journal entry 6; june 30, 2008

Design...

–verb (used with object)

1.	to prepare the preliminary sketch or the plans for (a work to be executed), esp. to plan the form and structure of: to design a new bridge.

2.	to plan and fashion artistically or skillfully.

3.	to intend for a definite purpose: a scholarship designed for foreign students.

4.	to form or conceive in the mind; contrive; plan: The prisoner designed an intricate escape.

5.	to assign in thought or intention; purpose: He designed to be a doctor.

6.	Obsolete. to mark out, as by a sign; indicate.

–verb (used without object)

7.	to make drawings, preliminary sketches, or plans.

8.	to plan and fashion the form and structure of an object, work of art, decorative scheme, etc.

–noun

9.	an outline, sketch, or plan, as of the form and structure of a work of art, an edifice, or a machine to be executed or constructed.

10.	organization or structure of formal elements in a work of art; composition.

11.	the combination of details or features of a picture, building, etc.; the pattern or motif of artistic work: the design on a bracelet.

12.	the art of designing: a school of design.

13.	a plan or project: a design for a new process.

14.	a plot or intrigue, esp. an underhand, deceitful, or treacherous one: His political rivals formulated a design to unseat him.

15.	designs, a hostile or aggressive project or scheme having evil or selfish motives: He had designs on his partner's stock.

16.	intention; purpose; end.

17.	adaptation of means to a preconceived end.

In GREEN text are the definitions to which I connect the most in regards to this class, as well as the process of learning. Because I believe, as Norman says, design is a process. My process has had it's ups and downs, and I've lost my footholds a few times, but overall I feel very close to the top of the mountain I'm climbing, and it's called EDIT 6190. I'm hanging on to my best foothold yet though. I found it after falling a few hundred meters due to reaching for a grip and foothold that was perhaps beyond my grasp, but I wanted to experience the larger steps at that point. It was all part of the process. I might have reached beyond my grip and fell back a bit, but I had to do that to experience the process, for I might not have known next time. This process, that we call design, should (and will) change and morph as we go through it. The architect in me may nudge me while I try something organic and reach for that foothold I know I can't reach, but the architect is also an artist knowing what limits to allow herself to reach beyond and try.

References:
1. design - Definitions from Dictionary.com. (n.d.). Retrieved June 30, 2008, from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/design.
2. Norman, D. 2004. Emotional design: Presentation made at the 2004 O'Reilly Emerging Technology conference. [podcast] Available: http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail69.html
2. 2. Gal, S. (1996). Footholds for design. In Winograd, T. (Ed.), Bringing Design to Software (pp. 215-227). New York: Addison-Wesley. [PDF]

To Do:

• Prepare a 40x40 image for Dr. Orey
• Make a desk tent
• email Audrea with feedback for her site, upon request.
• finish captions for a video on page about children and sleep

journal entry 5; june 25, 2008

I'm terribly sorry this is being posted so late. I have been so wrapped up in my other class project that I completely let time slip away.

It is time that i choose. Do I sacrifice design for purpose? I keep going back to the fact that I know I want it to look and act a particular way, but I also am fighting the fact that there is so much information I'm trying to compile into these pages. What would Norman do? I was struck today by a TV show I had tivo'd. While trying to jam my turkey and swiss sammy down and get back tot the computer to help my team for 6170, I caught up on a show called Project Runway. It was last season's group. The final 3 designers were speaking with their mentor, Tim Gunn, about their designs and the work they had done while they had been away from the show (they go back to their homes for 6 months to create a complete collection of fashion clothes to show at Fashion Week in NYC). He mentioned to one of the designers to NOT over think things, but to always have an editing eye on. I wish I had pen and paper at that point. It was exactly what I need to with my website....don't overthing, and if I have to edit it down and make it smaller, while keeping the quality of the pages decent then that's what I'll do. I wish for my site to be complete of course, but at the sake of doing it 1/2 a**ed I'd rather not have it jammed full of info.

OH OH I forgot to tell!! I'm making a quiz in Flash...I am doing a short tutorial online that I found, and I hope it'll work, b/c the hot potatoes definitely doesn't do what I am seeing for the quiz.

