Old pond / A frog jumps in / Water's sound.
--BASHO
"The soul never thinks without a picture." --Aristotle
First Draft on July 11th
INFOGRAPHIC #1 -- How To Conduct Digital & Archival Research in Asian American Studies
In my very first ever INFOGRAPHIC using Canva, I provide general instructions to students in a "poster format" as I (re)mediate partial sections of my BLOG and excerpt from my Teaching With Technology Teaching Philosophy Statement. Yes, a TWTTPS.
In other words, I describe how (and why) to do digital and archival research in the field of Asian American Studies vis-a-vis my teaching philosophy statement. I plan to use my new INFOGRAPHIC teaching tool in the classroom as a DEMO for an assignment. Students will learn to create an infographic! My hope is that students will engage with multiple digital genres such as reliable archival research. This image on the left shows my first draft after peer review with classmate Eric.
I paraphrased the four sources cited, and tried to footnote the references, to no avail. So, I added a second page for now.
Once I return home and to the classroom, I expect to tweak this INFOGRAPHIC a tiny bit.
INFOGRAPHIC #2 -- A Case Study -- The Santa Fe Japanese American Prison Camp -- How To Conduct Digital & Archival Research in Asian American Studies
For INFOGRAPHIC #2, this time with Venngage, I employ a "MYTH and REALITY" template which juxtaposes a historical timeline with archival photographs because I like the idea of a two column LIVING document.
This site is also a DEMO for "How To Conduct Digital and Archival Research in Asian American Studies." The case study is the Santa Fe Japanese American Prison Camp. I expect to continue to work on this project for the next year and come back to Bread Loaf Santa Fe in Summer 2020.
A Digital Video Draws on 5+ Modes and Literacies: Oral, Aural, Gestural, Alphabetic, Visual
Audience, Purpose/Goals, and Choices Audience -- My community college students enrolled in Asian American History classes in Oakland, California who will complete a multimodal assignment as part of the course requirements. At the same time, I hope to reach a broader audience beyond my classroom to tell the untold story about the Japanese American wartime experience in Santa Fe, New Mexico. https://www.wevideo.com/hub#projects
https://www.wevideo.com/hub#project/1430454086 My 5 minutes/30 seconds video serves as a re(mediation) of the Teaching with Technology Teaching Philosophy Statement, the Infographic, and how to conduct research in Asian American Studies using digital and archival materials. While I consider the video to be a DEMO using a "free" trial version of WeVideo online, I also wish to take the audience on a visual journey to Japan and Santa Fe. I start with popping clues and upbeat music so that the audience will be engaged. The colorful images are a way to spark interest within the first 50 seconds, and to provide meaning about a sense of place such as dates, landscape, nature, symbols, and motifs. I hope to enact movement and motion on a digital platform. I also employ "silence" to slow the experience down -- to allow the viewer to really take the time to soak in the messages. From 1940-1946, the world was in turmoil. I chose the (re)mixed and (re)mediated title: 1941 to 1945 Scenes from Grandfather's Scrapbook Santa Fe as a direct way to personalize major historical events in the physical, economic, social, and emotional lives of Japanese Americans, including my parents, grandparents, great grandparents, and other family members who were incarcerated from 1942-1945 in Gila River Arizona. The colorful movement and flow of the first section of the video is vastly changed to the embodied black and white confinement of prison life in the second section. Flowers naturally serve as the metaphor of life and death. They represent fragility, beauty, and the impermanence of life. The digital "scrapbook" functions as a living document of primary resources including archival photographs of the men in the Santa Fe prison camp along with a variety of excerpts such as information from interviews, postcards, newspapers, letters, and other materials. My artistic intent is for the viewer to experience looking through a photo album, as if turning pages with deliberate pauses as the visual narrative unfolds in front of the readers' eyes. In the last section, I add clips that put the DEMO into "teaching mode" with a young woman at work in front of a laptop. We see a shift in the narration at the closing of the video. The Ortiz Dog Park is the location of the current memorial site with a plaque on a rock. What are the multiple goals of this DEMO? It should be
inviting. It should be relevant.
