Giovanna Ghio - Gigi Designs

"Suburro" - Burningman 2010

2010-08-31T17:38:00.000-07:00

Our friends little sub was a champ during their trek to the playa...

Looked like our sub 2 years ago :)

Burningman 2010

2010-08-31T17:28:00.000-07:00

Sigh....we had tickets, but given how little E's been sleeping lately, and his need for constant movement (of his own control - crawling, scooting, furniture surfing), we decided not to go. Both Ray and myself are feeling a bit sad... but check out this wonderful picture of the playa after the rain on Monday (thank you Burning Blog for keeping us updated and letting me share this photo with others).

If anyone needs their virtual playa fix, check out ustream.tv

Graduating with My Masters

2010-05-20T08:42:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a long road, but I'm finally done.

A month after Emmett was born, I presented my Creative Work Project to the Design and Industry Department.

It went very well, and I'm happy to report that I graduated with my MAIA in December 2009. But, this saturday I'll be attending the Commencement ceremony, and saying my final goodbye to San Francisco State University; I leave the excitement of the university to those 15 years younger than me... :)

You can see my project here. I must profusely thank Ms. Alicia McHale of Allen Elementary in San Bruno, California for welcoming me into her classroom and acting as an advisor to the project.

If you're wondering what the project entailed, I was responsible for conception, design and development. That included:
- logos

- layout

- coding

- editing blogger templates

- editing content

- creating animations (storyboards, accompanying audio, and timing adjustments)

It was alot of work - I was a one person educational web dev team!

T Plus 1

2009-10-30T13:05:00.000-07:00

One day overdue for peanuts arrival... I went walking for about an hour to try to encourage peanut to vacate the premises, but he/she is holding steady.

As soon as there is any sort of action, I'll be letting you all know.

Until then, keep good thoughts going for a safe delivery.

Thank You for the Peanut Shower!

2009-09-29T19:54:00.001-07:00

It was great to see everyone come over for a little baby bbq! Thank you all for coming. Ray and I feel truly lucky to have so many wonderfully supportive people in our lives.

Making Way for Peanut

2009-08-31T15:49:00.000-07:00

This last weekend was super productive, we got the guest room emptied out and converted to little peanuts room. I'm still not sure about purple wall color if it's a boy, but Ray thinks it'll be fine; the one thing purple's got going for it is that coordinates well with green, orange and yellow.

Ray researched the infant carrier and we're going with a Chicco KeyFit 30. And he found a place online that had great information about cloth diapers. So two more things checked off the list...

Maggie's obsessing on the dangle turtle on the bouncer and snatching it away whenever she can, so that's a bit annoying. But, she spent most of Sunday hopping in and out of a bucket full of water - super cute!

We also cleared out the Burningman shed, so be ready for a post in the coming weeks regarding coming to grab supplies from the pile.

Welcome Not-so-little Max!

2009-08-31T15:46:00.000-07:00

Just got the news that the Candice's c-section went well. Apparently little Max wasn't so little, and it was a good thing that they did the surgery. Welcome little Max! Weighing in at 8 pounds, 8 ounces and 24 inches long (where in the heck did he get the height??!!?? - we're all a bunch of shorties!).

Congratulations Tony, Candice and Hannah!

Master's Creative Work - Milestone!

2009-08-31T15:43:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness! The first round of edits on my project documentation booklet is done. Now I feel like I can push forward with finishing the animations and make it to graduation this December! What a long road!

Thank you Starbucks for providing me with the environment I needed to make that happen!

Now if I can figure out the jquery code for this effect...100 Abandoned Houses

Summer?

2009-07-14T21:38:00.000-07:00

Where in the heck is the time going?? I'm finally back from our honeymoon - France and Spain were great. France was wonderful. I highly recommend just going and sitting in all of the parks in central Paris. This female sculpture was in the Tuileries Garden - at the base of Champs Elysees.

Thanks to my mom and dad, we had AMAZING acomodations in Paris - right on Champs Elysees across from Laduree's (amazing macaroons and desserts). One of the best afternoons we had in Paris was just sitting behind Notre Dame under the trees watching the colors change.

This large head sits in the Jardin du Luxembourg, just watching over the happenings of the sailboat pond. I think this huge sculpture spoke to me because of it's stillness - during our visit to this park we took a bit of time out for meditation and the head seemed to be appropriate matched to that mood. I've not come back from a vacation so deeply relaxed!

