Kooz's IDLT Blog

When Design and the Back End Align

2010-10-07T22:41:00.000-07:00

I had a big smile on my face when I realized that the search script is essentially the same as the manual script. The search string goes through each manual database and does a “Full Text” search (each word in a SQL query is indexed minus certain common words), and if there’s a match, then SQL returns the Category ID and ID in an ordered array (by descending relevancy). For each entry returned, it also sees if there’s any photos for that rule. It constructs the php file as such: for each entry, it concatenates (adds on to) two different variables. The first variable is a text string that will become the top level navigation for the search results which are the titles of the rules and a link to the rule. The second variable is the actual rule. After going through all the search entries, the php script essentially prints these two variables out (the top level navigation is an unordered list that has javascript/css applied to it). This was easier than I thought it would be.

The manual is created on the fly just like a search query. It creates one page, but via the iPhone, it looks like separate pages. However, there’s one more level of navigation that the search does not: for the search it goes rule title to rules (and possible pictures). In the manual, it goes chapter to rule title to rules (and possible pictures). The manual script loops through the manual chapters, then through individual rules, and sees if each rule has photos involved. To make three levels of navigation, I needed three variables and three loops to go through all of the entries. Since printing out the variables is essentially printing the html in three sections, the challenge was making sure the end tags were placed in the right spot so that I wouldn’t get formatting errors. The key was to count the number of entries in each chapter and assign that to a variable so that when it got to the last entry, it would add that end list tag. All you have to do is print out ("echo") the three variables, and you have your manual with a hierarchy of linked lists!

Observations on Learning PHP and MySQL: Venting (but worth it)

2010-10-03T23:25:00.000-07:00

I once spent two months troubleshooting one problem: it wasn’t an error that created an explicit error. When a user signs up for the site, the user enters a password then that password is encrypted (using MD5 encryption) and that 64 letter encrypted password is then saved to the data base. After writing the sign up script (based off of Larry Ullman’s script in the book I'm using "PHP6 and MySQL"), Larry’s text directed me to write a "change user information" script. Keep in mind, this is before they could log in. The change user information script required the user to type in a password which is encrypted then matched to the stored encrypted password so that any updates can go forward. Unfortunately, none of my fictional users were able to change their information because they were getting a “Username and Password Don’t Match” error. I combed through the code many times. I re-wrote the code that matched the entered and saved passwords both trying new ways to match the password and just re-writing the code. Fortunately, one day, I was looking over my database and noticed the encrypted values for the user passwords were the same. Every user had a different password which meant that every encrypted password *should* look different from each other. I looked at the user sign in script and found the cause. A rogue “.” was placed in the encryption function md5(.$variable) instead of $variable. The “.” concatenates what’s before the period to the variable. Apparently, that’s enough to make the function go “Ok, this password is X” regardless of what $variable is.

Designing a Database

2010-10-03T21:23:00.000-07:00

Designing the databases is a challenge and an appropriate challenge for anyone designing learning because it forces the instructional designer to organize information so that it’s as granular as possible. There are several considerations: what is the information on hand, who will access the information, and how will the information evolve. By designing the database for the users, you need to figure out what information FIRST would find relevant but also it forces you to think about the users as active agents: if you were using this program, what information would you want access to and how would you want information entered treated?

Interface Design: Part 5

2010-10-01T22:59:00.000-07:00

The quiz: Only logged in users will be able to take the quiz, and I'll need to design for this event. The quiz itself will need to be introduced, and questions will have two types of presentations: text and text with picture. I'm imagining this with a vertical orientation because it features multiple choice questions, and it affords reading the possible answers as they would they're arranged in a vertical list.

Interface Design: Part 4

2010-10-01T21:41:00.000-07:00

The learning module. How do I deal limited real estate and do an effective presentation of the learning material? If I do a landscape mode, then it would afford pictures that have a normal height/width ratio. Plus, as I've used webpages in the past on an iPhone, it's easier to mix pictures with text. I'm up in the air about this. Orientation is an important consideration when designing for iPhones.

Interface Design: Part 3

2010-09-30T23:27:00.000-07:00

Coming in on the tail of the search interface, the manual won't be too different. It's basically a list of sections that segway into specific rules. Handling pictures will be a challenge throughout this project.

Interface Design: Part 2

2010-09-30T22:46:00.000-07:00

Designing the landing "Home" page and the search interface. I'm not sure about having the search and the manual behind a login firewall. If this is about "information on the fly" then a login should not be needed to use them.

Interface Design: Part 1

2010-09-22T23:31:00.000-07:00

The fun part!! I'm trying to deal with limited real estate, but it's that difficult due to my extensive experience with iPhone apps in general.

Intro Screen, login, and the registration screens. These are straighforward. The user should be presented with FLL's branding, plus they'll need to either log in or register.

Learners

2010-09-10T22:32:00.000-07:00

Just some thoughts on the learners. There are three main demographics for the this learning: from my experience FLL (and FIRST in general) attracts professionals, college students, and retirees. All of these groups come from a workplace or home environment that is science and/or technology related. Not all are engineers or scientists, but more than likely, they work with, live with, or want to be an engineer or scientist. This is a great demographic for an iPhone application solution: it's tech friendly, portable, and very user friendly. For the professionals, studying FLL rules in their spare time is facilitated by having a portable app. Also a note on gender: FLL volunteers in general are pretty evenly divided, but referees tend towards male (60-70% based on my observations).

Learners:

A. Professionals

i. Limited time

ii. Highly capable

iii. Needs to work well with children

iv. Variable tech savvy (usually above average)

v. Variable FIRST experience

B. College Students

i. Very tech savvy

ii. Time to spare

iii. Needs to work well with children

iv. Variable FIRST experience

C. Retirees (more likely to be engineers)

i. Variable tech savvy (higher than what one would expect of most retirees, but lower than the professionals)

ii. Time to spare

iii. Needs to work well with children

iv. Variable first experience

Proposal to Create a Smartphone App for FIRST Lego League

2010-09-07T21:00:00.000-07:00

Needs: FIRST Robotics is an organization “For Inspiration in Robotics Science and Technology” that conducts robotics competitions for many age ranges in order to spark interest in science and engineering. For this project, I will be focused on the FIRST Lego League (FLL). FLL, a league for kids grades 4-8, challenges them to design, build, and program an autonomous Lego Mindstorms Robot in order to complete several challenges/missions on a plywood sized field. Every year, there is a new theme, new challenges/missions, and significant changes in the rules. As such, there is a demand for qualified volunteers, a need for training, and a desire for on demand information (when not sure of a rule, look it up!). As a FIRST volunteer who travels a lot, having access to information in a small form factor is important. Additionally, it’s nice to have the rules in my pocket at the competition instead of a binder!

As someone who is deeply involved in FIRST Robotics in the role as a referee, it is imperative that I understand FIRST’s commitment to “gracious professionalism.” It’s first and foremost a commitment to the youth in the program and to the other volunteers who participate in creating interest in science and engineering. As a referee, it is my duty to make sure the game is played in a fair, timely, and professional manner. In order to fulfill my duties as a referee as such, FIRST expects its referees to understand the principles with which it was founded, and mostly, know the field setup, game concepts, and of course, the game rules. I could not claim to be a gracious professional, and it would be a disservice to the kids and the other volunteers if I did have a holistic understanding of these.

Learning Goal:

Learners will learn the basic principles of FIRST, the game manual, game logistics, and appropriate adult/youth interaction during the game. They will:

a. Be able to demonstrate a firm understanding of the rules including: field setup, game concepts, and game rules/scoring.

b. Understand and appreciate how FIRST wants you to interact with kids

c. Be able to demonstrate an understanding of event logistics.

Performance Goals:

a. Learners will be able to look up rules on the fly through a manual look up or through a manual search.

With these requirements in mind, I propose to create an iPhone web application that will address a referee’s need for portable information, it will deliver referee training, and it will measure their understanding by quizzing them. Since the content changes yearly, I also propose to create a “backend” for the app that is updateable and tracks learners success with the quiz; I plan to do this by learning to program in php.

Rendleman Math

2007-11-19T22:26:00.000-08:00

In order to do Rendleman justice, I needed to make sure it's proportions were correct and measure things out a bit. On my second survey, I wanted to test my theories, but silly me, I forgot any sort of measuring tool. No fear! I used my trusty iPhone, and used that to make crude measurements. I wasn't going for exactness, but correct proportions. However, I think I came pretty darn close to rendering it exactly. The first and second pages of notes reflect this.

Secondly, I needed to build it in world. What helped me most were several video tutorials (YouTube - Second Life Tutorial - How to use the building grid and YouTube - Noob Be Gone - Second Life Building Tutorial by NSS) and a web page by Bob Sutor. His blog, Striking the Right Chord, did just that! He had a simple equation that determined the Y or X or Z of an object if you wanted to position it next to another so that they abutted. Instead of using the in world grid (which helped a little), his equation helped immensely, and I adapted it to situations where two objects needed to be placed parallel, perpendicular, etc. the equation is:

Xobject2 = Xobject1 +/- (Width object1 + Width object2)/2.

Throughout my notes, you'll see me use this extensively. Basically, it's the sum of the width of the two objects divided in half. You then add or subtract (if you look at the prim positioning arrow, if your new object is placed away from the arrow, you subtract, and with the arrow, you add) the position of the original object. After positioning several prims, the "copy" magic wand selection helped out immensely (I got that from the second video tutorial above) because it automatically positioned linked prims along the axis you wanted to create the copy.
Well, with much ado, here's my notes.

Rendleman Math (Cont'd)

2007-11-19T22:24:00.001-08:00

Rendleman Math (Cont'd)

2007-11-19T22:20:00.000-08:00

Rendleman Math (Cont'd)

2007-11-19T21:46:00.000-08:00

Last RL and SL Comparison Pictures.

2007-11-19T21:17:00.000-08:00

These views are a bit better....I think I nailed the proportions down pretty well. There were a couple of things I missed when I first surveyed Rendleman, but caught them the second time. For example, I thought the width of the front, center facade was 22 RU's when it was actually 23 (two half windows). Same thing with the third floor interior front windows. There were 9.5RU's and not 9 RU's.

Finish Model with Real Life Rendleman

2007-11-19T21:10:00.000-08:00

Not bad, eh?

More Progress

2007-11-14T22:56:00.000-08:00

Second Life Vs. Real Life

It's getting closer!!

In World Progress

2007-11-12T00:02:00.000-08:00

Well, as you can see, I'm making good in world progress. I've finished the South East Corner (South West in Real Life) of Rendleman Hall! It looks pretty darn close to the real thing!

I've started my assault on rendering Rendleman...

2007-11-07T23:15:00.000-08:00

Practicing and testing out my proportion theories have worked very well in sketch-up. Creating a rough draft in SL has been relatively easy. Here is a picture of Rendleman in RL then SL...

Final Sketchups Before Building It in SL

2007-11-07T00:39:00.000-08:00

The back of Rendleman...The front left...
The rear, left side near the student center...
Another view of the front...

Well, it's going to be very hard to work within the 10x10 limitations SL has...well, I think the componets (the windows, etc) will be easy, but making sure it's all on the same level will be a challenge....

The Symetry of Rendleman

2007-10-25T21:15:00.000-07:00

One thing that's going to make Rendleman easier to render in 3D is its symmetrical design. The windows are going to be my unit of measurement because they're uniform. For example, the front of the building has three sections: the east wing has 18 windows, the west has 12, and the middle has 22. The facade has 12 large windows, but they're actually, twice the width of the normal windows, and the windows on the far left and right are actually 1 Rendleman window unit wide. This seemingly even number of windows is actually an odd number (11 large windows), but in order to place the doors in the middle in a symmetrical fashion, they split the 11th large window into two.
Additionally, we can deduce that the doors' width are two-thirds an RWU, and from the pictures, they're uniform around the building. The door height is equal to the height of the window above them, but the top row of the large windows have a different height: the same height as an RWU. Also observe that these large windows are squares, so 2 times the RWU width equals its height. I could be wrong about this seeing how if each RWU employs the Golden Rectangle (the ratio of height and width would equal 1.618:1), then each "square" would have a width of 2 RWU and a height of 1.68 RWU. But I just don't see that the height is .32 units shorter than the width: You would need three window widths to nearly equal the height if the Golden Rectangle was used (3:3.236). It makes sense architecturally/aesthetically to employ the Golden Rectangle (and the largest windows in the front may just be Golden Rectangles). But it doesn't work...the scheme of this building seem to be of 1:2 and not 1:1.68.
Style: I need my brain to cool down after that last bit. So, I'll make a note on style. Luckily, I'm familiar with Frank Lloyd Wright, and I can't help but see his Praire Style utilized in this building. Horizontal lines are emphasized over the vertical lines giving it a closer to the ground look: it basically matches the flat field in front of it. Although the materials are much more utilitarian and minimalistic than an earthier Wright building. Neo-Praire style?

