New Media Consortium RSS

Once More, Unto the Breach!

Larry Johnson — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 12:21:15 -0700

This is not my first blog. Like a smoker going back to the patch over and over to no avail, albeit al reverso, I have put my hand to keyboard now many times to start a blog. But -- as any accomplished blogger will tell you -- it is not an easy task to stick to. This time, I have a strategy, if not a plan. My blog is here, nestled in the warm cuddles of the NMC website, the public face of the community that is as much my home as the one I share with my family.

My plan is to keep posts short and simple. This one will be the template -- the one I can improve on, or fall back to as baseline. Friends, Alan Levine foremost, encouraged me to "just start writing" and I have to chuckle. I write every day! I write out the whazoo! I just write old school style -- in papers and monographs and book chapters. It is this new form that has eluded me. Then the flash -- Heya! Write blog posts about what you are already writing and speaking about! doh! That shall be the strategy to keep the effort alive.

So, to the refrain of the stirring words from Henry V, "Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more..."

The NMC is poised to release a white paper very soon framed with this same title, on a topic that Rachel Smith and I have wrestled with now for many months, with colleages Peter Samis and Holly Witchey. The paper focuses on the disconnect between research showing the tremendous benefits of arts education and the alarming decline of anything resembling it in schools. Watch this space for an announcement and more on that very very soon.

My next post will look at the Horizon Project and what we've learned over the almost six years of that effort -- new Horizon efforts have taken off in Australia, and one is in the works for museums. Here is a sampler.

Invitation to visit University of Pacific in Second Life

Alan Levine — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:18:36 -0700

One of the NMC Virtual Worlds projects this year was construction of the virtual campus for the University of the Pacific which included a mixture of replication of campus structures, such as Burns Tower, and creation of new spaces which only exist on the virtual campus.

Since the ribbons were cut May 7, 2008, faculty and staff at the University have been busy using the space and developing new applications for therr virtual learning space.

They are inviting you to learn more about their Second Life campus and how it has already been put to use in this new machinima video:

Some things of interest include their learning spaces high above Burns Tower, the "Sky Labs" where faculty and classes meet in flexible designed spaces, a space for sharing "freebies" a gallery of student created content, and a lab where faculty are developing custom learning applications.

In the video, we learn from Volleychick Boa about how Second Life is being used for Speech Critique where students stream their webcam into Second Life for review by their faculty, how the debate teams are conducting activities in world, a nifty survival experience (a crashed plane! snow!) for a management class, and the development of a student club area, just to name a few examples.

To visit this exemplary campus in Second Life, check out the University of the Pacific at http://slurl.com/secondlife/U%20Pacific/166/141/22

Call For Proposals

NMC — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:58:38 -0700

Proposals for presentations for Rock the Academy: Radical Teaching, Unbounded Learning, a special 2-day, live online event to be held November 4-6, 2008, are being solicited through October 6, 2008.

To submit a presentation proposal online, you must have log in to the NMC web site. If you do not have an account, create one now.

When submitting a proposal, each individual must login with their user name and password. The proposal system is tied to the individual membership records, but you will be able to add accounts for co-presenters. Be sure when logged in to edit your profile (via the My Account link on the left) so we have your correct mailing address, phone number, and contact information.

Rock the Academy, the twelfth in the NMC’s Series of Virtual Symposia, will explore the kinds of ideas and activities that are changing the shape of education today. Revolutionary practices are breaking apart old models of teaching and learning; students are using new tools to construct meaning and contribute to the design of their own education; teachers are sharing the power that has traditionally been theirs alone. Examples of unconventional, yet highly effective, methods of teaching and learning may be found in pockets all over the world, at all levels of education. When the multitude of examples are taken together, we begin to sense a profound change in the making that will alter our concept of education itself.

Screenshot by Jo Kay. Creative Commons. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jokay/185373253/

Session Formats

The symposium venue will be adapted to fit the topic, and will make use of online communication technologies such as the Adobe Connect 2D web environment, the Second-Life-to-website communication tool Chat Bridge, and the 3D virtual world of Second Life.

Sessions, which will be conducted live, can incorporate a variety of visuals and rich media, and are generally about 45 minutes in length, with about one-third to one-half that time devoted to dialog with participants using in-world voice chat.

Proposals are encouraged on any of the following themes, but this list is not exhaustive and selections will not be limited to these categories:

open education resources and open content
social networking and global connections
guerilla learning, games, and activist learning
the next killer apps for education
alternatives to course management systems
real-time data, maps, and mobiles
backchannels and alternative communication tools
students who do research in their fields
any technology or practice that shows promise for engaging students and supporting subversive teaching and learning

Sessions should describe new approaches, illustrate case studies, or address the implications for learning and teaching of themes like those above.

