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SXSWEDU 2019 Nuggets
I had the privilege to attend SXSWEDU again this year. Not prepared for the atypical chilly Austin weather, I let it deter me from participating in more events than I would have liked to — those that involved outdoor walking trips. Having one SXSWEDU attendance under my belt, I felt less stressed about not missing any one of the gazillion sessions. I attend SXSWEDU because of its focus on innovations and its emphasis on educators making a positive difference in communities. I see myself as both a designer AND a…
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I’m a Certified Mental Health First Aider
I spent eight hours yesterday at a Mental Health First Aid USA course arranged by my institution to learn the following: how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders. The training gives you the skills you need to reach out and provide initial help and support to someone who may be developing a mental health or substance use problem or experiencing a crisis. Mental Health First Aid Indeed, such information is useful. Michelle Obama, Chirlane McCray and Patrick Kennedy think so too. They…
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Reconstruction [Draft]
Kevin, Terry and Wendy are teaching me how to remix and reconstruct inspiration and ideas we find on the web. I read through their poems and makes tonight. This is my first pass at reconstruction. I’ve translated Terry’s poem, “Let Go. Explore” into Chinese. Since it’s late, I’m going to add more layers tomorrow. Our words Are not lies Any more than a metaphor is NoWe have sailed to And landed onThe shore of An undiscoveredCountry Let GoExplore! 我们的话不是谎言就如隐喻也同样的不是 没有我们已经航行到了已经落地了到达一个未被发现的土地 摊开双手走去探索!
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Anti-Spam Poetry Relay
The ginger ale teemsFrothing over First the counterThen dinky ash carpet Panic nag ensuesFrom Bob, rainy wet stoopHe stands , soddy hidFrom ha! Heated digs Quick call to Dr. PragueEerie fix-ers of carpet Whisk him forthSings mod roomie Thanks to Charlene Doland for the use of her blog to generate anti-spam phrases for this poem.
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Course Metaphors
Courses as conversations – this metaphor was first brought to my attention several years ago by a VCU professor, Deb Cowles. Inspired by The Cluetrain Manifesto (Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searls, and David Weinberger, 1999) where markets are conversations. I did not pause to ask her more or stop to think much about it then. Recently, I tried to pick up a book I started a few years back and the author (Petersen, 2005) talked about how his book is a conversation because conversation implies a back-and-forthness, several voices engaged in considering,…
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The Lady at the Gym
I went to a new gym today, not new-new, but one I don’t usually go to because it’s further from my apartment. I was not familiar with the machines. The elliptical machine was similar enough to the ones I used before. Checked. Leg extensions, done. I moved to the other areas for arm, back and upper torso work. It was here that I was stumped. A lady with a waist-bag walked into the area. I sat at the torso twister and observed her stealthily, all the while trying to swing…
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Lecture Video Speed Control
I enrolled in a post-graduate diploma program in November 2018. Taking courses as a learner allows me to see how other folks design their courses. The instructor does a great job of teaching. However, the speed control feature was missing from the Vimeo videos. I wrote to the support desk to inquire because I usually watch/listen to lecture videos at 1.25 to 1.5 speed. The support person came back with this: Having a speed control may lead to participants missing out some key information shared by the faculty. Hence we…
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IDs on IDs (aka Instructional Designers on Instructional Designers)
I love movies, theater, broadway, musicals, art galleries, books. High culture, pop culture. Recently, I began seriously listening to Variety entertainment magazine’s Actors on Actors interviews. Actors talking to each other about their craft. The interviews were fascinating and generally last 30 to 45 minutes; in some cases, there was a lot of mutual admiration (ahem). EdSurge has been supporting meetups among instructional designers (or even higher ed innovators) via their EdSurge Loop program. I’ve signed up for four Loops (2 didn’t go through due to technical problems and a miscommunication of time).…
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Visual Redesign to Enhance Learning
Part of my work as a MOOC designer/instructional designer is the visual redesign of slides or any course materials. Frequently, slide decks for studio recordings arrive on my computer filled with just sentences, sentence stems and/or bullets. The goal of redesign work is to convey the instructor’s ideas more accurately and fully by designing a more directly accessible visual message. This work taps on my message design and graphic design skills to make the material as accurate and aesthetically appealing as possible. I believe that “aesthetics matter” (see University of Edinburgh’s Manifesto for Teaching…
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Domain Blues and Webhosting Services
Here’s a novella about a fiasco over domain renewal by ZH. ME: renews add-on domain on time on November 24, 2018 BH: emails me Nov 28 that add-on domain expired 4 days after I renewed ME: live chat 1 Nov 28 BH: all will be well and taken care of BH: Nov 29 lets domain expire ME: live chat 2 Nov 29-30 BH: site will be up within 4-12 hours ME: live chat 3 BH: will be fixed 24-48 hours ME: phone call BH: can’t establish timeline for problem-solving I’ve…
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Magical Five, Plus Minus 2
EdSurge has a monthly newsletter, The Top Five, and CNN has a daily 5 Things. I love reading them both. Both curate for me interesting articles I don’t have the time to comb the internet for myself. There is something magical about not going beyond that number 5, it seems. Maybe you have heard of or read George Miller’s seminal article, The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on our Capacity for Processing Information; and that due to the limits of our short-term memory (“the span of immediate…
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Art vs Access: Thoughts on the Art of Making Beautiful Boy
Yesterday was the final showing of Beautiful Boy at a local arthouse movie theater here. I HAD to catch the movie. I couldn’t let it end its brief run here without making an effort. I had read Beautiful Boy (by David Sheff) and some of Tweak (by Nick Sheff) to prepare myself to watch the movie. (P.S. I also cared about the message of the film, of course.) Does that sound odd? Maybe it does –sound somewhat odd. It’s that chicken or egg argument. Do you watch a movie first to enjoy…
