Jess

[winter walk]

2010-02-06T00:46:00.007Z

At the end of our crescent there's a little pond (which locals call a lake) in a treed park. I love this spot as there are lots of trees so our new area feels a little older and worn in.

Besides a few others walking, there was a cross-country skier and a family toboganning down a small hill. Now this feels like Canada.

[lemon cake with chocolate buttercream icing]

2010-02-05T19:26:00.000Z

Yesterday, in between some lesson prep., a telephone interview and journal article editing, I found some time to bake a cake. Here's my lemony light cake with chocolately frosting:

Yes, you'll notice that a few slices are already missing...it really is that light and fluffy. Note, this is not for those of you on a diet...you need a bit of butter for this but it's good!

For the cake:

3 eggs

1 cup of butter (I used softened, room temp.)

1 cup of sugar (I used caster suga)

Zest and juice of one lovely lemon

2 cups of flour

2 tsps baking powder

Dash of salt

I creamed the butter, then added the sugar. Slowly I sifted in the flower and then stirred in the eggs (which I'd beaten seperately) and the lemon juice and zest. With a mixer I'm sure you could just throw all the ingredients in.

Pour into two round tins (that's what I had but use whatever tins you have available. You might need to adjust the timing) and bake at 350 for 30 min.

For the buttercream icing:

1/2 cup of butter

icing sugar (enough to reach your desired consistency)

cocoa powder (to your taste)

I creamed the butter and added in my sugar and cocoa powder. I added about 3 tbl spoons of cocoa to ensure a velvety chocolate taste. We weren't disappointed.

[your amazing brain]

2010-02-04T20:46:00.000Z

I came across this inspiring video via @ontarioliteracy on twitter:

[new media & innovative curriculum]

2010-02-03T22:56:00.001Z

Via New Media Literacies Blog:

New Media Literacies Newsletter

NML Announces its Monthly Webinar Series

Webinar Series

NML has recently partnered with New Hampshire's Department of Education to facilitate a year-long professional development initiative using the new media literacies as a springboard for developing innovative curriculum. Our goal is to help foster a broader perspective of what it means to be media literate in the digital age, and offer tools for translating the social skills and cultural competencies outlined in the white paper Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century (Jenkins et al., 2006) into meaningful and engaging learning experiences in the classroom and beyond.

These NH educators are exploring the urgent challenges that 21st Century learners face by expanding their own learning experiences using a participatory, digital model of professional develmopment. In this context, educators are able to practice their own skills as teachers by creating, collaborating, connecting, and circulating with one another in an interactive, multi-media environment. Not only are they developing new materials for their own schools and districts, but also an 8-part webinar series focused on a comprehensive, practical understanding of the NML skills for the larger educational community.

The 8-part series will begin on February 11th and share the framework of social skills and cultural competencies which shapes the work of New Media Literacies, and illustrate the skills by looking more closely at learning through such cultural phenomenon as computer game guilds, youtube video production, Wikipedia, fan fiction, Second Life and other virtual worlds, music remixing, social network sites, and cosplay. Each webinar will examine closely new curricular materials which have emerged from New Media Literacies, Global Kids, Harvard's GoodPlay Project, Common Sense Media, the George Lucas Foundation, and other projects which are seeking to introduce these skills into contemporary educational practices and leave participants with plenty of opportunities to take the material, information and methods back into their classroom.

We will host the first webinar on Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 7pm EST and focus on the new media literacies, judgment and appropriation as well as copyright, fair use, and creative commons.

Our special guests will be Flourish Klink, a graduate student at MIT's Comparative Media Studies Program, and Erin Reilly, NML Research Director.

See the full listing of upcoming webinars and get information on how to join the sessions at http://projectnml.ning.com/page/nmls-monthly-webinar-series.