To submit a presentation proposal online, you must have log in to the NMC web site. If you do not have an account, create one now.

This event is the twelfth in the ongoing series of specially focused online gatherings that explore new ideas and issues related to technology and learning. The NMC Series of Virtual Symposia is itself an exploration of emerging forms of collaboration and tools.

Online Registration

NMC — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:22:46 -0700

To register online, you must have log in to the NMC web site. If you do not have an account, create one now.

When registering, each individual attendee must login with their user name and password and register themselves. The registration system is tied to the individual membership records and group registrations are not allowed. Be sure when logged in to edit your profile (via the My Account link on the left) so we have your correct mailing address, phone number, and contact information.

Registration Fees

Register before October 24 to receive the regular registration fees. Late registrations fees will apply starting October 25.

	Regular	Late
NMC Member	$125	$149
Non-Member	$149	$195

If you have any questions regarding registration, please contact Nancy Reeves at nancy@nmc.org, or via phone at 512 445-4200.

NMC Welcomes New Members Who Joined in July and August 2008!

Nancy Reeves — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:46:17 -0700

Please take a moment to recognize and welcome the new members who joined the NMC during the months of July and August 2008!

The rise of the pocket video camera...

Keene Haywood — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:06:11 -0700

Much has been made of Pure Digital's Flip line of pocket video cameras. Inexpensive, convenient, easy to use and decent audio and video quality (for the price). Its made video as easy as point and shoot. Well the ante has been upped some from the vernable imaging gurus at Kodak. They have introduced the Vi6 pocket video camera that shoots in 720p, 60fps, 16:9 aspect ratio using H.264 encoding. This is compressed HD in a form factor about the size of a Flip Mino. Also, the Vi6 can take memory cards (SD/SDHC formats) up to 32 GB giving one lots of room to shoot all those lectures one is attending this semester. The Flip cameras only have built in 2 GB memory that is not expandable. Kodak's video quality is considerably better than the Flip provides at the moment, but I bet Pure Digital won't be standing still long, even if they just came out with the Mino. The camera will run about $180.00 plus a memory card.

note: Sanyo's Xacti line is also a great option for run and gun HD shooting, but alas, these cams are quite a bit more expensive and a little bigger (not as pocket friendly)

iTunes keeps singing along...v.8.0 imminent?

Keene Haywood — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:47:01 -0700

There are not many pieces of software that have raced through the version numbering system like Apple's iTunes. And now we have some rumors of iTunes 8 rearing its head at Apple's Sept. 9th. "event." There will likely be new ipod models in the mix along with this iTunes update, which is more than an update, it’s an entirely new version. Kevin Rose (Digg's founder) blogged today that the new iTunes may sport these features...Thanks Kevin for keeping the world abreast of immiment technology enhancements. Here are the details from Kevin's sources...

What's new in iTunes 8

iTunes 8 includes Genius, which makes playlists from songs in your library that go great together. Genius also includes Genius sidebar, which recommends music from the iTunes Store that you don't already have.

With iTunes 8, browse your artists and albums visually with the new Grid view; download your favorite TV shows in HD quality from the iTunes Store; sync your media with iPod nano (4th generation), iPod classic (2nd generation), and iPod touch (2nd generation); and enjoy a stunning new music visualizer.

Keene

Hotel Contessa - Driving Directions

Nancy Reeves — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:54:02 -0700

For your convenience, following are the driving directions to the Hotel Contessa.

Driving from I-10 West:
Take I-10 East. I-10 will merge into I-35 South. Take I-35 South into San Antonio. Take exit 155B toward W Durango Blvd. Merge onto W Durango Blvd and continue for .8 miles. Take a Left onto St. Mary’s Street. Follow St. Mary’s Street and remain on the Right lane, St.Mary’s becomes Navarro. The Hotel Contessa is located on the corner Navarro and Market Street. Turn right onto Market St. and then take an immediate right into the Hotel Contessa drive entrance.

Driving from Dallas/Austin/I-35 North:
Take I-35 South into San Antonio. Take exit 155B toward W Durango Blvd. Merge onto W Durango Blvd and continue for .8 miles. Take a Left onto St. Mary’s Street. Follow St. Mary’s Street and remain on the Right lane, St.Mary’s becomes Navarro. The Hotel Contessa is located on the corner Navarro and Market Street. Turn right onto Market St. and then take an immediate right into the Hotel Contessa drive entrance.

