CA1: we create identity

Facilities to be used include

• www.blogspot.com
• www.flickr.com
• www.youtube.com

admission to curriculum

• awareness of personal motivation(s) and the societal context of the curriculum
• familiarity with the concepts and topics of creative technology
• fluency with standard social network tools and content-creation
• full literacy in motivating what options are available to express opinions, technical information and knowledge

Students are expected to be well-motivated, and will be stimulated to find creative ways of expressing themselves.

Introductory course for all students, just after arrival.

There are various way to create identity, from social networks and communicate personal and professional information using the web

Students are encouraged to explore these means of expression, and select those that fit their needs, in discussiong with supervising staff.

This first CA course will primarily be an exercise in self-organisation, with an important goal to create coherence in a group of new students, with a variety of backgrounds. The course will be organised as a series of lectures and workshops. In the lectures topics in creative technology will be presented by selected staff members. The workshops will deal with planning, supervision of team work, and creative sessions in which the options for expressing opinions, technical information and knowledge will be discussed.

Additional instruction may be needed to clarify issues of communication and presentation, and to prepare students for the creation of an individual (digital) portfolio.

Feedback will be given in the workshops, and by assessing the products as made available online. Peer reviews will not only be used for feedback, but will also form part of the procedure of assessment and grading. Grading takes place by assessing the work in a presentation session, where students present and discuss their work and contributions to the group project..

special facilities

computer lab, meeting room(s) & presentation facilities, as well as suitable software tools

course outline(s) -- ca1: we create identity

outline(s) / schedule(s)

content(s)

• topic(s)
• goal(s)
• material(s)
• structure(s)
• assign(s)
• reference(s)
• link(s)

In this part a more detailed discussion will be provided of topics, learning goals, materials used, and the actual structure of the course, as well as a sketch of the assignments given. Also references to releveant literature is provided, including online resources. At the end, advice for students following the course will be given, as well as hints for the instructor(s).

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course topic(s)

The course covers a somewhat bewildering number of topics. However, keep in mind that the main aim of the course is to get familiar with the means to express ideas, and communicate thoughts.

topic(s)

• basic content creation -- editors, image tools, video
• use of blogging sites, and media content management systems
• topics of creative technology -- mathematics, smart systems & new media
• communication and presentation issues
• presence in oral & written presentation(s)
• individual on-line (digital) portfolio(s)

The CA1 course underlying aim, obviously is to bring about an awareness of Creative Technology and first ideas on what this means for the individual students' aspirations and, why not, dreams. The focus on communication tools may be then justified by observing that such a process may easily lead to many undigested notions, for which expression may hopefully bring some relief.

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learning target(s)

More specifically, the learning goals may be summarized as:

CA1 target(s)

• skill(s) -- (digital) content creation
• knowledge -- information management & presentation
• theory -- relation technology, science & art(s)
• experience(s) -- presentation of ideas, concepts & plans
• attitude -- exploration, communication, discovery, presentation

In particular, experience and attitude are relevant since Creative Technology is relatively unique in targeting creativity at an academic level in a bachelor curriculum.

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lesson material(s)

We may expect that our first year students already have some degree of media literacy, at least as it concerns using the tools and the facilities, such as socila networks a la Hyves.

we create identity -- media in context

• canonical example(s) -- interactive video / portal(s)
• (online) reference material(s) -- instruction(s) / teamwork software
• challenging target(s) -- www.youtube.com / www.symbaloo.com/nl / create-media.blogspot.com / www.scrapblog.com

The online references should suffice for enabling the students to fullfill their assignments. However, when neceesay, the references will be augmented by explicit instruction material(s).

viewing(s)

Apart from the regular meetings and lectures it seems worthwhile to have a number of viewings, where selected videos or documentaries are shown. In addiotion to the famous edgcodes documentary, about film editing, and technological innovations in digital video editing, the following selection of video lectures and examples may considered:

inspiration(s) -- video(s)

• learning(s) -- next generation
• dream(s) -- last lecture
• architecture(s) -- the architecture of the unfamiliar
• application(s) -- hello world
• (dis)order(s) -- everything is miscellaneous
• game(s) -- games for change
• presentation(s) -- how to (not) use powerpoint / five ways to speak
• campaign(s) -- what political campaigns can teach business
• politic(s) -- privacy matters
• rip(s) -- a remix manifesto
• idea(s) -- change the world through game design
• clip(s) -- submit your clip

Such viewings may provide a preparation for the later creative explorations, and may also serve to create a honors track in developing a creative technology game.