Spain, well really just Barcelona, was an interesting contrast to Paris. It was a huge architecture expedition and the Catalan style stood in contrast to that of the average French person (who even in Paris, were very friendly).

So, now back to work. I think this little paw tied lion summarizes my back to work motivation. Website updates, finishing my thesis, and getting ready for the arrival of the baby. What a heck of a year!!

Time, Where Does It Go??!

2009-04-16T18:58:00.001-07:00

It seems like there never is enough time in the day to get everything done. So far today's been about:

Getting the word out about iDo's Community Bench gifting ceremony - we're giving the bench to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's Office! This is HUGE!!!

Going to Kaiser for a checkup

Catch-up lunch with Crystal-Marie to check on the status of our respective theses

Problem solving a strange bug in Flash player 9+... why would it eat multiple fscommands???

Thinking about ramping up my freelance work

Updating my family's business website

Reviewing a fellow student's business proposal and how I can offer my design skills to make it a reality

I wonder why I'm not graduating this semster??? ;)

Lake Tahoe

2009-03-01T09:54:00.000-08:00

Up in Tahoe at a nice little place called the Bear's Den. Worked on my thesis - customizing a blogger template (which isn't too hard once you get into the code) and listening to Steve and Ray debate the value of privacy to the individual in terms of what they choose to post on social networking sites like Facebook, etc... It's very interesting to hear two very different points of view. I know that privacy is generally not even considered by "younger" people - but it's surprising to hear a peer feel this way too...

Blogging for Science?

2009-02-05T08:31:00.000-08:00

Upon suggestion of my committe members (Jane Veeder and Josh Singer), I'm considering making the web portal look more like a blog. It makes sense since it's time sensitive lesson. I'm wondering about just using blog software and making templates. I need to read about the power of the blog.

Don't Drink the BTB

2008-11-05T20:13:00.000-08:00

Diagram provided by Benjah-bmm27

Today the 5th grade class I'm observing as research for my masters degree was AWESOME!!! Thank you Ms. McHale's students!

We did a hands-on experiment where they used Bromothymol Blue (BTB) to observe the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in water and how that level changed over time - a nice elodea plant was good enough to take in the CO2 and return O2 to the water.

Bromothymol Blue pH indicator dye in an acidic, neutral, and alkaline solution (left to right) provided by bfesser.

The kids are amazing. Super excited. All of them (with the exception of a few) stayed on target with the steps of the lab. It's awesome to be able to volunteer and help them out with the steps of the lab and offer advice and answer questions.

I can definitely see how and why science education gets the short end of the time stick. It takes dedication to want to set-up, execute and take down experiments. BUT, the enthusiasm and engagement of students demonstrates to me that science can succeed in the classroom. The right resources need to be provided to elementary teachers.

Thank you Wikipedia for the photos. Wikimedia Commons RULES!

Science is Cool!

2008-10-30T19:05:00.000-07:00

I've been sitting in on a 5th grade class at Allen Elementary to observe how science it currently taught. It's been very educational and will greatly help in crafting my master's degree final project.

I'm excited at working to solve a problem in California schools; the lack of science education they get per week. According to a report earlier in the year, students are lucky to get 1 hour of science education a week. 1 hour!?!

The United States of America needs more engineers, chemists, biologists, mathematicians and many many other types of science/math people. It keeps us economically competative. It also benefits society by increasing the number of individuals who can successfully listen to, analyze and draw conclusions from the enormous amount of media we're bombarded with daily.

I believe that most Americans need these skills in order to:

protect themselves from being taken advantage of (i.e. consumer debt)
challenge their governing bodies/institutions (i.e. civil rights infringment sanctioned by legislation such as the Patriot Act) and

help advance humanity in a positive direction through better decision making (i.e. choosing to use mass transit instead of driving, paying more for "green" products instead of products that use destructive chemicals and manufacturing processes).

While my project focuses on a specific aspect of science education, increasing it, I hope that it has far reaching effects upon society and people.

iDo: Bench Round 2

2008-10-30T18:47:00.000-07:00

Well, now with the wedding crazies gone, I'm able to focus on iDo: Industrial Design Outreach.

Last year we rolled out a Community Bench Curriculum. It was so successful that the principal and teacher asked us back to offer the project to the next class of Thurgood Marshall students.

So far, so good. As compared to last year, the students are having a hard time grasping the concept of "community". Many of them think of sports, video games, family, marriage and pets. It's interesting to think about what community really is. How is it defined? What makes up a community...