Driving from Houston/ I-10 East:
Take I-10 West in to San Antonio. Exit onto I-37 North for 1.7 miles. Then take exit 141/Commerce Street. Turn left onto Commerce Street. Drive 5 blocks and turn left onto St. Mary’s Street, then turn left again onto Market St. Move to the right hand lane. The hotel Contessa is located on the corner of Market St. and Navarro St. Hotel entrance is on the right hand side, immediately past Navarro.

Driving from San Antonio Airport/Hwy 281:
Take Hwy 281 South into San Antonio. Exit at 141A/Commerce St. and the turn right onto Commerce St. Drive 5 blocks and turn left onto St. Mary’s Street, then turn left again onto Market St. Move to the right hand lane. The hotel Contessa is located on the corner of Market St. and Navarro St. Hotel entrance is on the right hand side, immediately past Navarro.

Driving from Corpus Christi/I-37 South:
Take I-37 North into San Antonio. Then take exit 141/Commerce Street. Turn left onto Commerce Street. Drive 5 blocks and turn left onto St. Mary’s Street, then turn left again onto Market St. Move to the right hand lane. The hotel Contessa is located on the corner of Market St. and Navarro St. Hotel entrance is on the right hand side, immediately past Navarro.

Driving from Laredo/I-35 South:
Take I-35 North into San Antonio. Take exit 155B toward W Durango Blvd. Merge onto W Durango Blvd and continue for .8 miles. Take a Left onto St. Mary’s Street. Follow St. Mary’s Street and remain on the Right lane, St.Mary’s becomes Navarro. The Hotel Contessa is located on the corner Navarro and Market Street. Turn right onto Market St. and then take an immediate right into the Hotel Contessa drive entrance.

Driving from Hwy 90 West:
Take Hwy 90 East into San Antonio I-10 to I-35 North. Take exit 155B toward W Durango Blvd. Merge onto W Durango Blvd and continue for .8 miles. Take a Left onto St. Mary’s Street. Follow St. Mary’s Street and remain on the Right lane, St.Mary’s becomes Navarro. The Hotel Contessa is located on the corner Navarro and Market Street. Turn right onto Market St. and then take an immediate right into the Hotel Contessa drive entrance.

Southwest School of Art and Craft Invitation

Nancy Reeves — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:19:49 -0700

Southwest School of Art and Craft Exhibitions

Attendees of the 2008 Pachyderm Conference are cordially invited to attend the current exhibitions at the Southwest School of Art and Craft .

Jennifer Khoshbin: Missed or Misunderstood
August 28th - October 18th 2008
Ursuline Hall Gallery | Ursuline Campus
Koshbin, from San Antonio, combines photographs with intricately carved texts in a series of familiar, often iconic, images that address memory and nostalgia.

Veronica Riedel: The Making of a Mestiza
August 28th - October 19th 2008
Russell Hill Rogers Gallery | Navarro Campus
Riedel, from Guatemala, explores the resilient nature of indigenous women in the Americas. Her collaged monoprints employ photographs, embroidery, and artifacts.

Zoe Sheehan Saldana: Caution
August 28th - October 19th 2008
Russell Hill Rogers Gallery | Navarro Campus
Saldana, from New York, exhibits work that examines social issues such as domestic security and consumer culture. Her sculptural work combines digital photography, tapestry, and cross stitching.

Conference Schedule

Nancy Reeves — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:37:45 -0700

The preliminary conference schedule is as follows:

Monday, September 22

5:30 – 7:30 pm
Registration/Info Desk Open

5:30 – 7:30 pm
Welcome Reception

Tuesday, September 23

8:00 – 4:45 pm
Registration/Info Desk Open

8:00 – 8:30 am
Continental Breakfast

8:30 – 9:30 am
Opening Plenary Session

The Instructional Power of Storytelling
Patricia McGee, The University of Texas at San Antonio
The value and power of storytelling is universal across cultures, across disciplines, and over time; there is evidence that preliterate cultures relied on storytelling to educate their members and that these oral retellings were exceptionally accurate. In the 20th century, telling stories in the form of entertainment is something we know and understand from our earliest memories and experiences If our life is replayed through our stories, then it makes sense that stories used in learning experiences help us to integrate new meaning into existing schemas. Yet research in this area is fragmented and situated in a variety of fields, and is therefore difficult to understand as an instructional method.

