldn't give for just one more day then!

Digital Storytelling Critique 1: Putting On Einstein's Glasses

Digital Story:
Radiolab - Putting On Einstein's Glasses
Video Link

I perused Radio Lab for the first time, on the recommendation of this course and immediately took interest in the video, "Putting On Einstein's Glasses." It's a brief 90 second video providing a glimpse into the math behind natural, everyday occurrences. I'm fascinated by science and mathematics. I think its in the gene pool as my father was a chemist and my brothers are both engineers - however, I seemed to have missed the boat! Yet despite my lack of scientific acumen I still find intrigue in learning about how everything works.

This video peaked my interest immediately because I fall into the category of non-mathematicians who do not see the world in terms of math but who wish they sometimes did.

For the evaluation portion I will examine Story, Flow-Organization-Pacing, and Sense of Audience:

Story

Incredibly simple but highly effective. This video does not contain verbal audio just a quote in the beginning and a title at the end with some background music throughout. Through the use of visuals, the storyteller eloquently shares with the audience the math behind everything. Using three split screens my eyes first glimpsed the raw math on the left hand side (emotion: confusion). In the middle screen I see the math graphically visualized (emotion: interested). Moving finally to the right, I see the real-life occurrence of that math (emotion: awe-struck). the brief video presents a list of examples, each one exemplifying the simple message - there is math in everything.

Despite the lack of verbal storytelling, the message reads loud and clear.

Flow, Organization and Pacing

A story containing math and science always runs the danger of becoming over-complicated, especially to the non-mathematic viewer. This video was certainly not over-complicated. I think only using visuals helped in this regard. However, those visuals were perfectly paced with enough time between examples for the viewer to digest the information. Combined with musical accompaniment the flow was patient and relaxing yet not too slow as to lose the audience interest. Overall, the video was well organized, keeping the message simple and sticking to the logic course: next screen, read from left to right.

Sense of Audience

The storyteller's sense of audience was certainly the reason behind the video - he even admitted that he himself was not a math-thinker - therefore, he made the video for himself. But knowing himself, he was able to create a visual story that not only made sense but inspired awe. Specifically, the use of common examples across a number of different life elements was sure to touch on various viewers from coffee drinkers to network engineers, to green thumbs. Explaining math and science without words is bold but changing the format to an all-visual story accomplished that goal beautifully.


As you can tell from my evaluation, I loved the video. There is definitely more that can be evaluated from it because it was such a short presentation. I certainly felt like I could have ingested more content but I'm not sure how that could be possible while still achieving the same results.

TDC #2: Send Flowers!

Here is my second TDC for the week:

My wife took some old metal folding chairs and an inexpensive side table and refinished them. The above picture is a view of our patio.

So to all the DS106 people and TDCers I share this thought: A flower can mean a lot of things to a lot of people but sometimes it can be a great finishing touch. Remember to finish with a flower!

DS106 AB: A Light In The Darkness

For this week's DS106 Assignment Bank Project I decided to make a Word Cloud. The assignment was simple: using an online tool, such as Wordle, create a word cloud using text that invokes some kind of meaning or emotion. The idea is to use visualization through font, color, and orientation to convey the meaning and emotion of those words.

Growing up in Eastern Pennsylvania, I had many opportunities to visit many richly historical sites that contributed to the founding and upbringing of our nation, including Independence Hall, Valley Forge, and Gettysburg Battlefield. Although each of these sites provides a certain sense of awe, it's the battlefield in Gettysburg that stands out to me.

The thing about battlefields is they are essentially just fields. And in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania there isn't much else - either in 1863 or today. The town is quiet and quaint with a small population. Just over the Maryland border, it's not really near any major metropolitan areas. However, because of the events which took place there over a three day period in the summer of 1863, Gettysburg is a place that will not long be forgotten - not because of the actual events but rather the meaning behind those events. Simply put, because of the political and geographical contention that was happening in the United States at that time, two large opposing armies lined up across from each other spread across open fields and fought until thousands of lives were lost.

President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is his most famous speech because he encapsulated in just a few lines of text the real meaning and sacrifice of what transpired there. Those that visit Gettysburg Battlefield today are still just walking through open fields, but the sense of walking on hallowed ground is unmistakable.

The Word Cloud you see above is the text from the Gettysburg Address. I chose a font that looked historical and placed it against a black background as a way of signifying the past. The colors of the words grow increasingly lighter so as to eventually stand out against the dark background. Much like war is often a dark period, the good emerges from that darkness and shines toward the future. The majority of the words are vertical in orientation like soldiers standing on the battlefield willing to make the sacrifice necessary for the benefit of others. The horizontal words are those "which gave the last full measure of devotion." Altogether, the cloud is haunting but solemn:

" that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." - Abraham Lincoln - Gettysburg Address 1863

Daily Create #1: "Sweet Message"

Below is my first Daily Create experience:


A Mile In His Shoes

They say you shouldn’t judge a man until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes. And speaking of shoe metaphors, you’ve certainly left some big ones to fill. You might think it’s this time of year that is making me think of you but really my thoughts turn to you in the late hours rocking my own son to sleep. I think of you when I have to discipline my 3 year old and wonder whether you felt the same frustration. Did I also bring you to your wits end? Did you hate having to get mad too? When I sit and watch my boys experience life in their own way I imagine myself sitting in your spot on the couch watching me experience life in my way.

Now that I’m a parent with sons of my own, my appreciation for you grows more each day. I understand the sacrifice. I understand the patience. I understand the worry. But most importantly, I understand what instant and unconditional love really is. Thank you for being a role model. Thank you for being a fan. Thank you for being indestructible. I hope I can be just like you. Thank you, Dad.

DS106, do you copy?

This is a test post to check my feed into DS106. In a way, it's kind of like sending a message to the future...

The Beginning of Digital Storytelling

This blog is the starting shot of an 8 week sprint through the world of digital storytelling. Success, as stated by the course syllabus, will come through a careful understanding of four dispositions: course affinity with DS106, course location, social practice, and experimentation and expression. I'm not sure exactly what these dispositions entail but I imagine it will involve participating in the internet like I never have before. If this holds true, then it will definitely take me out of my comfort zone but, hey, outside the comfort zone is where incredible things can happen! So if there's anyone out there picking up this frequency stay tuned. We'll see where this journey takes us and how fast we'll get there. Let's go!