The Challenge of Rendering Rendleman Hall

2007-10-17T19:17:00.001-07:00

Yikes, has this been a challenge seeing how a) my car broke down b) there are very few decent pictures of Rendleman if you google it, c) I've been working late to get to get ready for the new Bodyworlds 3 exhibit at the Science Center (well, it's a convergence of projects). And so, like today, there wasn't enough light out when I left work. But, I do have enough to get something done.

I need to figure a couple things out:
a) I'm thinking that tonight, I'm going to do a rough sketch of Rendleman Hall in Google Sketch-Up (unfortunately, you can't import Sketch-Ups in to SL). But, this will give me a reference in which to work from. I should be getting a second monitor soon so that I can have both SL and Sketch-Up open at the same time (or at least jpg's of my sketches).
b) Scale is an issue as it relates to visual proportions. I don't need to get Rendleman Hall down to the last inch, but the idea is for SIUE SL users to visually get "it." Making sure I get the textures and look are important. At the same time, I want to make sure it's roomy enough for when people add things to it....
c) Rendleman Hall in SL will basically be an empty shell. (A thought just occurred to me, how far can you dig down in SL? It would be great to be able to do more with that space than within the traditional dimensions of the real life Rendleman Hall....) I want to make sure it's high enough and that the doors work (just something I want). I think the entrance is going to be the big challenge with it's transparent textures, geometry, and most of all, it's the most visually recognizable part of the building.

Update: 12:45 AM Here are the sketchups of Rendleman....not bad, seeing how I used a campus map pdf file that showed the outline of the building and three lo-res (200x100 at best) pictures:

Second-Life and Getting Acclamated

2007-10-10T20:55:00.001-07:00

I've been toiling around Second-Life for the last three weeks (although I've visited SL several times over the last year on whims), and I'm very disoriented. It's not hard to get around. I walk, fly, or teleport to new places. If I need help, there are friendly people who will give me a hand (and I've had encounters with some people who wanted to get too friendly...). I don't think the graphics are great, but they're not bad either. But, I'm still feeling out of sorts, and I think I know why: my other experiences with MMRPGs'.

The biggest MMRPG I played was Star Wars Galaxies, and as far as MMRPGs go, it had a relatively high learning curve (this was before it was dumbed down after the new combat system was introduced and apparently, it was dumbed down even more with fewer character classes, but I digress). However, there were several control differences with SWG: the mouse had more character control than in SL. In SL, you have a mouse cursor and your character kinda follows it. In SWG, the mouse could really whip you point of view around. Oh, and flying wasn't much of an option either (I need to remap the flying keys in SL so that they make more sense).

The control scheme of SL is minor compared to its lack of spatial and experiential organization. True, SL's chaos can be a good thing because it's entirely user driven. There are some truly unique and far out environments in SL. In SWG, on the other hand, the worlds made sense in terms of city and planet layout (SWG had mutliple planets: Tatooine, FTW!). Cities were organized in such a way so that you could follow visual way points to a destination (from signs to roads to a really good HUD map system). Granted, SWG made sense to those who were fans of Star Wars, too. In SL, you're lucky if a square kilometer or even little plot of land has some sort of visual or organizational continuity (there are some, but not many). Plus, in SWG, your experience had some organization to it: were you an Alliance or Imperial supporter? What class was your character? How do you level up your character? This is missing from SL for good reason: it's the ultimate digital sandbox. I find it disorienting, but give me time, and I'll figure it out.

Design Studio 2

2007-04-10T12:24:00.000-07:00

I haven't done much with this blog for quite some time, but I thought I would plug my latest design studio project: Sciencecentr.org. It's a social bookmarking website for science and technology centers that uses the open source web app called Pligg!
Here's a link to my project page!

CWC on Thesis writing...my thoughts on it...

2006-05-02T00:00:00.001-07:00

I always like showing off the thesis for my M.A. in history. I like the fact that it's bound with a cool, black hardcover and gold lettering. And it's not thin either! I call it "My Book." It really impresses the ladies (well, the ones who haven't had to write their own thesis) and its fun at parties!

I wrote my history thesis on how computer games, that are primarily designed for entertainment, present history. I could go on and on about what I concluded, but that's not what our CWC was about: it's how I wrote it. So...what happened?

I had the idea for quite some time while working on the degree's coursework. I wanted to examine computer games and how history is told through them. I knew my first step would be to do research. But what to research? This is where I didn't do as much planning as I should have in terms of the general concept: what would I be arguing? I hadn't answered this question because I thought all I would do is play a couple history games and do case studies on them. I played games like Colonization, Oregon Trail, and Railroad Tycoon. Therefore, I researched the subjects the games addressed: colonizing the new world, America's westward expansion, and the railroad business.

This strategy was lacking because I knew it wouldn't be a proper thesis: it would be a computer game report (ala book reports) and not worthy of being printed in any scholarly forum (maybe in a computer game magazine though). My next strategy was to examine computer game design, and I found this to be much more rewarding. I also started taking copious notes, but their abundance hid the meat of the subject: what was I trying to argue? By studying game design, I came up with three of the four main topics in my thesis: computer game categories (there are many, many different kinds of games), what makes a computer game good, and the influence of algorithms (mostly AI and random number generation) on a computer games ability to tell (retell) history. I also started to cast a wider net on sources: I trolled computer game magazines for insight into the computer gaming world and what issues they deal with. I also started looking at technical books on game theory, then I moved on to books on programming/designing artificial intelligence and random number generation. All the while taking copious notes. I also formed basic outlines and started to "just write." I would start writing on a topic in my outline and not really care where it was going: it was like brainstorming. Keep the good and delete the bad.

But I had two big problems as a result of this: how did this apply to the telling of history, and what to do with all the notes I took! The first problem I addressed by reading books on historiography: the history of history. Where did computer games fit in the telling of history (this is also where I got my title from: Virtual Historiography)? The second problem was just tedious: I took my notebooks of notes, and wrote each citation on a note card. My only regret of the last strategy was that I should have used color coded note cards! But by putting them on note cards and dividing them into topics and sub-topics, I was able to visually organize my arguments. After this last step, I was able to take my meandering ramblings from my "just write" something phase and re-rewrite them to comply with what I found (and I had to change my own pre-conceptions of history and computer games as a result! I really surprised myself!). So, by following my outline, organizing my note cards, but most importantly, rewriting what I already wrote, I was able to form a cohesive argument about computer games and history!

If I were to do it all over again, I would meditate more on what I wanted the thesis to be, form a crude outline, think more about where and what my sources/research was taking me, take notes directly on note cards from my sources, I would "just write" again, and be more systematic in how I revised my writings. I don't know if I'm a good model for thesis writing, but it was definitely the most generative exercise I've ever encountered!!!

Workshop on Bullying...a trip down memory lane...

2006-05-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

Oh man, was that a good workshop! It was a walk, a painful walk, down memory lane for me! I've rarely been the bully (yea, I admit picking on smaller kids, but it was definitely a rare occasion that this happened: and if it did, it was with new kids who I didn't know that well...), but there were many times that I have been bullied. I've never been the biggest or smallest kid on the block, but I've always had a laid back, pacificist mentality to person confrontation. If I can avoid confrontation, I usually will!

The two bullies that stand out most in my mind are Pat S. in the seventh grade, and Damon L. in the 10th and 11th grades. The worst of the two was Pat: he had set up a devious routine. If I did something wrong or affront him some how, he would assign punches to it. Let's say, I made fun of him somehow, that was worth 10 punches (unless it was an especially good zing, then I got more). I could either accumulate or eliminate my punch count by being bad/annoying or good to him, respectively. It was all very arbitrary anyway. At a certain point, he would decide to cash in his punches and start hitting my upper arm (usually my right). All through seventh grade I had a bruise on my right arm...it really sucked. I don't know why I never stuck up for myself or fought back. He was more popular than I, and I was afraid of the consequences: I didn't want to get detention, grounded, or suspended. Luckily, he moved away and I didn't have to worry about him anymore. Damon was very different, it was more passive aggressive bullying: he was a big black guy and I was his "Koozbaby." In other words, his bitch: but not in the prison way, but in the, "He pretended to like me and flirt with me" to make me feel uncomfortable. It was very disconcerting. I really couldn't stop him because he was twice my size and I didn't want to really want him to snap and beat me up (It wouldn't have been pretty). But then again, others wouldn't mess with me because they didn't want Damon to kick their ass (although I never really tested that theory).

So what did the workshop teach me? Well, that I need to be a bit more assertive in preventing violence and bullying. I wasn't surprised that bullying wasn't necessarily perpetrated by a loner (as my bullies were very popular). At the Science Center, I don't see any bullying amongst the adults, although I am more aware of what forms it could take, and since I work with kids of all sizes, I know I shouldn't use my size as way to influence a kids impression of me. I know I don't consciously do this, but if it's perceived that way, it would be a problem. I do see other kids make fun of each other, and of course, the bigger kids telling the smaller ones what to do: I make sure to politely correct such behavior, but if it's bad, I know to go to his or her chaperone. I also referee at robotics competitions, and I need to make sure I don't come off as aggressive to the participants or their mentors because that's not in the spirit of the robotics competition. And vice versa, I think I'm more aware of students bullying other students in the competition (as opposed to working together or taking good direction from another team member). Overall, the bullying workshop was fantastic and the people who did it knew what they were talking about!

Chapter 13: Writing

2006-05-01T23:59:00.000-07:00

Chapter 13 was probably one of the more fascinating chapters in this book! I agree with Bruning that writing requires that all cognitive functions to work! The Flower and Hayes model of writing could be placed on top of the cognitive function models from one of the first chapters. When we write, we must use our long term memory to recall what we want to write about and it also provides the knowledge of how we are going to write about our topic. Short term/working memory focuses on the words and grammar we will need to express individual ideas and then applying our long term memory's "plan" to generate and organize the flow of ideas. Finally, we have the task environment: this describes the exterior factors that influence our writing. For example, what material do have for research, what is the writing assignment about, how long the assignment is, and what medium we have to write on to name a few. One thing I wish this model would have included, and this is important for young learners, is the dexterity needed to write (or type, as the case may be). It may be that good hand writing translates into good writing in general (and if this is true, I'm in deep trouble). I also wonder if dexterity would fit in the working or long term memory, but maybe, it's a part of both....

What does this model tell me about my own writing? Well, I would make the general observation that I am not a prolific writer: I don't and haven't written as much as I should in order to be good at it. Whether speaking or writing, I've found my working memory to be a limiting factor as I struggle to express what's going on in my head. Constantly forgetting what I'm trying to convey or how I was going to organize it. I know I don't plan nor review my writing enough to become a good writer: Bruning would describe me as a knowledge teller. Although I would hope to say that I can do more than string some ideas together, I really don't take the time to make an abstract road map of what I need to say: well, let me take that back, on longer assignments, I do write outlines, but on shorter writing assignments such as this journal or the items within my outline, I know I organize them sequentially instead of conceptually. Well, I guess I have more work to do on this front!

Chapter 12

2006-05-01T23:53:00.000-07:00

Bruning recognizes three different models that describe the reading process: Data-driven, conceptually driven, and interactive processes. As a side note, I'm glad he continues to use computer metaphors!

The data-driven model describes how reading is a mechanical process that can be studied by following a reader's eye movements. Instead of reading word by word, you focus on one or two letters then move on to the next group of letters until you focus on another letter group (it's called the saccade). Meaning is gathered by matching patterns of letters and patterns of words (and sentence patterns) to already known patterns of meaning. It's a very linear process.

The conceptually driven model flips the data-driven model around: instead of patterns driving meaning, knowledge drives meaning. One's schema (knowledge and expectations of the text) drives reading comprehension. Basically, if you have no knowledge of a concept or object, how would you expect to read or comprehend a word that describes said concept or object?! Poor reading is more likely a result of a lack of knowledge (world knowledge is described later in the chapter) than an inability to piece sequential patterns together.

The third model, construction-integration, takes a middle of the road approach, and as a result, it's a much more reasonable model to defend. It takes the pattern recognition of the data-driven model and the application of knowledge in the conceptually driven model, and combines them into macro and micro structures. Microstructures refer to the word by word and sentence by sentence meaning while macrostructures refer to, as Bruning says, "the gist" of the text. We then construct the meaning of the text and then integrate that meaning into our long term knowledge: it's a recursive process that feeds upon itself. This would explain why extensive reading and regurgitating (which is described in the next chapter on writing) are so important to the cognitive development of children and adults.

Besides my observation on what this chapter means, but how does the chapter apply to me? As I mentioned earlier, my teachers didn't really teach many reading strategies after the fourth grade. Now, I'm not blaming them for my reading skills, but I have come to a realization recently: the slower I read, the less I comprehend the overall meaning of the text. As I read slower (at least as I interpret it through the text), my working memory works harder to retain the words I've just read and so "clock cycles" dedicated to overall meaning decline. The faster I read, the less I enjoy it, but I do get more meaning out of it: I understand it better. Last semester, we were reading Dewey's "Democracy and Education" and I found myself being able to discuss chapters, that I read in a fast manner (not quite skimming but not reading word for word), with a much better understanding of what Dewey was trying to say (instead of focusing on exactly what he said). Now I have some confirmation as why this is so...