9:30 – 10:00 am
Coffee Break

11:00 am – 12:00 noon
Special Keynote Workshop

Narrative Frameworks for Interactive Storytelling
Ruben Puentedura, Hippasus
Interactive media tools such as Pachyderm present authors with a challenge: how does one tell a coherent branching story, where readers can leap in - or out - at multiple points that they choose? This challenge is not new: the cave painters at Lascaux and the builders of the cathedrals had to deal with similar issues. Starting from these historical examples, we will look at processes and tools that allow us to harness the complexities and richness of interactive storytelling, develop frameworks for their use, and apply them productively to educational project design.

12:00 noon – 1:30 pm
Lunch and Open Space Signup

1:30 – 3:00 pm

Open Space Sessions
The 2008 Pachyderm Conference will combine traditional, scheduled sessions with an Open Space model that encourages on-the-spot session suggestions. At the signup session, a facilitator will introduce the model, explain the single “law”—the Law of Two Feet—and describe how the signup will happen. During the signup, attendees have the opportunity to suggest topics that they would like to speak about or learn about, and then to sign up for the sessions that interest them. Once the signup process is complete, each group goes to its respective space and the sessions begin.

While additional topics will arise at the conference itself, a few have been offered already:

Activity from the Keynote Workshop (Ruben Puentedura)
Critically Thinking about Storytelling (Anne Rudnicki)
Crossing Boundaries: Artwork from the Southwest School of Art and Craft (Cathy Brillson)

3:00 – 3:30 pm
Refreshment Break

3:30 – 4:30 pm
General Session

Who Does Pachyderm Serve Best?
Jared Bendis, Case Western Reserve University
Who does Pachyderm serve best? While institutional developers adore Pachyderm for streamlining both their authoring and content management, one might argue that they (as a group) are a population that would have created their learning objects anyway, one way or another. However, Pachyderm’s ability to serve individual authors (such as students or faculty members) introduces to them not just a new tool but a new form of media expression that can be both challenging and transformative. To aid these new authors, Pachyderm must be couched in a greater field of non-linear multimedia authoring, including an understanding of asset creation and management. This session will discuss these issues and propose a Pachyderm modification aimed expressly at this population.

4:30 – 5:00 pm
Day One Wrap Up and Open Space Signup for Wednesday

5:00 pm
Evening on Your Own

Wednesday, September 24

8:00 – 12:00 noon
Registration/Info Desk Open

8:00 – 8:30 am
Continental Breakfast

8:30 – 9:00 am
General Session

Pachyderm 2.1 Overview
Scott Sayre, Sandbox Studios; Clayton Black
Pachyderm Council Chair Scott Sayre and lead developer Clayton Black will give an overview of the new features and changes in Pachyderm 2.1, the 2008 Pachyderm release.

9:00 – 9:45 am
Special Sessions

Marcus Foundation Digital Education Project Meeting
M’Lou Bancroft, Edward and Betty Marcus Foundation; Larry Johnson, The New Media Consortium
Learn about the Edward and Betty Marcus Digital Education Project for Texas Art Museums! We will show some of the projects that were completed under the minigrant program in the spring, share the soon-to-be-released white paper Into the Breach: How Creative Philanthropy Can Reverse the Eroding Landscape of Arts Education, and talk about the current and future activities of the project. Project participants are encouraged to come and share their perspectives and current work.

Pachyderm 2.1 in Detail
Scott Sayre, Sandbox Studios; Clayton Black
Dive deeper into the technical details of the 2.1 release in this developers’ session. Find out how to install 2.1, upgrade your current Pachyderm instance, work with the new code, and create extensions that are compatible with Pachyderm 2.1.

9:45 – 10:15 am
Coffee Break and Open Space Signup

10:15 – 11:45 am

While additional topics will arise at the conference itself, a few have been offered already:

Customizing Pachyderm in Post-Production (Rachel Varon)
Administering Your Pachyderm Server (Clayton Black)

11:45 am – 12:00 noon
Conference Wrap-Up

12:00 noon
Conference Adjourns

Is Amazon providing Kindling for the e-textbook fire?

Keene Haywood — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 08:30:31 -0700

Ars Technica just posted some news that Amazon is considering a jump into the textbook market via their e-reader device, Kindle, which has been out for almost a year now. It appears Amazon is prepping an upgrade to the device and may introduce additional models, including one targeted for students. Obviously, this is a huge market and one that is poised to undergo some rapid changes. As the article points out, students are tired of the high prices of textbooks and some are scanning books and putting them on BitTorrent sites for downloading, which is illegal. However, as students are faced with mounting educational expenses, this is happening whether publishers like it or not. Some professors are also exploring legal alternatives to BitTorrent textbooks via Web 2.0 tools as Ars further mentions. This is a good example of technology catching up with an industry that has long had a lock and key grip on educational content. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the next couple of years as the mobile content devices mature and digital textbook publishing becomes more ubiquitous. With Amazon considering a jump into the fray, the fire could start to get a little hotter. I guess they did not name if Kindle for nothing.

