Reading Response: Lankshear and Knoble Chapter 7 - Social Learning

I really enjoyed reading this chapter of New Literacies this week because the authors hit on a number of themes that really hit home with me and my motivation for studying instructional technology. I will start my response by sharing a personal story.

When I started college, I attended the freshman orientation which took place the weekend prior to the first week of classes. At one point during the orientation, a student could attend a speech by of the professors of the program they wanted to major in (science majors attended a science lecture, engineer majors attended an engineering lecture, etc.). For those that did not yet know what they wanted to study (this was me), they could hear a lecture from one of the student development professors.

So I attended the lecture, and the professor speaking made sure to make the point that it often did not matter what one studied in college because one could find a job doing anything. For example, English majors have become lawyers, Humanities majors have become HR representatives, math majors have become doctors, and so on. I know the professor was trying to emphasize to his audience that they should study what they love - which I think is a justified message. The thing that has bugged me since about that speech is that no one ever said HOW the humanities major became an HR representative. Becoming an HR representative still requires learning so where did that learning take place?

Throughout this chapter, Lankshear and Knoble often referred to works published by Brown and Adler. One thing they shared from the book “Minds on fire: Open education, the long tail and learning 2.0” was that populations in the future “will increasingly depend on the availability of robust local ecosystems of resources that support innovation and productiveness “(2008: 17). I believe this is the answer to the question posed above. The paradigm shift from “pushing” education onto students to having them “pull” information based on their passions or needs is already in full swing.

Lankshear and Knoble note that societies have historically depended on formal education to support such learning but that option seems to be running out of time (2011: 215). The authors note that the type of learning needed for future sustainability and viability cannot be obtained through traditional teaching methods of pre-set courses and curriculum. In higher education, decontextualized and abstract content absorption have proven to be ineffective means of innovation and productivity (2011:215).

This appears to be a pretty hard knock on formal education. There still is value in theoretical and abstract content because it enables student to exercise their mind and develop critical and analytical thinking. However, as for innovation and productivity, such a method of learning does us no good. I go back to the example of the Humanities major turned HR representative. This example happens to be my wife’s own story. She studied something she loved which was Humanities. Upon graduation she found a job as an executive assistant for a financial planner. The position did not require any knowledge of finance just the ability to perform administrative duties. After gaining experience performing those duties for a year or so, my wife sought out another job as an executive assistant for another company. Her experience as an executive assistant qualified her for the job – not her knowledge of classical literature and art. Yet this time, she was the assistant to a vice president of human resources. Now exposed, indirectly, to a new competency which she personally found interesting, my wife began gleaning knowledge from co-workers over time. This enable her to seek out a position and obtain a position as an HR representative and begin her career in that field. Did it matter that she studied Humanities in college? No.  But it did matter that she obtain some learning which she “pulled” from her social network.

Such a practice takes place all the time. What we need to do is utilize the technological literacies which we have to magnify social learning. We can create the resources and give people access. In a way, it’s offering on-the-job training without having the job.

I personally find this subject matter exciting and relevant in my work life. Formal education can still expand our minds and teach us how to think but social learning through organized platforms can enable us to glean the knowledge that we need and/or want.

 

Digital Story Critique: Photoshopping at elearningindustry.com

For this week's digital story critique I have selected two images from articles on www.elearningindustry.com

Beneath each picture I will list the title of the article along with the abstract:

From elearningindustry.com:

How to Use The 5 "Moments of Need" Model In Corporate eLearning

In this article, I'll share how you can use the 5 “moments of need” to your advantage when designing eLearning courses and training events. Capitalizing on these “moments of need” when designing and developing your eLearning courses will help you to create deliverables that improve knowledge absorption and retention, which is the ultimate goal of any learning experience.

From elearningindustry.com:

Augmented Learning 102: Voice Activated eLearning - Listen Up!

You’ve probably heard that the only silly question is the one that you didn’t ask. Well, technology has now taken that saying one step further. Voice recognition allows us to talk to, rather than through, our mobile devices. One of the best things about our mobile devices... they don’t judge. No question is too silly.