For myself, I can say my family, my friends (which are like a family - we do Sunday dinners together), the crew of folks that I go to Burningman with, the crew of folks that I go snow skiing with, and my outdoor camping crew are all the communities that I strongly identify with. But, how would I represent that in the medium of a bench? Each community is unified by a similar point of view towards life, how we interact with others, and a belief in what our purpose is on earth. How in the world would I visually represent that??!!

It's no wonder kids have a hard time putting visuals to such a personal and sometimes shifting concept that is shaped by so many variables...

One student proposed a bench on the bench... interesting, but why a bench on a bench. She said it was because benches help to create community by providing a place for people to gather at, talk at and meet other people. Seems like a pretty good idea!

Wedding Accomplished

2008-10-27T22:29:00.001-07:00

The one thing I keep asking myself is how is it possible that I planned, dreamed of and experiences the entire day and not really remember it all? Thank goodness we had an awesomely creative photographer, Jerry Yoon and Ingrid. I am ecstatic that we went with them, because their creative point of view and amazing skills shine in the photographs.

Anyone looking for vendors for events, I whole hearted recommend:

Jerry Yoon Photography (Oakland, California) - Ask for Jerry
All Seasons Catering (Mill Valley, California) - Ask for Stan or Gay
Fiori (Burlingame, California) - Ask for Tina or Lindsey

They made our wedding spectacular!!! Everyone keeps raving about how it was the best food they'd ever had at a wedding, how awesome Jerry and Ingrid were, and how beautiful the flowers were.

The location was super too: The Golden Gate Club in the Presidio of San Francsico...

Wedding Countdown

2008-09-22T12:42:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been a busy summer! Since summer break commenced, the planning and fussing for the wedding has ramped up each week. Now with it being a week and a half away, I feel the stress increasing, but it's more related to "oh, my gosh, all this planning is going to come to fruition so soon! holy cow!! i hope it all goes well..."I just have to remember to breathe deeply, let go, and enjoy.

Gaming As A Tool for Learning

2008-09-22T12:36:00.000-07:00

Here is an interesting interview with Arizona State University professor James Paul Gee about the value and purpose of gaming as a mechanism to teach and encourage inquiry.

Life After the Last Semester of Coursework in Grad School

2008-05-19T13:55:00.000-07:00

WOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOOOO!
*happy dance*

Not so happy dance to the fact that my 1st on my creative work project (Asst. Prof. Paul Catanese) - who I'd be working most closely with - has decided to leave the university. Super bummer for me, but good for him. He's joining the graduate division of Columbia College in Chicago, which sounds like a great fit and I'm sure he'll kick butt there!

On the flip side, my 2nd, Associate Prof. Jane Veeder, who's got tons of experience has agreed to step into the role of 1st. I'm excited and relieved that she's willing to do this, and I know that my CW will be great with her in that role!

So now, I get to go work on my human subjects protocol, approach another professor to see if they'd like to become my new 2nd, and finish planning my wedding!

Yay to summer!!

Final Project - ITEC 830: Week 15

2008-05-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone! Here's a link to my final project - in progress - for ITEC 830. Although it's rough, I think this has helped me to consider how my Creative Work project may evolve beyond the constraints of Flash.

End of the Semester Crazies

2008-04-29T16:52:00.000-07:00

Only 16 days left...

Project Proposal - ITEC830: Week 13

2008-04-26T16:39:00.001-07:00

I've been working on my project proposal. You can check it out here and add comments to the wiki.

Web2.0 Expo - ITEC830: Week 12

2008-04-25T21:41:00.000-07:00

Web 2.0 was interesting. I walked away thinking it's all about 'mash-ups', personalization through widgets, aggregation of content from different sources, identity management (all your social networks, IMs, etc in one spot for easy updating), and paring down information to show only what you want - customization.

There was a nice tool for online document collaboration where the alterations were highlighted in user specific highlight colors - created by HyLighter. I think Google Documents should add this kind of feature - they already track the changes, but showing the changes on the doc, until it's finalized would be a super bonus because then I can track/know what people have changed w/o looking at the tracking log.

Super cool for designers - creative feedback for remote collaboration - Octopz. Work in real-time with clients to get better feedback.

Those were the stand outs for me.

Happy Web 2.0!