Keene Haywood (University of Texas at Austin - DIIA)

Additional Details...

Alan Levine — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:13:51 -0700

See who else is registered to attend the 2008 Pachyderm Conference! (available only to people who have registered)
View a list of sessions with links to descriptions and related content

Ball State Digital Artists Showcased in Second Life on NMC’s Ars Simulacra

Larry Johnson — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 11:57:50 -0700

Imagine flying over a pyramid shaped boat as a variety of tones from the engine combine to create a melody. That is just what visitors will get when they interact with the new virtual art collection created by Ball State University faculty in Second Life.

John Fillwalk, Ball State associate professor of art, and director of the Institute for Digital Intermedia Arts and Animation (IDIAA), is the lead artist on a project that will be showcased in Second Life beginning Sunday, Aug. 24 2008, and run through September.

The NMC offered Fillwalk and the IDIAA the chance to transform an entire Second Life island with interactive virtual art. The collection, which will be up for a month, is part of a series of installations hosted by NMC throughout the year.

Fillwalk (SL Name: Mencius Watts) and Jesse Allison, Ball State faculty fellow and research specialist (SL Name: Taggert Alsop ), worked for three months with help from SL resident Media Hax to create a series of interactive exhibits that will be featured on the NMC's special Second Life arts showcase island, Ars Simulacra
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ars%20Simulacra/46/88/37/

"The experience is compelling. And while the background technology is complex, visitors to the exhibit can easily engage with the art," Fillwalk said.

Visitors to the island can interact with exhibits, which incorporate video, sound and still photos, via their avatars. One exhibit features a live connection to Flickr, a photo sharing Web site. Individual visitors can choose the subject matter and customize their viewing experience.

Fillwalk says this collection of interactive virtual art showcases and expands upon IDIAA's expertise in building virtual reality applications for simulation, and visualization environments.

"We're positioning the business profile of IDIAA to work with external clients to build significant research, well as showcase Ball State's emerging media prowess," he said.

Ball State has received recognition for its work developing hands-on, experiential, project-based learning environments. Its virtualized film studio won the first Greenhouse Grant for Virtual Worlds and an award in the 2008 Campus Technology magazine Innovator competition. Another Innovator award went to Ball State's Digital Corps.

Learn more about the Institute for Digital Intermedia Arts at http://www.digitalintermedia.org

Ball State Digital Artists Showcased in Second Life

John Fillwalk — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 11:53:32 -0700

"The experience is compelling. And while the background technology is complex, visitors to the exhibit can easily engage with the art," Fillwalk said.

Fillwalk says this collection of interactive virtual art showcases and expands upon IDIAA's expertise in building virtual reality applications for simulation, and visualization environments.

"We're positioning the business profile of IDIAA to work with external clients to build significant research, well as showcase Ball State's emerging media prowess," he said.

Learn more about the Institute for Digital Intermedia Arts at http://www.digitalintermedia.org

Announcing the NMC Jam Pack!

Larry Johnson — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:15:59 -0700

As many of you know, as past of the NMC's 15th anniversary celebration going on all year, participants at the NMC 2008 Summer Conference had a special opportunity to visit the John Lennon Bus - a world class audio/video studio on wheels-- and spend 15 minutes laying down a lick, a groove, a vocal, or other gem that was then processed by bus staff as Apple Sound Loops. The loop files are designed to be used in audio editing software to mix and match in tracks to generate new songs.

The loops are now ready at http://www.nmc.org/jampack, and we're are issuing a call for musical compositions using them as part of NMC@15-- it's time to put your jam on!

These files can be imported into GarageBand, LogicPro, Acid, and other sound editing software and alone or with other loops to create new musical works. To help you, we have created a brief guide to using the loops with instructions for GarageBand and Acid XPress.

Please experiment with the loops, generate new music, and share them back with us. Simply upload your final songs as MP3 files to where ever you can put them online reachable via a URL. Then share them with us by commenting below and/or tagging them in delicious as nmcjampack where they are easily played via the built in player control there: http://delicious.com/tag/nmcjampack

Many thanks to Tom Knab (of NMC Rock Hall Jam fame) for this idea, and to all the folks who contributed loops on the bus. Now we ask you to show us how creative you can be with remixing the sound loops shared by your NMC colleagues.