[west edmonton sunset and construction-scape]

2010-02-02T19:28:00.001Z

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone

[literature relationship manager: employment opportunity]

2010-02-01T16:39:00.000Z

For those living in or near to Nottingham, this looks like an excellent opportunity, there's even a specialisation for the digital and creative economy.



Job Description East Midlands, Nottingham Relationship Manager, Literature Salary up to £35,000 plus excellent benefits package Contract: Permanent working 35 hours per week Arts Council England champions, develops and invests in art that enriches people’s lives. Our mission is to deliver great art for everyone, whatever the economic circumstances around us. Following a recent restructure, we are passionate about transforming our organisation to ensure we continue to deliver our aims. There has never been a better time to join us. The closing date for this position is 08 February 2010.

A bit more background on the role:

The relationship manager role is a new role created as part of the organisation review restructure. We require relationship managers to have a depth of knowledge and expertise in one or more particular specialism. At the Arts Council we have identified 11 different specialisms or areas of expertise. The specialisms are:

• dance

• literature

• music

• theatre

• visual arts

• combined arts and touring

• engagement and participation

• learning (children and young people, or learning and skills)

• diversity in arts practice

• digital and creative economy

• regional planning

In addition to this specialist knowledge our relationship managers will also need to be able to lead on relationships with artists and organisations, help to develop Grants for the arts applications, be an advocate for the arts and contribute to the Arts Council’s commitment to equality and diversity.

Read more here and here.

[beaumont winter sunset]

2010-02-01T00:50:00.000Z

[teaching digital writing]

2010-01-25T20:44:00.001Z

If I was still living in England..... This conference will be brilliant and my ph.d examiner (Ruth Page) and ph.d supervisor (Sue Thomas) will be speaking too along with "Inanimate Alice" author Kate Pullinger.

http://www.english.heacademy.ac.uk/explore/events/event_detail.php?event_index=281

Cost: No charge, but we reserve the right to charge a £15:00 non-attendance fee.

Last Date for registration: 14 Apr 10

Event Description:
Digital Writing crosses over Media, Creative Writing, Art & Design and English departments and demand for more higher education courses continues to grow. How are we meeting that demand and how is digital writing being taught? This free, one-day symposium is an opportunity to discuss, debate and sample Digital Writing with leading practitioners and university lecturers.

- How do we teach students to analyse digital writing?
- How do we teach students to create digital writing?
- What are the particular challenges and rewards of teaching and learning this developing genre?

These questions and others will inform the presentations and discussions.
The event takes place at the state-of-the-art Phoenix Square, in Leicester where delegates will have the opportunity to participate in a hands-on workshop and demonstration. Undergraduate and postgraduate students are welcome.

Confirmed speakers include: Award winning digital novelist – Kate Pullinger, Sue Thomas, Ruth Page and Tim Wright.
Programme: (subject to alteration)

9:30 Registration
Coffee/Tea

10:00 Welcome
Brett Lucas, English Subject Centre

10:10 Presentation
The Transliteracy Research Group
Kate Pullinger & Sue Thomas, De Montfort University

11:00 Panel Presentation & Discussion
Doing Digital Writing
Tim Wright, Digital author
Donna Leishman, Digital author
Respondant TBC

12:00 Lunch

13:00 Panel Presentation & Discussion: Teaching Digital Writing
Digital Writing and Pedagogy: How do We Teach, What Do We Teach?
Matt Hayler, University of Exeter
Designing Narratives and New Media
Will Slocombe, Aberystwyth University
The Next Frontier? Teaching electronic literature in the undergraduate classroom
Ruth Page, Birmingham City University

14:30 Hands-on Workshop and Demonstration
Tim Wright, Digital author

15:30 Keynote Address
Michael Bhaskar, Digital publisher, Serpent’s Tail/Profile Books

16:30 Closing Remarks
Kate Pullinger & Brett Lucas

16:45 Close

Note: image from Engadget.