Printing in the Bay Area (Oak-town)

2008-04-12T00:10:00.000-07:00

I've been working with a new printer (new to me) to produce 1,000 full color brochures for iDo (Industrial Design Outreach). PSPrint seems to be a good organization. I've done two proofs, rejected both because of designer error (NOT printer error) and they've been OK with this - they said they give you 3 proofs before cutting you off. Everything is done through the website - upload of files, digital proofs, pricing, etc. - nice and easy.

Hopefully on Monday, all will be correct and we'll go to print.

Interface Design Critique of Edu 2.0 Website - ITEC830: Week 12

2008-04-12T00:08:00.000-07:00

To read my critique of Edu 2.0, check out my wiki. Please add or alter content as needed. I'd love to get other peoples feedback about my analysis of the site.

Reflections ITEC830: A Whole New Mind Presentations 4.8.08

2008-04-08T16:32:00.000-07:00

Christina and Barry presented "Story"

People retain knowledge through story telling

Episodic memory - memory of events, provides context

Left brain thinking (analytical) is not a natural way of thinking for humans

Harder to remember

Doctors need to have both R and L brain skills

Listening to patient stories can help solve medical issues/problems
Drs. keep emotional log to help keep empathy with patients

Procedural memory may be tapped during the writing down of these logs by the Drs.

Americans record stories in sound/audio

Record your own story at StoryCorps

Storytelling is a skill that can be learned

Joshua, Marcus and Kurt presented "Empathy"

Odiogo - web page reader that converts page content to audio
Empathy is putting yourself in someone else's shoes to understand what they're feeling, understanding the situation, it's a holistic approach.

It is not sympathy, where you feel bad for the person.

Designers need to be empathetic so they can understand what a user needs and how they'll use the product
Build empathy by:

Volunteering in an area where people are different from you
Eavesdropping on people's conversations

Greg presented "Play"

Play will become the way we work in the 21st century
Bringing game, humor and joyfulness to business and products will make them successful
"mature manhood: that means
Play a game that demonstrates real world physics - launchball

Motivates kids to learn by play

Doris, Heidi, Yu-Fen presented "Meaning"

Find out what you do out of enjoyment because it's meaningful to you
Some helpful ways of finding meaning are:

Spirituality
Appreciation
Relationships

Carlos presented "Symphony"

Interface Design Critique - ITEC830: Week 12

2008-04-08T16:18:00.000-07:00

Protecting Human Research Participants
http://phrp.nihtraining.com

What's Broken - ITEC830: Week 11

2008-04-07T18:10:00.000-07:00

The mailbox installed in my house.

There is no possible way for any large format mail to be deposited wholly into the slot. Poor visibility and no feedback make it pretty easy to think that you've gotten all your mail, but really you haven't. The affordance (or implied actions for interaction) are pretty easy to determine because of the tiny nub of metal indentation intended to provide a place to grab onto.

The Design of Everyday Things - ITEC830: Week 11

2008-04-06T22:03:00.000-07:00

In reading chapter one of Donald A. Norman's The Design of Everyday Things I focused on answering the following questions:

What does the author identify as some of the drawbacks of modern versions of objects, such as phones?

When visibility is lessened, users ability to infer function and operation of objects becomes more difficult.
In terms of feedback, natural mapping of controls enables users to better implicitly understand what to do by creating a close, natural relationship between the control and function.
Another concern in the realm of feedback is that when the amount of feedback is lessened, ease of use decreases because users are unsure if their actions are producing measurable/visible results. By building feedback mechanisms into a design, something like a digital display or audio feedback, users can link responses with their actions which allows them to more easily operate the system.
A negative result of technological advancement is that what can be done by an object also increases (the object becomes smarter and more efficient at its task), this often results in the object becoming more difficult to operate. Visibility into how the object functions is also often obscured by technological advances, as a result user feedback can become unimportant to the object and causality may become completely disconnected from user interaction. To quote chapter one, “…the paradox of technology: added complexity and difficulty cannot be avoided when functions are added, but with clever design, they can be minimized.”

How is the notion of causality relevant to interactive web design?

Causality is essential to web design. Users control where they are going and how they get there by making decisions about what content they are interested in. If a user clicked on a link and nothing happened, they would assume that the link was broken. This broken link would result in a lessening of confidence of the user in the quality and reliability of the website. A successful website also allows users to predict the effects of their actions through providing a good conceptual model where purpose and results are closely tied.

How does design relate to the notion of schema which learners create in their heads.