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course structure

The we create identity course takes place in the first month, and allows for only a limited number of seesions. A first indication sessions included may look as follows:

course structure

1. introduction of tool(s) and platform(s)
2. topics in creative technology (1)
3. teamwork -- identity as a group
4. topics in creative technology (2)
5. identity -- individual portfolio(s)
6. topics in creative technology (3)
7. presentation(s) -- individual & group work
8. evaluation -- reflection(s) on we create identity

Apart from the sessions and viewings indicated above, we plan a number of excursions to places of interest:

excursion(s)

• visit(s) to regional initiative(s) -- www.creatievefabriek.nl / www.gogbot.nl
• lecture(s) at PICNIC Academy -- www.picnicnetwork.org/search?q_mm=academy
• visit(s) around campus -- www.t-xchange.nl

These excursions should provide the students with ideas about what to expect later in the study and motivate them to set their individual targets and aspirations for follow-up courses.

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assignment(s)

Assignments range over individual tasks, assignments for small groups of 3-5 students, and some collective tasks.

individual

• create account(s) at -- google site, blogspot, flickr
• maintain blogs & records -- minimal 5, with pictures
• create personal portfolio -- with (symbaloo) start page
• prepare poster and pitch for final session(s)

The individual assignments have as a goal to ensure that each student becomes familiar with the tools and technologies needed for later work.

The main focus of the course is the creation of a creative technology map, a brief (1-2 min) clip, and am interactive video, usig the ximpel platform.

small group(s)

• construct creative technology map -- www.umapper.com/maps/view/id/12356
• create clip & interactive video -- ximpel.org

Since self-organisation is one of the learning targets of the course, the students are supposed to take responsibility for the final evaluation session(s) as a group.

collective assignment(s)

• create and maintain group site -- groups.google.com
• maintain creative technology wiki
• organize final poster exhibition

Although some competitive elements will be part of the course, in particular in selecting the best interactive video(s) & map(s), the individual grading of the course will largely depend on participation and effort. A selection of the students' work will be made available online permanently for public exposure, as a reference for future creative technology students and other interested parties.

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reference(s)

An initial set of references should include the list below, although many more are available.

1. Mitchel Resnick, Sowing the Seeds for a more Creative Society -- online video
2. Facets of Fun -- On the Design of Computer Augmented Entertainment Artefacts, available in online version
3. Kress G. and van Leeuwen T. (1996), Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design, Routledge
4. Geert Lovink and Ned Rossiter (eds), MyCreativity Reader, A Critique of Creative Industries, Institute of Network Cultures, Amsterdam 2007
5. A. Eliëns, topical media & game development -- media.eliens.net

A wealth of material and references can be found at my topical media & game development site, including tutorials and examples.

online resource(s)

As a mix of examples, tools and possible inspiration(s) we may present the following list of links:

resource(s) / CA1

• software -- processing.org / ximpel / material(s)
• inspiration(s) -- www.beautifullosers.com
• map(s) -- twente / example(s)
• group(s) -- groups.google.com / site(s) / tool(s) / drop.io
• tag cloud(s) -- tagcrowd.com
• present(s) -- www.power-rail.net (example/xml) -- use w-key to navigate
• ximpel -- ximpel.org / view(s)
• concept graph(s) -- philosopher(s) (double click to center, double click on center for info) / amazon
• flickr -- creative technology
• video vortex -- networkcultures.org/wpmu/portal/publications/inc-readers/videovortex
• identity -- www.personalbrand.nl

It must be emphasized that rather than presenting all the examples exhaustively, the students should be an actual selection of links available on their site(s), since as we all should realize an overload of examples is generally considered to be a creativity killer.