[assessment in the digital age]

2010-01-16T00:02:00.000Z

Via hastac:

How to grade, assess, teach, learn and structure the learning experience for students in the digital age?

Many interesting projects are working on this question, and we invite you to share others with us below. For example:

- The Learning Record, a portfolio-based evaluation system designed to emphasize student learning, not product-based outcomes
- Nils Peterson and his colleagues at the Center for Teaching, Learning, & Technology (at Washington State University) have been working on developing new assessment strategies and forms of classroom engagement
- Pecha Kucha in the classroom - reframing the presentation from the unstructured long-form speech to the conversation-starting breakdown
- Digital Youth Research was a 3 year project to investigate how kids use technology and media in their everyday learning. They have reports available on their site, and the group recently published a book, Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out.
- Re-mediating assessment, a blog considering participatory assessment models in education, authored by Daniel T. Hickey, Michelle Honeyford, and Jenna McWilliams (Indiana University).
- The DML Research Hub, funded by a MacArthur grant, is supporting two projects. One, lead by Mimi Ito, is called Distributed Learning Research Network, and works on distributed learning that happens in social environments. The other, lead by Joseph Kahne, is called Youth, New Media, and Public Participation Research Network, and investigates the ways that youth, through social and political participation in online communities, affects their capacity and motivation to engage in social and political issues.
- Cathy Davidson and David Theo Goldberg's report, The Future of Learning Institutions in a Digital Age (also available as a free PDF). The report found that students are learning in deeply collective and innovative ways, and that learning institutions - schools - have to keep up or risk obsolescence. They offer ten principles for redesigning learning institutions and pedagogical systems to better reflect the way students learn today. The book-length version of the project, The Future of Thinking: Learning Institutions in a Digital Age will be coming out in 2010.

Note: Image on flickr by violet.blue

[pedagogy news]

2010-01-15T23:42:00.000Z

Interesting pedagogical tidbits:

State law requires digital college textbooks by 2020

"Companies that sell textbooks to California universities must offer electronic versions by 2020, under a new state law.

Electronic books are generally less expensive, better for the environment and often more suited to the way today’s students study, proponents say. And a Kindle weighs a whole lot less than a backpack full of 500-page textbooks.

'Think about kids carrying around all these books — or just carrying a Kindle wherever you go,” said Joan Wines, an English professor at California Lutheran University who is doing research on digital textbooks.'"

Read the article here.

U.K. Universities are now (also) facing huge classes:

Cash-starved universities will have huge classes, says union

"Universities in the UK will be among the most overcrowded in the world within three years if savage government cuts to higher education go ahead, academics warned today.

The lecturers' union, UCU, said more than £900m of cuts announced last month would fill lecture halls with "some of the biggest class sizes in the world" by 2013.

A report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development published last year shows that while the average ratio of students to lecturers in UK universities is 17.6, in OECD countries the average is 15.3.

Sally Hunt, the union's general secretary, said that "the dreams of many hardworking parents for their kids to go to university ... will be over". The cuts would send at least 14,000 academics to the dole queue.

The warning comes after top universities accused Gordon Brown of jeopardising 800 years of higher education, saying the cuts – which the Institute for Fiscal Studies says may reach £2.5bn – would 'bring them to their knees.'"

Read this entire article at the Guardian.

[special issue of e-learning and digital media]

2010-01-11T20:12:00.001Z

Here's a call for papers pertinent to all those educators working with new media (via Chris Joseph's blog):

Special issue of E-Learning and Digital Media, Editor Dr. Norm Friesen

Media today are everywhere. From educational gaming through portable e-texts to cell phones ringing in class, it seems we can’t escape. Nor can we live without media; instead, they form a kind of ecology that we inhabit. In addition, media have an epistemological function: they shape both what we know and how we come to know it: “Whatever we know about our society, or indeed about the world in which we live,” as Niklas Luhman observed, “we know through… media.”