Good design takes into account the schema that a user will create and then crafts a solution that relies upon visibility, constraints and good mapping which arise from their schema. By designing to the user, the product is easier to use and more effective at its purpose. Good design is built upon an understanding of the conceptual model created by users about the purpose and use of a product. When the model of the product aligns with the user’s conceptual model, good design occurs.

Kids as Content Creators, Copyright (DMCA) and Culture

2008-04-04T13:57:00.000-07:00

Larry Lessig Talks about copyright at TED

Excellent listen/view. I appreciate his discussion of the differences between "us" [pre net/tech generation] and "kids" in how they differ in passive vs. active content creation.

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/187

Ownership of material and appropriate rights to fair use need to be considered by us designers.

Designers Block

2008-04-02T15:53:00.000-07:00

I am using the Arabian proverb, "The whisper of a pretty girl can be heard further than the roar of a lion" as the base for my final project in DAI525 - Advanced Graphic Design. I'm feeling uninspired although it's a great quote.

How do I apply that quote to my neighborhood - the Upper Haight? I keep envisioning long flowing hippie girl whirling around in circles at a protest... but that seems so cliche.

*sigh*

Reflections ITEC830: Brian's Presentation of SnapzProX

2008-04-01T21:56:00.000-07:00

I currently use Grab which is free and comes loaded on the Mac, and I'm happy with it. But Brian showed that SnapzProX has a cool feature that allows you to record on screen animation and audio. It seemed like a really easy to use piece of software, and I'm going to keep it on the radar in case I need to capture some animation.

iDo - Industrial Design Outreach: Award Ceremony for the Community Bench Project

2008-04-01T20:22:00.000-07:00

Hello All!

If you get a chance, please come to iDo's award ceremony for Community Bench created by a small and fortunate bunch of students at Thurgood Marshall Academic High School.

When: April 3, 2008 8:50 ~ 9:50 AM
Where: Thurgood Marshall,
45 Conkling St, San Francisco,
CA 94124 Second Floor in the iDO studio (Please sign in at the front desk)

Running My First Professional Print Job

2008-04-01T17:59:00.000-07:00

I'm using BPS in San Francisco. I'm really impressed with the quality of the printing and the professional attitude of the staff; they're proactive in calling me about the job, and when I call they know the precise status of it.

Here's a digital file of what the brochure looks like:

Reflections ITEC830: Eugene Lee Presentation 4.1.08

2008-04-01T17:32:00.001-07:00

Eugene Lee spoke to our class this evening about his company, Socialtext.

During his presentation, he touched upon the idea that students/kids younger than most of our classes median age (let's say 30) are digital natives. As digital natives, they are immersed in technology, they are used to flexible software, they are used to control and the ability to customize their technology. His point that made me realize that corporate America will change from what it was when I first began my career due to the fluency of these kids as they mature into the workforce. I've been trained in a static computing environment (in terms of software) and I'm used to it, so the thought that the software I use will change it's nature and the way I interact with it had not crossed my mind until he pointed it out.

When I consider this point in conjunction with some web applications and software that I know is being developed for the enterprise, or when I look at iGoogle, I can now see the value of this sort of dynamic interface within software. I do wonder though how this would impact productivity of workers, if the changes in productivity will be immediate or longer term.

Some other interesting tid-bits he discussed were:

groupware (what is meant by this?)
Twhirl
Things like Facebook are interesting because it lessens the importance of a resume. The activities that you do (and the expression/documentation of them online) are more telling of who you are than what you stick on a resume. Everyone gets "Googled", so things are learned about you beyond what's in the resume.
Howard Rheingold and Smartmobs - collaboration to cause social and political change
Wikis provide transparency within an organization - quality of feedback can be evaluated by all and forces the quality of participation to increase.

Design chapter summary of A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink - ITEC830: Week 10

2008-04-01T13:50:00.000-07:00

Check out our chapter summary of the Design chapter of Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind. Presented to you by Giovanna Tuccori and Giovanna Ghio for ITEC830.

Guess What I Did on Spring Break... - ITEC830: Week 9

2008-04-01T12:17:00.000-07:00

Check out what I did one day on my spring break... I used VoiceThread to create it.

Note: It's easy to resize the VoiceThread module by changing the dimensions embedded within the html portion of the post. That was a relief, because I could not find how to change the size within the VoiceThread authoring environment.

Check out my photomontage!