What I learned about learning how to read....Chapter 11 (part 2)

2006-05-01T23:51:00.000-07:00

I remember enjoying learning how to read, and I also believe that I can recall the process that my teachers used to teach me reading. From first and second grade, I definitely remember applying what Bruning calls the "alphabetic principle:" my teachers taught me the sounds the letters make and to identify those sounds in words. A more precise term is given later: the Phonetic-Cue Reading model. Although, our teachers were not as forgiving of misspelling as much as Bruning (or in this case, Bruning describing Ehri's models) would be seem to be. Around third and fourth grade, we started to learn about prefixes and what they could mean: bicycle and biplane are two words that come to mind. By the fourth and fifth grade though, I can't remember any teachers trying to model/demonstrate reading strategies....

As a general metalinguistic observation, I'm not a particularly strong reader (it was my lowest score on the ACT) and yet, I love to read. I actually had a hard time with page 250's decoding of the "Chronicle" passage. Although, I had taken some Russian history in the past and thought it was Cyrillic, I didn't really tackle it until I read a bit further. But once I "got it" decoding it was still a slow process. But going back to my self observation, I figure that I read to get better: I have always tried to make reading as automatic as possible. It also helps that I have a link to an online dictionary: if I'm not maintaining my personal dictionary, then I'm constantly looking words up to make sure their meaning is known and automatic. The automaticity of meaning is especially important for words where nuance or similarity in spelling plays a key role in decoding (like dichotomy and diametric...I've always confused the two).

As for what I do to teach kids how to read, the only child in my life that is really curious about reading is my best friend's daughter, Stella (She's 5). For the last two years, her parents and I have been reading to her...I always use my finger to point to the word I'm currently reading. Why? Well, that's how I remember being read to, I point to get her to realize that what I say comes directly from where my finger is on the page, and I hope she develops a sight recognition of the words. For the last several months, she has been identifying letters with sounds! Although I think I upset her mother when I explained what a question mark and an exclamation point looked like and what it meant. She thought it was too advanced for Stella: I thought I explained it very simply. Oh well, there's always their younger son and my nieces and nephew to see what else I can do to facilitate their journey into the written word.

Learning to Read in a Constructivist Way: Chapter 11 (part one)

2006-04-24T15:34:00.000-07:00

I find the concept of metalinguistic awareness to be a wonderful descriptor of our evolution from non-reader to reader. How aware of we of our own journey from non-reader to reader? I certainly can't remember a time of feeling illiterate. I know that before the age of 5 or 6 that I couldn't read, but I don't remember looking at words and not knowing what they meant. But then again, words aren't part of my memory back then: my metalinguistic awareness level prevented me from encoding such tidbits.

Bruning divides language into two conceptual ideas: language use and language structure. Language use or "pragmatics" describes the social and cultural contexts in which we use it. Pragmatics address the when and why of language: why do we communicate (or need to communicate) and when is it appropriate to use language. Language structure focuses on how and what: how do we structure what we say and how do we say it? Bruning focuses on the structure first, and that's what I want to focus on this post.

Of his discussion of language structures (words, syntax, and discourse), only the latter topic would anyone find any sort of controversy. Words and syntax, although fields with controversy in their own right, are given a general overview. He talks about semantics whose study of meaning is important because we need to know what words children learn and what meaning is assigned to those words: vocabulary. More than likely, they might have already formed meaning of a word from observing and modeling adult use of vocabulary. Take what a kid knows about a word and then obliquely measure a kid's awareness of the phonemes and morphemes surrounding the word, then we might be able to measure their metalinguistic ability. We normally do this by first teaching the alphabet, then convincing them that these written letters translate sounds our mouths make, and finally after we convince them, we start a dreaded process: vocabulary lists and (the next concept of Bruning's language structure) grammar/syntax. We all know how much we loved grammar! :P Actually, we had already learned grammar/syntax: but what we needed to learn was standard grammar and not mom's colloquialisms.

The really fascinating part about the first half of the chapter was the bit of discourse on....discourse. How we arrange our thoughts to best express our ideas. Bruning describes two basic discourse structures: narrative and exposition. Narratives are linear progressions on thought: A happened, then B, then C, and it was cool! Expositional discourse efficiently (well, attempts to) organizes concepts in order to explain complex ideas or situations: this organization is rarely linear like a narrative, but rather it depends upon the importance of conveying information with clarity and/or with a certain logic (doesn't have to be rational logic I suppose). I remember when I had to do some creative writing in the fourth grade: my stories were strict narratives. Unfortunately, I tried to be funny, and I failed completely because the continuous use of "and then" didn't have any the comedic impact. Oh well, and then I....

Crisis Intervention

2006-04-24T14:32:00.000-07:00

There are three things I want to address in terms of crisis intervention: 1) My impressions of it 2) An overview of the crisis intervention presentation, and 3) Crisis intervention at the Science Center.

I really looked forward to the "Crisis Intervention" presentation: I would say that I'm not skilled in crisis intervention. My only experience would be to help break up fights at the pub I used to work at. I wouldn't say that I back down from breaking up a fight, it's just that, for some reason, they occur away from me: I'm just not a magnet for trouble! (But then again, as a server, I'm not in the bar area as frequently as the bar staff) And with those bar fights, I would only intervene if and when the bartenders needed help: they're really good at breaking up fights. Due to my experience, I guess my posture would be to leave it up to the experts: the bouncers and bartenders in this case. I also had another impression of crisis intervention that included more personal problems than interpersonal problems. I initially thought about chronic behavior disorders (like eating disorders), drug problems, and deep depression/suicidal tendencies. Since I'm not a licensed teacher/psych major, I'm not sure if I'm right or wrong to include these in the crisis prevention category. I'm fairly certain it is.

However, since the teachers who presented this topic were very well versed in crisis intervention in terms of student outbursts/student conflict, it was very appropriate and informative! Here is what I got out of their presentation: I learned a cool way of handling a hair pulling situation (that was fun!) and it reinforced my former instruction on how to break grips. That would be the "cool" lessons. But what I found really fascinating was the Stress Model of Crisis: it presents the stages of a crisis very well. The concept in the model that shouldn't have surprised me was "baseline behavior." It's one of those common sense concepts that hasn't been conceptualized by or for me (aka "given a name"). A student (or any person) has a natural disposition when doing normal activities under normal situations, but his or her disposition could change in a heart beat due to some sort of "trigger event." Keep in mind, the trigger event may have nothing to do with the underlying problem the person faces, but it's the spark that sets them off. The duty of the teacher is to bring them back down to the baseline: de-escalation that leads to a recovery phase. I thought the group did a great job of explaining this process: especially the de-escalation of a violent out of control student. The advice they gave on maintaining a neutral tone of voice and neutral facial expression was dead on! The I ASSIST mnemonic is very helpful too!

So, what happens at the Science Center in a situation like these teachers find themselves in? Fortunately for me, we get to see the kids on their best day: they're happy to be here and the only behavioral problems are from over exuberance! I do know we are not allowed to touch our visitors unless our safety is at risk: but with this presentation, I have some non-contact strategies to deal with a crisis situation if it does arise here.

Why I love and hate student portfolios

2006-04-24T12:47:00.000-07:00

I have a love/hate relationship with portfolios. The workshop on portfolios did a good job of summarizing the positive and negative attributes of portfolios for students. I personally think portfolios maintenance is an important skill for kids to learn in grade school. Here are some positives of portfolios: it allows the child to observe the evolution of their work, it can be a resource to the student in future projects, it allows the parent to view the academic progress of the child, and as I said, it's a good skill to have "in the real world." On the negative side, it does create more work for teachers (this is especially true with teachers of the lower skill and lower grade students), it's hard to grade (if grading is the purpose of it), and not all people are on board (including staff and parents). I think for all students, portfolios are a fantastic thing! I wonder if there are ready made modules for teachers to implement this in their classroom with minimal preparation time?!

But why do I love/hate portfolios? I think they're great, but I misplace my work a lot! And this was especially true of my grade school years: I lost my work all the time! Now, it's all on the computer, but sometimes, I don't know which computer its on! D'oh! I wasn't trained in portfolio maintenance until my senior year in college. I was lucky: I'm a bit of a pack rat, and I saved many of my old papers. But most of all, I don't like the idea of a "graded" portfolio. I think it's something that you do or you don't have. If you're in the latter half, a professor/teacher should guide you into bringing your portfolio up to snuff or better yet, have a peer help you out. Every student should have a different idea of what represents their best work, and I think it's more important that the student "present" their portfolio instead of handing it in and hoping it's adequate. The presentation could be in front of peers, teachers, and/or parents. Of these three groups, I prefer presenting in front of peers because students will form stronger opinions of their work in front their fellow students (although a teacher would need to be present in some way to facilitate this).

As a side note: it also doesn't help that the university only gives you 50 megabytes of space on their server: if I'm going to stay in the IDLT discipline, I think I'll be creating individual files bigger than 50 megabytes! 50 megabytes used to be a lot of space: back in 1993!

The idea of guided participation and my work.

2006-04-24T11:49:00.000-07:00

Bruning talks about "guided participation" on page 199 of the text. When I first saw this phrase, I immediately thought about the inquiry based learning that we emphasize at the Science Center. We prefer not to give visitors the answers: we gauge their knowledge by asking certain questions and then evaluate the direction the activity will go afterwards. Even after we've made a quick evaluation, the interaction is still a matter of asking leading questions that provoke the visitor into thinking critically about the exhibit/demonstration in front of them. The terms we use, the length of the question, and possible options within the question (a sort of vocal multiple choice) arise out of the initial and subsequent interaction. Although inquiry dwells in the realm of constructivism, I think Bruner had more in mind when talking about guided participation.

Bruner's guided participation (via Rogoff's work on the subject) encompasses both inquiry based learning, which on the scale of guided participation would be on the formal side of the spectrum, and spontaneous social interactions between adults and children. Our interactions at the Science Center are spontaneous to the learner, but to us, it is not (seeing how we're cognizant of the situation). We have developed strategies to identify these learning opportunities and we take advantage of them as much as possible. The visitors like it (usually: it may come off as condescending if we're attempting to get the adults to learn) and it's very challenging to the gallery staff.

I also asked myself if guided participation includes modeling. Upon reading this section carefully, I firmly believe that guided participation is not modeling. Certainly, there's a spontaneous aspect to modeling, but learning how to do something via modeling is different from learning from guided participation. Social interaction separates guided participation from modeling: when an adult helps a child order food from the menu (using the example in the text), that is fundamentally different from a child observing then mimicking the adult. With the adult guidance, the social interaction allows the adult to do more than correct the child, but to lead the child into critically examining the menu then communicating those food/drink decisions to the waiter. This could save the child considerable embarrassment if the child mimicked the adult, and the child did not understand what "A choice of 2 sides" meant or used a tone of voice inappropriate for a child. (As a server for many years, I really encourage parents to do this!) Don't get me wrong, modeling is critical to learning because it happens by default: it puts more burden on the adult because he or she needs to be "on" at all times. A little slip up can create the wrong impression, and because of this, I think adults need to be more aware of opportunities for guided participation: I think it's a much more effective educational tool!

Thoughts on Chapter 9

2006-04-24T11:11:00.000-07:00

Constructivism seems to be a highly controversial educational philosophy: at minimum, its methods are disputed amongst academics from traditional pedagogical backgrounds. For example, in my Instructional Systems Design class, I've found that the professor has a bit of disdain for it. Why is there this antipathy towards it? Two reasons off the top of my head. 1) I suspect that A type personalities need more structure and enumerated/clear goals. I find open ended generative activities are more productive than what ISD'ers want us to do: match a verb (from written objectives) to a specific generative activity. In addition, A types are not social beings, and constructivism's emphasis on social interaction as learning tool may make them feel uncomfortable. This could manifest itself at the instructor and/or learner levels. 2) For other teachers/professors, it may be a lack of time and resources to genuinely create a constructivist lesson(s). And related to my second point, teachers/professors may not know enough about constructivism to implement it.

I think this quote on page 195 summarizes the constructivist approach very well: "The aim of teaching, from a constructivist perspective, is not so much to transmit information as to encourage knowledge formation and metacognitive processes for judging, organizing, and acquiring new information" (Bruning, 195) Preach on brother! I really think that to survive in the 21st Century, a student needs to learn how to "judge, organize, and acquire new information" instead of learning "X" as if it were some magic quantity that labels him or her "proficient." Certainly there are skills that do have measured proficiency, but these are base skills that require automaticity (reading, writing, and math, for example). Once a decent level of automaticity is accomplished, the student will need to learn metacognitive skills and cognitive strategies so that information gathering and integration become automatic, too. And with constructivism's emphasis on the social aspect of learning, the learner acquires a certain automaticity in social interactions. I mentioned A types before: this kind of learning, although uncomfortable for them, could help broaden their social horizon and make awkward interactions normal.

I'm a Lego Mindstorm Center Expert!

