A little summer reading
(HOW) DOES THE INTERNET AFFECT COMMUNITY?
Cultural Formations
in Text-Based
Virtual Realities
Studying Online Social Networks
These bodies are FREE, so get one NOW!: Advertising and Branding in Social Virtual Worlds
Monday, July 30, 2007
Social Networks in virtual worlds
Notes from watching this lecture by Aleks Krotoski.
Interesting starting point for Social Learning Theory and Social Network Analysis, based within Second Life. What is of interest to me is the idea of people in power, people with influence, gate keepers of power/influence and the people who are able to innovate. The connections between all these people. I think this could be an interesting way of mapping spaces within H Building.
Interesting starting point for Social Learning Theory and Social Network Analysis, based within Second Life. What is of interest to me is the idea of people in power, people with influence, gate keepers of power/influence and the people who are able to innovate. The connections between all these people. I think this could be an interesting way of mapping spaces within H Building.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Learning agreement part 1
Done on line. A series of links to research work, test pieces, written work etc.
This site BodyTag is a good visual reference to how it could look.
Work could be categorized by date, research, test pieces, finished work etc. I like the idea of keeping the design that simple, basing it on calander type format.
For the work at this stage I have a range of bookmarked research done online
see here
Which ranges from visual references to social networking sites to technical sites. There is also a more traditional bibliography.
Work completed so far ranges from very rough test pieces done using Javascript, CSS PHP to more complete scripts, websites and mock ups.
Examples of what needs organising. This all needs organising and showing in some way, mainly as a way of helping me to see what work has been completed over the past 10 months.
What needs adding is more context and analysis of social networking theories. Applying these to emerging web 2.0 sites. Also implementing and testing these theories through actual application. Hopefully work for the course publication and interim exhibition will allow me to test these ideas.
This site BodyTag is a good visual reference to how it could look.
Work could be categorized by date, research, test pieces, finished work etc. I like the idea of keeping the design that simple, basing it on calander type format.
For the work at this stage I have a range of bookmarked research done online
see here
Which ranges from visual references to social networking sites to technical sites. There is also a more traditional bibliography.
Work completed so far ranges from very rough test pieces done using Javascript, CSS PHP to more complete scripts, websites and mock ups.
Examples of what needs organising. This all needs organising and showing in some way, mainly as a way of helping me to see what work has been completed over the past 10 months.
What needs adding is more context and analysis of social networking theories. Applying these to emerging web 2.0 sites. Also implementing and testing these theories through actual application. Hopefully work for the course publication and interim exhibition will allow me to test these ideas.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Initial exhibiting and assessment ideas part two
Design a user interface that people within the Universty can use to search through and find examples of work from the Graphic Arts+ Design at Leeds Metropolitan University course. The work is then projected on a large scale at various busy points througout the University eg coffee shops, vending machines, corridors, entrances. Alternative locations to where work would normally be shown. If possible the work could also be projected onto the exterior of the building at some point during the week.
There is already a database of work on the courses website that can be used to select work from. My role would be to design a user interface that allows people to search through a selection of work. This can then be projected at different points throughout the building.
As part of my contribution to the course publiction I would be interersted in mapping and researching potential locations for the project throughout H building. This could take on a variety of forms from floor plans to photography to graphs.
There is already a database of work on the courses website that can be used to select work from. My role would be to design a user interface that allows people to search through a selection of work. This can then be projected at different points throughout the building.
As part of my contribution to the course publiction I would be interersted in mapping and researching potential locations for the project throughout H building. This could take on a variety of forms from floor plans to photography to graphs.
Initial exhibiting and assessment ideas
Interface based (Colours, tags etc)
Existing work from Graphic Arts students
Promotion/ showcasing for first year. Whole University
Week long exhibition
Internal and external projection
Onto the exterior of building- relate to the course publiction about H block
Interior were to project- popular spaces. Coffee shop, vending machines, student unions etc.
How to project- scale, random. Who selects the images, are they in another part of the buliding
Or one specific space which would generate a lot of use eg vending machine, student services
Number of projections
How to encourage use
Existing work from Graphic Arts students
Promotion/ showcasing for first year. Whole University
Week long exhibition
Internal and external projection
Onto the exterior of building- relate to the course publiction about H block
Interior were to project- popular spaces. Coffee shop, vending machines, student unions etc.