I went to Barnes and Noble last night....there are millions of books on designing a website. Man, if I had only known back in the day I would have jumped on board earlier and then written a book about it....they're making a mint out there--especially the "for Dummies" people...MY WORD!

Alright, I haven't done a lot of work on the page today, so I have to make this a bit short.

Things to Do:
1. work
2. sleep
3. work some more
4. get the house painted :(
5. Read some more articles about design and find out who ever sacrifices design for content....i doubt it happens often...maybe if someone has to turn in a paper they might, but websites shouldn't look like a word processor page.

Ta-ta

References:

1. Norman, D. 2004. Emotional design: Presentation made at the 2004 O'Reilly Emerging Technology conference. [podcast] Available: http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail69.html

journal entry 4; june 23, 2008

After reading How designers think. London: The Architectural Press, Ltd. [PDF] I have determined that I'm in stage three, PANIC.

"The six phases of a design project:

1. Enthusiasm
2. Disillusionment
3. Panic
4. Search for the guilty
5. Punishment of the innocent
6. Praise for the non-participants
   Notice on the wall of the Greater London Council Architects Department (According to Astragal AJ March 22 1978)"

WHY you ask??

1. I don't really know if I can fill all my pages up with decent content in the time permitted.
2. It's time consuming to no end to design a page the way you want or see it in your brain, and the small things begin to get in the way
3. I want it to be beautiful, functional, fun and informative all in 1 week.

So what do I do? Take one step at a time. Incubate my thoughts when I'm away from the computer, step away when things become blocked. Do as much as is humanly possible in the next week to complete the pages for beauty, funtion, form and fun without hurting any of my friends or family!

Ater reading Interactivity: A Forgotten Art? I noticed that I am still challenged with making this more interactive than just information. I have the idea of what I want to do, just not sure if hot potatoes will do what I envision. I want to make a true or false quiz based on myths about sleep and if you get it wrong a "reason" pops up and tells you why, if you get it right a reason pops up explaining the myth.

Things left to do today and this week:
1. Continue working on content.
2. Find out about interviewing someone
3. work on the game idea
4. DON'T panic!

Resources:
1.Sims, R. (1995). Interactivity: A Forgotten Art? ITFORUM [electronic listserv]. Athens, GA: The University of Georgia. Available: http://it.coe.uga.edu/itforum/paper10/paper10.html2Lawson, B. (1980). How designers think. London: The Architectural Press, Ltd. [PDF]

journal entry 3: june 19, 2008

Carrie Coker's accessibility has me realing! My entire main personal page with links to all my courses and portfolio ideas is 100% completely inaccessibility. The spry widgets requires you to use a mouse and it's run by Java script. So there's what I thought would be a good idea and a time saver thrown out, and back to the CSS idea of the same thing.

Fortunately, my project isn't at all using this format. I did however create a .wmv,some people will have to download a plug in, and dial up people might have an issue, but it's part of the project that can be skipped if you so choose, it doesn't deliver content, just something enjoyable to listen to and watch. A friend of mine composed a piece of music for it when I was describing what I was doing with some graphics, and sent it over to me while we were talking about the project!! So I really wanted to include this fun piece of work into the project.

My project is finally taking form. I've created my main page from which all pages will spring board. The theme background was created in Photoshop, and is very elementary in design, only because I haven't any artistic talents I can employ. I have purchased a week subscription to a royalty free clip art database, and hope to use some of those images, but I want to create as many as possible myself, but I also don't want to sacrifice design elements in the process.

There is quite a big time factor involved. I believe it's mentioned in the Gal article, which I know I continue to reference, but the amount of time to put something together sometimes is more an issue than what you planned. I have the ideas, tools and elements for a very interactive website. I may however have to forgo some elements of it due to time constraints. I think this will be a very organic process in creation, based on what parts can be completed, then leaving the parts that I want to create for the end if time allows.