2006-04-06T00:18:00.000-07:00

On page 175, Bruner lists sever characteristics of expert performance. Expertise/An expert ...

is domain specific.
is able to organize information efficiently.
is faster than novices at processing meaningful information because they search and represent problems more efficiently.
entails thoughts and actions that are highly automatized.
represents problems differently from novices (experts look at the underlying structure)
spends more time than novices analyzing the problem at the beginning of the problem-solving process.
are better monitors in most situations within their domain of expertise.

According to these seven characteristics, I'm a Lego Mindstorm Center expert! Keep in mind, I am not a Lego Mindstorms expert (although I would say that I am almost proficient) because it's a very complicated system, and I haven't spent that much time building and programming Lego robots. However, what I do is provide kids an introductory experience into Lego Mindstorms that utilizes partially assembled robots and a robot programming interface that's simple and intuitive. My expertise lies in troubleshooting the problems that arise from learner misunderstandings/motivation, robot wear-n-tear, computer errors, and a host of other obscure things that might go wrong in a session. Let's go trough the steps...1) I know a lot about teaching kids to program a Lego robot with the Lego Center's program/tools. 2) I can break down the task/problem at hand into digestible pieces. 3) I can solve 98% of the problems in my venue in a matter of seconds 4) I can remember a kids program with only a cursory glance (this happens a lot: a computer will need to be rebooted, and I usually have to reconstruct the program for them to save time). 5) I can assess a kid's comprehension (or lack of) by looking at their body language and what program commands (or lack of) he or she is giving the robot. 6) If I do come across a problem that I can't solve quickly, I am able to a) redirect the kids/have alternative strategies so that learning still happens b) come to a solution eventually. 7) With just a cursory glance, I can tell if a program will do well or not, and whether a robot is functioning properly (sometimes I have to slow myself down with the latter because the kids don't always understand why I just picked up their robot and fiddled with it). Lastly, all of these things are very automatic to me!
I guess I could also talk about how I'm a Day of Defeat computer game expert (I'm currently ranked 30th out of 17,000 players: I actually worked my way up to 9th ranked at one point), but that would be overkill! BUT, my ability to play the game does reflect the chapter's section on deliberate practice. Although I shouldn't go any further because I might give the impression that I practice my computer game more than I should! ;)

Observations on Chapter 8

2006-04-05T23:07:00.000-07:00

Dewey rocks! Ok, I'm not sucking up to Dr. Theodore, but I think it's amazing that his view on problem solving, something that's been around 80-90 years, is still the basis of the "modern model" as put forth by the text. In fact, I like Dewey's model better than the one in the text! Why? Well, as an employee of the Science Center, I like how the text describes Dewey's problem solving model using scientific methodology terms.

"Identifying a problem is one of the most difficult and challenging aspects of problem solving because it requires creativity and persistence yet a willingness to ponder a problem for a long period of time without committing to a solution too early in the process." (Bruner, 164) I think the important, well at least the most provocative, word is "creativity." I've always known that solving a problem might require creativity, but it never occurred to me that you would need it to just identify it (academically, they are too often identified for you)! I have to wonder though if one could become too creative and create a problem. In terms of "importance," I really think persistence is key to problem solving, and combined with the last chapter, it really reinforces the idea that intelligence is mainly a matter of persistence.

I also base this on my experience at the Science Center: it surprises me how quickly kids give up on a problem. For example, we have a "hamster wheel" where the kids have to figure out how to get a very large, heavy wheel moving. It's mainly a matter of figuring out where to place your feet/weight to get it to go. You can tell by where the kid's eyes go and how the parents' distance from the wheel to see how persistent the kid will be. The further the parent is away and the more the kid looks forward/down at the wheel the odds of success go up. If they cannot figure it out, then they'll either reflect/pause, and/or they'll ask me for help. The ones that give up easily, usually have a parent telling them how to do it, and/or they look at you or the parent without putting much effort into solving the problem. To be fair to these kids who might not have built the appropriate schema (low self-efficacy for hamster wheels), I, according to the text, guide them along the process without giving them the answer. Although, since there's a line to try out the wheel, I sometimes need to tell them outright how to do it, but I make sure I represent the problem, tell them why the strategy worked so well as they power the wheel, ask them if there could be a better technique, and invite them to come back again to try something different!

Stages of Reflective Judgement

2006-04-05T22:21:00.000-07:00

Reflective judgment is “one's ability to analyze critically multiple facets of a problem, reach an informed conclusion, and justify one's response as systematically as possible.” (Bruning, 148) Man, that quotes packs quite a punch when combined with the assertion by researchers Kitchener and King that this ability is measurable! If I were qualified to assess this ability, could I go up to my friend and say, “Yea, sorry dude, but you're level of reflective judgment is only a 1.1, and listening to you lowers my own reflective judgment score!” (But then again, do I lower my own score by saying such a thing!? This meta thinking can really bake your noodle!)

Ok, what the heck am I talking about? According the Kitchener and King, reflective judgment is a measurable attribute based on three criterion: certainty, process by which we acquire knowledge, and type of evidence. A person who thinks that knowledge is absolute, unchangeable, and doesn't scrutinize new information would score lower (this is referred to as “stage 1”) whereas some who thinks that knowledge is relative, constructed, and scrutinizes evidence would score higher (a level 6 or 7). In th middle, you would have someone who thinks knowledge is “uncertain” and “idiosyncratic:” someone in the middle is a bit wishy-washy about knowledge. Here, why don't I just list them from page 149.

Knowledge is unchanging, absolute, and accessible
Knowledge is certain but may not be accessible to everyone
Knowledge is certain, though it may be accessible to anyone
Knowledge is uncertain and idiosyncratic
Knowledge is uncertain, though contextually interpretable
Knowledge is relative yet justifiable on the basis of rational arguments
Knowledge is relative, though some interpretations have greater truth.

As I read this section of the chapter, I found myself saying, “Ooo, I think Person X is a stage 2 person!” or “I think Person Y is a stage 5!” I base this from my observations and reflection on past conversations with them. Of course, I turned it on myself, and I would say that I'm around a 5.5 to 6.5. Why? Is my ego that big? It might be..but it's all relative! (See! I do think knowledge is relative! Ha!) I can tell you that I have progressed through some of the earlier stages, but then again, are these stages contextual in of themselves?

Let me give an example of the former: I used to be very religious! Although I feel it was an important part of my development, I no longer am. My outlook on life was very stage 1-3 (I would say on the 2-3 side) because I believed the only relevant information for making choices in my life stemmed from the writings in the Bible. By the way, I don't equate all religious people as being “stuck” in stages 1-3, as I've known religious people to be in the latter stages. But I was stuck. When I was an upperclassman and came into contact with more diverse crowds, and exposed myself to new ideas, that I started to come out of my shell. It was not until my second year of grad school that I really embraced a stage 4 through 6 outlook: I guess all of those discussions about how an author supported their arguments by considering his or her sources really raised my consciousness.

However, are there certain things in my reflective judgment ability that are contextual (i.e. Lower?). For example, I really do have a habit of believing people in authority in certain situations/contexts that I'm unfamiliar with. When I listen to classroom teachers in class, I soak it up because I do not have their experiences! I'm wondering if I take what they say and not processing it enough to evaluate/read between the lines of what they're trying to convey. It's a thought that's worth pondering....

Chapter 7 and my beliefs about Intelligence

2006-04-05T20:59:00.000-07:00

As I started to read chapter 7, I asked myself what I thought intelligence meant. If I were to write this properly, I would have stopped reading and wrote this post write away. But seeing how I read the chapter several weeks ago, that wasn't going to happen. Now I have to write about my beliefs on intelligence post-chapter and I hope it doesn't shade this post too much.

So, what are my beliefs on intelligence? I guess it would start with an evaluation of my own intelligence. I've never had a proper intelligence test...or at least, I don't recall taking one nor do I recall any "score" given. But then again, I'm assuming that IQ is a measure of intelligence. I've definitely done well academically and scored decently on entrance exams. I have always thought of myself as "smart" although I do recognize, that sometimes, I don't have as much common sense as others: I would definitely say that I'm "book smart." And sometimes, I struggle to find words to express myself.
How do I recognize that others are intelligent? Someone who can "think on their feet" and can recite facts/figures off the top of their head impresses me: someone who can do both is especially intelligent in my book. Improvisational speaking ability is another attribute of intelligence. Although, I know some people who aren't very eloquent yet are very intelligent: the book smart crowd. One thing that I've recently concluded as a sign of intelligence is empathatic capacity. My guess: I think intelligence entails a combination of attributes I possess and that I wish I possessed.

The chapter's beginning discusses the difference between the implicit belief of changeable or static intelligence. Does the belief that intelligence is static or changeable affect academic performance? The assertion put forth by the text correlates a belief in changeable intelligence to higher academic achievement. Belief in static intelligence indicates a belief in "performance goals learning" and this leads to a student who measures success by academic performance (or lack of) to learning: although, just because one has done well in a class, is only a superficial indication that learning occurred! I tend to agree with this, and to be honest, I think I've fallen on the performance goal side of the spectrum, but reading this chapter provoked me to re-evaluate this.

Of Erikson and Bandura

2006-03-15T21:13:00.000-08:00

Bandura and Erikson seem to be the epicenter of social cognitive theory: especially, Bandura. Self efficacy, the belief (or lack of) in ones ability to cognitively succeed, should not be confused with self-esteem (although having a good self image does not hurt self-efficacy). Take myself for example, I have a fairly sizable ego: I feel good about myself! Yet, lately, my self-efficacy, especially in terms of school, has been lower than I anticipated. (Don't worry, I don't feel this for my Ed Psych class: I just plain procrastinated with this journal! ha!.). Part of it is that I've have tons to do, have many distractions, and I get these "I just can't do it" thoughts. What does this mean in terms of the text?

Bandura's model has three interdependent sections: Personal judgments, behavioral, and Environmental (there is a fourth factor, physical/psychological state in reference to health: you're efficacy goes down when you're sick). We have aspects that we can and can't control. So what are the factors that I can't control in my situation? Bandura cited behavioral factors like task difficulty as something as possibly beyond one's control (and that's not necessarily a bad thing). There's also an environmental aspect: I really can't control the fact that there's a poor environment in my other class which is the mandatory use of Blackboard discussion groups. I LOATHE Blackboard's discussion boards. It should be a primary example of poor interface design! I also can't control projects that are given to me at work and so I have to prioritize between getting paid and doing something for an "A." I'll choose getting paid first (and subsequently, "not fired")!

What I can control is how much time I dedicate to the class in question: if I absolutely need to use Blackboard, I should use it in short spurts. I could also do my classwork away from my main computer (which has all of my games on it!) and do it in an environment with less distractions. I could also post discussions that I find interesting (although, I'm not to fond of the subject). I can also control and important factor that Bandura cited: persistence. I may not like it, but I need to "suck it up." I can also do my work earlier in the day (not midnight!).

I think that's a good overview of my own efficacy. Now, self-concept is another issue! That's where Erikson comes in. Self-conceptualization is built over time, and it refers more to your feelings about yourself. Self-efficacy is a "Can I do" while self-concept is "How do I feel about.." (I borrowed the last idea from Frank Pajares and Dale H. Schunk's article on "Self-beliefs and School Success" (a wonderful monograph!). Erikson divided our life stages into self-conceptual stages: our self-concept changes over time and it can be matched to certain physiological/age phases. Since I'm 31, I'm somewhere in the "Intimacy vs. Loneliness" and "Generativety vs. Stagnation" stages (young adult and middle age stages). My self-concept is still in flux because I'm a) single b) trying to be productive/generate meaningful work. If I feel I'm not succeeding, then my concept of myself will change for the worse. Does this affect my self-efficacy? It could if I make judgments and behavioral choices based on not being able to find meaningful relationships or I feel I can not produce anything meaningful. However, I don't think that will happen. I guess we'll see how it turns out!

Reconstruction of Memory

2006-03-15T20:17:00.000-08:00

I was at a robotics competition this last weekend for the FIRST Robotics St. Louis Regional and tomorrow I'm going to Chicago for FIRST Midwest regional robotics competition. At both events, I'm the the head referee and so there's a bit of pressure to perform: I need to make split second decisions when I perceive an infraction has occurred. Many times, I need to reconstruct events in my head rather quickly if the participants (who are high school aged students) have questions about my calls. Sometimes, my referee crew needs to reconstruct events (usually out loud) so that we can make the best decision as possible. I had a scorekeeper (who was keeping tract of balls the robots scored in a goal) who may have mistakenly reconstructed an event in her head (or she may have been distracted) and scored less balls in a goal for one team (apparently there is video of the robot scoring more). It was curious how she reconstructed the event because she was very verbal about it: not only did she recall scoring the balls going in, she remembered counting the balls in the can in which scored balls landed. Good enough for me and it would have probably been good enough for a jury! (The team lost the match by that one ball!)