How to project- scale, random. Who selects the images, are they in another part of the buliding
Or one specific space which would generate a lot of use eg vending machine, student services
Number of projections
How to encourage use
Foundation Degree Photography intranet part 5
Joomla is one content managment system I've looked. Another CMS is Drupal, along the lines of Joomla it's a bit trickier to use but seems to have more Flickr modules. At the moment I'm going to use Drupal to bulid the Photography site. With Joomla as a back up option.
Foundation Degree Photography intranet part 4
First couple of mock up's of the front page. Re-working the Joomla site from a couple of months ago.
Foundation Degree Photography intranet part 2
Initially it sounds quite straight forward: each student has a Flickr account and a blogger account. Easy enough but the course has 40 first year students and 40 second year students. Staff need to be able to see all the blogs so they can comment on work.
The simplest solution is a nice HTML page with a list of all students Names, Blogs, Flickr etc A Ning site was the other option but I'm not convinced by Ning.
It would make sense to have a course front page with feeds from students Flickr accounts and Blogs. As well as having course info, RSS feeds, competitions etc. An online notice board. I also like this idea as it encourages interaction between students, satff etc individual blogs are fine but it's crucial to see every ones work.
This I know is doable, something as simple as Joomla site with a front page with a feed from the Photography departments Flickr pool. A list of RSS feeds. A second page simply links to students names and their Flickr, Blogger, Youtube accounts.
The simplest solution is a nice HTML page with a list of all students Names, Blogs, Flickr etc A Ning site was the other option but I'm not convinced by Ning.
It would make sense to have a course front page with feeds from students Flickr accounts and Blogs. As well as having course info, RSS feeds, competitions etc. An online notice board. I also like this idea as it encourages interaction between students, satff etc individual blogs are fine but it's crucial to see every ones work.
This I know is doable, something as simple as Joomla site with a front page with a feed from the Photography departments Flickr pool. A list of RSS feeds. A second page simply links to students names and their Flickr, Blogger, Youtube accounts.
Foundation Degree Photography intranet part 1
Background
As part of the Personal Development module on the Foundation Degree Photography course at the Leeds Art College students are required to use blogging to record their personal and professional development throughout the two years of the course.
The module descriptor states
As the lecturer in multimedia on the course it will be my responsibility to make sure students (and staff) all have blogger, Flickr and YouTube accounts. At the most basic level this will involve a two day induction for both the first and second years. Setting up accounts, user groups and showing examples of how people can use blogging, Flickr etc.
The use of blogging and Flickr is something I touched on in the Digital Post-Production and Distribution unit. This unit will give me an opportunity to push the ideas of Web 2.0 for artists and designers.
The students and staff on Vis Com, Graphics and Digital Media, as you would expect, are already using blogging, Flickr and other Web 2.0 sites to promote their courses show work and so on. One of the interesting aspects of this unit is to see how photographers use these kinds of sites.
As part of the Personal Development module on the Foundation Degree Photography course at the Leeds Art College students are required to use blogging to record their personal and professional development throughout the two years of the course.
The module descriptor states
Taking the form of a blog (with emphasis on multi faceted discussion between specialist staff, external agencies and students) this module runs throughout the second year and requires that the student explores all aspects of the photographic field, continually updating themselves with related articles, images and websites; aspects which impinge on their interests, practice and proposed progression. This module links with the professional practice element of the course supporting it both technically and conceptually
As the lecturer in multimedia on the course it will be my responsibility to make sure students (and staff) all have blogger, Flickr and YouTube accounts. At the most basic level this will involve a two day induction for both the first and second years. Setting up accounts, user groups and showing examples of how people can use blogging, Flickr etc.
The use of blogging and Flickr is something I touched on in the Digital Post-Production and Distribution unit. This unit will give me an opportunity to push the ideas of Web 2.0 for artists and designers.
The students and staff on Vis Com, Graphics and Digital Media, as you would expect, are already using blogging, Flickr and other Web 2.0 sites to promote their courses show work and so on. One of the interesting aspects of this unit is to see how photographers use these kinds of sites.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Shipley College intranet
One of the Ning sites was originally going to be used as part of a college intranet for the courses I have been teaching at Shipley. The idea is quite simple: students have their own Flickr, YouTube and Blogger acounts and the college/course has an overall Ning account. This would pull together all students work, allow satff and students across all courses and departments to see work students have done.