I have more I want to say here but I have to drive to campus. I'll input more later. :)
----------------
Well I'm back and I have to say that today's class really brought home the constructionist view for me. It was so neat getting to see all the different projects. I completely feel overwhelmed by the 2nd timers projects though...I learned a lot from them today, not just in seeing their projects, but talking to them about what suggestions they have about my project. Collaborating with them once a week might have been a GREAT idea, but would have eaten into our course work as well as theirs. Building and playing, as Papert suggests, has this "quality of 'learning-richness' that is unparalleled in my opinion. Actually getting to play with our projects today in front of others, help so many ideas come to the table. I'm excited to begin more work tomorrow. I did take tonight off from the computer, aside from this entry. I have to incubate some thoughts and bring back a fresh view tomorrow.

Oh got some good news today from Dr. Orey, the menu tools I found on the Spry Widget, he'll allow for now even w/o the accessibility...not really sure why, perhaps it's b/c sooooooo many website employ Java and that in itself makes a site inaccessible to some. Who knows, but I'm pleased, b/c I have them all over my portfolio. I might forgo using them in the end, but for now I don't have to deal with changing anything.

On a personal note...my dog's back legs keep giving out...I'm extremely concerned and am bringing him to the vet in the morning.

Things to Do:
1. Change main page based on feedback given
2. Give out Desk Crits from today
3. Email Dr. O with feedback on Design Website
4. Work on Finding more resources for website
5. Email Dr. O re. his family member he mentioned today who studies Dreams--find out if I can interview her
6. Bring Mac back downstairs to the office use multiple setup --mac to create video and audio--PC for everything else.
7. Figure out when I can come up for air again

Resources:
1. Papert, S. (1991). Situating constructionism. In I. Harel & S. Papert (Eds.), Constructionism, (pp. 1-11). Norwood, NJ: Ablex. Available online: http://www.papert.org/articles/SituatingConstructionism.html
2. Gal, S. (1996). Footholds for design. In Winograd, T. (Ed.), Bringing Design to Software (pp. 215-227). New York: Addison-Wesley. [PDF]
3. Norman, D. 2004. Emotional design: Presentation made at the 2004 O'Reilly Emerging Technology conference. [podcast] Available: http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail69.html
4. Clinton, G., & Rieber, L.P. (2006). The Studio Experience at the University of Georgia: An example of constructionist learning for adults. Unpublished manuscript. [PDF]

journal entry 2: june 17, 2008

Being self disciplined is an art, I'm determined! We were asked to go through the fireworks lessons on our own, and I did begin these, but I felt complete frustration, because Photoshop Elements is a much more powerful tool, albeit more difficult, I felt much more comfortable messing around with graphics and items in Photoshop. I feel a sense of failure here, as I just gave up on Fireworks, but also just a little bit of relief because I'm working with something that can do more and I already know the program.

There are times in class though that I feel we go so quickly that perhaps I'm missing something, but when I get home I end up reassuring myself that I have a grasp on this. I am enjoying what we're doing in class, but there's such a limited amount of time to work there and get help from Dr. Orey, so it's most important to get as many questions answered there as I can.

I made my first movie this weekend, using my camera, and had all intentions of using it as part of my reflection piece here, but I need to compress it further. Look for a link at the bottom if I end up getting it up and running.

My project ideas are coming along. I haven't decided on a color theme. I'm still thinking about how I want to mix information and fun/games. I really enjoyed listening to Clark Aldrich's piece about serious games and the importance of stimulating the audience. I even went on to download and print to use as a resource his Six Criteria of an Educational Simulation. I particularly found relevance when he mentions that the "most successful educational experiences also are delivered through a combination of the three delivery elements, simulation, game and pedagogical." Modeling reality has taken on a whole new meaning with virtual reality platforms becoming such a dominant platform for companies wanting to prototype, market, deliver information, or teach customers. Along with teaching customers, I think that users are also realizing the potential of teaching clients and employees via this medium. It's a hotspot I've had my finger actively for the past year, and I am looking forward to continuing my investigations of how it will grow the Instructional Tech industry. This article and the podcasts brought me to the realization that I have to make my page like a game. I want it to be informational, but not so flat. I want people to be able to experience as much as they can from this small piece of the web.

I still relate so strongly to Gal's article, as I am now a little higher up the mountain of Instructional Design, but for some reason the mountain has moved, or grown, for now I see more mountain in front of me than I did when I was at the bottom looking up. While in the middle of this mountain we call Instructional Design, grasping onto the footholds and hanging on by my fingertips, looking up is a daunting task, but the top of the mountain will be reached. I feel I need more tools-perhaps a pick axe and a rope, and a giant net below me!