In the book and in class, reconstructive memory, as its name implies, consists of smaller memories and impressions that are connected by an event: we use these memories and their connections to recall a memory. Now for the example I gave, it may also be called a flashbulb memory: although the event was probably not significant/emotionally charged enough to be considered "flashbulb." For education and for my scorekeeper, the reconstruction of memory is aided by engaging something that's meaningful. My scorekeeper, who did a great job, probably didn't feel connected to that moment like the students who designed and drove that robot. She saw many matches that day while the kids paid attention to their matches (30+ vs. 3-5 matches). I bet those students will be able to reconstruct that moment in their head for many, many years to come because it was the moment that lost them the game (although, realistically, they had plenty of other opportunities to "put it away."

And to go on a tangent, child led conferences, the CWC for another week, also reminds me of my robotics competition. In the competition, if the team has a problem with the refereeing, only the students may come to me to ask questions. I'm very impressed by how eloquent and assertive these kids can be! Several of them "know" me from the previous years and so I might be more approachable, but I don't feel any reluctance to approach me (ok, I can be curt at times, but I'm refereeing! I've got lots on my mind!). If more students were as outspoken and assertive as the teens who do FIRST Robotics, then we're definitely "on to something." From this, I would wholeheartedly support child led conferences!

Chapter 5 Retrieval Processes

2006-03-14T12:21:00.000-08:00

I have a hard time remembering people's names: I know it's more of an encoding problem, but honestly, this a problem with people I have known very well! If I don't see them for a while (from 3 months to a year or longer), I'll recognize their face and recall all sorts of weird, esoteric facts about them, but when it comes to their name, I draw a blank! In college, I left for the summer having a crush on this one girl, let's call her Allison (because I'm not 100% sure that's her name anyway!). When I came back to school three months later, I bumped into her at a party, and we talked for quite a bit: but I couldn't remember her name! I asked one of my girl friends, and she just laughed at me, "Don't you have a crush on her?!" "Well, yea, but I haven't seen her in like 3 months!" This lends me to believe that I also have a retrieval problem!

McDougall's Threshold Theory actually made sense to me even though it's an outdated theory. If I apply this theory to my name conundrum, then it makes a bit of sense. "[The] 'threshold' hypothesis held that both recognition and recall performance depend on the strength of information in memory" (Bruning, 98) The two threshold levels, recognition and recall, differ only in this "strength of information" where recognition required less information strength than recall. Therefore, my brain assigns less information strength to names than other pieces of information like computer parts , cool game button combinations, and faces.

However, chapter 5 goes on to explain how memory is a bit more complicated than that. In the dual process model of recall, recall and recognition are no different: one requires "much more extensive memory search" than the other. Recall and recognition of memories need points of access: the more points of access, the easier it is to recognize or recall the correct answer. The example given in the chapter: "Who was president after Madison?" and "Was Monroe the president after Madison?" The first question is pure recall as it offers no other mental clues to search ones memory except Madison's name. The second question tests recognition as it gives you two points of access: Monroe and Madison. With more points of access, one could search his or her memory in a much more extensive manner: it is a lot easier to remember that Monroe came after Madison instead of having to just recall the name of Madison's successor.

As for my name retrieval problems, I don't think either model "helps" me with my problem. Although with the dual process model, I might not be recognizing all of my points of access: I may need to recall different things associated with that person...I don't think it's a stretch, but I really do think my problem is an encoding/practice problem (where I should take time everyday to think about the people I know, and maybe look at pictures, etc., to keep my memory fresh.)

More on Self-regulation

2006-03-14T11:12:00.000-08:00

Since self-regulation was my Class Within a Class topic, one can't blame me for writing more on this topic. It's just very fascinating to me: especially since my self-regulatory skills aren't up to snuff (especially when I am in front of computer). In fact, the weekend before last my computer died on me: I know, I felt cold and put out! Fortunately, like any good geek, I have an old computer that I can fire up to satisfy my internet addiction (especially those political and technology blogs!). It actually ran really well after spending a lot of time tweaking it! For my dead computer, I decided to not replace the broken parts and start from scratch: I bought a new motherboard, processor, video card, power supply, and case. I really enjoy building my own computers and the new case I got is gorgeous (click here to check it out). Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that I was so distracted by not having my main computer that I got little or nothing done! And when my new computer was put together, I had to put it through its paces by playing it!

All of this reminds me of a website I found while putting together my self-regulation CWC presentation: it's a website for teachers who teach self-regulation to high aptitude students. Even though it's for grade school kids, I think anyone who has high aptitude but little self-regulatory skills could learn a bit! The Increasing Academic Achievement Study being conducted by The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented at the University of Connecticut put together this training module for teachers. Here's an example of a subsection of their "Study and Learning Strategies" module:

Keep a homework book to record upcoming assignments, projects, tests, and events.
Have a designated two pocket travel folder in which you label one side as "To Do" and the other as "Done." Keeping all your important notices and papers in one place saves you time.
Create reminder checklists, one called "at school" and one "at home."
Keep all handouts and papers in chronological order in your subject notebooks.
Clean out your locker and bookbag on a regular basis (once a week is a good start).
Pack your bookbag each night before you go to bed, making sure that you include all of your homework.
At home, put your bookbag in the same place every day.

It may seem basic, but for anyone, these are all good suggestions! The "Time Management and Organization" module is also very good! I think as educators and students we need take a course/class in self-regulation: this includes those of us who have high aptitude but are distracted easily! I think as I get further into my study of IDLT, I'm going to have to really go over my time management and organizational strategies.

Effort and Cognition

2006-03-12T22:19:00.000-08:00

At the end of Chapter 4 there are some interesting insights into what we generally call "intelligence." Do not most people believe that intelligence is an innate ability? I can honestly say that my thoughts on intelligence and what it means to be intelligent have fluctuated over the years. It's probably due to the people I'm around: I've known some terribly bright people who seem blase about their profound ability to recall and synthesize information. But then, I've been around people who work hard to earn the right to be called intelligent: they may not be as expressive as those who seem innately smart, but you can tell the "hard workers" have a firm grasp on what they're talking about. It comes down to a phrase I've knocked around my head and in conversations: "It's a willingness to learn." I don't see myself as smart, but I'm willing to learn (now, whether I'm willing to do all these cool generative exercises is another matter).

It's this willingness to learn that the latter half of Chapter 4 focuses on: metacognitive monitoring and regulation of cognition. I enjoy knowing what I know and I fail to see why other people don't enjoy this. I want to know why and how I formed my opinions. But does this make me intelligent or just introverted? On page 83, there's a key insight: "Metacognitive monitoring also appears to be unrelated to aptitude." This sentence ties into what I had been talking about in the previous paragraph: if you're aware of what you know, you'll have a head start on others who may be "smarter" than you as you're willingness to learn is higher. But I haven't answered my question and maybe I should rephrase it: am I smart or introverted? I think the difference is in action and what you're willing to do with it. Although I do think I have above average ability, I think I'm more introverted than smart because even though I'll read/learn many things, the true measure of intelligence is forming a real life representation (a generative activity) of that knowledge. For some reason, I balk at these generative activities. This will lead nicely into my next post: self-regulation!

Chapter 4 Encoding

2006-03-12T21:40:00.000-08:00

I remember studying for vocabulary tests as a kid. I would have my list of vocab words, I would read them over and over again, then I would give it to my mom, and she would quiz me on them. She would quiz me until I spelled and defined the words correctly. When we did this bit of rehearsal encoding, it worked well enough for me to pass with good marks. I don't really think my parents or teachers tried to teach us any encoding strategies. Well, let me take that back: encoding tricks that didn't involve songs. It wasn't until middle school, when the concepts became more abstract and difficult to remember, that encoding tricks became prevalent. The one that stands out the most in my mind was ROYGBIV: the mnemonic for the colors in the spectrum.

Today, I really don't use encoding strategies as a matter of practice. If I do, it's the Method of Loci: I locate ideas/numbers/names spatially. For example, the grocery list that we had Dr. Lavele memorize, I can somewhat recall due to where the items were on the list. There were two columns of five items, and on top of the second column were condoms and dill. On the first row on the bottom, we listed beer. The middle right we listed celery, and middle left was tampons. Granted, since I'm writing this way after the fact, and as a class, we have gone over this twice (and dill was my suggestion): so, there's some circumstances here that might not support my claim. But I really do think I'm a spatial encoder. Next weekend, I'm going to Chicago to referee a robotics competition. I've been to Chicago several times, and as for any place I've visited, I can find my way around rather easily because I'm constantly making a little map in my head. The first thing I do when I land in a new place: I figure out where North is. With this bit of information, I'm able to orient myself and not worry about getting lost (I actually enjoy the challenge of getting lost!). When I take tests, I recall information from books by remembering where it was in the book and its location on the page. If I wanted to augment this ability, I would need to practice placing information chunks in a more abstract spaces: houses seem popular...I think I might use a computer as I'm just "at home" working with them. Especially if I want to encode Cognitive Psych information: a computer metaphor/encoding model, would be perfect!

Other methods that I might want to try is the peg method: I found myself reciting "pegs" just now after I thought about recalling our class grocery list. The link method is very visual: I could see myself using mental images to remember a list of objects interacting with each other. But when all is said and done, it comes down to effort: am I willing to put in the practice to enhance my encoding abilities?

My own experiences with long term memory and deja vu...

2006-02-05T11:37:00.000-08:00

One thought I had while reading our last chapter and during our last class discussion centered around how long we retain a memory. Granted, our next chapter in encoding probably answers that question. I probably don't have an unusual LTM, although I like to think I do, but I have pretty strong memories of experiences and dreams from when I was very young. The oldest is from when I was around 2-3 living in a row house in Baltimore, Maryland. I can still mentally tour the house and neighborhood. Granted, some of it probably has been reinforced by pictures but I know our family doesn't have many during that time, but I have distinct memories of exploring a creek nearby with a group of neighborhood kids or playing in the street and very small front lawns. I even remember watching Romper Room on our living room TV: it featured kids tumbling while disco music played (I think it was the BeeGees). And, I remember having a dream about that episode. I'm curious to know why I have retained these very specific memories. I would think that the reinforcing nature of having a dream about a TV show explains that memory: or maybe it was the first time I realized my day to day experiences could affect my dreams. It's very fascinating stuff, I hope to read a bit more about memory retention in the coming chapters!

Deja Vu: Ok, there's supposed to be accents over the e and a, but I'm not going to spend time figuring out how to place them using blogger.com's interface. Deja Vu is another fascinating topic because we've all experienced it at one time or another. It's that strange feeling we get when we feel we've had the same experience that matches a current situation. The handout we received had several theories: one being that an incomplete memory from a past experience matches or reminds us of a current situation as we "fill in the blanks." Or, it is a neurochemical reaction that "have nothing to do with memory." The last theory explains why people who have epileptic seizures have feelings of deja vu before a seizure. I'm not going to judge which one is valid or not because they both may be valid! Our brains are too complex for simple explanations. I experience deja vu as a memory of dream that has come to life. I'll stop, and say, "Whoa!" (like Keenu Reeve's in the Matrix), and I'll look around as if dumbfounded. Now, I have never gained any insight into a situation when having this feeling (some people in our class claimed that they could predict a conversation/situation based on this feeling), but the combination of excitement, discovery, and sometimes fear (good and bad) creates this strong emotional reaction to the deja vu. Actually, since I am a vivid dreamer and I have lots of them, I do realize that the probability of dreaming something then having it vaguely match a real life situation are great enough to get this feeling once in a blue moon. Well, that's my brief take on deja vu!

Thoughts on Long Term Memory

2006-02-03T09:34:00.000-08:00

I'm not going to bore my readers with a simple overview of my text's introductory chapter on long term memory (LTM from here on out). But, I'm going to write about the more provocative theories, and I am also going to talk about my own experiences with LTM: the latter should be interesting....

Since cognitive psychology uses the computer metaphor for cognitive processes, I have an easy time identifying with it! As a computer geek (well, a self-professed geek), how our own memory works, according to cognitive theory, "makes sense." However, in this chapter, we're introduced to alternative theories: luckily, they still use the lovely digital domain as their metaphor. One theory uses a computer network as its metaphor while another uses a distributed processing model metaphor.

The network theory has three basic concepts: nodes, links, and spreading activation. In a network, a node can be seen as a "router:" a unit that sorts traffic (a computer network router makes sure information gets to the right place, or at least, makes sure it goes in the right direction). A link is a physical or cognitive connection between concepts: computers having a physical connection to other computers and routers while cognitive connections are more abstract in that they link to concepts. Although, I do think that there could be analogous neurological structures in terms of nodes and links: it may not be as abstract as we think. For example, when it comes to brain injury, the brain reroutes information as best as it can to recover lost abilities or at least provide new neurological pathways to relearn lost abilities. Spreading activation simply refers to the brain's (or computer networks) ability to find information in a systematic way: when a node is activated, it can activate other nodes that are related to it (conceptually and physically), and send that information back to working memory or the computer requesting the information. I would not' t be surprise that there's a lot of collaboration, or at least there should be, between internet search engines and scientists working on cognitive function.