2008-03-11T17:50:00.000-07:00

Here's a piece of my latest work:

Reflections on ITEC830: 3/4/08

2008-03-09T22:11:00.000-07:00

Classes continue to be well worth it. I'm learning a lot of new material that will be good for my creative work project...now just trying to figure out how to incorporate it all into my first idea (a Flash based science lesson)...

In class Giovanna gave a great presentation about Twitter. It seems like a good tool to keep in touch via quick tiny messages. I couldn't help but agree with Marcus (I've also come from a career in high tech and Internet companies) - where this is a replacement to my simple d-list (email distribution list). I guess this is an example of how the technology morphs over time.

Heidi also showed us about del.icio.us. While I'd heard of it and have seen it before, I'd not ever really studied it, so her presentation was a nice recap and has motivated me to go poke more at it and use it. If anything, it'll be a nice protection against my machine finally dying and loosing all of my links. ;) In terms of a tool for sharing links and information, seems like a nice storehouse.

Working with my peers simultaneously on Google documents was awesome! I've not done something like that in a while, so this was a great refresher!! I love technology!!! Instant updates and real time collaboration rule!

Now I have to put the last touches on my Second Life presentation for this week. :)

Learning for the 21st Century - ITEC830: Week 6

2008-03-04T15:19:00.000-08:00

A mind map of the reading: Learning for the 21st Century (A Report and MILE Guide for 21st Century Skills)

The Educational branch of the paper:

Consider: Who determines what the core subjects are? Is this a hidden curriculum.

Educational Blogging - ITEC830: Week 5

2008-02-25T16:18:00.000-08:00

Some thoughts that struck me during the reading of Educational Blogging by Stephen Downes

"...the events of September 11 brought home to me the immediacy of blogging. We ran ongoing coverage, submitted via SMS to my e-mail, as one of our own made her way from the dust..."

Thought: We need to address the importance in mobile communication and the advances that have been made in this field. By using text messaging, data transmission, etc. from cell phones, blog are able to move towards a news reporting style that helps to make the content socially relevant.

[on blog formatting] "...visitors can catch up by simply reading down the page until they reach a link they saw on their last visit."

Thought: This reminds me of one of the points expressed by Nick Floro in his Web 2.0 presentation at MacWorld 2008. The idea that what makes designs and technology work is that it is easy to use and intuitive. Users can easily get to what they want without having to sift through tons of additional information.

"...Will Richardson also expressed his doubts: "By its very nature, assigned blogging in schools cannot be blogging. It's contrived."

Thought: Well this may be true. But, the value resides in the ability to get students familiar with the technology (assuming they currently are not) and providing first hand experience with building online communities through student to student communication. To use an old metaphor, it's similar to 'bringing a horse to water, but you can't make it drink'. The value can reside in the fact that at least now they know water exists.

MacWorld 2008 Presentation - ITEC830: Week 5

2008-02-24T17:44:00.000-08:00

Thoughts on Nick Floro's MacWorld 2008 presentation on Web2.0 technology

Communications Software

Some of the new applications I learned about during this presentation included:

ODEO - Self publication and distribution of podcasts.
Pachyderm - A free open source web based multimedia authoring tool.
eLLG - An open source social networking platform (blog, podcast, community creation, aggregation).
Moodle - Free open source content management system for online learning communities.
viddler - Upload, modify and share video. Tag along the timeline for quick searching.

An interesting note is that most of these applications are open source.

How to Design Better Courses

Because technology has become smaller, pervasive and easier to use, the content consumers have now become content creators. Kids growing up in this technologically advanced and rapidly changing environment are used to multitasking and quick access to information. They tend to think holistically not linearly and use social settings and relationships as a means of learning and gaining knowledge.

When designing courses for this generation of learners it's important to remember how they access information. These kids are used to being able to quickly search online and find answers to questions. Any course should take into consideration how to make the content easily accessible in a non-linear manner (search, tags, multiple topic jump off points in one location or portal page, etc). Another thing to remember is the idea that "every click should meet user's expectations and lead them to a goal."

Nick Floro works for www.sealworks.net producing educational materials.

"Bloggers are inspired, for the most part, by things that happen to them, or something they read or observe." - ITEC830: Week 5

2008-02-22T17:04:00.000-08:00

Bloggers: Portrait of America's New Storytellers by Amanda Lenhart and Susannah Fox (2006, July 19).

