Sunday, March 21, 2010

How Cool?!?

I am embedding my video that I posted to YouTube on the channel that I created :)

The video is visually of a fiber-optic cone and the audio is a conversation my friend and I had about secrets and privileged information.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Art and Creative Writing

Another way to use photo-sharing sites in the classroom is to have the students search for interesting photos and use them to complete an assignment such as: choose one image and write the story behind it-what isn't the image telling us? Are the women in the photo happy? Are those fake smiles? Why is the duck alone? Is his family simply out of the frame? Is the duck lost?

Students could take multiple photos and piece them together to tell a story or the students could use the photos to practice drawing life-like images with perspective and shading instead of the same old bowl of fruit. However, it would still be beneficial for the students to be able to adjust the position of the light source to see how it effects the angle of the shadows. So, maybe they should start out with photos to practice drawing what they see, then switch to 3D models (such as the bowl of fruit), and then they could use photos/images found through photo-sharing sites or photos they took themselves and change the lighting themselves as they draw the picture to make it their own.

Why is the bicycle up there? You tell me.

Beauty

One idea is to use the photo-sharing sites to find images for collages instead of clippings from magazines, glue/tape, scissors, etc. Here is my collage on beauty that I made using images from Picasa, the free collage-making software from www.shapecollage.com, and Microsoft Paint...

...inspired by the Dove Evolution video


While researching our solar system for a paper I am writing I came across this article and thought it was interesting especially since I happened to make my collage around that idea.
"Hourglass Figures Affect Men's Brains Like a Drug"

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Black Planet

1. Black Americans
2. 1999 to present
3. It is popular because it is good for networking with African Americans to find jobs, fill jobs, and start romantic relationships. It is geared toward African Americans who want to socialize with African Americans. It is technically still in use, but it would be more popular if there were no subscriptions and if it were compartmentalized. Dating sites should be separate from job sites. I would never post my dating resume next to my job resume. I should be hired based on my qualifications for the job, not my romantic interests and sexy pictures. I should be chosen for a date based on my personality and physical attraction, not my GMAT score or my career objectives.
4. Yes. Black Singles Connection is more popular for dating and blackcareerzone and blackrefer are popular job finding/filling sites for African Americans.
5. I created an account for Black Planet just so I could check it out myself and yes I will continue to use it for researching the black culture in America. When marketing, one must research the demographics and the black community is a huge demographic. However, I am completely uninterested in online dating sites and have no interest in using Black Planet to find dates. Another reason I will not keep my profile updated, or even filled out, is that my friends and family can already get ahold of me via cellphone, email, skype, and facebook. I have no need for yet another social networking site except, of course, the value of the marketing research.

My Opinion of Building Effective Social Networks

I agree with Steve Hargadon's 4th and 6th point. If a network is going to succeed it needs to fulfill a compelling need. If it does not fulfill a compelling need then why would people use it? Why would I post my status on Fb if people could not read it? Why would I use BlackBoard if it didn't help me communicate with my teachers and classmates? A social network that does not fill a compelling need will soon be abandoned or forgotten because it simply is not a necessary, or even interesting, part of our day.

It is important to set expectations and lead by example. If you are excited about the topic and show members how useful and engaging the network can be they are more likely to join and participate. No one wants to read a lot of text and a picture is worth a thousand words. So, make sure to add pictures to the network to help get people interested.

It is not always necessary to engage someone's interest. Sometimes you only need to be the resource or medium needed. I would belong to a social network in order to be kept up to date on things regarding work, my child's school, local and national politics, policy-making committees, etc. but many of these things could be done equally well, if not better, as regular websites. Social networking is not the best medium for all things. If I want to know what time a movie is playing or a phone number I would rather go to a regular website than join a network and ask someone if they know the answer. However, if I am on a committee of more than one person and we have to collaborate, I would appreciate having a social network that we could be in together so that we could post ideas, comments, information, etc. and the others see it and respond without everyone having to make themselves available at the same time.

Steve Hargadon said it well when he said, "Being polite matters. Setting boundaries matters. Improving the network matters. You have to learn from the users, let them know you are learning from them, and make things better. Be transparent and authentic. Facilitate, help, encourage, console, understand, and support. Help to create a culture or feeling or tenor for the network." -http://www.stevehargadon.com/2009/01/some-things-ive-learned-about-building.html

If the site has a flaw or an annoying problem it is highly important that it be fixed. If a site is not user-friendly but fills a compelling need it will be replaced. If there are no boundaries the users can get lost on a tangent and turn it into simply a social site or the users could turn it into what they actually need and want instead of what was created. It is important that users feel comfortable with the medium and are encouraged to participate and have fun with it. The more confident people are with a tool, the more reasons they will find to use it.