The distributed model metaphor for cognitive function also seems like an apt explanation. Our text makes a distinction between the networked model and connectionist model, but I fail to see the fuss. It is apparent that the connectionist model evolved from the network model: the emphasis is on processing instead of searching information. In the connectionist model there are two other concepts: parallel/serial processing and distributed representation. Like a computer with multiple cpu's is "faster" compared to one with a single cpu, the brain works better when more processes work at the same time: information storage and processing occurs at the same time or "in parallel." When searching memory, we search and explore multiple concepts in parallel, BUT, it isn't the unit of information but the strength of the connections between multiple nodes of concepts (it's "distributed") that creates meaning. Even though there is a distinction between this model and the last, it just seems that the connectionist model is just a more refined theory and the two really are not incompatible: in fact, I think they're basically the same thing.

Well, I was going to get into my own experiences with LTM, but I'll save that for my next post!

Chapter 10 Class Discussion

2006-01-30T12:08:00.000-08:00

I apologize for being late with this journal entry, but blogger.com has been rather slow as of late. In my previous post, I talked about my reaction to chapter 10: now, I'm going to discuss the class discussion. Since it was led by a guest lecturer, Dr. Zsuzsanna Szabo introduced herself to the class and informed us that one or two people in this class would be especially useful in this discussion (as Dr. Lavele warned her). My PocketPC attached to a portable keyboard gave me away! I predicted I would be picked on throughout the class: I was right. As a sidenote, it didn't help that I want to impress Dr. Szabo with my knowledge of geography as she was from Romania. However, I forgot that Bucharest was its capital (not Sofia), and that compounded the already unwanted attention on me.

Dr. Szabo broke us up into groups, each group received a section of the chapter to review, and each individual in the group had to pick one word that jumped out at us and/or summarized the section. Our group got the "Uses of Technology" section which included a treatment on the cognitive skills required to successfully use tech for teaching/learning. My partners picked words like "communication," "engagement," and "challenge." I picked "self-regulation." Why? First, it is an important lesson for kids to grasp: when you're on a computer, you need to have the self-discipline to use it appropriately and effectively. Sitting in front of a computer connected to the internet can open a world to a child: but, it's a vast world full of distractions and shifty information. Secondly, since I'm a fairly "wired" person, I too suffer from a lack of self-discipline: the computer is a tool, information conduit, and entertainment center. It takes a lot of willpower to wield its power for a specific task: especially when I need to write a paper and my favorite game, "Day of Defeat," is beckoning me to play. Or, I need to do research on the web and find myself surfing over to my favorite political or geek blog. A teacher needs to understand that kids today view the computer as an extension of their lifestyle, and so, we need to make sure students learn how to use it as a precise tool. I found it funny that my classmates guffawed when I told them I plugged my computer into my big screen TV and used it as a big computer monitor: I used it to watch some of my favorite recorded TV shows (I have since figured out how to watch TV shows on my PocketPC!). For me, it's not an issue: I don't think of the computer as a monolithic object, and at the same time, I don't go out of my way to find new uses for it.

As a side note, I also praised and warned them about myspace.com: a decent but extraordinarily popular social networking website. I bet most of their kids have created a page on it. It's great for getting an "in" on new music, but there's a lot of undesirable content too.

Lastly, in our groups, Dr. Zsabo gave us one more topic to discuss so that we could create a list. OF COURSE, my group's topic centered around reasons NOT to use technology in the classroom (and it must be noted that it wasn't by accident that we got this topic). Luckily, I realize that technology is not the end-all-be-all of education. My group was surprised that I had a lot to offer! Our list consisted of: lack of activity (becoming a "mouse potato"), lack of socializing, developing poor gross coordination skills, safety, unreliable/inappropriate material, distracting, lack of sun exposure, high demands on teacher resources, mobility issues, students can do illegal acts on it (hacking), and lastly, expensive! As I gave my group's summary of our list to the class, I found it hard not to qualify some items on our list (especially the social aspect), but overall, I believe I was successful in being very exhaustive on this topic.

I definitely had fun in this class! I just wish there was a class solely focused on technology and cognitive psychology (and there might be).

Chapter 10: Cognitive Pysch and Technology

2006-01-29T22:39:00.000-08:00

Not surprisingly, this chapter was particularly important to me! Since I'm in the Instructional Design and Learning Technologies program, I wanted an anchor to base how I approach this course: and this chapter provides that for me! Since technology is integrated thoroughly in my life, I take much of it for granted: even the design. On the one hand, technology augments my already considerable skills (ok, I'm exaggerating!), but on the other, sometimes I use technology for technology's sake! I'm a gadget freak (some of my friends have used a more derogatory term that begins with a "wh" but that's not here nor there!) One can say that I have a instinctual technology design and use philosophy. And, this chapter really reinforced what I felt and hadn't articulated! I was a member of the choir being preached to! Amen!

Briefly, the "Selected Uses of Technology" section had no surprises, but one thing that I take for granted is my normalcy in terms of my abilities (personality is another issue!). It is always a good reminder that technology opens worlds to people who, through no agency of their own, do not have the abilities to communicate or engage material in a normal fashion. Technology really does make many people, "handi-abled!" I'm glad the authors made a point to include that in this chapter!

There were two real revelations in this chapter that stood out: an articulated list of cognitive skills a student must learn/possess in order to use tech effectively and the cognitive load theory.

I hadn't really thought about the cognitive skills I possess or must be able to purvey to students to use tech in a learning environment. The list, on pages 217 and 218, creates a checklist to measure or shape a learning module's (I think that's the right word) effectiveness/goals. Bottom line: putting students in front of a computer won't necessarily teach them these skills. I assume this is an example of scaffolding (don't know the educational lingo just yet), but, you don't need an internet connected computer, or a computer at all, to teach a student how to contextualize knowledge: i.e. looking at bits of information and deciding the validity/accuracy it.

The cognitive load theory revealed a cool root design philosophy for interactive instruction: this was a true revelation to me! I think I had instinctively known this, but I'm not going to go quite that far and claim prescient knowledge. ;) It did make perfect sense to me. We have two channels: auditory and visual. Information can be either: simple or complex. Combine these two root premises and you get cognitive load theory. Our brains can handle only so much in one channel, but has a great capacity to process both in our working memory. In a multimedia presentation (and I did like the 4C/ID model), presenting a complex piece of information with simple visuals and reinforcing the information with narration is more effective than using complex visuals and narration. For example, using an animation with words/diagrams with narration can overload the visual channel which taxes the working memory because it is already processing complex information. On the other hand, a simple piece of information can be accompanied by animations, bells, and whistles to hold the students attention.

This was all very fascinating stuff! My next post will center around the class's discussion of the chapter: here's a preview, yes, I was picked on a lot! ;)

Chapter 2: Sensory and Short Term Memory

2006-01-19T21:15:00.000-08:00

What a fascinating chapter! I won't bore you with another overview...well, just a little one. In the cognitive model, there are three main modal points: sensory reception, short term/working memory, and long term memory. Each modal point has different functions and capacities. Each work together to regulate perception and create meaning: as I mentioned before, the metaphor is that of a computer.

For this post, I want to focus on cognitive psychology's fetish for computers in terms of my fascination with computers. Two things caught my attention: According to studies, our sensory registers can only store a finite number "chunks" (memories) and our working memory processes these chunks before new memories interfere with the older ones. The studies performed, that the book cited, occurred in the 70's. The era these studies doesn't bother me (although, you might have to question any study performed during the height of disco), but how it applies to children today: with kids growing up in a multitasked, hyperlinked, and interactive environment, has their cognitive style been accounted for? Are cognitive functions, like sensory registers, hardwired (I believe the expression in 7 plus or minus 2: for a maximum of 9) or can we adapt to have more?! Maybe instead of 7, it's 8 plus or minus 2 or 3! Would having more sensory registers result in less memory processing capabilities or some other cognitive capacity?! I think that's an interesting line of thought.

The second thing that caught my eye was a blurb about another cognitive theory: instead of a computer as the metaphor, this one uses a neural(computer) network as its metaphor. Metaphorically and ironically, the evolution of computers has gone from stand alone computer to a network of computers to a distributed network of computers that share processing power: maybe cognitive psychology will move in that direction too!

Cognitive Psychology and Instruction: Thoughts on Chapter 1

2006-01-18T22:54:00.000-08:00

I have currently read the first one and a half chapters of Burning, Schraw, Norby, and Ronning's book, but I find it absolutely fascinating! For a while, I've had this desire to learn about cognitive processes and how they affect learning because I know it will heavily influence the strategies I'll use when designing educational interactive encounters (I'm keeping this, "encounters," ambiguous as I need to work out which type of digital interaction/interactives I want to work with).

As someone who has only taken one basic psychology class in my life (the ever popular Dr. Sal Costa at Truman State U.), I found this introductory chapter accessible! I worried a bit about a possible struggle to understand the class' concepts, but the authors' methodical approach and use of accessible language helps ease my stress. Since I do have a history MA, I did find the history of cognitive theory to be brief (but actually, it would have bored me, I bet, so bully for the authors!) but informative. The Associationists, who dominated early thought on this subject, believed gathering data on limited stimulus-response studies on animals and humans: they could infer greater psychological meaning by using simple, non-contextual stimuli. However, this method/model became inadequate because bridging the gap between animal and human brain function proved difficult and hard to uphold under close scrutiny. The Behaviorists (apparently, they were Radical: in today's parlance, that means the authors didn't like them: like Republicans don't like Democrats...I don't know if the radical monicker is warranted or not...) believed strongly in environmental stimuli and reward/punishment: behavior, according to Skinner, could be predicted and controlled through controlling a subject's environment. However, this seemed to be inadequate when explaining cognitive function like a person's acquisition of language. Which leads us to...

The cognitive physchologists (they really need to work on a name for themselves...at least the other two are one word "ists"...I propose "Cognos") formulated their theories around a computer metaphor: information wasn't absorbed, but constructed by mental processes. In fact, the computer metaphor works well because these abstract cognitive processes should also have analogous physical structures in the brain. As a recap, here are the seven themes for "cognitive psychology's relevance for teaching and learning."

1) Learning is a constructive, not receptive, process.
2) Mental frameworks organize memory and guide thought.
3) Extended practice is needed to develop cognitive skills.
4) development of self-awareness and self-regulation is critical to cognitive growth. (Metacognition! I love that word.)
5) Motivation and beliefs are integral to cognition.
6) Social interaction is fundamental to cognitive development.
7) Knowledge, strategies, and expertise are contextual.

Cognitive psychology and Instruction and my spring semester,,,

2006-01-18T22:41:00.000-08:00

I would say that my first semester at SIUE was successful! Although I only had two classes (one of which, I had a lot of experience in: web design), getting back into the academic groove felt good! In fact, this blog arose out of the web design class, but instead of leaving it to whither on the magnetic platters of blogger.com's servers, I'll still use it to help guide myself through the study of instructional design and learning technologies. I think its reflective nature will reinforce the lessons/skills I'm developing...and there is another reason, too...but I'll explain that later.

This semester, I enrolled in a one hour design studio class, an instructional systems design course, and a psychology of learning course. As a requirement for the latter class, we are told to keep a journal of our thoughts about our textual readings. Ok, you busted me, that's my "other reason" for keeping this blog alive: well, it's more of a motivating reason. I intended to keep updating this blog, but would I have really kept it alive?! Don't know! Rock on!

My portfolio site and accessibility

2005-11-28T20:25:00.000-08:00

As I've been working on my portfolio website, I've realized through todays readings that I'll need to update a few things in order to make my sites more accessible. Putting my website through the WebXACT accessibility checker, I knew that my biggest shortfall was twofold: I lack proper meta tags and I haven't included ALT attributes in any of my IMG tags. So I'll just put two more things on my "to do" list. Oh, and I forgot some width and height measurements for some of my gifs: this isn't a problem in my instructional site yet because I don't have any gifs or pictures yet. I'm still debating if I will use some.

I also learned something new about coding in the readings. It's important to include the "/" at the end of the url if the href is going to an index.html file. Apparently, the browser has to make two requests from the server to follow a link if the last "/" is missing.

In general, the design principles in the readings today really didn't deviate too much from what Garrett had talked about, but they each had their own pet peeves that they aired out. I honestly don't think much of that one gentleman who advocated for programming a site so that it could be viewed by Lynx. However, I do agree that it does make a site more indexable and thus should at least be attempted. Also as a result of this man's design principles, I might also consider using a script to display different (aka smaller) navigation images depending on the resolution of the client. My portfolio site looks ok at 800x600 (it looks great in 1024x768), but it might not look as cluttered with smaller navigation images at 800X600.

Oh, can I also get an Amen! to all of the writers who mocked colorful and busy backgrounds!