Interesting to read some official statistics of what I already suspected. Although I'm not sure how comfortable I am with falling into the 'older' demographic (anyone above 30 years of age), I find it interesting the difference between how the 'younger' and the 'older' look at and use blogs. Within my group of friends and acquaintances are living examples of the validity of these findings.

For the most part, the under 30 tend to broadcast their life doings, creative endeavors, and social/political thoughts through LiveJournal, MySpace, Flickr, cell phones, email distribution lists, etc. Us 'older' folks tend to stick with the email...it's a bit slower, you know, which is fitting to our pace of life ;) *kinda kidding*. I feel like many of my friends above 30 (myself included) gave up on "keeping up with the joneses" of technology after surviving the soul sucking situation of the .bom. Don't get me wrong, we're still into the gadgets and their ability to help us google maps our way through daily life, but the excitement energy barrier is much higher. We've run like lemmings from one techie thing to the next, caught up in the 'irrational exuberance' and have learned to be patient and let trends shake out before throwing our hearts into them. It's this reason that I think the older crowd is a bit reluctant to hop on the blog bandwagon. We see it's value in the form of LinkedIn (letting us hook up with the right fit company), but it's not as valued as a form of self expression and entertainment.

I wonder what the future that the 'younger' bloggers are shaping will look like? Obviously, the old ways of information distribution and even creation are changing. It is time for a new way of teaching. I know this is nothing new to the education community, but it is something I'm only coming to fully understand as this course continues and I reflect on my beliefs of how education should change based on my own experience as a child. Even the reality that modern children are unique to this era of communication explosion was something I'd not fully realized.

I'm feeling like this old dog is learning some new tricks.

Reflections on EDU 2.0

2008-02-20T12:35:00.000-08:00

Last night Graham Glass presented his website edu2.0 to our ITEC830 class, and I have to say I'm pretty impressed.

He's taken his career experience and used that to build something he's passionate about and is intended to help kids learn. I am interested in possibly building out my creative work project - 5th grade science module (TBD) based on California curriculum - and posting it on his site. Some of what I see of value is the fact that he's just done it. He had an idea and executed it. Now he's seeing where it's going to go. Some of what he's doing may not be new to the world of education, but to those not inducted, this is awesome and can be a great stepping stone to getting the everyday person onboard with this manner of education.

I will post more when I've poked at his site more. What do you all think of it?

Wiki - ITEC830: Week 3

2008-02-12T16:07:00.000-08:00

Check out my wiki site. It's a companion to my blog...

http://gigi-designs.wetpaint.com

Thank you Wetpaint for providing that service.

Learning in the Digital Age by John Seely Brown - ITEC830: Week 3

2008-02-12T12:29:00.000-08:00

Personal connections I've made about Learning in the Digital Age.

Mr. Brown expresses a truth that I'd not realized until well out of my undergraduate education, "learning is a remarkably social process." It was only after thinking about this quote that I saw the truth in it. I *actually do* learn the most when I'm in conversation or debate with my friends over politics, sustainable living, privacy issues and a myriad of other topics. This small realization made me reconsider my attitude towards blogs, wikis, etc. etc., maybe there really is value to things... it isn't simply a form of exhibitionism. If so, then these tools can be great mediums through which to inform, educate and unite people.

Unlike my undergraduate days where learning was a passive experience only made active through constructed laboratories - of which many times I didn't even know what I was supposed to be learning (I was simply going through the steps), learning in the digital age has become active. This idea that learning is an active experience is underscored by his assertion that, "we must move far beyond the traditional view of teaching as a delivery of information" and "knowledge is inextricably situated in the physical and social context of its acquisition and use." I agree with this assertion that learning is most effective when it is made relevant by placing it in a physical and social context that draws upon individuals prior experiences, but I do wonder if this is more appropriate to older learners (10-12, undergraduate, graduate, and life-long learning students) due to their already established critical thinking skills. Later on in the article he uses examples, all of which are based in the university setting.