It should
spark curiosity. It should say
something to the audience. It should be
eye-catching! It should
start a conversation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I really enjoyed doing this assignment! (About 30-35 hours total which included research work).
What is useful for my multimodal and pedagogical work at Laney College and beyond? What tools and skills will I take back to my classroom? How will I compose/remix into my creative writing projects?
**Kress (16-20; 23-24) excerpted:
Here's a CHART to get a visual picture of Hot and Cold Media
Media
Hot
Cold
Definitions
Hot
Medium/High Definition
State
of Being Filled with Data
Cool
Medium/Low Definition
Very
Little Visual Information
Low
in Participation
Speech
(because so little information)
High
Participation (filled by listener or completed by the audience)
Effects on the user:
EXCLUDES
INCLUDES
Examples
Radio
Movie
Photograph
Phonetic
Alphabet/Typography
Paper
Lecture
Book
Telephone
Television
Cartoon
Hieroglyphic/Ideogrammic
written characters
Stone
Seminar
Dialogue
Humm, I have more questions than answers!
---I am left wondering if this chart applies to my multi-lingual/multicultural college age students, ages from 17 to 77.
---Is there screen logic in writing cross-culturally? (Think emojis)
---Screen logic (does) have a role with images and in writing?
~~~~~~~~~~~~
**McCluhan (7-9; 22-23) excerpted:
Aah hah, the new environment of writing.
---All I have to say is that my eyes get tired looking at the computer screen!
---"Literacy" in Japanese is loosely translated to:
リテラシー
Riterashī
From Wikipedia: The modern Japanese writing system uses a combination of logographickanji, which are adopted Chinese characters, and syllabickana. Kana itself consists of a pair of syllabaries: hiragana, used primarily for native or naturalised Japanese words and grammatical elements, and katakana, used primarily for foreign words and names, loanwords, onomatopoeia, scientific names, and sometimes for emphasis. Almost all written Japanese sentences contain a mixture of kanji and kana. Because of this mixture of scripts, in addition to a large inventory of kanji characters, the Japanese writing system is often considered to be one of the most complicated in use anywhere in the world. -- I feel like people all over the world are learning Japanese through EMOJI.
Archimedes (Wikipedia)
---Literacy as social, cultural, and personal (p.24)
(From Understand Media: The Extensions of Man (1964) on page 15: Archimedes once said, "Give me a place to stand and I will move the world." Today he would have pointed to our electric media and said, "I will stand on your eyes, your ears, your nerves, and your brain, and the world will move in any tempo or pattern I choose." We have leased these "places to stand" to private corporations).
~~~~~~~~~~~~
***Alexander, et al.: Thursday, July 4, 2019 -- Class on the 4th of July
Article Discussion Activity Teaching with Technology: Remediating the Teaching Philosophy Statement (2011)
1. Do you think “humor” and "humility" belong in a teaching with technology philosophy statement? Why or why not? What are the benefits and limitations? Will your authority be challenged? In what ways? 2. The article was published in
2011 with case studies from Fall 2007 at Michigan State University. What questions would we ask the
authors in 2020? In 2030? In 2040 and beyond?
3.How has the rise of the smartphone, YouTube, and other communication technologies and platforms changed the way we teach and interact with students? Are they examples of effective tools that provide the "great equalizers" (think the "free" public library and "free" education) due to increase accessibility or will the haves and haves-not divide continue? Ditto on the speed of learning and attention spans. Increase or stay the same or further divide? Who "controls" these devices and how they are used?