Any written work is uploaded to Fronter (the colleges exiting intranet) this is already being done. Any visual work (videos, websites, anaimtions etc) has to be submitted via the Ning site. Staff wouldn't take in any hard copies of students work. All the work would have to be submitted digitally, as it is an E-Media course.
Staff would also be able to link to might be films, videos, tutorials, competitions that they think students would be interested in.
Even without using Ning, students should really have their own Flickr, YouTube and Blogger acounts. They are free, an easy way to store work and are useful alternative to buying webspace.
The above is something I propossed a few months ago, and has not really been taken any further by the college.
Any written work is uploaded to Fronter (the colleges exiting intranet) this is already being done. Any visual work (videos, websites, anaimtions etc) has to be submitted via the Ning site. Staff wouldn't take in any hard copies of students work. All the work would have to be submitted digitally, as it is an E-Media course.
Staff would also be able to link to might be films, videos, tutorials, competitions that they think students would be interested in.
Even without using Ning, students should really have their own Flickr, YouTube and Blogger acounts. They are free, an easy way to store work and are useful alternative to buying webspace.
The above is something I propossed a few months ago, and has not really been taken any further by the college.
Ning
Previously I was looking at Ning as a solution to creating alternatives to college intranets.
Shipley
Sandbox
LeedsMet
I've decided against using them for now. They feel a lazy solution, to what I'm trying to do. I want to have more control over the design of the interface of the site. There isn't any real effort in putting them together.
There are also practical concerns with them, the adverts can't be removed without payment. The numbers of users visiting the sites will increase bandwidth and costs. This would be a major problem with the Leeds Art College FD Photography site which is potentially going to have 80 students using it.
What I do like about Ning is the way it pulls together existing sites such as Flickr, YouTube, Blip etc and the Ning site is a way of grouping people and work from a range of of other sites in one space. That I think is interesting and an idea I want to work with. Ditch the idea of having a seperate gallery and simply run all the image uploading through Flickr, YouTube etc.
Shipley
Sandbox
LeedsMet
I've decided against using them for now. They feel a lazy solution, to what I'm trying to do. I want to have more control over the design of the interface of the site. There isn't any real effort in putting them together.
There are also practical concerns with them, the adverts can't be removed without payment. The numbers of users visiting the sites will increase bandwidth and costs. This would be a major problem with the Leeds Art College FD Photography site which is potentially going to have 80 students using it.
What I do like about Ning is the way it pulls together existing sites such as Flickr, YouTube, Blip etc and the Ning site is a way of grouping people and work from a range of of other sites in one space. That I think is interesting and an idea I want to work with. Ditch the idea of having a seperate gallery and simply run all the image uploading through Flickr, YouTube etc.
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Stuff
Bits and pieces of half finished work and ideas for the summer or whats left of it.
I'll write in more detail about these tomorrow.
Ning, thanks to Annabeth. Interesting social networking websites.
I'm trying to set these up at Shipley and the Art College, hopefully for the start of next term. How far I'll get with these I'm not sure.
Shipley
Sandbox
LeedsMet
Also looking at some Flash interfaces to use with the PHP Flickr scripts I've got. Though I'm thinking these may just be basic action scripts or Processing programmes. My starting point is a few simple intercative image tools. Basic rollovers, image clouds not quite sure yet.
Other work: I also worked on the HND Photography end of year show (website, slideshow etc)
I'll write in more detail about these tomorrow.
Ning, thanks to Annabeth. Interesting social networking websites.
I'm trying to set these up at Shipley and the Art College, hopefully for the start of next term. How far I'll get with these I'm not sure.
Shipley
Sandbox
LeedsMet
Also looking at some Flash interfaces to use with the PHP Flickr scripts I've got. Though I'm thinking these may just be basic action scripts or Processing programmes. My starting point is a few simple intercative image tools. Basic rollovers, image clouds not quite sure yet.
Other work: I also worked on the HND Photography end of year show (website, slideshow etc)
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