The Journey Through Art History

Art Through Time was inspired by many experiences in the traditional art history classroom at the Corcoran College of Art and Design. I recount spending excessive hours studying and reviewing information presented in a traditional book format. I never scored above a B+ on a test and at the moment cannot recall one important fact about the Italian Renaissance. The traditional delivery of sitting in a dark room viewing countless slides did more harm than good. By creating a timeline I realized that I had been cheated of vital information. The timeline improved my memorization and understanding of important monuments such as the Great Stone Tower and the Great Pyramids. The use of video, photo and virtual devices in the art history classroom will help build an understanding of a modern society that is built on layers of history.

Art Through Time presents a virtual timeline that will enhance the art history experience for people interested in art, particularly students in high school and college. Students will not be required to rely on the traditional textbook as the only source of knowledge because the timeline animates the traditional textbook. The timeline is supplemented with videos, links, and photos. The timeline will lead the curious and not-so-curious mind through pivotal events in world history.

The timeline covers work from the Paleolithic art period to the Graffiti art movement. I browsed many museum websites, textbooks, and articles in search of an array of information. I believe the videos demanded most of my time because I listened to each one in entirety and most of the videos were about 5 to 10 minutes long. One of the videos that I planned to embed in the timeline on Egyptian art transitioned from an informative and classic tale of the pyramids to a cult-like proclamation of race and identity. Assuming that I might use this timeline with future classes, I was truly glad that I reviewed each video. The timeline is public and open for the world to see. I could not imagine a student or a parent of a student watching a slanderous video that I unassumingly advocated.

Even though I enjoyed the process and was able to fine-tune my knowledge of art history, I faced many challenges. The events could not be categorized by year, which forced me to use a standard date such as Jan. 1 for each event. I was unable to upload more than one image or embed more than one video, which caused much frustration. I either used the most popular image or work to represent the art period or created multiple entries relative to one art period. The dates in art history became more important and relative to the movement. I was able to see the connection between art movements such as Paleolithic art and Graffiti art.

The activity of creating a timeline will improve memorization and the student ability to connect with the art movements. I enjoyed the creation of the timeline as well as the viewing. During the process of creating the timeline I began to consider the multiple uses of a timeline in the traditional classroom setting. The students can learn from the viewing of the timeline but will benefit most if it is required of them to create a timeline on specific art periods assigned by the teacher. I am concerned a little due to the ease of copying and pasting information.

Narrative....blah!

I attempted to browse independently to find interactive narratives but I was not successful. Radha did a spectacular job finding helpful sources. I revisited her blog and I remain impressed. Not that my endorsement is a sign of worthiness but her blog post on interactive narrative is definitely 'cream of the crop'. I tested a few narratives in search of the easiest to maneuver. Campaign rush seemed to be the most challenging. My adventure began with an overwhelming excitement to 'post-participate' in the campaign. After five minutes I was overcome with unpleasant emotions. Scratching my brain and questioning the resourcefulness of the tool I concluded that the purpose of the narrative was to expose potential workers to the fatigue that present campaign workers went through. I was not amused or excited at the end.

Hurricane Katrina Tempest In Crescent City was a very strange narrative. It was very hard to guide the character through the city by using four arrows and a space bar. This could work as a teaching tool. The student or participant can pick and chose who to interact with which determines the character's ability to move to the next level. The narrative begins with a comic book excerpt which introduces the participant to the purpose of the game. 

Darfur is Dying presented an interactive, game-like narrative story. I learned more from this narrative than the ones listed above. The participant is introduced to a large family of characters. I chose a 12-year old girl named Abok. Attempting to guide Abok to the well for water was more difficult than I thought. I failed but learned a lesson. Children and adult women are raped and abused in Darfur. At the end of the journey a passage pops onto the screen informing me that I can help the people in Darfur. I felt more connected to the content due to the presentation. The narrative requires the participant to act or play and through play the participant is exposed to the pain and suffering of the people in Darfur.

