desk crit no. 5> from Kristin

Hi Robin,

I came around during Reiber’s class and looked at your website. I think it looks awesome. I am really impressed with the artwork that you and the other artists have created. I like this site because I am so far from being artistic that I can appreciate when other people are artistic. I like the interviews with the artists. I think that you might could add the time of each interview next to their picture. Some of the interviews were longer than I thought. I couldn’t get the drek davis drawing clip to come up. The drawing clip of you was incredible. The blog was a nice touch. I like the fact that you made an interactive website where others could be an addition to what you have researched thus far. I am sorry that my crit is not more critical but it looks fabulous. Congratulations, Kristen

desk crit no. 4 > from Jamie

Hi again, Robin,
I've visited your site several times already, always amazed not only by your design, but also by your vast artistic
abilities.  Your yellow bar really helps to move through the site, and I love your use of color.

Here are some suggestions for modifications:

• On your intro page, you could add the blue border that’s on the other pages (around the white box).
• On your art examples page, you have written “visit the live interviews.” That sounds awkward to me. In this same box, the font styles of your links vary.
• On your artist interviews page, you might consider changing the title from “Artist live interviews,” and there’s a lot of white space on this page. I would like to see larger images of the video links.
• The yellow centered text on your “thoughts” page is awkwardly placed.
• I’m not sure about how to add comments to the “your thoughts” page, but then, I’m still not familiar with the blogging thing. Also about this page, it seems like it might be better to leave off your studio links. You might opt to create a separate page for those.
  
• Add a question mark to “Why this project” on your project info page (in the purple box) so that it’s consistent with the yellow text.
• On your link bar, it would be great of all of the text fit on the same line (without the “only” hanging off the end. Also, I like your use of lower case. I would change “Add your thoughts” to lower case, maybe changing it to just “your thoughts.”
• On your art examples page, consider adding a title in a purple box to be consistent with the other pages.
• You’re missing a link for Mary Padegelak on your thoughts on creativity page, and on this same page, there’s some discrepancy in font style in the links (yours are not bold like the others, it look like).
• Lastly, on your project info page, you might center your yellow links.
  

REFLECTION 8: Meeting standards and validating

Isn't it lovely? (ok, I was fighting with blogger over posting code, so I just did a screen capture... it's kind of a blurry gif, sorry about that....) This screenshot shows what the meta for my site looks like.
...and I was kind of lazy with some parts of the meta... especially the LC subject headings part, I know there are better ones...)
...and there are actually 2 kinds of meta in this project: stuff input by dreamweaver (keywords) and DC. The reason I am including meta even though I am using a NO ROBOTs tag (which tells the web seach engine & other spiders to go away & not index)
is that

• accessibility checkers need some of this meta,
• HTML checkers need some of this meta and
• whenever I release this for public, I will change the robot tag but not have to worry about anything else. ;)

In the process of ensuring that my project meets minimal guidelines for accessibility and that the code itself validates, I hit a roadblock with the code validation. The accessibility part is not the issue; I was able to create a text only page using UGA's text only generator (fabulous!) and I made sure to use alt tags throughout. I do think one big advantage with CSS is that there is just not as much in the way of code on the actual html pages, which makes accessibility that much easier, I would think. (No tables and little code formatting in the actual pages...)

My CSS validated beautifully using the W3C validating tool. However, when I tried to validate the HTML, it kept failing. Why? Well, it has to do with the metadata that I have chosen to use (part of which is required for accessibility issues) I very much want to use LC's Dublin Core (DC). DC is kind of an old friend and well, being a librarian, part of me feels that I should ALWAYS follow LC policies and practices... well, they do not have policies and practices for everything in life ;) but at least for metadata!

If you duplicate any fields in the metadata, the HTML checkers will just toss it out. Thankfully, this was a relatively easy fix for me. I just had to delete my (title)(/title) tags and use the DC title tag. Kind of a scary thought.... (btw, I can't seem to use brackets in blogger as it conflicts with the templates somehow....) , but it seems to work just fine and validates. I also considered throwing out the html and just going with xhtml, but thought I would just stick with what I have at the moment. ;)

I am very keen on accessibility as a practice, although in my personal projects, I am not as good a steward of good design as I should be... I sometimes forget the alt tags when I posting images in my online art journal (it does have full meta and it is framed in CSS, but I'm not sure that it would validate... I supposed I should give it a try...)