Speaking of media in education suggests a range of possibilities that are different from what is suggested by educational technology (electronic, digital or otherwise). Describing computers and the Internet specifically as digital media casts their role not as mental tools to be integrated into instruction, but as “forms” and “cultures” requiring “literacies” or acculturation. In this way, speaking of media in education brings instructional environments more closely together with the world outside. Explorations of these terms and possibilities have been initiated by the likes of Marshall McLuhan, Neil Postman and Elizabeth Eisenstein, and they are also touched upon in research on media literacies. However, more recent theoretical developments and accelerated mediatic change –from blogging through networked gaming to texting and sexting– offer innumerable opportunities for further exploration.

This special issue of E-Learning and Digital Media invites contributions that focus on media, particularly digital media, and their ecological and epistemological ramifications. Specific topics may include:

· School and classroom as media (ecologies) and the changing world outside
· Digital challenges to media literacy and literacies
· Media socialization and media education
· Histories of media and education
· The epistemological character of (new) media

Submissions for this special issue are due May 1, 2010

Length of submissions: generally 6000-8000 words

Further submission and formatting information is available at: http://www.wwwords.co.uk/elea/howtocontribute.asp

Direct comments and questions to: nfriesen[at]tru.ca

[2010 horizon report]

2010-01-04T19:17:00.000Z

One of the "Critical Challenges" from the (preview of the) latest report :

Digital media literacy continues its rise in importance as a key 21st century skill, but there is a widening training gap for faculty and teachers. Often not seen as a priority for faculty or teacher training, digital media literacy is nonetheless a critical skill not only for students but for those who work with them. Faculty and instructors are beginning to realize that they are limiting their students by not helping them to develop and use digital media literacy skills across the curriculum. This challenge is exacerbated by the fact that it is not clear exactly how to codify the skills or set standards for their measurement.

And, one of the "Key Trends":

Students are increasingly seen as collaborators, and there is more cross-campus collaboration. Using collaborative technologies, students are working with faculty and peers in other classes and on other campuses to create online resources that both demonstrate learning and contribute to public knowledge. Research projects are conducted by larger, more distributed teams than previously, and they are often becoming more public much earlier in the research process.

Relevance for Teaching, Learning & Creative Expression

Tablet PCs—small, portable computers that fall in size and function between smart phones and laptops—are used to record and analyze field research during Bluegrass Community & Technical College's off-campus chemistry labs.
In addition to the free lectures offered on iTunes, many universities are making courses available for mobile delivery.
Medical students at the University of Louisville School of Medicine use their smart phones to check H1N1 updates from the Center for Disease Control.

Read the entire preview here.

Read tweets about the draft here.

[a mobile mobile]

2009-12-22T17:54:00.000Z

Experience Mobile Mobile from James Théophane Jnr on Vimeo.

[2010: 10 ways social media will change]

2009-12-13T18:53:00.000Z

Read more at Read Write Web:

Social Media Will Become a Single, Cohesive Experience Embedded In Our Activities and Technologies

Social Media Innovation Will No Longer Be Limited By Technology

Mobile Will Take Center Stage

Expect an Intense Battle As People and Companies Look To Own Their Own Content

Enterprises Will Shape the Next Generation of What We've Called "Social Media"

ROI Will Be Measured -- and It Will Matter

Finally: Real, Cool and Very Bizarre Online-Offline Integration

Many "Old" Skills Will Be Needed Again

Women Will Rule Social Media

Social Media Will Move Into New Domains

[inanimate alice = the future of the novel]

2009-12-11T18:50:00.000Z

The Future of the Novel is Digital: Interactive Narrative 'Inanimate Alice' Featured in Epic Documentary TV Series

VANCOUVER, Dec. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Inanimate Alice, the award-winning multimedia title from novelist Kate Pullinger, recent recipient of the Governor General's Award for fiction, features in the final episode of TVO's epic documentary series Empire of the Word broadcasting December 16, in Canada.

