I wrote a great deal about what I learned in this class. I revised that writing and I re-wrote it. Then I realized I didn’t want to rely on written text, I really wanted to make a video to express my thoughts; the piece above was going to be a component of that video. In the end, I decided to leave it as it is. Why?

I think that the natural speech I use in this version, after having recorded about 40 takes, speaks to the heart of what I learned and highlights the impact it had on me as a student. Sure there are moments when I feel like my word choice could be better, there are moments when I pause as I am trying to read what I had written, but what the tone of my voice says for me with its pitch, emphasis, and those awkward moments is sincere. I think that breaking it up, by patching together the various takes, and combining with it images and text as I had considered—without the time and the freedom to expand it into a much longer work—would diminish the candid nature of what I had to say about my experience in English 239.

I chose the video effect for two reasons. First, it went with the many images I had planned to incorporate. Second…I still *hate* talking in a video. Maybe this is my first step in getting over that?

What I didn’t say in this version of the video, is that composing in these new ways deepened my understanding of how complex composing multimodal work really is;  doing so changed how I think about what thoughtful construction and various modes and styles of communicative weight can achieve.

Clearly, I still have a great deal to learn, but everything we read in this course and all of the resulting discussions are something I will revisit often and it is my hope that it will give me further insight in to the broadened potential of my future work.

So far, I added an intro to the Manifesto in an attempt to make it come across as less aggressive. I also changed some of the language here and there. Somewhere in the midst of discussing the construction of this piece I suggested a statement of purpose. I think we lost sight of that in the midst of our technical confusion.

The rough draft of my section included a spot I was frustrated with in bold; in the rough draft version it was put in so I could remember where I was trying to go, so to speak. I would like to go back and add to that if time permits. One book I read is about conceptual blending in cognitive science—heavy duty stuff! Another dealt with creativity and the mind—also heavy stuff! The issue I am having with adding that information is that I read it during the time I was sick and all my notes seem a jumble of fever-thoughts in retrospect. I feel like I knew where I was going, but didn’t quite make it all the way there because I had to cut out the fever-induced writing. What I was trying to get at—and the reason I focused on the myths—is because I think they are still a major roadblock. In other words, we may cheer creativity on, but cultural biases still persist even for those of us in the cheering section.

In a perfect world the changes I would like to make:

• Clarify navigation to be more user friendly to those who aren’t as digitally literate as we assumed our audience might be

• Tone down the aggressiveness (tried to do that already and hope it works!)

• Re-do the video with less talking head and more creativity. (It’s a fine head McKenzie, so don’t take it personally if you read this!) Include the Intro in the new video so it’s accessible to a wider audience.

• Make the look match from section to section or find a way to make the look more harmonious throughout (This could be an issue because we had to use a template for some sections, which we worked on independently in some cases)

• My dream edit that we probably won’t have time for: more writing in all of the sections and less emphasis on presenting links/quotes without reflective writing about those thoughts.

• Another wish: more links between the sections. This is what we were aiming for, but had difficulty making it work as we had envisioned. I had hoped for more links to my co-authors, but didn’t want to confuse readers by sending them to their quotes/links in the end. I’ve indicated where my links need to be and they are far fewer than I would like them to be.

• Rework more of the cognitive science into my section. Get the images I gathered into the side panel of my section. This has been held up by bigger technical issues, but I hope we can get them in there!

• I still can’t say that I like the open-ended part at the end of the Manifesto, sorry guys. I was overruled, but it still seems like it might confuse the audience. My thinking is that ending on a positive note, saying that these changes are what the students want, but that we are looking to educators to help us in achieving reform takes the sting out of the demands.To me, it makes it feel unfinished with the unfinished sentence. At the very least, I think we need to add the final image that I suggested, or something similar.

• Work on this post-semester if the others are up to the challenge; to me the final draft will still feel Beta-ish to be perfectly honest, because there are so many changes that we might not get to with time constraints.

Considering what we read about accessibility, I don’t know if I would have stuck with the green, even though I like it. Anytime I encounter greens, blues, and strong reds on the web, I remember my friend’s profound colorblindness.

I have some issues with the way the menus open on the revised version. It opens in a small window, which can be awkward, but I suspect that might have to do with the way browsers have changed. I wondered to myself if this was composed before Firefox gained wider popularity. I love the idea of the remote, but found myself wondering if every reader would “get it” and figure out how to navigate it.

Ironically, I can’t watch the video. I am told I need a plug in, which I tried to install as I always do in such cases, but for some reason I get a message that that version of Window Media Player is not available. That might be due to having a 64-bit OS. Overall, I think looking at these heightened the concern I always have for cross-platform, multiple browsers, and varying user tech savvy when working in these formats. So I guess I would have usability tested this like crazy! I’m sure that was done, yet this raises another question for me. How hard is it to prepare for the ever-changing nature of technology? It seems it might be challenging indeed.