The elearningindustry.com website is an online community of eLearning professionals which includes articles, research, resources, software, collaboration, and other useful tools related to eLearning. Professionals can post articles to the website for publication. Each article comes with a visual (which follows the title and abstract) that helps portray the message of the article. I've chosen two photoshopped images that I will evaluate based on the following dimensions:

- Knowing how to import an image into an image editor 
- Understanding how perspective, shadows and shading etc. work
- Understanding how to create a recognizably meaningful juxtaposition of images


Knowing how to import an image into an image editor 

This is a fairly simple dimension but its important to point at that both images (for the purposes of this critique I will call them the stairs image and desert image) show real people. Placing real people in a photoshopped image helps the viewer create a somewhat personal connection. "If there are real people doing that then it must be possible for me to do it". I think it was important for the author or editor to specifically use live images in order to drive the reader to internalizing the message of the article. Therefore, to use real people, importing images into Photoshop or any other photo editor is a key function. In the case of these two pictures where the people are placed against a different background, it is also important to be able to crop and alter those images to make them look like they belong in the new background.

The editor here does a good job of accomplishing this. At first glance, it appears the images are part of one snapshot.

Understanding how perspective, shadows and shading etc. work
 Perspective, shadows, and shading are important attributes to photoshopping in order to create a believable remix. This is actually how I know that the images were done with a photo editor. In the "stairs" image notice where the shadows are and then look at the man on the middle set of stairs.....no shadow. Likewise, the female in the "desert" picture is also missing a shadow where the others have them. The presence of shadowing on the correct perspective line help the image be believable. I really had to look closely at the "desert" picture to make sure it was edited. I was ultimately able to find small clues (such as the lack of a shadow and the feet of the man on the right) but at first gland it appeared to be a snapshot.

Realistic images are important because it draws the view into the picture. Upon looking at both of these images, I was immediately engaged and found my eyes wanting to explore the image further. Exploring the image further turned into telling a story in my mind.

Understanding how to create a recognizably meaningful juxtaposition of images

Yes, I did have to go to dictionary.com to look up the word "juxtaposition". But now that I know what it means, I can see the relevance and importance of this dimension to photoshopping. This is the component that is not immediately noticeable but is what makes the image appealing to the eye. Notice the balance of the people in each of the images. For the "stairs" image, each man is spaced apart equally creating a balance to the picture. However, the man at the top of the latter is all the way to the right. For most languages, reading takes place from left to right. This translates into visuals as well. By seeing the first two men with bigger stairs come to an obstacle, we understand more of the meaning of the third man and how he overcame the obstacle. We, as viewers, then once again tell our own story of how and why this image came to be.


The pictures are great examples of photoshopping especially within the context of digital storytelling. Picture books help children keep attention by providing some visuals to guide them during the story. These pictures follow the same principles. They are an invitation to read the article and understand the message the author is trying to convey. I feel these images appropriately represent the articles. A few photoshop touch-ups could be made to suspend disbelief completely but they certainly serve their purpose.

Reading Response: New Literacies Chapter 5: Blogs and Wikis

To begin my review of chapter 5 from Lankshear and Knobel’s New Literacies: Blogs and Wikis, I first wanted to share the answer to a question that I’ve had for a long time – where did the word blog come from?

Here is the brief history from Wikipedia (appropriate for this chapter):

 

 

Some of you may have already known that tidbit. The origin of the name isn’t as exciting as I had thought it would be. I assumed it was perhaps a made-up term but I guess having weblog as the origin makes sense.

I remember the first time hearing the term blog. It was during my undergrad in the early 2000’s when a friend of mine sent me a link to her daily blog. As an english major and with a love for writing, keeping a blog was something she enjoyed doing and looked forward to each day. I understood it to be an online journal that anyone could see. But it was more than that. In addition to keeping somewhat of a diary, my friend also provided commentary on various topics. I didn’t get it. The journal writing aspect I understood but just writing sort of a personal op-ed for the whole world to see? I thought maybe it was just a way to get attention.

Fast forward ten years and blogging is not only a common term but a social norm as well. It certainly belongs in the discussion for new literacies because it exemplifies the desire of people to express themselves, communicate, and interact. I agree with Lankshear and Knobel that blogging is both a medium and a practice much like paint. Paint is a medium used for accomplishing a number of different tasks from making art to covering a drywall. The practice of painting can also take different forms with different objectives. Therefore, blogging also acts as both a medium and a practice…a thing and an action.

One thing the authors point out, in both chapters 5 and 6, is that many people look to social networks for knowledge flows – ways to continually acquire knowledge in certain areas of interest. We know that some blogs and wikis also serve to provide knowledge flows today. The question I find curious is how and why do people trust the information provided by the masses?