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advice for the student(s)

As a student being a victim of this course, keep in mind that most of these assignments are an invitation rather than an obligation. This does, however, not allow you not to do these assignments, but do allow you to do them as you like, not to please the instructor(s) but to pleas yourself, and to find authentic ways of expression, where authentic simply means no bullshit. For an optimal effect of this course, you might even have to learn how to unlearn.

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hint(s) for the instructor(s)

Ideally, this course should be given by the team of instructors that, as a team, takes responsibility for the creative technology curriculum, across the disciplines of computing, mathemathics and design, and accross the specialisations of smart technology and new media.

Also involvement of representatives of the regional creative industry and cultural initiative(s) is strongly desired.

However, from a more pragmatic perspective, a less ambitious approach should also work out well, provided that sufficient attention is paid to a final session where students present there work with a short pitch, and demonstration of their achievements, in particular showing the (interactive) video(s) made in small groups.

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afterthought(s) -- 09 / 10

CA1: (12/4/10) -- participant(s)

PDF

Looking back, the high expectations raised by the self-professed competence(s) of the students did by no means come through, disregarding the excellent skills and efforts of some individual students.

As I indicated in my comment(s), all in all the atmosphere in the class was excellent, for example have a look at youtube, with most students willing to present there ideas, and show their interests. However, as the statistic(s) show, getting online took longer than expected, and even at the end of the course some participant(s) were still NOL (not online).

Taking up the (other) assignments was not only slow, but did even not happen. This might be partly due to the suddenly occurring opportunity to have an exhibit in SmartXP. The SmartXP exhibit itself was a great success, as testified by new(s) & blog(s), even though in reflection(s) some aspects were lacking, and should be improved in any future exhibit(s). The spirit of teamwork was well expressed in the slogan and clip together we create. Somewhat suprisingly, students were quite reluctant to give the (obligatory) peer review(s).

The panel presentations, from both representatives of EWI and the regio were well received by the students, and were not only informative but also instrumental for other courses, in particular the projects for NM2.

All in all, I was happy with the course as it went, even though some students did not see the point of it, as expressed in the evaluation(s). Ironically, the best evaluations came from students that later became dropout(s).

In the future CA1 course(s), apart from the identity theme(s), storytelling, will be one of the main topic(s), with a stronger role for the co-instructor(s). The technical requirements/assignments, however, should very likely be keyed down significantly.

CA1/10: (11/11/10) -- participant(s) / grade(s)

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The size of the group, over 40 students, necessitaed a different approach. Different in educational approach, as well as different in, what I would call, mainting discipline and order. Lessons learned from the previous year are, among others, that a laissez-faire attitude does not work, so tit-for-tat, this year I switched to a much more strict approach.

Although one of the goals of the we create identity is for students to learn to speak out, the size of the group made that almost impossible. So I included the 20 seconds speak out sessions, see
sites.google.com/site/create10ca1site/workshop-s
20 seconds seemed to be a short time, but to my surprise after 15 seconds many students were already at the end, filling the rest of the time, 5 seconds, with mumble, mumble.

In contrast to last year, all students were obliged to make an interactive video, in groups of 4-5 students, using ximpel. This turned out to be a great success, both in terms of the enthusiasm of the students as well as in the quality of the productions, shown at the smart xp event of 29 november. For the following years the use of XIMPEL is highly recommended.

Instead of two sessions introducing the faculty and the (creative) outside world, this year there was only one session .CREATE meets ..., with representaives from inside and outside UT. Students were attentive and seemed to appreciate the views of the various experts in the panel,
see creativetechnology.eu/wordpress/?p=590

Sooner than expected, students started exploring what google sites had to offer, and were more willing to contribute to what I, for convenience, call the CA1 commons, which are located at
sites.google.com/site/create10ca1site

In conclusion, students seemed to appreciate the course, and came, some more than others, to the insight that they (indeed) needed a change of attitude, which they indicated in their blogs as well as their essays.

See grade(s), for the final assessment(s), and creativetechnology.eu/wordpress/?p=622 for the interactive video projects.

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(C) Æliens 2013