Live on Web

A young man committed suicide in front of a virtual audience. 12 hours before the incident he broadcasted the suicide plan on his blog. Before committing suicide he corresponded with members on the site. He received questions like: How many pills are you going to take? The virtual audience members were filled with mixed reactions. Some encouraged the young man to kill himself while others tried to persuade him otherwise. Some viewers believed it was a hoax. Abraham Biggs, a 19 year old college student, was not kidding. He was found dead in his father's bed. Approximately, 1500 viewers witnessed the suicide, the police were not alerted until 12 hours later. 

After I read the article, I had to take a breath of fresh air. I am currently speechless. I question Abraham's motives. Why did he need an audience? If he had no access to a web cam what other approaches may he have taken? Was he currently taking medication for his Bipolar disorder? Did the virtual audience comfort him during the process? Abraham interacted with other virtual members, is the world really that cold-hearted? As I recall the Virginia Tech incident, I am reminded of the young man who videotaped himself before going on a killing rampage that ended in his own suicide. Is this similar? If not how is this different? Is there a connection between Abraham's suicide and people who jump off bridges?

Montana Miller, an assistant professor of popular culture, was not surprised by the webcam suicide given the way teenagers share certain aspects of their life on social networks. She said if teenagers did not have the option of documenting or recording an event in their life, nothing would seem worthwhile. A lawyer in Florida stated that the website is not in trouble for negligence and the members of the blog will not be held liable for their comments and lack of action. 

In Japan, people are posting suicide pacts online. A group of people set a time in which they will commit suicide together. Japan reports that the trend is growing and will continue to grow. Thirty-seven of the 91 individuals who committed suicide were female and forty-four were male. Of these individuals, forty percent were in their 20's, thirty-nine percent were in their 30's, while eight between the ages of 10 and 19 committed suicide after signing an online death pact. In South Korea, the government wants to regulate the internet but there are several laws that ban this idea. The South Korean government hopes to require members of chat rooms to use their real name so that it will be quicker and easier to punish cyberattackers. The floor leader of the Grand National Party wants to "keep cyberspace from becoming a public toilet wall." Opposers of this initiative believe the government is trying to suppress the Internet public opinion that is critical of the government. 

Researchers from the University of Bristol, Oxford, recreated a typical web search by someone looking for details on suicide. They used 12 different search terms in four popular search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Ask and MSN. After sifting through the results, they analyzed the top ten sites from each of the twelve search terms. The search results: 240 distinctive sites about suicide with just under half providing information about how to commit suicide, one- fifth of the hits were recurring sites that promoted suicide, 13% of the sites were dedicated to suicide prevention, and only 12% actively discouraged suicide. Sites that offered suicide prevention detailed ways to commit suicide. Someone looking for details on suicide is more likely to come across sites that promote suicide than those that promote prevention. 

Puppy Cam

Six Shiba Inu puppies are engaging millions of viewers. Originally the camera was set up to monitor the puppies but now the webcam is a form of entertainment. Many have reported watching the Puppy Cam while at work and others say the puppies bring back sweet memories. At 9:30 am the Puppy Cam begins to monitor Autumn, Ayumi, Amaya (the females), Aki, Akoni, and Ando (the males). The Puppy Cam is trained to focus on the puppies, a comfy basket, and play area. Viewers can view the Shiba Inu puppies sleeping, playing, and eating. As I am watching now, I see a barefoot person in the gated area cleaning the mats. Adorable footage. It is worth checking out. The live Puppy Cam won't be up for long, the puppies are almost five weeks old.

21st Century Art: An Opportunity of a Lifetime.