For additional reading and reference, I've enclosed some additional links at the bottom about CSS and accessibility. Now on to my article....

In Stephen's article, which is in response to a discussion posted on NODE stating that " Lines will have to be drawn and limits to accessibility will have to be defined - that's just the nature of the medium," he agrees that accessibility is an important issue which needs to be defined. He goes on to state that "[u]niversal access involves rather more than including image and link descriptions... In some cases, the technology does not yet exist to enable full accessibility. In other cases full accessibility will be either impractical or impossible."

Considering this article was written in 1998, it is interesting to me that things have not changed alot. Yes, standards have become more common and people do talk about accessibility on occasion, but the simple fact that different browsers STILL render code differently is kind of amazing. It would seem like the web has been around long enough now, that standards should be the highest priority. Because without standards, there is no consistency, and without consistency, user experiences are different (sometimes bad, sometimes good), designers have to work harder to try to address browser issues, and companies who create software or hardware to interact with the Internet have to take into account how (or even IF) their product will work....

After reading this article I do feel a little better about my problem in getting my code to validate!

PROJECT PROCESS: I did add a blog where users could add their own thoughts on creativity. I also tried to add explanatory text in terms of the intent of this project. My project validates (HTML, CSS) and my project meets accessibility criteria for WAVE and Watchfire.

REFERENCE: Downes, Stephen. (1998). in Stephen's Web, Downes, S. (2005). http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=271

CSS and accessibility
Accessibility features of CSS, http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS-access

CSS Accessibility, http://www.tsbvi.edu/technology/accessible-css.htm

Word Count: a whole bunch

Desk crit no. 8 Jamie González

-------------
I am using firefox on windows xp... (just to let you know...)
I like your project very much. The color scheme is nice and simple (which is not a bad thing!) and the content seems well organized.

Just a note:
on page http://www.arches.uga.edu/%7Ejamieg/Desktop/6190/intro.htm

Las partes del cuerpo
I felt like I should be able to click on the images... or maybe some text above the images to explain that they are examples(?)

by the way, a neat little trick to give info to accompanying an image with a mouse rollover is to add a title to image properties. I believe you can do that in dreamweaver somehow but to do with the code, you just use the title tag... like so...
With your ears image...

../../My%20Documents/My%20Pictures/orejas.gif" alt="las orejas" title ="ears" width="229" height="196"

anyhow, just a thought... it might be a way to give 'hints' or answers without a whole lot of work.
I love the quizzes. Very well done.


http://www.arches.uga.edu/%7Ejamieg/bat.index.htm

Desk crit no. 7 Elizabeth Foster

------------------
I really like the color scheme on the main page. It's lively but modern. :) One thing that I am wondering about is whether the title on the main page might 'pop' more in white or a different color?

Also, the gold is such a strong color (which I very much like on the main page) I am wondering whether you could find a way to pull some gold - just a little - throughout the website... Maybe in your titles (...and it doesn't have to be the same exact color as the main page to give a feel of continuity...)

As for navigation, I really like the main page menus. Any thought to adding those into the rest of the html pages?

Also on the menu on the main page, something strange is happening with navigation on the great books. It looks like everything else in the table is divided into 2 rows, but that column isn't. In other words, just looking at it from a visual viewpoint, there is no black line between the button 'Great Books' and text 'Books 3rd graders recommend'.

Finally, the calendar link didn't work. I realize you are not finished with your project, but thought I would just mention it...