Demonstrating an entertaining new way to read, the interaction of Inanimate Alice makes for an immersive reading experience. Being interspersed with puzzles and games, simple to start with, growing more complex with each episode as the story unfolds, the series has a layered structure and a multi-tasking environment that digital natives feel is their territory and which teachers can employ for reading inspiration.

Inanimate Alice may feel more like playing a casual game than reading a novel, however a richly endowed story is at the heart of the experience. "Inanimate Alice has been created as a world story," said series producer Ian Harper. "It is about peoples and places and the world young people experience today. It reaches beyond borders and the constraints of language and religion."
"What is really exciting is for us to receive messages from young students on their home computers telling us they have been working on Inanimate Alice at school and asking when the next episode will be available," said Harper.

The teaching resources [by me!] associated with the Inanimate Alice series have been accessed by Departments of Education, National Libraries and major universities around the world. In Australia, the series is seen as "demonstrating an innovative way of presenting resources that support learning in the areas of English Literacy and Information and Communications Technology." Elsewhere, teachers are using episodes for improvement in English Language training. "No matter how hard we try we cannot get young students to read from books," a teacher from Singapore noted.

Harper commented, "It is gratifying to see the series being deployed across wide age ranges, encouraging the hard-to-engage while inspiring creative writing amongst the gifted. While we are immersed in the discussion about what shape the books of the future will take, we'd like to see the series be a kick-start for more traditional forms of reading."

http://www.inanimatealice.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/inanimatealice
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Inanimate-Alice/125007357446

Investors interested in learning more about Inanimate Alice contact, Ian Harper, harperjian@gmail.com

[professorship communications: south korea]

2009-12-10T23:35:00.001Z

Yeungnam University is now accepting applications for a full-time foreign-instructor (a native English speaker preferred) to be available March 1, 2010. Located on 900 scenic acres in Gyeongsan, 6 miles southeast of Daegu, Yeungnam University is a private university with a student enrollment of over 35,000.

1.   Job Title: Assistant/Associate/Full Professor, depending on career specialty

2. Teaching Subjects
-      Mass Communication & Society, Research Method, Communication Theory, etc.

3. Period of Contract
-      March 1, 2010 to February 30, 2011 with the possibility of renewal

4. Teaching Loads & Semesters
-      9 credits per semester (Spring & Fall, 15-week semesters)
-      All classes should be taught in English

5. Requirements & Qualifications
-      Ph.D. preferred in Media & Communication
-      The applicant with a Master's degree should at least one-year of teaching experience at a university

l Preferred qualifications:
-       An English-language teaching certificate (TESOL/TEFL/CELTA or equivalent) from a recognized provider.
-       A resourceful, innovative and dedicated professional who truly enjoys teaching.
-       An energetic, self-motivated team player with strong collaborative and communication skills.

6. Salary & Benefits
-       An annual salary of 31,161,000 to 40,341,000 Won (or more) for twelve months, commensurate with qualifications and experience.
-       Overtime pay: Overtime pay for teaching will be paid according to the University's standard rates in effect during the contract term of employment.
-       The Professor's health insurance will be covered by Yeungnam University's Medical Insurance Policy at the standard rate in effect during the contract term of employment
-       Pension Insurance Fees(Insurance Fund) will be paid by the professor according to the Pension Law(Act) Korea.
-       The University will allow the Professor to have maximum 8 weeks of vacation during the summer and winter vacation period.
-       All applicable taxes are to be paid by the professor according to the Korean Tax Law.
-       Housing: A university owned furnished apartment is provided. If no vacancies are available, you will be provided with a housing allowance of 450,000 KRW per month.
-       The University will provide one research office.