Extra Bonus Questions:What would we (teachers/artists/administrators/concerned citizens) address and write in the 2.0 version/reload/remix
using the Alexander, et al article as a jumping point?Give some topics, issues, and controversies relevant today and in the future for our students and our teaching environments. Are we looking at a future of self-drivable cars, online learning led by robots, and what else? Extra Extra Bonus Questions: In the past, the teaching philosophy statement was coined "A Diversity Statement." This one-page statement was required in the minimum qualifications section, and we all included it in our job application or dossier to teach at the California Community College System. Is "diversity" the same as "philosophy"? Why or why not? What is gained or lost? Powerpoint -- See attached PPT Slides
Group
activity that reinforces an aspect of the text -- "WHAT'S IN THE BAG?" (NAME IT, FIND RELEVANCE, GIVE RESPONSES, DISCUSS THEMES & ENJOY FREE GIFTS)
~~~~~~~~~~~~
***Shipka: A Multimodal Task-Based Framework for Composing (2005) In a 2005 NCTE essay, Shipka provided a
case study of five college-age students’ work that engaged and showcased a
multimodal task-based framework.
Student-practitioners learned-by-doing in and outside the classroom. They repurposed and re-visioned: a bag of tokens (Lindsay), a
“scare” floppy disk (Prakas), “with-object” photos on Web pages and a video
(Maggie), a mirror IQ test (Karen), and video commercials (Michael). They took creative, non-linear approaches to their
projects and became choreographers/engineers of various resources for their
assignments. In addition, most remarkably, a female student (unnamed) eloquently wrote her project
goals for Mona Lisa Smile (a chapter booklet of 1950s
version of womanhood) along with a comprehensive and highly detailed heads up statement that provided "instructors with ways of navigating and assessing student work" (p.290).
Here are some quotes from the text that popped out re: "MADE NOT ONLY IN WORDS" --
p. 278 At a time when many within composition studies
have begun questioning the field’s “single, exclusive and intensive focus on
written language” (Kress 85), and its exclusion of the wide variety of sign
systems and technologies students routinely engage, we might also begin asking
how the purposeful uptake, transformation, incorporation, combination,
juxtaposition, and even three-dimensional
layering of words and visuals – as well as textures, sounds, scents, and
even tastes – provide us with still other ways of imagining the work students
might produce for the composition course. (Think About: How to do an Activity-based Multimodal Curriculum with an Online Class; Reduce Plagiarism? Who's the Audience?)
p. 292 A multimodal task-based orientation requires
a great deal from students, to be sure. Making the shift from highly prescriptive assignments to multimodal
tasks is challenging for students unaccustomed to thinking about and accounting
for the work they are trying to achieve in academic spaces…have underscored the
importance of establishing an atmosphere in which students are able to prove
that, beyond being critically minded consumers of existing knowledge, they are
also extremely capable, critically minded producers of new knowledge. (Think About: Individual or Group Work? Do Students Fall Behind if Project Too Big? How to Evaluate Invention and Production Processes?) pp. 301-302 WPA Outcomes Statement -- Finally, students are still "doing" process and learning about revision...And, of course, in the ongoing (re)development of lives. (Think About: Writing an Essay for the NCTE on the "What Mask Are You Wearing?" Project at Laney College) The elements of Shipka's framework that I can use -- I like the "heads up" statement. I'd revise it to be shorter, employ a multimodal method, perhaps present in small(er) groups with written peer reviews or on a BLOG where student reviewers and the instructor add comments to the BLOG. Some food for thought!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
***Writer/Designer Ch.2: Analyzing
Multimodal Projects -- Is There a Right Answer? (p. 27)
Arola et al provide a comprehensive approach to "visualizing
composition" which includes design choices vis-a-vis audience, purpose,
genre, context and other features.The authors highlight cross-cultural social customs (p.30) for consideration. For example, when I go to the Web site for Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan, I first see a serene green garden with empty chairs. Then, I see a focus and emphasis on news and headlines events: www.waseda.jp/top/en The case study of
Washington State University Web site from 1997, 2000, and 2010 offers a
convincing visual snapshot of an evolving communication strategy.In 2019, I see a WOW! “captivating”
improvement: https://wsu.edu/
~~~~~~~~~~~~
****Banks: LOOKING FOR UNITY IN THE MIDST OF MADNESS: TRANSFORMATIVE
ACCESS AS THE ONE IN AFRICAN AMERICAN RHETORIC AND TECHNOLOGY STUDIES
Adam Banks cries out in Chapter 1 to “examine Black experiences
in complex ways” (p.4).He calls for “a
far richer analysis” (p.5) because “technology access is the issue that can
spark scholarly and practical dialogue within and across disciplinary lines
that have to date been difficult to cross” (p.9).He argues for “a multidimensional view of
rhetoric and technology access” (p. 7) due to false choices. A few critical questions/themes/issues proposed:
1.“The whitinizing of cyberspace” (p.1) – not whitens?not whitening?