Oh, and just to let you know, I use firefox and your site looks fine to me. I've had a couple of problems viewing other people's sites which appear to related to firefox, so I thought I would just mention that. ;)

Good job. Your website seems clear in its purpose and I think structure and color wise is fine, except for the few minor things I've mentioned.

http://www.arches.uga.edu/~efoster3/edit6190project/teamhomepage.htm

Desk crit no. 6 Candi Chandler

---------------------
I'm a big fan of the scouts and I think you did a great job working their colors into your website... and lots of content. Really, amazing, in such a short time. However, in firefox something kind of weird happens with the blocks of color and a few of the fonts. It's not awful, but things just look a little odd. That may not be an issue for you (and come to think of it, I haven't looked at my site in IE in a while, so I better do that!....)

For example on the intro page, the yellow block near CubScout Pack 333 Eatonton, Georgia seems to be an in odd place, and the paragraph beginning pack33 is managed.... seems to be sitting very close to preceding paragraph. Again, it may not be an issue, but I thought I would mention it.

The font and block of color seem to be a little problematic throughout in Firefox.
You've really accomplished alot!

http://www.arches.uga.edu/%7Elakedawg/index.htm

Desk crit no. 5 Leigh Davis

---------------------
I really liked the blocks and primary color scheme. Very cute and appropriate for your audience level! I think the site has a very clean layout.

On the first page, I did notice that there wasn't a title up at the top of the browser. I wasn't sur e if maybe you just forgot it or missed it in dreamweaver (it is under page properties in dreamweaver). Having a title helps the user (me in this case) know where I am.

Secondly, I guessed that I would click on 'got social skills?' to get started. I hate to say that you need the obvious 'click here'... but from my experience in 6190 last time, I found that even IT students don't know where to go without obvious directions... ;)

I think everything else looks good. The text is easy to read which is probably a necessity for schoolkids. Good job. It's looking great.

http://www.arches.uga.edu/%7Eleighed/skillshome.htm

Desk Crit no. 4: Mary Lewis

Hi Mary,I think it looks lovely and it explains what I know of quilting at my novice level (my grandmother was a quilter but I never learned...)

Just a couple of things...
-It felt kind of empty in some of the steps. I really liked the initial screen with the quilt images. You may be going to add an image in there, but I just wanted to mention it.

-On step 3, just a little typo... http://www.arches.uga.edu/%7Emaryrob/studiotemplate-no_frames/finalproject.htm, the word assembly is misspelled. (asembly)

- On the glossary... Is there any way to list these alphabetically or see a complete list (i.e., an index?) just an observation from a librarian. ;)

-on the design your own quilt (wow! very cool!) I couldn't get the top left box to ever fill. I tried all of the remaining/unused squares but I couldn't get anything to work.

--Maybe a contact me button? Not necessary, but I always find them a nice touch.

-Colorwise, it is lovely. Also, did you make these quilts? They are absolutely gorgeous.

Project site:
http://www.arches.uga.edu/%7Emaryrob/studiotemplate-no_frames/finalproject.htm

desk crit no. 3> from Haley

I really appreciate the concept of your project. How...um...creative!
Here are some suggestions

• perhaps a message about browser and what size needed to best view this site – I had some issues with iE – just spacing. No big deal, but I know you may be concerned with details.
• When clicking through the photos on art example page, the number skips from 16/16 to 2/16. I viewed the pic and clicked to get through them, but couldn’t get back to 1.
• On the same page…the blue links are a bit difficult to read. I’d suggest using a lighter blue or grey.
• The navigation disappears and is a bit confusing when I get to the “add your thoughts page” if this is an external link, try opening in a new window. Just a suggestion.
• Nice work!

desk crit no. 2> from Mary

Your website looks great! I love the main page logo and the design that even went into the name! I love the banner graphic atop all your other pages that have your elongated title and the design for that. I do have a few suggestions:

• On your art examples page slides 14, 15, and 16 do not have artist information or medium listed below them
• Make your navigation bar larger and easier to read
• Also, when I roll over some buttons they white out completely and make it impossible to read- it’s probably on purpose

It looks great and I love the interactivity included with the blog and also the video interviews!

REFLECTION 7: Interactivity?

I'm skipping back in my readings a little bit to the article on interactivity. I have been thinking about interactivity alot because I do not have much for users to 'do' at my project website.