Salvador Dali

Teachersdomain.org (Digital Media for the Classroom and Professional Development) is a free online educational resource for educators. The site provides professional development courses to provide educators with strategies and resources to develop effective instruction. The content on the website is drawn from PBS shows such as Frontline, NOVA, and American Experience. Teachersdomain.org yields an enormous amount of information. It is an online library with more than 1, 500 free resources. I took a quick glance at the site. I did not have time to join but I was able to view up to 7 lessons without a membership. By the way, memberships are free. The content was accurate and comprehensive. A member is allowed to remix capabilities, download and share material on the website. The lesson plans are detailed and clear. The plans include links to videos, websites, vocabulary, materials, grade levels and suggested time. Teachersdomain.org provides cross-curricular instruction to impact the learning experience for the students and illustrates easy and simple ways digital media is used today.
***** (5 stars)


I was introduced to Teachersdomain.org by reading an article on Reuters.org. The article discussed the impact of a new touch screen technology used in the classroom by many educators to keep the students engaged with the material. Smartboards create a two-way connection to learning and teaching. In the Article Digital Media and Touch Screen Technology: An Increasing Trend in Education Eleri Merrikin states, " Students today learn with media and technology because they've grown up in a multimedia world, so these resources are something they relate to easily." Smartboards or white boards are known to captivate students by use of their finger as a cursor. The white boards are available in a variety of sizes, allow you to save information in a snapshot, use your finger as a writing utensil and much much more.



Somehow I landed on a website detailing information about a "media on wheels" that could be rolling along the curb of your school. On September 15, 2008, The Kennedy Center and Daimler Financial announced the plan for a ground-breaking arts education program. The Kennedy Center in partnership with Daimler Financial is seeking applications from schools across the country to participate in On Location: Spotlight in Your Community. Ten schools will be accepted. If you are interested I think there is still time to apply.

The benefits of On Location: Spotlight in Your Community:

0 The Thomas Built Bus "media studio on wheels" will visit each of the ten schools selected for two weeks.

0 The Thomas Built Bus will be on site from January to June 2009.

0 The students will document an artist or arts group from their community using digital media.

0 A team of trained, theater and media professionals will guide the students and teachers through the process of developing the documentary.

0 The documentary will be showcased on the On Location: Spotlight in Your Community website to showcase the rich diversity of arts in the communities of the United States of America.

0 Online curricular support and in-person learning opportunities will be provided for students and teachers.

0 Each of the ten schools will receive a media equipment package including a computer, software, video recording gear and $1,000 to support further development of the new digital arts and humanities program.

This program reminded me of bookmobiles. Bookmobiles are libraries with wheels. Today bookmobiles travel to provide literature and digital technology to Spanish speaking communities, elders living in assisted care communities and homeschool families. The bookmobiles are usually wheelchair accessible.

Enough is Enough!

I have been checking out the latest news on a case involving a 13 year old girl named Megan Meier, who committed suicide after reading a message on MySpace. A 49 year old woman by the name of Lori Drew sent her a message that entailed, "the world would be better off without you." Lori bullied Megan Meier sending her cruel messages by using a false identity. I presume that Megan had no idea that the person sending her the email was actually a 49 year old woman. Lori Drew is the mother of Megan's former friend. At the time of this incident Megan was being treated for depression.

On November 10, 2008, a US District Judge announced that he may exclude the evidence of Megan's suicide from the case. Lori is being accused of cyber-bullying but the government is prosecuting Lori under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act is used to prosecute hackers and those who commit high-tech crimes. The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act was passed by the United States Congress in 1986 and amended in 1994, 1996, and 2001 by the USA Patriot Act. Lori's attorney argues that cyber-bullying is not a violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.





Children are not the only victims of cyber-bullying. Teachers are victims as well. There is a website, RateMyTeachers.com where students can rate their teachers ability using a anonymous profile. A teacher by the name of Mr. Brown accessed the website and was surprised by what he found. RateMyTeachers.com was not excited about being connected to cyber-bullying. They claim that the sole purpose of the site is to show "who is connected with their students and who really doesn't care." That was not a good argument for me. Teachers are accessing the site and left in tears after reading the content. The site argues that the students are strictly commenting on their teachers ability to educate. Who would ever put that responsibility in the hands of a student? A student may not like a teacher because he or she has red hair or wears "high-water" jeans.