My to do list includes:
1. Find as many resources on sleep tips, myths and quizzes
2. Learn how to make the quizzes
3. Work on Accessibility pieces
4. Submit page to friends for some feedback

My reflection video:

Resources:
1. Gal, S. (1996). Footholds for design. In Winograd, T. (Ed.), Bringing Design to Software (pp. 215-227). New York: Addison-Wesley.

2. Jenkins, Henry. 2004. Videogames and education. Tech Nation interview. [podcast] http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail435.html

3. Aldrich, Clark. 2004. Simulations and the future of learning. Presentation made at the 2004 Accelerating Change conference. [podcast] http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail372.html

journal entry 1: june 12, 2008

My Studio Project :Counting Sheep

My independent project will be an informative website about sleep. I'm very convinced that many of our health issues stem from improper sleep habits. I saw many students in my years of teaching that were victims of sleep issues. A lot of their learning problems could be attributed directly to their lack of sleep or sleep problems.

When I learned about the independent project, I actually hemmed and hawed over what I would choose. I thought initially that I would do something based (perhaps an orientation page) on my virtual worlds experience (http://www.slthingstodo.com), but when the second timers spoke the second day and talked about breadth of project, I realized that my idea had too big a scope. So I went home thinking…

Thinking continued and as I worked on that night’s assignments I realized how tired I was, and an idea was born. I would create a website that focuses on sleep. Information, quizzes, myths, tips and resources would all be included.

As the days continued, I dug deeper into my readings. I kept finding parallels to my readings and both my classes’ designs. When I first read the Clinton and Reiber article, I understood that the models presented are exactly what we’re going through. The whole idea of constructionism takes place right in our own classrooms, so not only will we be reading about it, but we’ll be experiencing it firsthand. I appreciate when learning institutions don’t just teach/preach the ideas to the students, but they model their entire program around the ideas that they are in fact teaching. As soon as I began working on my actual site I even experienced the flow theory first hand—the mental state in which I became full immersed in my design and found that all my energies were focused on that one activity, so much so that I lost all track of time, hunger, and tiredness, but in the end it was all for the success of my design!

Which brings me to my design. Reading the Footholds for Design article really woke me up to seeing the big picture. I had tinkered with a few ideas, but never really liked them, and they are all in my head at this point, I haven’t even put them to Dreamweaver yet. I kept thinking that I wasn’t making any progress on my design, until I read Gal’s paper. I completely felt a wave of relief as I was reading this because what I am going through is *not* stalling or procrastinating, but in fact part of the process. I’m at a certain place on the mountain, looking for my next foothold. I’ve created ideas in my head, and am looking for the next place to go from there. I tinkered with Dreamweaver to see if a layout should come first or content and it is there where I sit incubating my next move.

My site will have a main page that welcomes, introduces and explains the purpose of the project. Each subtopic will be then linked from the main page to its own page. I hope to incorporate a narrator character (a fluffy sheep) that will be your guide to the entire project. At this point I realize I don’t have time to learn flash, but in the future this could be added as a animated flash character.

Obviously I want to make this page as user friendly as possible, but to look really great too! I want people to have a positive reaction to this site, but also see the fun side it will offer. I doubt it will be the most beautiful site ever made on sleep, but it will be a combination of form and function and fun!

I want to use my reflection journals also as a place I can input some videos I made as I was trying different things out with Dreamweaver. I will provide direct links to my YouTube station here, but my journal will be the main place I reflect on my progress.

By the end of this week I hope to have my project page layout complete.

References:

Clinton, G., & Rieber, L.P. (2006). The Studio Experience at the University of Georgia: An example of constructionist learning for adults. Unpublished manuscript. [PDF]

Kapor, M. (1996). A software design manifesto. In Winograd, T. (Ed.), Bringing Design to Software (pp. 1-9). New York: Addison-Wesley. [PDF]

Gal, S. (1996). Footholds for design. In Winograd, T. (Ed.), Bringing Design to Software (pp. 215-227). New York: Addison-Wesley. [PDF]