Thankfully, I am at the point due to a variety of factors, mainly my project management and pre-existing technical skills, where I have the luxury of deciding what else/where else I want my project to go. Currently, it's very much of the viewer/outsider/passive participant role vs. active and engaged participant. So, interactivity has been nagging at me a little. My site is very content heavy (which is good, nothing worse than a site that is all fluff unless it is REALLY REALLY cool fluff...)
I'll discuss the project progress in more detail below.

Anyhow, I wanted to revisit (and actually write about) this article in terms of how it might help me find a way to make my site more interactive in the span of just about two weeks.

First, what is interactivity in terms of design? A rollover menu? Hot potatoes quiz? Video segments? Sims sets the parameters in the beginning of the article:

It is no longer adequate to see our field of practice (or are we bold enough to label it a profession?) being limited to products where interactivity is trivialized to simple menu selection, clickable objects, or linear sequencing. Interaction is intrinsic to successful, effective instructional practice as well as individual discovery. --Sims, 1995.

Sims discusses the qualities of interactivity through revisiting definitions and concepts relating to interactivity. Interactivity is some kind of 'doing' from creating to watching and a trademark of good interactivity is a response coupled with a thought process. (isn't that learning?)

So, in the confines of those parameters, my project does have interactivity (user controlled slideshow of artwork, menus, video & audio segments) IF the user responds to it and it leads them to think more about their own creativity (or the creativity of others or even I guess, why I picked such a strange project!). However, I am considering adding a means for users to add their own thoughts on creativity and perhaps, even some sort of art related game. I'm not sure about the latter half in terms of time.

PROJECT PROCESS: I have smoothed out alot of the edges of my site; the design is solid yet funky, in my opinion. It will probably be the most 'out there' of all projects in studio, but well, that's kind of my style. ;) The next three things on my list are looking at interactivity more (what can I reasonably do in the such a short span of time...), finish up re-shooting video clips this week, hammer out the accessibility requirements, and make sure my CSS validates and is cross browser compatible)... anything else? Something is bound to come up, I know!
Reference:
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.html

Word Count: 485

REFLECTION 6: Presenting information in multiple formats

In What is Universal Design for Learning? (Rose & Meyer, 2002), the authors discuss the principles of Universal design and how design can provide different learning opportunities based on learning styles through the use of multimedia. The authors cite Universal Design for LEarning (UDL) as being able:

To represent information in multiple formats and media.

To provide multiple pathways for students’ action and expression.

To provide multiple ways to engage students’ interest and motivation.

--(Rose & Meyer, 2002)

In order to achieve those goals, a designer/educator must follow these three principles:

Principle 1:
To support recognition learning, provide multiple, flexible methods of presentation
Principle 2:
To support strategic learning, provide multiple, flexible methods of expression and apprenticeship.
Principle 3:
To support affective learning, provide multiple, flexible options for engagement.


Although my project is not learning centered in that it tries to teach a specific lesson with an expected level of mastery (as defined by a quiz, completing a certain task, etc.) , my project does allow for exploration of creativity from artistic perspectives. The hope (goal) is that there will be intrinsic learning and awareness that occurs through reflection and interest in the material presented. This reflection and awareness will hopefully spark interest in how people view their own creativity.

My goal is that exploration and learning will occur through multiple media materials presented. There will be no formal beginning to end structure (linear), instead users will be able to choose whichever section interests them. Furthermore, there is no requirement for the number of sections which a user must view. Instead any, all, or even some, will (hopefully) provide enough interesting content to encourage thinking. Users/learners/participants will be able to listen to artists, watch artists, look at artwork, read written thoughts on creativity, and provide their own insights into creativity.

Although each of these components will not be duplicated identically, there should be enough crossover to provide material to appeal to users of various learning styles.

PROJECT PROCESS: Currently, I am working to flesh out the resources, as well as doing followup video edits. Additionally, I am working on providing a means for participants to add their own contributions in terms of their thoughts on creativity (this may be a blog, messageboard, or guestbook, dependent upon the limitations of the arches server). I will also post the questions that I have presented. The response has been very interesting so far, and I hope that the project is useful and interesting.