2.“Third way” answers to systemically racist
exclusion” (p.2)
3.“Power of the spoken word and Black orators”
(p.3)
4.“Debate over Ebonics” (p.7)
5.“Students’ Right to Their Own Language” (p.7)
Page 10 sparked my interest: “More than mere artifacts,
technologies are spaces and processes that determine whether any group of
people is able to tell its own stories on its own terms…Without systematic
study of our relationships with technologies and technological issues, we
remain subject to those technologies and the patterns of racism and racial exclusion
that still govern American society.”
(I'd like to go back to my question from 7/4 about the "Digital Divide"). How has the rise of the smartphone, YouTube, and other communication technologies and platforms changed the way we teach and interact with students? Are they examples of effective tools that provide the "great equalizers" (think the "free" public library and "free" education) due to increase accessibility or will the haves and haves-not divide continue? Ditto on the speed of learning and attention spans. Increase or stay the same or further divide? Who "controls" these devices and how they are used?
~~~~~~~~~~~~
***Writer/Designer Ch.3: Thinking about my "multiple" audience (readers or recipients) for Santa Fe Japanese American Prison Camp project such as "Stakeholders, Clients, Teachers or Audiences" (p.55) and Students. ~~~~~~~~~~~~
***DePalma: Tracing Transfer across Media: Investigating Writers' Perceptions of Cross-Contextual and Rhetorical Reshaping in Processes of Remediation (2015). First, I have some minor red flags that surfaced with this qualitative study. N=9 which was a small sampling size. 8 identified as female;1 male participant (Would it be best to even out gender such as 4 and 4? How about their self-identified ethnicity? Spread out? Is this a random sampling?). Next, the college-age students were enrolled in the same course (Could there be a conflict of interest since DePalma was BOTH researcher and teacher at the same time? Would it be best to specify a role? As researcher? As teacher? For the same assignment, students were doing the projects for a final grade? Or participating in a research project? Therefore, results could be skewed or leaning to one side?).
At any rate, "What evidence sounds most persuasive?" I liked the meta-awareness aspect of the study. On p.623: ... it encouraged students to integrate their literacies in meaningful ways (e.g. Parallels existed with Noreen's musical talents; Reshaping of Anna's visual work into a script/digital story tailored to audience; Jessie's photographic skills; Elizabeth's religion/biblical studies) because "Using metacognitive approaches that encourage students to reflect on when and how they might draw from their prior print-based writing knowledge when remediating print-based texts into new media texts is valuable, because they provide students with the scaffolding and confidence needed to undertake seemingly unfamiliar aspects of new media composition" (p.633). In order words, "It's like butter" (p.630). The questions on p.636 were comprehensive (and useful and thoughtful). Lastly, on p.637, I appreciated the NOTES from van Leeuwen. I define semiotic resources as "the actions, materials and artifacts we use for communicative purposes...together with the ways in which these resources can be organized" (285). Semiotic resources are the available modes (i.e., aural, visual, gestural, linguistic, technological, material, spatial) that writers use to make meaning. (Consider using this informative definition for my M.Litt. project on "Can The Japanese Spiritual World Be Staged @Bread Loaf?"). ~~~~~~~~~~~~
***Writer/Designer Ch.4: Working with Multimodal Sources is a long chapter due to the extremely important content:
Page 57 starts off with a hilarious comic with two dogs talking about their presence on the Internet while one is typing in front of a computer: "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog." (Love the puns -- not sure what dog lovers would say!).