* Application & Deadline
- Documents Required Before the Interview Date:
1)     A cover letter that outlines your teaching experience and range of teaching interests
2)     A statement of interest in and qualifications for teaching specific courses
3)     Two copies of detailed resume with photo (Please indicate month and year for your work experience and education.)
4)     A copy of passport photo page
5)     Two letters of recommendation
6)     The alien registration ID(It can be submitted later)
7)     Three passport sized photos
8)     Two evidences of career development
9)     Two copies of diploma (Bachelor, Master, and PhD).
10)   The two copies of certificate of grades(GPA on bachelor, master, PhD)

- Deadline: Dec. 30, 2009
- E-mail: feel0932@hanmail.net (You can apply by E-mail.)
- Mailing Address:

Miss Kyeong-Ha Nam
A secretary to the Chair of Department of Media & Communication
YeungNam University,
214-1, Dae-dong, Gyeongsan-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea
Zip Code 712-749

[writing conference: england]

2009-12-09T15:24:00.000Z

Writing Industries Conference 2010
Saturday 6th March 2010, Loughborough University
A Literature Network, Writing East Midlands
and Loughborough University project.
http://www.facebook.com/l/88d0e;writingindustries.com
Twitter #wic2010

WIC 2010 – APPLY NOW FOR AGENT AND EDITOR 1-2-1 MEETINGS

The Writing Industries Conference 2010 is now open to applications for 1-2-1 meetings with agents and editors. Writers will have the chance to present their work in fiction, creative non-fiction and spoken word. A limited number of 1-2-1s are available and only ticket holders to WIC 2010 may apply.
1-2-1 meetings are available with:

Lorella Belli, Lorella Belli Literary Agency http://www.facebook.com/l/88d0e;www.lorellabelliagency.com/
Ollie Munson, Blake Friedmann, Literary TV and Film Agency http://www.facebook.com/l/88d0e;www.blakefriedmann.co.uk/
Alan Mahar, Tindal Street Press http://www.facebook.com/l/88d0e;www.tindalstreet.co.uk/
Sarah Ellis, Apples and Snakes http://www.facebook.com/l/88d0e;www.applesandsnakes.org/
James Wills, Watson, Little Ltd http://www.facebook.com/l/88d0e;www.watsonlittle.com/
John Berlyne, Zeno Agency Ltd http://www.facebook.com/l/88d0e;www.zenoagency.com/
Jane Finigan, Lutyens & Rubinstein Literary Agency http://www.facebook.com/l/88d0e;www.lutyensrubinstein.co.uk
For guidelines and details on how to apply please see: http://www.facebook.com/l/88d0e;writingindustries.com/1-2-1-guidelines/

WIC 2010 will bring together writers from across the East Midlands and professionals from the writing industries to share knowledge, develop skills and forge new contacts. 200 writers from the region will have the opportunity to hear from and meet with professionals from the writing industries in a variety of settings:

• Agents and editors in one-to-one sessions with selected writers, giving advice and support in their area of expertise.

• Panel discussions exploring specific areas of writing, from breaking into commercial publishing to working in the community.

• Writing industries fair featuring stalls from local publishers, funders and other organisations involved with the writing industries.

• And of course there will be plenty of opportunity to meet and talk with other writers over a coffee.

Details of the full programme will be announced soon.

http://www.facebook.com/l/88d0e;writingindustries.com

[snowed in!]

2009-12-06T05:06:00.000Z

Snow fight!

And yes, my Hunters' wellies aren't quite adequate for Edmonton snow.

[digital writing: mfa applications sought]

2009-12-04T23:58:00.000Z

Applications Sought:

A two-year position, including full tuition and a stipend, leading to an MFA.

Information on how to apply to Brown's graduate school is linked from the programme's website.