I look at the case of commercial enterprise. The last few companies I have worked for have utilized blogging as part of their marketing strategy. At one company I worked for, anyone was allowed to submit a blog post for the corporate blog – which I happened to do on a couple occasions. I didn’t understand then and I’m not sure I understand now the value of such a blog to a reader. Is it to get a human component behind the flashiness of marketing?

I know in our sales organization (in the technology industry) a common strategy is to not just sell products to a customer but be a trusted advisor to the customer. I’m sure that publishing corporate blogs, with contributions from industry experts, is way to gain that trusted advisor status. Blogs provide a regular feed of industry and technological commentary but is the information presented trustworthy? Afterall, the company is trying to sell products.

I guess what I’m trying to get at is – as society shifts to blogs and even wikis for knowledge are we in danger of ingesting bad information? How do we know who to trust?

TDC: Hand and Paper Drawing

Here is the Daily Create from a few days ago:

Hand and Paper Drawing

TDC: A Poem of Death

For today's Daily Create, I give you a haiku about death:

The final whistle
A rolling ball comes to rest
Who kept score?

DS106 Assignment Bank: This Doesn't Belong Here

Something in this picture below does not belong:

Watching toys come to life seems like every kid's fantasy. Some people might call toys inanimate objects but to the imagination, toys have characters and personalities all their own. Pixar captured this brilliantly in their Toy Story series. The image above is one of the first scenes of the first Toy Story movie. In this scene, the character that is Woody is being introduced as the leader of the group of toys in Andy's room as he runs a meeting to discuss the upcoming move. Here we get to know how each toy comes to life and what kind of personality they have. All any of the toys wants is just to be played with! What these toys don't realize is that Andy is about to receive an exciting new birthday present that will introduce both a contender for Andy's time as well as a new friend, Buzz Lightyear.

Sneaking into this image is another toy from another great story who came to life and took us on an adventure into the death-defying world of Legos. His name is Emmett and, in The Lego Movie, he realizes his destiny as a master builder and must unite with other famous superheroes to ward off the evil plot of the enemy. Emmett is another commonly played-with toy brought to life in the digital make-believe story of a young man realizing his true potential.

For this assignment I wanted to combine two similar yet different stories into one image. In thinking about famous movie scenes combined with the overarching theme of digital storytelling, I figure there couldn't be better examples of bringing the inanimate to life. Who knows? Perhaps if Emmett's and Woody's worlds would combine they could become best of friends and have their own adventures together. You've heard the phrase, "the sky is the limit." But in this case, "the imagination is the limit."

Digital Story Critique: University of Florida e-Learning Teaser Trailer

Digital Critique:

University of Florida e-Learning Teaser Trailer

As was this week's assignment, I sought out a digital remix for my critique and came across a short video created by the University of Florida. To keep in-line with my focal theme of corporate eLearning, I did a google search for "E-Learning movie trailers" to see if something like this existed. I was happy to see that the eLearning department at the University of Florida tried their hand at a new digital format in order to tell a story - a teaser trailer of new things to come!

I will evaluate the video using the Chapter 4 appendix from New Literacies under the Movie Trailer Remix. This video isn't a traditional movie trailer in that it was created from a movie. Instead, it is a video created to look like a movie trailer. Some of the dimension I will focus on are:

1) Knowing how to access original movie footage to use in the remixed trailer
2) Paying attention to original movie storylines and leveraging them where possible in creating a new movie storyline
3) Including written text in the remix video to help convey the new storyline

Accessing Original Footage

The video is a teaser trailer for a new look eLearning technology at the university. Original footage of the old software is portrayed in an old-fashioned format conveying an out-dated message. The coloring and blinking footage make the old system look like a thing of the past, similar to an old movie before full color was available.

Paying Attention To Original Storylines

The story is simple: old platform is being updated to a new platform. The video begins with the original interface as if the viewer is the one accessing the system. The new platform is introduced in the same manner but with greater appeal and visual so the viewer can make the simple comparison.

Including Written Text

Sakai appears to be the name of the platform or software being used for eLearning at the University of Florida. The teaser is explained through text - first the old system written in an old fashioned font. The transition to the new system involves common user text, almost like a chat room. The new system is then flashier and more modern bringing a sense of newness and excitement.

Overall, the video was pretty basic but I wanted to find an example of eLearning being portrayed using a new format. I think incorporating the principle of remixing into online learning is an exciting yet challenging proposition that needs to be explored fully.