What is cyber-bullying? "Cyber-bullying is when a person is threatened, embarrassed, tormented, humiliated, or harassed by another person using the Internet, interactive and digital technologies or mobile phones". A cyber-bully does not have a specific profile. There is story about a teenage boy, who is an honor student. He does not cause his parents any trouble and he is very polite. He shared that when he accessed the Internet he sent death threats via email. He thought it might be cool to act his fantasies out online.

There are several websites for children, parents and educators to access for information on this issue. Sites such as STOP cyberbullying (offers vital information for teachers, parents and children), Cyberbully.org (offers resources for educators), Cyberbullying.info (offers an interactive information site for everyone), and WiredSafety.org (helps victims of cyber-bullying find their stalkers and prosecute them.)

Consequences of cyber-bullying: On Techdirect.com there is an article discussing a recent decision that details the reason Canadian teachers want cyber-bullying to be a criminal offense. According to the Christian Science Monitor (I encourage you to visit this site, and browse the article. It is truly informative), teachers are striking back on online pranks. Teenagers are paying the price for their actions through criminal arrests. Some argue that this is unnecessary and going too far. What do you think? Should cyber-bullying be dismissed as a simple act of playfulness or have students gone too far? One-third of American teens regularly post unsuitable language and manipulated images on the web. Twenty-six percent of teachers and principals are targeted. Forty-five states have cyber-stalking laws and 11 states prohibit cyber-bullying. In 2006, 80 percent of students reported cyber-bullying. Will these laws stop students from participating in cyber-bullying? I don't think so. Many people do not obey the laws that exist today. On the Christian Science Monitor site there is a article that shares a story about a parent who videotaped a teachers bottom, uploaded it on the internet and even titled the video "Hot for Teacher." As an educator, how might you respond to cyber-bullying if you happen to be the victim?

Sequential Innovation

The World Wide Web is an interactive community filled with millions and millions of users. The World Web Wide sponsors an environment where people can collaborate with each other by sharing ideas, and new innovations. So that is where sequential innovation comes in. I was reading the article and I was filled with tons of questions. I questioned the use of strict intellectual property laws and the purpose of taking legal action against a competitive company. The traditional intellectual property hinders the production of new ideas and the sharing of information. Was it necessary for EMI to take legal action against OLGA? I don't think so. I agree with the authors of the article. EMI could have learned from OLGA's reinterpretation of the guitar tablature site. Was OLGA a creative imitation of EMI? Is all of the legal action driven by greed, selfishness, and fear? An idea has to start somewhere but it takes a team to help an idea flourish and develop. I understand the author and artist fury with the murkiness of blurred laws and imitation rights but everyone can benefit from weaker intellectual property protection. The goal and purpose of these laws should be to learn from each other not sue X because they are using my special code to help youth upload games and interact with each other.

From reading this article, I was also able to understand the true benefit of free and open source software. Everyone can access the software, add to the software, and enjoy the use of the software stress-free. Open Source software offers numerous benefits to the community of World Wide Web users. They can become proud inventors by taking a existing program and developing the program further. So I went on a quest to find the definition of Open Source software. I desired to know what was permissible and what was unlawful with the use of the software. So here goes:

The information below was found on www.opensource.org. It details the rules and regulations of the software.

"Open source is a development method for software that harnesses the power of distributed peer review and transparency of process. The promise of open source is better quality, higher reliability, more flexibility, lower cost, and an end to predatory vendor lock-in." (Quote from www.opensource.org)

Introduction

Open source doesn't just mean access to the source code. The distribution terms of open-source software must comply with the following criteria:

1. Free Redistribution

The license shall not restrict any party from selling or giving away the software as a component of an aggregate software distribution containing programs from several different sources. The license shall not require a royalty or other fee for such sale.

Rationale: By constraining the license to require free redistribution, we eliminate the temptation to throw away many long-term gains in order to make a few short-term sales dollars. If we didn't do this, there would be lots of pressure for cooperators to defect.