Since 1990, Brown’s Graduate Program in Literary Arts has earned recognition as an international leader in the field of electronic writing. Today, writing digital media is part of the trans-departmental digital arts development at Brown involving Literary Arts, Music, Visual Art, Modern Culture and Media, Computer Science, and other departments. Links have also been forged with the Digital+Media Center at the Rhode Island School of Design. Though the focus is still on writing and thus on the text, students in literary hypermedia take courses offering the additional possibility of working in mixed hypermedia, including computer graphics, animation, electronic music, video, and virtual 3-D environments. A new experimental workshop, 'Cave Writing,' has been launched in Brown’s immersive virtual reality environment in the Center Computation and Visualization. Our faculty include Professor Robert Coover, who was the moving force behind these initiatives and, since 2007, Professor John Cayley.

Further information about ongoing activities can be found at http://writingdigitalmedia.org

Previous fellows: Talan Memmott, William Gillespie, Brian Kim Stefans, Daniel Howe, Aya Karpinska, Justin Katko. Current fellows: Samantha Gorman, Ian Hatcher, Edrex Fontanilla. Previous writing fellows who completed electronic theses or taught eWriting at Brown as graduates include: Bobby Arellano, Mark Amerika, Matthew Derby, Mary-Kim Arnold, Judd Morrissey, Noah Wardrip-Fruin.

Electronic Writing fellows have access to all the resources of the Literary Arts Program and its innovative and engaged faculty directed by Professor Brian Evenson. Please see the website for a complete listing.

[end of term marking!]

2009-12-02T17:49:00.002Z

This is just too eloquent:

NB: I found the image included in Richard Haswell's article "The Complexities of Responding to Student Writing" and he references the image as: Composition Chronicle: Newsletter for Writing Teachers 8 (3), April 1995, p. 11.

[digital technologies and identity]

2009-11-29T16:30:00.000Z

Digital Technologies of the Self - Yasmine Abbas and Fred Dervin (eds.).
Cambridge Scholars (2009).

- Information available at:
http://www.c-s-p.org/Flyers/Digital-Technologies-of-the-Self1-4438-1419-9.htm
- Introduction and table of contents:
http://www.c-s-p.org/Flyers/978-1-4438-1419-5-sample.pdf

Inspired by the “technologies of the self” theorized by Michel Foucault in the early 1980s, this volume investigates how contemporary individuals fashion their identity/identities using digital technologies such as ambient intelligent devices, social networking platforms and online communities (Facebook, CouchSurfing and craigslist), online gaming (SilkRoad Online, Oblivion and World of Warcraft), podcasts, etc. With high-speed internet access, ubiquitous computing and generous storage capacity, the opportunities for staging and transforming the self/selves have become nearly limitless.
This book explores how technologies contribute to the expression, (co-)construction and enactment of identities. It examines these issues from various perspectives as it brings together insights from different disciplines — design, discourse analysis, philosophy and sociology.

[inanimate alice in my undergrad. English class]

2009-11-25T17:03:00.000Z

x-posted at iTeach Inanimate Alice

On Thursday (19th of November) I started the final unit of the term with my English 102s at Grant MacEwan University (Edmonton, Alberta). After essays and other academic texts, our final study would focus on the multimodal narrative, Inanimate Alice.

Before I began the lesson I recalled what I had done with other classes (mostly media or creative technologies while at De Montfort University in Leicester, England). But this time, it would be a little different. I could incorporate more of a "literary" analysis as this was for an English class...right?

Interestingly out of about 30 students, only one admitted to having read something similar to Inanimate Alice (but when he was "younger"). I gave a background to Inanimate Alice. I introduced the students to Alice, to Brad. I also explained what Alice's parents do. We talked about setting and character development, noting that Inanimate Alice can be read as a bildungsroman.

We agreed to spend the remainder of the lesson reading Episodes 1 and 2. Students were also given time at the end of the lesson to reflect on their first-time reading a multimodal narrative. Some of the questions I asked them to think about included:

How reading this online fiction is different from reading the essays in the course books or reading the texts for your research assignment
What can readers infer about the identity of Alice? What traits does Alice seem to possess?
1 instance of foreshadowing
Complete this sentence: “I think the author is trying to say....”