But my favorite assigned website was the graphic design website! It wasn't too deep, but gave a great outline on basic design principles. It reminded me why I like working with Photoshop so much and how flash can be a mixed bag of nuts. It was, for a flash site, simple and well done: but it took me a while to figure out where the contextual hot spots were. I learned from the site that I picked warm hues for my color palette: I was actually going for that. The interactive color wheel was terrific and I'll definitely use that as I finalize the color of my instructional site (I currently have primary colors, and I knew from the beginning that this wasn't exactly what I wanted). I also found the bit on typography to be fascinating (as I took some websites to task...cough...Drudge...cough...for poor typographic choices). And now I know what a serif is: it's those little nubby things that make letters fancy, like the things at the bottom of the t at the beginning of the next sentence! This font that I'm writing in is a serif font (although the serifs are small). Speaking of fonts, I also want to share a great website: Font Freak. It has tons of free fonts!

Webstyle Guide Thoughts (cont'd)

2005-11-15T00:02:00.000-08:00

More thoughts on Webstyle Guide elements:

2) In terms of instruction, everyone should have read the Site Design Themes section: especially the teaching and instruction subheadings. I find the graph on user contact time, found right here, to be very illuminating.

Basically, user time and narrative non-lineararity (if that is a word) are proportional: Increased user time with and an increasingly non-linear narrative style requires a much more focused user. Such an application would be appropriate for a higher education audience. For my website, I'm in the "Training" bubble. According to this graph, a linear narrative would require more user contact time -or- if I want more user contact time, then I would have to increase the linearity of it. I think that's great, but I take exception to the site's assertion that having contextual links is a bad idea in terms of instruction: it's distracting. I concede that it may be a bit distracting for some users, but I really think that many would take advantage of contextual links and use them only when necessary. Also, I also think that tabbed browsing changes this assertion, too. A user can click on contextual links and a tabbed browser will load the page in the background while the user focuses on the current content. In my website, I think I provide a good balance between linearity and contextual links without giving the user an undue burden.

3) Typeface/Typography section: I didn't think that fonts would be so fascinating. But, since I've been harping on about certain website's poor choice of font, I thought I'd explore this heading. Here's the page. I didn't really know much about the serif vs. sans-serif fonts: serif is the traditional print font while sans serif is better for computer monitor viewing. If one wants their user to print out the webpage, then a serif font is useful. Serif is also useful for headlines (as in a newspaper) and small print on screen. All the rest should be in sans serif. As applied to my least favorite website, drudge.com, how does it stack up? I looked at the code and opened up Drudge's style sheet file. For headlines and small print, sure enough, he uses a san-serif font for headlines and small print (Helvetica and Verdana). For normal text, he uses Courier New (which is a font that was originally designed for IBM typewriters: if you remember, it was the kind with the ball) which I would assume falls under the "serif" category. Here's more proof that Drudge is just "wrong." He has it switched around: for normal text he should use a sans-serif font while using a serif font for headlines and small print. No wonder I get a headache when I go to this site! (Ok, it's the politics, too). For my website, I'll make sure to keep that distinction: sans-serif for normal text, etc. It's this little detail that I haven't thought of before that caught my eye. Oh, I might also want to implement a "print this page" link somewhere in my instructional website: it would combine all the steps in one content area of my site and arrange them on an easily printed out page.

Webstyle Guide Thoughts

2005-11-14T14:22:00.000-08:00

Webstyle Guide rocks! It's very comprehensive and concise. As per my assignment, I'll take three of his sections and apply it to my own website:

(I'll write one element now, and I'll have the other two posted tonight)

1) In the interface design section, he makes a great observation about the difference between print media and web media. Since print is linear and the web isn't, each page has different standards in terms of metadata: what is the page about and where does it belong. In a book, you might have the book title, chapter title, and page number on each page. Since it's contextual and physical, you know who authored a particular page because the book, as a self contained information object, will have that information on or inside the cover. A webpage, according the Webstyle Guide, is a freestanding page: since everything is hyperlinked, metadata and contextual information should be included on everypage. Why on every page? Most people follow links to a page that is, contextually, in the middle of the content set. If there is no metadata included on the page, then the user is at a lost about who, what, where, when a piece of information is written. For my website, I need to put such things as authorship and "Updated XX/XX/XX" so that the user has that metadata on hand. Other metadata, title and contextual, will also be provided via the site navigation and setup. A user would know where they were at in relation to other steps/subjects in my instruction due to the navigational tabs at the bottom of my site, and they title will always appear at the top of every page.

5 Websites I don't like

2005-11-14T10:07:00.000-08:00

As far as design and style, I'm going to choose a wide range of websites:

Website #1: "Simplicity doesn't do it justice."

http://www.library.cornell.edu/newhelp/res_strategy/citing/apa.html

This is a website that tells students how to do APA form correctly.
It's a simple looking website, but unfortunately, the content is plentiful. The problem is that the navigation and it doesn't fit well with the content. The only links to be found are at the top and they go to anchor tags. When a tag is clicked, you have to scroll back!! Booo!! I would fix this in one of two ways: 1) use sidebar navigation (with expandable side menus) 2) use "back links" to be able to go back to the content navigation links. This is an example of when simplicity goes wrong.

Website #2: "Too much navigation"

http://www.fark.com

I actually love this website. Well, it's the content I love: it's a great aggregate of funny and amusing news tidbits. However, I hate the side bars. There's way too much going on. I'll actually forgive the website for the right side bar: it needs to have advertisements to stay operational. I just wished some content links weren't mixed in with the ads. I'm not sure if they're internal or external links (and you have to be careful with external links nowadays) because of they're proximity to the ads. On the left bar, there is just way too many links! I really think Drew Curtis didn't think about the scope of his website and it got away from him: and now it's link mania. I would reorganize the navigation links so that they are more general: like replace user centered links with a "User Services Link" or all of the forum/chat links with a "Talkback" link that leads to a portal. The link headings help, but there are just too many to navigate efficiently.

Website #3: "Metaphor gone wrong"

http://www.drudge.com

I hate this website. Not only do I hate the content, I hate its presentation even more. This is what Garrett would call a literal metaphor gone wrong: Drudge uses a newspaper metaphor that gets out of hand. The middle left content area isn't that bad: but I don't know which ones are top stories and which ones are older. Plus, the font is hard to read: it's too blocky. Plus, what's with the "..." Is it necessary? I know it's a newspaper/"hot of the wire"/"more on the fold" symbol, but there are so many of them it makes the page look visually cluttered. Lastly, the links on the bottom are horrible. What are these links and why should I care? At least Fark had link headings. Actually, they're blogger links on one column and on another, it's columnist links: but I'm a political junkie. What about the casual reader?

What would I do? I would clean up the font, eliminate the "...", and clearly mark my navigation. He needs to demarcate his content and navigation areas better. New York Times does a much better job at the newspaper metaphor.

Website #4 "Lack of User Centered Design"

http://bb.siue.edu/ (sorry you need to login to see this one)

I hate the blackboard forums. It takes a user and clobbers them over the head by saying "you will view this content our way or no way." Forums are supposed to be interactive and facilitate the free flow of information. But it doesn't let the user customize how that information is presented! You can't have an asynchronous conversation if you can't engage multiple parts of the discussion. How does BB prevent the free flow on information? Currently, it only displays the post title: and we all know, post titles are less than descriptive of the content of the post. In addition, it doesn't display the actual post until you click on the subject line link: if titles are incomplete, wouldn't it be better to have, at least, a portion of the post displayed?!

What would I do? I would prefer to see the whole thing (and have long posts that are collapsible) in addition to seeing the entire post of the replies. It would be so much easier to read and reply this way. Currently, you have to make multiple clicks or open multiple pages (in my case, multiple tabs in Firefox) to gather the required information from other posts to formulate a cogent reply! Gah! I should at least have the option to display the forum in the current way, a comprised way (i.e. seeing part of the post), or the posts in total (see dailykos.com for a good example of this).

Website #5: "Why should I care about this site and how is it organized?"

www.arborheights.com

I feel bad for not liking this website as it's an elementary school's website. However, my experience with most public school websites is that they're poorly done (which might mean they're done by students, and that is very forgivable).
What's wrong with it? If you landed on this page, would you be able to figure it's purpose? You know it's an elementary website, but why did they make it? There's no clearly defined strategy or scope. And, this is reflected in their choice of skeleton and navigation. There is no organization for navigational links! Which links are important? Which links are internal/external? How are the links organized? The icons are cute, but they're obviously placed in a 5x4 table with no meta unity.

God, I feel like I'm beating up on a little kid. But where are the mentors/teachers?!

What I would do? Simple: they could keep their basic skeleton, just add another row on the top that puts cute navigational headings and organize the links so that they belong under the proper subheading. They also need a mission statement of some sort: why is this website here and what purpose(s) does it accomplish for the school? I think they should also organize the links so that they're pertinent to their users: students, parents, and faculty.

What about my website? I'm trying for simplicity in my websites. But simplicity doesn't mean a lack of navigational options (and complexity doesn't mean tons of links). In my instructional website, I want people to navigate according to either their step in the process and navigate contextually (links in content). I think that will accomplish simplicity without being too simple.

Chapter 7

2005-11-14T08:25:00.000-08:00

With the re-orientation of my instructional goal. Chapter 7 really doesn't impact it much: at least for the instuctional website. The surface of my instructional website will have a uniform palette that mimics a stop light (green, yellow, and red). Here's a quick link to my website. Although the colors I have on it right now aren't aesthetically pleasing, I'm currently experimenting with Photoshop to find richer, more contemporary hues of red, yellow, and green.

The true test of my website, according to Garrett, will be the eyeball test. Will someone's eyeballs go to the bottom row of links (they're currently just Step 1, Step 2, etc. text) and navigate the site as I've designed it OR will they get confused as to where to go next?? Secondly, I've included in my grid/skeleton (make sure you view it in full size) another navigational tool that does "Next Page" and "Previous Page" linear navigation, but I haven't implemented it yet. Why? I want to keep it simple, and I'm worried that if I put it in there, that the simplicity of my site will diminish. I'll do some user tests to see if including it will add or detract from the user experience.

Long Delayed Update

2005-11-14T07:53:00.000-08:00

Well, my subject matter needs to be altered a bit. For the last two weeks, I've been struggling with PHP and a lack of Dreamweaver at home (MX never worked, and my 30 day trial period with 8.0 is up). What I set out to do was a bit too ambitious. A part of Garrett's book was that you need to be realistic and flexible with your strategy and goals, and luckily, my goals are flexible enough so that I can change my strategy slightly without changing the underlying structures much.

What I am able to do is implement a pre-written open source PHP gallery called Gallery 2.0. And that's the nature of my instruction on my instructional site: I'll instruct someone to implement Gallery 2.0 and how to customize its look and feel. It's a dynamic photo gallery and it comes with pre-set templates (the default look and feel is minimal). Here are the challenges (and they match up with what I originally set out to do). 1) Find an appropriate web server 2) Install Gallery 2.0 3) Customize the look of Gallery 2.0. The program is several megabytes: customizing it requires being able to change style sheets and templates (not Dreamweaver templates). Actually, digging around subdirectories and code is in order to customize Gallery 2.0.

The last two weeks, I've been working with Gallery 2.0 and applying it to what I've learned here in IT486. What's left is this: McGurk's Photo Gallery. Actually, one should probably go to the McGurk's website to see how it works within the greater website. I've only accomplished the color palette conformity aspect: it looks like it's a part of the website, but in terms of uniformity, it comes a bit short. The banner should be centered, the links need to be on the top row, and there needs to be some white space around the edges. By figuring this out, my instructional website will teach someone to go through this whole process with ease!!

Contrast and Uniformity

2005-10-24T10:11:00.000-07:00

As far as the visual uniformity and contrast, I ftp'ed a basic design for my Instructional Website. I will replace the basic colors, especially the links on the bottom, with gifs that look a bit more professional. I'm addressing uniformity by simply copy and pasting the basic structure of my website to every page I create. I really haven't decided what font my site is, but that's something I will decide later (there are more important things I need to consider right now).

One important contrast/uniform trick I'm employing is a color code that matches the progression the user will take through the site. For example, the user begins at the "First Third Link" (poorly named, but it's just a place holder) and its color is green. All the sublinks below it are green, and in the main content area, the color of the border will be green also. The middle content box background will either be white or a dull color, but the content will be text. Hopefully, this will draw people's eyes down to the bottom of the page where all the links are and at the same time, give the user a visual clue as to where he or she is relative to the other steps.

NOTE: To temporarily alleviate my div tag issue, I'm doing tables within tables to basically get a similar effect, but I really don't want the user to have to load a brand new page to do this (which is what tables within tables forces the user to do).

Delayed Workday Post

2005-10-23T19:59:00.000-07:00

As a quick note: I've been working on the skeleton of my instructional site and I've run into a problem in Dreamweaver 8: it's not recognizing new div tags (aka layers) I've added to the code. As a result, it's not allowing me to add behaviors to my bottom links. I'm going for a "onMouseover" behavior for my bottom links so that the sub-links will appear below it. I had originally put the div tags inside the table, but now, I think I'm going to absolutely position them so that they aren't technically in the table, but just appear so. If that doesn't work (as in, DW8 finally recognizes what I'm trying to do) then I'm going to attempt to put the script in and change the "id" tag in the script call. I might also try this in MX tomorrow.