Reference:

Rose, D. & Meyer, A.(2002). What is Universal Design for Learning? in Rose, D. & Meyer, A.(2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/chapter4.cfm

Word Count: 436

desk crit no. 1> From Ericka

Hey Robin,

I love the concept behind your idea for this project…very cool.
The navigation bar has a lot of red on the right side.
Are you going to add more buttons so it looks even of the left side? If not,
I would suggest moving the buttons over more to the right. I like your graphic
and font at the top of the page; it’s eye-catching. I really enjoyed seeing the
different artist’s work in the artist’s slideshow. The main page button goes
 away on the artist’s slideshow—you probably
want to add it back.

Mary Padegelek interview on being a creative child movie has a lot of
background noise. It was hard to hear. Maybe trying filtering outside using some
type of program.

You probably want to use a different font color for the yellow text and button
because the yellow on the white is hard to read.  On the participating artists page,
there is something weird going at the bottom with the purple boxes. Also should this
page say (Live Interview—wasn’t it another page with the video)? Also, you need to
 capitalize your name.

On the resources page, Mary’s name is capital but the rest of the artists’ name aren’t.

Desk crit no. 3: Jina Tollett

I thought your project looks really good. I like
the use of kid friendly primary colors and the
blocky shapes. Maybe it's because my eyes are
tired today, but it seems like the yellow text on
the red was a little hard to read. I was a little
bit confused about which part of the navigation
was yours (even having read your message), but I
don't think that is avoidable as this site is
obviously meant to integrate in with the current
content (which I think it does admirably well.)

http://www.arches.uga.edu/~jinayang/edit6200

Service Hours: team idesign

IT Department/Team idesign

graphic prototypes & graphic consultation
5 hrs.

desk crit no. 2: Li Qi

I really like the layout of your website. Very
clean design & easy to use. I like the color
composition and it works well with your photo.

Just a couple of things...
The title of your main page is misspelled... Most likely in the title tag (under page properties in dreamweaver or netscape/mozilla editor).

Also, I am not crazy about the scrolling marquee
feature... It's really just a personal preference
kind of thing, I think.

In all honesty, your site has a very professional
feel to it, and as a online portfolio I think it
is great!


http://www.richilee.com

REFLECTION 5: A new idea and restructuring...

In Project KID DESIGNER: Constructivism at work through play, Reiber et. al, discuss a project to have schoolchildren create their own online learning environments, particularly remaining awareness to those children who are deamed underachievers, unengaged, or just poor students. Reiber et. al, state that "school ought not to be this way. Hard work and creative ideas should enhance, not threaten, one's self-esteem and social standing."

In trying to find a better way to present information and engage students (and also provide a motivating tool), they ask "What tasks or situations do elementary and middle children find authentic and meaningful? " In the case of this particular project the answer is games, therefore allowing kids to develop and organize and CONSTRUCT their own learning experience.

In thinking about the KidDesigner program, I wondered how the question would relate to the IDD studio experience. If the question is re-framed as 'What tasks or situations do Instructional Design & Development graduate students find authentic and meaningful?', then one begins to see the role of the studio class in the IDD graduate learning experience. In many ways, studio class follows a similiar pattern to the KidDesigner program. Although a majority of the work is individual, there is much group work and collaboration throughout 6190, 6200, & 6210.

One of the reasons I naturally gravitate towards the studio classes is that my own learning experiences as I child. I think a majority of my education did not follow lecture/testing teaching module; at least half if not 2/3 of my classes involved self learning, projects, creativity, or scientific/mathematical experiments. I find this structure of learning very intuitive and natural; however, my largest challenge in this kind of learning environment is understanding the framework and rules. No where has this more apparent than in my project journal. :) I am still not sure I understand EXACTLY what I am supposed to be doing, but I think (hope) that I understand correctly.