My present plan is to revisit some of the more complex ideas I’ve encountered to assure that I am “getting it,” rework what I have, clarify and strengthen ties. In the course of reviewing what I have been thinking about, I believe that allowing for more expression that is often designated as “creative” is not only a natural function of human thought, it is indeed taken for granted because it is how we think most rapidly and often on a subconscious level. The human ability to do so has as much impact as our opposable thumbs! Innovation is born out of the human ability to think and act creatively. To ignore our ability to do so and only revere linear thought and expression is to deny a large part of human nature.

My current writing about this is rambling, as I read and thought about this with a terrific fever. The good news: I’ve told my employer that I can’t work much (if at all) until the end of the semester. This should provide me with the time I need to dig deeper, compose, and meet in person with the group.

This is the edited version, per the feedback I received. I changed it to end with the music too. The orignal version had a a longer stretch of black at the end, that I cut down a bit to remain as close to the time limit as possible. I hope the end isn’t to abrupt–that viewers can still read the final frame!

3 out of 5 went to the Kairos website for more details. All three wanted to submit, but did not feel they could. One is taking a pause from her education as a publishing major to work full time. The other is in his first semster of college and didn’t feel experienced enough to do so. The last person in that group is busy with a career and wished they were still in college. The 2 who didn’t go to the site loved that undergrads were being given a chance to be a part of something like this; it challenged their ideas of what the divison between educators and students. All 5 were unphased by the idea of composing multi-multimodally for an academic journal. I think the most common response was, “COOL!” I didn’t ask them if they felt cpable enough to work with the tools they would need to do so. Now I wish that I had. I wonder if it would have changed their responses.

The mix of quick message and the dropdown for more information seems like it achieved what I was aiming for, though I wonder if it would be wise to compose another version to exist independant of YouTube.

brain break:  (sometimes a verb, sometimes a noun) a moment when a person who is deeply engaged in thought must pause to do something entertaining or relaxing, freeing the brain from potential overload.

My composition for this assignment is intended to be viewed at Youtube, as it will reach a wider audience than my blog for this class. If you would like to see it as it intended, you can click the video embedded in this post and go directly to the video location. There you will also have the option to view it in full screen mode by clicking a small rectangle in the bottom right corner.

Considering the nature of Youtube, I chose to keep the information within the video minimal, opting to provide additional information in the “more” drop down at the side of the video. I kept that information minimal as well.  My link in the “more” drop down opens the “Submissions” page of Kairos.  This was done because I think that it will clarify the nature of the submissions and provide those who may be interested with an overview of Karios’ unique approach to digital scholarship.  When the (Re)mediating proposal is posted in its final draft, I will change the link to take viewers to that post. Since the intended audience most likely to respond, is potentially savvy at navigating websites, I assume they will understand how to find the home page and further explore the website. Because I am sensitive to copyright issues, I used a audio clip from CCmixter.org, a Creative Commons resource. I added an attribution to the musician, Neurowaxx, and the terms of the CC license.

I chose to make the viewing area of the video smaller than the default for Youtube to avoid heavy pixelation and loss of clarity. This allows viewers to watch it small or large. I have frequently discovered terrific videos that I wanted to view full screen, that were a total disaster enlarged. The enlarged version of my video does pixilate a bit, but I think it is still clear enough to communicate the message.

What’s with the Scrabble board? Well, I wanted to make something unique, pique the interest of viewers, and mix entertainment with the message. Another assumption I have made about my audience: they are likely to be (for lack of a better word) nerds who might find trying to mentally unscramble the words fun.

Why is it so fast? I did my best to strike a balance between how quickly viewers in the digital age lose interest and how quickly the information is presented. This was the most challenging aspect of the assignment. I read quickly and I have read the message so many times that I can probably recite it scrambled and unscrambled. To offset this potential issue, I used my husband as a gauge; he has profound dyslexia and reads rather slowly.

Other things that went through my head while developing the concept (in no particular order)…

My friends and I used to read our finished Scrabble game-boards like a story. Interacting with a Scrabble board is satisfying and I wished that I could have had a design that allowed readers to digitally do so–with some sort of cue that let them know when everything was in order.

Less can be more–I tried to pull the words that jumped out at me the most relating to the Call for Papers/Kairos website; I then reduced the message within the video to those simple cues. I wanted readers to have questions…isn’t asking and finding the answers what it’s all about, after all?

I chose my music *before* I shot the video. I had an idea of what the video would be when I searched for the music, but I let the music set the pace for the video. I wanted it to be upbeat–a tune to get caught in your head–to make you think about the video and its message after you you left the video behind, after you read the Kairos information.

I opened Flash, longing to make magic…and then remembered I cuss a lot when I use Flash and it’s been awhile. I also went “low tech” (or seemingly so) to keep the message accessible to people who may have the preconceived idea that slick, sexy digital composition is the end-all-be-all of  expression. Sometimes the rough edges make a statement feel more approachable. And finally…I need someone to play Scrabble with. Anyone? Scrabble night?

Go on then…view it. I dare you to unscramble the words before my hands do!