My Portfolio Site according to Chapters 5 and 6

2005-10-10T01:18:00.000-07:00

The portfolio site is a bit easier to nail down in terms of structure and navigation: basically because the functional and the content requirements are prescribed already.
The conceptual model will be a file system in a cabinet where each big folder will be organized according to different criteria. The nodes will be placed in a hierarchy (although this site will be so small, it will also be almost organic) with the main topics: Goals, Biography, Sample Works. The "Goals" page will have two sibling pages: personal and program goals. The "Biography" page will have, as of now, one sibling (because most of the content will be on the biography page anyway) which will be a "Useful and Favorite Links" page. At a later date, it might also include a second sibling, a photo gallery. The "Sample Works" page will be chronologically organized starting with the 1st jury, 2nd jury, and 3rd jury. Depending on the amount of content, all 3 juries could be on the same page with the links to sample works below each jury and organized chronologically. The navigation will be global, with local options available under the main nodes (a "mouseover" effect that looked like the local options appeared from under the global links would make for clean navigation). Any user error will be minimal because the user feedback will come in the form of a "Contact me" e-mail link. Ensuring clean and concise navigation will address user error.

My Instructional Website according to Chapters 5 and 6

2005-10-10T00:28:00.000-07:00

As I'm still struggling with the content of the site (I'm learning something new), I can still make design decisions based on its nature from a top-down perspective. For example, its structural layout/architecture will be linear and its conceptual model will be a tabbed, spiral bound manual (this particular spiral bound notebook is bounded horizontally/landscaped with the tabs at the bottom). Garrett does not like taking conceptual metaphors literally, and I'll heed his warning! I won't incorporate a spiral picture at the top of my page, for example, but it's the tabbed section on the bottom of the page where this metaphor applies. Hopefully, the user won't make a conscious connection between my site and an actual tabbed manual.

Why this metaphor? Because building an interactive photo gallery is step by step process, and I can color code (a wayfinder if you will) the tabs so that the user can easily navigate (and be aware of where they are) to the section that suits his or her level of technical comfort and be able to go back to sections that need to be reviewed. So the "organizing principle" is levels of difficulty/a progression of steps (as one gets further into this project, the difficulty increases). Specifically, this arrangement would be like this: I'll group beginning/1st steps together (web hosting decisions, choosing a database, php basics, creating a webpage template), intermediate skill/middle steps (building the database, incorporating php commands into the template), and advanced/final steps (dynamic acquisition of content/pictures, dynamic creation of new pages, additional options).

Navigationally, the problem will be, "Can I fit all of these options as links on the bottom of the page?" I think so: it'll be a two tiered navigation bar where the higher nodes are placed in one row, and in the row below, the "tabs" will change to the subsections of the higher node. This navigation system will be global in nature, but there's another consideration: linking terms to definitions or examples. In this case, the global navigation will be supplemented by contextual navigation (some or most of these links will also go to external sites). There might also be some local navigation with "next page" and "previous page" links.

As a last note, as far as user error is concerned, the problems will arise from people not being able to identify where they need to "jump in" at (and not providing user feedback). They might select a step further on in the process, like an advanced step, when they actually need to jump to something that's intermediate or beginning!

My Portfolio Site: The Whole Sha-bang in One Post

2005-09-25T22:37:00.000-07:00

As another requirement for my instructional website design class, I need to design a portfolio website which will stay with me throughout my IDLT career. So, I"m going to knock out what I can according to Garrett's chapters 3 and 4.

Site Objective: Visitors will be able to form opinions and assess my progress in the IDLT program through clearly stated program and personal goals, a professional biography, and a compilation of my best coursework.

User Needs: A user visiting my portfolio website will need to easily navigate to any subject/material. The material provided as examples of my work need to be accessible or the user needs to be clearly instructed how to access it. It also needs to be visually pleasing, engaging, and light-hearted as the content could easily bore the user.

Audience and Profiles: The audience for this website are professors, friends/fellow students, and potential employers.

"Dr. Melissa Nelson" She's an IDLT instructor who really likes to crack the whip over her students' heads. She not only expects her students to understand course material, but to master it: she doesn't let slouches slide! She wants a portfolio site that is navigable and comprehensive in its purpose: however, "she's seen it all before."
"Joey Estudiante" Joey is a fellow 1st year IDLT student who, like any IDLT student, wants to become more adept at using technology for educational purposes. He wants to know what I'm up to, but not in a competitive way. He also wants to know a bit about my background to see if we could collaborate on a project later on. He also has a strange fascination with the comedian, "Carrot Top."
"Mrs. Joanie VonChochie" She works for an educational software conglomerate and wants to hire a well qualified and creative software design manager. She needs to know the quality of my work before entertaining the possibility of interviewing me. She's impressed by clean design, engaging material, and dogs who can balance treats on their noses.

Content and Functional Requirements:

Content: A professional biography, personal and program goals, and a compilation of my best coursework.
Function: Easy navigation, a method of feedback (a simple mailto: tag, a feedback form, or a forum), links to external sites (personal interest and for reference), and it needs to be easily updated.

User Profiles and Site Features for My Instructional Website

2005-09-25T21:44:00.000-07:00

It's nice that I have a "headstart" on my assignment this week: I haven't read the syllabus for about two weeks. It's like finding money in your pants pocket while preparing to wash them. Due to my oversight, I failed to write "user profiles." But before I do that, I want to expand the "user's needs" I mentioned in my previous post because I really wasn't describing their needs as much as their qualifications.
So here are some user needs:

Learn step by step how to set up a PHP website (including web hosting and database setup)
Users will need content that is broken up so that it's accessible to a broad range of talents: i.e. be able to skip to where one is comfortable.
Users will need examples of code and output.

As I said, this website's audience consists of advanced web users, and web designers of all skill levels. Based on this understanding of my audience, I have created three user personas:

"Tracy Metatagerty" She's an advanced web user who surfs the web on a daily basis and is comfortable with the technology that allows her to view it. Although she has not designed a website before, she wants to dive in head first, and start a big project.
"Craig Domenico" He is a beginner/intermediate webdesigner. He's built several sites for personal use, knows how to setup hosting, and has even used Content Management Systems coded in PHP: yet, he hasn't actually coded using PHP. He wants to delve deeper into PHP so that he'll have more control over his website in terms of content and visual aspects.
"T.R. Rowencolum" T.R. has designed many websites and is comfortable designing dynamic websites. However, he has used other languages such as ASP/.NET to build his sites. He wants a quick overview on how to program a PHP website because he wants to add another marketable skill to his resume. He probably doesn't need to learn things step by step: it's more like "fill in the blank" for him.

Content and Functional Requirement:
Ironically, as this website, being instructional, epistemologically falls on the "Content as Hypertext," the content/end-product falls under "web as software interface." In simpler terms, the two bleed into each other and it can be confusing as to what is content and function. And so, I'll mix the two (yet try to keep them somewhat separate).

I will need to design a site that is navigable depending on the skill of the user. Match content with its relevance to the user: from the home page, a user should be able to skip to content that they need instruction on.
The website needs to be hosted on a server that supports PHP
The website will host relevant links to external sites that could provide clarity and/or further instruction: in one location and at corresponding steps/pages that a lesson may apply to.
A basic introduction to PHP will be needed.
The instructional content will progress from setting up a page to building a .html template to coding basic dynamic content to coding a photo gallery (am I crazy or what?)
Code and the "final product" will need to be displayed.

Chapter 3 and 4: According to My Topic

2005-09-19T12:22:00.000-07:00

As I've just posted my topic, I'm going to design it in conjunction with my readings in Garrett. Luckily, I won't have a fully formed strategy or scope just yet, but these chapters will help give my site direction because frankly: I don't know how to do my instructional topic. So content-wise, this site is an open book and this means that I'm going to have to be methodical in my approach: I cannot get caught up in what Garrett calls the "Web as Software Interface" side of design. Why? It's the aspect I'm most familiar with.

What are my site's objectives and what are my users' needs? Off the top of my head, my site objective is to "instruct those who want to design a dynamic photo gallery in PHP." I know Garrett doesn't like for features to creep into a site's objectives, but I think, in this case, I need to sacrifice feature flexibility (i.e. the use of PHP) for conciseness and approachability. I don't want to program it in .NET/ASP or ColdFusion because a) I don't have the time to learn those and b) I don't want to confuse my users. I'll also make the argument PHP isn't necessarily a "feature" because the website itself will not be driven by it.

What are my user needs? They'll be an advanced web user, but not necessarily an advanced or intermediate web designer. They'll need to be able to code websites, and be able to set up their own hosting service. They'll need to know how to set up a database, how to connect a page to a database, and how to program it to identify new files in a photo directory. And these are just off the top of my head.

How will I measure success? If my buddy, Craig, can do it without using a pre-scripted photo gallery! (Not a good metric, but not a bad start)

What is the scope of this project?
I think I can answer Garrett's two questions, "what am I building and what am I NOT building?" rather quickly. I am building website that will provide a foundation for putting together a simple dynamic photo gallery and I am NOT instructing someone on how to build a complicated or "feature heavy" gallery.

Complication: Here's the complicated part of this project: it's a website about a website. Right now, I'm having all sorts of recursive thoughts because what applies to one, the design of the instructional website, applies to the other, the website's content. My brain is spinning right now.

In my next post, I'm going to list my site's feature requirements (and not my topic's feature requirements).

My Instructional Website

2005-09-19T12:05:00.000-07:00

As I've contemplated my instructional website, I kept in mind several mitigating factors: do I want my content to be fun and familiar or do I want it to be new and challenging? Actually, these questions arose after I narrowed my topics down to two: but that's neither here not there. The two topics that I've been bandying around are "How to Build a Basic Dynamic Photo Gallery" or "How to Brew Beer." I think it's obvious which questions match with my topics.

Since I've changed my daily routine to attend SIUE, I have pretty much dedicated myself to tackling new challenges. Therefore, I'm going to design my website around the topic of "How to Build a Basic Dynamic Photo Gallery." I have never designed a dynamic photo gallery: a gallery where I could upload pictures into a directory and automatically incorporate these pictures into a gallery. I think it would be helpful to those like me who want to tackle such a project, but don't have a clue (or at least a small one) on how to do it.

Thoughts on Ch. 2

2005-09-11T20:23:00.000-07:00

As Garrett builds his conceptual foundation on user centered design, it was obvious that he needed to establish a lingua franca and framework for web design. Dividing this process into five levels which progress from the abstract to concrete, he deftly explains these elements as being: strategy, scope, structure, skeleton, and surface.

As an amateur web designer, I've probably focused more on the skeletal (page layout) and surface (the pretty stuff) elements than the others. Why? Well, it's probably a dance between my instinct and ignorance. I really don't have a unified theory of web design and from start to finish, my approach could be considered haphazard by a professional. However, being an advanced web user and amateur designer, I "just know" how I want the site to come out visually and navigationally. Since I've only designed websites that focus on Garrett's "web as hypertext" meta-divide (content only sites: in my case, restaurant and personal web sites), the strategy and scope aspects were already clearly defined before I got a hold of it. Take for example my personal website, kooz.net. I drew the skeleton before I did anything else. Since its a personal website, I have little strategy and limited scope (both are dictated by my narcissism! Ha!). I focused on the skeleton because I thought it would challenge my design skills: and it did! Even though I don't update it often (which is a content failure), I think I successfully created an accessible and friendly website!

Thoughts on Elements of User Experience: Chapter 1

2005-08-29T13:46:00.000-07:00

Jesse Garrett's book starts with an accessible introduction to user centered design. Although he focuses on commercial applications of good web design, its fairly simple to draw correlations between that and instructional design.

Garrett does provide a gem in this chapter.

"...something funny happens when people have trouble using complicated pieces of technology: they blame themselves." Emphasis mine

Countless times, when someone asks me for help, they heap abuse upon themselves while failing to blame the culprit: the software/hardware's design. I bet everyone reading this has experienced both sides of this technological blame game. And yet, I've leveled many mental flagellations upon myself when I struggled with a bit of technology. I can tell you exactly when it happens: when you perceive the person you're interacting with (complaining to, more likely) is comfortable (aka. "smarter than you") with "x" piece of technology. Now with web pages, which Garrett keenly calls "self-service," most people are getting beyond the point of blaming themselves and properly channelling any frustrations towards design. Why? Most folks today have surfed the web, conducted business on the web, and even attempted to make a simple web page themselves. However, as for the Web of 2005/2006, I think more people are comfortable with it and are blaming the designers than they were when Garrett wrote his book 3 years ago.

Obligatory Hello World Post

2005-08-25T08:30:00.000-07:00

I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I'm fairly comfortable with web design. However, I've never focused on designing web sites for instructional use: the websites I've worked on have either been for my own amusement or provide information to others (in this case, restaurant information). I'm also insterested to learn my peers' opinions on the principles/elements of good design! Hopefully, they'll comment on my blog! Thanks.