PROJECT PROCESS:
Although this article deals with a specific project in children developing games, it does have broader themes and topics. My project is currently going along okay, and I probably should be actively seeking more desk crits. However, I have a hard time seeking desk crits when I still have a list of things to fix or complete. I did have a new idea which I have now incorporated into my project. I have emailed artist and creative people with my interview question list. This has proven very interesting and I think it will provide more content weight and depth.

Reference:
Rieber, L. P., Luke, N., & Smith, J. (1998). Project KID DESIGNER: Constructivism at work through play. Meridian: Middle School Computer Technology [On-line], 1(1). http://www.ncsu.edu/meridian/jan98/feat_1/kiddesigner.html

Word Count: 450

Service Hours: Remote Katrina animal rescue assistance/ address lookup

Researched addresses and updated spreadsheet for Katrina animal rescue assistance.
( I will post the link when I have it...)

3 hours.

REFLECTION 4: technical difficulties and rescaling

In Motivation: A General Overview of Theories, Wang presents an overview of motivation. Beginning with goals, the chapter includes definitions and examples of goals, as well as a discussion of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Goals can be both short term and long term; and can be characterized as performance or mastery goals.

"Self-efficacy affects some of the factors that predict motivation. According to Bandura (1982), self-efficacy is a self-judgment of one's ability to perform a task in a specific domain" which is impacted by experiences (mastery and vicarious), feedback (verbal persuasion), and physiology (well being, mental state, etc.)

Other elements of motivation in this article include attributions (world view, view of self & actions), self-regulation (being a "self-starter", individual learner, etc. ), volition (reaching a goal, staying on track).

PROJECT PROCESS:
Although this chapter is just an overview of motivation, it is a timely topic. I am having some motivational issues, which are completely tied to self-regulation and the physiological state. My allergies have been awful and I'm overworked with alot of different things between art, school, and work. In the past, when I get overworked, I lose motivation and energy, even if it was something I really wanted or was interested in. Instead, I manage to somehow make it through and then when I finally have a moment to re-group wish that I had more time to make the thing (whatever it is) as great as I envisioned it OR just able to enjoy the moment because I feel like I did a good job.

Nowhere is this more true than this semester. My project hit the wall: all of the first interview is almost unusable. The lighting wasn't as good as it could have been and the audio is awful. My project was to rely heavily on video of artist interviews, but I've hit several technical difficulties (poor lighting, too much background noise) which means that I will need to re-shoot.

Because of the need to re-shoot so much of my initial interview, I am going to have to think about what this means for my project. In most likelihood, I will need to resize my project: rather than interviewing 6 artists, I may have to just stick with 4 (including myself as one). Thankfully, the number of artists to interview isn't part of the contract! :)

I have also found myself dismally unmotivated when it comes to the project journal. I am not sure why. Although in the beginning I read the project journal guidelines, somewhere along the way, I forgot them and starting thinking of the project journal as well, emm... something it wasn't meant to be (more of a project PROCESS reflection, not a reflection on the class readings and their impact (or lack of) on my project. So, because my first three entries did not include citations or quoted references nor were they quite long enough, I have added to them. I have kept the original entries (I've divided them as PROJECT PROCESS)... Anyhow, the thought of actually writing a paper at the end was actually beginning to sound appealing(!!).

I think the other part of it is me: my internal motivation. I know what (un)motivates me ; but I have a harder time pinpointing what does motivate me, although I would think that feeling engaged and not overwhelmed has got to be part of it.

The motivation that I do have right now is external: grades (obviously), peer encouragement (thanks Ericka!), but also from the artists I have talked to. The interviews are amazing. As a creative person/artist, I really needed to hear these things. I couldn't have picked a better topic/subject.

On another good note: I do feel like my project is starting to breathe a little on its own and it now has a new name. It is now SPARC: spark of potential: artist reflect on creativity). Nifty acronym, eh? ;)

Reference: Wang, Shiang-Kwei, Motivation: A General Overview of Theories, http://www.coe.uga.edu/epltt/Motivation.htm in M. Orey , Emerging Perspectives on Learning, Teaching and Technology. Athens, GA: The University of Georgia, Department of Instructional Technology.




word count: 684