On page 75: "Citation options vary as much as the genre and its features do. More likely than not, those citations look nothing like MLA-style citations."
Can you cite a cereal box? Answer: Yes, You Can! ~~~~~~~~~~~~
***Womak: Teaching Is Accommodation: Universally Designing Composition Classrooms and Syllabi (2017)
After reading this provocative, eye-opening, and engaging article that retheorizes accommodation, I now must go back to the classroom and revise ALLof my syllabi for the classes I teach (to extend inclusion, cooperation, and positivity) and to create solidarity through we! Womack provides clear examples, friendly and inviting language, design features, "flexible course plans" (p.501), visual principles (p.505) such as color, and other suggestions to incorporate into a syllabus. (Also, Brenda Brueggemann, a Bread Loaf Professor in Vermont who is deaf, is generously referenced). On page 495, Womak gives a US Department of Education statistic of "11% of students in the United States undergraduate population report having a disability." I would argue that in a place like urban Oakland, California, that statistic is most likely higher -- if we include dyslexia, dementia, PTSD (and all of the non-reporting due to shame and/or limited access to a DSPS evaluation) AND the age range of 17 to 77 in the California Community College system -- then, maybe it's more like 30-35% but not in every class. And, I am not sure I agree with "expand deadlines" (p.516) unless there's an emergency (Final grades are due on a certain date and need to be uploaded online. If those deadlines are missed, then there's a Late List and additional paperwork to process -- YUCKY!). I like the idea of using less punitive language in the syllabus and during lecture -- except that consequences seem to work. (This article is not going in the recycling bin -- it will stay on my "TO DO" clipboard for Fall 2019).
I understand that power in the classroom can be shared.
Here are some examples of students' work with a Moviemaking Project. We start with a brainstorming exercise in small groups. Students pick their own groups. Next, we draft a first page on a PowerPoint template to get organized (Please note that I give a specific date when the next draft is due -- it turns out that date is helpful and clear! AND, the living document is on Google Drive to Share as we meet up in the computer learning lab to get it all done!). Next, the storyboard and script. Students use iMovie and other programs:
~~~~~~~~~~~~
***Ball: Assessing Scholarly Multimedia: A Rhetorical Genre Studies Approach (2012). What are the take-aways? Keywords: assessment, Dynamic Criteria Mapping, genre, Kairos, scholarly multimedia, values, webtexts. After reading this straightforward and relevant article for our multimodal class this Bread Loaf summer in Santa Fe, I have a new framework and definition for the "What Mask Are You Wearing" project -- scholarly multimedia. Also, another big take-away: The fibromyalgia Prezi provided a journey that mirrors the disease's "no path" presentation. The unfolding of the pain such as trigger points on the woman's body both front and back views allowed the reader to "struggle to find order and potential closure in this piece" (p.74) and "would be confused, but that was part of the point" (p.74). AWAYWITHWORDS
enact
values-based analysis
show the power of invention across multiple modes
think of a visual metaphor
What are the take-aways in terms of assessment? The peer-review letters are convincing -- I might use the template? Participation and "trying" are valued, but revision and resubmission are also signs of motivation to learn. (The on-going conversations to get clarity about what can be improved in a project or tightened up or take to another level -- and for the student to not be defensive about the feedback -- that is part of the learning process and taking control of one's education). If a student would like to take the time to rework and to incorporate the suggestions I gave in both written and oral statements, then I reward that behavior in class. A+
do it with excellence!
Web pages with links, animations, images, audio, video, scripting languages, databases, and other multimedia and interactive elements, including but not limited to written text (p.62).
I wonder, how can we assess Donald Glover's Childish Gambino on YouTube using the "Parameters" on page 66? (Probably need to add audience responses in "creative realization" parameter? He has over 4.6 million subscribers). That's a lot of "bean counters" and is his "digital work...dismissed as bells and whistles"? (p.65).