These students have had plenty of opportunity to respond to literature. They all understand what a story setting is and how to examine character development. However, until we slowed down and re-read each screen of Episode 1, the students found it difficult to answer the aforementioned questions. Only when we paused on a screen and analysed the role of sound (it's speeding tempo and increasing volume), the role of image (the gravel road, jerking in and out of a downward view), the role of text (the comforting voice of mother Ming) and reader interaction (the blurring arrows urging the reader to click on), we were able to recognise foreshadowing. Josh reads this scene as: "The text reads "Mum says, John knows what he's doing, he'll be back soon. That’s what she said yesterday and the day before. But not today." This text suggests that unlike before, the mother, Ming, can no longer comfort Alice because she too may be worried about when John will be returning, foreshadowing that something may have happened to him." Looking for a different example of foreshadowing, Ivy interprets: "[a]n example of foreshadowing is that Brad is becoming more animated, he first appeared as a stick figure in the first episode but his images is constantly progressing. I believe as the episodes progress he’ll become an actual person." Jamie also had a different view of foreshadowing: "An example of foreshadowing is expressed by the speech bubble that states Alice is the girl always losing her parents. The whole scenario of it appearing seemed out of place, perhaps hinting at a hidden importance."

Slowing down and performing this kind of close reading proved powerful for the students (and me too!). In turn, they clicked back to individual screens and reread the multiple modes. When asked how this online narrative is different from some of the texts students have read in the past Tasha explained that Inanimate Alice is very "different [from] reading a book, essay, or text because there are many different sounds, moving pictures, and games that could distract you from the text that you have to read. It helps you to visualize what is going on... Also the speeding and slowing, and the type of music makes you more emotionally involved in the story. For example, in the second episode after Alice finds her parents, a softer music is playing and it gives you a sense of relief." Another student, Matthew, noted: "The audio is very context sensitive, as with the pictures. When the story gets more intense the music speeds up." Many of the students also enjoyed the required elements of interactivity. Not only the clicking of the arrows (which Matt likens to "the equivalent of turning a page in a convential text." ) but the puzzles too. As Kalmy explained, "It also allows us to interact with the story as well (ie: selecting the clothes she's going to wear)."

My English 102 students began to read as transliterate readers. Scott put it succinctly:

"The growth in [t]ranliteracy as Alice grows in age in my opinion is the author/creators way of expressing how the general public views this mixture of media, text, and story. We’re still developing a bridge between all of our learning tools. While everyone is structured to learn how to read and write the old fashioned way, new forms of literacy tools are developing."

Since our first class, students are now becoming producers of their own texts. Their creations (an example of differentiated instruction) will, in turn, reinforce the importance of reading all modes simultaneously. Students can choose one of the following activities:

Write a letter to the authors: Kate Pullinger and Chris Joseph

** Use strong English, give examples
** ask at least two questions
** length should be two paragraphs

Create a podcast reflection of Episodes 1 and 2 (include the link to your podcast and e-mail me the HTML and the written version). Analyse the role of multimodality. You might use http://www.mypodcast.com// or http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Create a google map of places from the first two episodes of Inanimate Alice (include the link to your map in the comment and e-mail me the HTML). For each place marked on the map include:

**analysis of the story related to that area
**and a link to an image

While the students are crafting their responses, I'm looking forward to tomorrow's class because I as Brian sees it, "Inanimate Alice is the next generation of text, designed to incorporate all of the modern technologies of today."

You can follow along on our class blog.

[views from royal alberta museum]

2009-11-23T21:15:00.000Z

[snow in #yeg]

2009-11-22T17:33:00.000Z

For those of you not using Twitter, #yeg is a synonym for Edmonton (it's the airport code btw).

[religious humour]

2009-11-20T22:22:00.000Z

Now this makes me want to go to church...

Spotted on the north-western corner of 50th Street and Ellerslie Road in Edmonton.