This active approach to learning is also expressed through the concept of Legitimate Peripheral Participation defined by Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger. By a learner participating in communities, deep and relevant learning can occur. It is due to the application of information through communication that debate and vicarious learning can occur. The example is given that people don't become physicists by memorizing the explicits such as formulas, it's the implicits of the practice which reveal questions, sensibilities and aesthetics of the community that create a physicist. Knowledge is in the doing and indoctrination into the community. Some of the mechanisms by which this sort of learning can be fostered include:

Studio and lab experiences

Another jewel uncovered by the article is the idea that Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences theory can be met through technology. "The Internet and other technologies honor multiple forms of intelligence - be they abstract, textual, visual, musical, social, or kinesthetic - and therein present tremendous opportunities to design new learning environments that enhance the natural ways that humans learn." Finally, I've found a document that expresses a long held belief of mine. Some of the mechanisms by which this sort of learning can be fostered include:

Persistent Online Worlds (such as Second Life and There)
Virtual Universities (remote learning)

Connectivism: Learning theory for Digital Age by George Siemens 2005 - ITEC830: Week 1

2008-01-29T18:29:00.000-08:00

Connectivism is a new learning theory (2004) crafted to address the shift in how information is shared and learned in world changing because of advances in technology. Author George Siemens asserts that, "learning needs and theories that describe learning principles and processes, should be reflective of underlying social environments." Since technology has changed the way individuals communicate (email lists, blogs, social networking, etc.) and the rate at which information is created, changed and becomes obsolete, it stands to reason that a new theory which takes into consideration the effect of this new environment on learning is appropriate.

The principles of connectivism are:

Learning and knowledge rests in diversity of opinions
Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources
Learning may reside in non-human appliances
Capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known
Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning
Ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is a core skill
Currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivists learning activities
Decision-making is itself a learning process. Choosing what to learn and the meaning of incoming information is seen through the lens of a shifting reality. While there is a right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alterations in the information climate affecting the decision.

As a multimedia and graphic designer, I was instantly struck by the idea that #6 (the ability to see connections) is a skill valued in designers. Making connections across fields often results in the most appropriate and effective design. Principle #4 (capacity to know more is more critical that what is currently known) threw me back to my undergraduate days studying civil engineering at San Joaquin Delta Coll ege. My professor, Roger Crawford, often would remark that although we may not know everything, it was important for us as individuals to recognize that knowledge gap and then to go seek the answer from other sources. I always felt that this skill was so important, but rarely taught. In the modern information age, being able to find the information one needs while wading through large amounts of irrelevant data is a skill that everyone needs. Again, this point paths back to graphic design since it is essentially calling for recognition of the importance of problem solving and graphic design is problem solving.

The bullet points I walked away with from this article were:

"The pipe is more important than the content within the pipe."
"Our ability to learn what we need for tomorrow is more important than what we know today."
"When knowledge, however, is needed, but not known, the ability to plug into sources to meet the requirements becomes a vital skill."

From my experience in silicon valley high tech firms, these points are well known, believed, and implemented within firms.

What is Web 2.0??

2008-01-29T18:28:00.001-08:00

The cynical (dot bom surviving) side of me says that Web 2.0 is a marketing term that means nothing, but while that might be ever so slightly true, this term is actually a catch all for a shift in the nature of web publishing away from unidirectional information flow towards a more bidirectional flow supported through the medium of the Internet. Web 2.0 is about community, collaboration and sharing.

Through web based applications such as:

wikis
weblogs (blogs)

People are able to communicate with one another and directly affect the content that is being generated.

Standards such as:

Allow for the separation of content from presentation/display. In Web 1.0 days, information was not organized separately from how it was presented. In Web 2.0 development, information can be kept separate from display information by using XML. An XML document can provide another level of information about the type of data contained within its tags. In order to display the content or create an organized display structure, a combination of any of the following standards can be used HTML, XHTML and CSS.

Other features of Web 2.0 include:

folksonomy (user generated tags for the organization of user generated content)
syndication, aggregation and RSS (or Atom) feeds which allow for greater sharing of content between individuals and sites

So maybe it isn't just a marketing buzz word...

ITEC830 - San Francisco State University

2008-01-29T17:48:00.000-08:00

Tonight was the first meeting of ITEC830 with Dr. Kim Foreman. It sounds like this will be a great class that will better inform my creative work project for the Design and Industry Department.

ITEC830

I'm also currently enrolled in DAI805 - Graduate Seminar in New Media with Assistant Professor Paul Catanese and even in this first week of classes I can see how it will better inform my learning in the ITEC class.

Curiously, one of the first readings, As We May Think by Vannevar Bush (1945) discusses the creation and indexing of personal data and the need for combining of that data to make a larger accessible knowledge base. This idea is apparently being discussed as a possible theory of learning - connectivism. I will have to go learn more about this proposed theory.

The Pursuit of Higher Education

2007-09-28T13:45:00.000-07:00

I'm working on my masters degree in graphic design/visual communication at San Francisco State University.