2. Source Code

The program must include source code, and must allow distribution in source code as well as compiled form. Where some form of a product is not distributed with source code, there must be a well-publicized means of obtaining the source code for no more than a reasonable reproduction cost preferably, downloading via the Internet without charge. The source code must be the preferred form in which a programmer would modify the program. Deliberately obfuscated source code is not allowed. Intermediate forms such as the output of a preprocessor or translator are not allowed.

Rationale: We require access to un-obfuscated source code because you can't evolve programs without modifying them. Since our purpose is to make evolution easy, we require that modification be made easy.

3. Derived Works

The license must allow modifications and derived works, and must allow them to be distributed under the same terms as the license of the original software.

Rationale: The mere ability to read source isn't enough to support independent peer review and rapid evolutionary selection. For rapid evolution to happen, people need to be able to experiment with and redistribute modifications.

4. Integrity of The Author's Source Code

The license may restrict source-code from being distributed in modified form only if the license allows the distribution of "patch files" with the source code for the purpose of modifying the program at build time. The license must explicitly permit distribution of software built from modified source code. The license may require derived works to carry a different name or version number from the original software.

Rationale: Encouraging lots of improvement is a good thing, but users have a right to know who is responsible for the software they are using. Authors and maintainers have reciprocal right to know what they're being asked to support and protect their reputations.

Accordingly, an open-source license must guarantee that source be readily available, but may require that it be distributed as pristine base sources plus patches. In this way, "unofficial" changes can be made available but readily distinguished from the base source.

5. No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups

The license must not discriminate against any person or group of persons.

Rationale: In order to get the maximum benefit from the process, the maximum diversity of persons and groups should be equally eligible to contribute to open sources. Therefore we forbid any open-source license from locking anybody out of the process.

Some countries, including the United States, have export restrictions for certain types of software. An OSD-conformant license may warn licensees of applicable restrictions and remind them that they are obliged to obey the law; however, it may not incorporate such restrictions itself.

6. No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor

The license must not restrict anyone from making use of the program in a specific field of endeavor. For example, it may not restrict the program from being used in a business, or from being used for genetic research.

Rationale: The major intention of this clause is to prohibit license traps that prevent open source from being used commercially. We want commercial users to join our community, not feel excluded from it.

7. Distribution of License

The rights attached to the program must apply to all to whom the program is redistributed without the need for execution of an additional license by those parties.

Rationale: This clause is intended to forbid closing up software by indirect means such as requiring a non-disclosure agreement.

8. License Must Not Be Specific to a Product

The rights attached to the program must not depend on the program's being part of a particular software distribution. If the program is extracted from that distribution and used or distributed within the terms of the program's license, all parties to whom the program is redistributed should have the same rights as those that are granted in conjunction with the original software distribution.

Rationale: This clause forecloses yet another class of license traps.

9. License Must Not Restrict Other Software

The license must not place restrictions on other software that is distributed along with the licensed software. For example, the license must not insist that all other programs distributed on the same medium must be open-source software.

Rationale: Distributors of open-source software have the right to make their own choices about their own software.

Yes, the GPL is conformant with this requirement. Software linked with GPLed libraries only inherits the GPL if it forms a single work, not any software with which they are merely distributed.

10. License Must Be Technology-Neutral

No provision of the license may be predicated on any individual technology or style of interface.

Rationale: This provision is aimed specifically at licenses which require an explicit gesture of assent in order to establish a contract between licensor and licensee. Provisions mandating so-called "click-wrap" may conflict with important methods of software distribution such as FTP download, CD-ROM anthologies, and web mirroring; such provisions may also hinder code re-use. Conformant licenses must allow for the possibility that (a) redistribution of the software will take place over non-Web channels that do not support click-wrapping of the download, and that (b) the covered code (or re-used portions of covered code) may run in a non-GUI environment that cannot support popup dialogues.