tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66758412333019429122024-02-06T21:33:44.158-08:00Randomness & ConnectionsWilliam Hanffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01354916454801550512noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6675841233301942912.post-59340044078063614402021-01-28T17:42:00.001-08:002021-01-28T17:42:24.090-08:00The Time Ice Cream Castles 4 min 12 sec LA 139 5:23:84 Limelight Inc Re...<iframe width="480" height="360" src="https://youtube.com/embed/2ENVH-pgLR0" frameborder="0"></iframe>William Hanffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01354916454801550512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6675841233301942912.post-91391249615841690882016-11-30T15:09:00.002-08:002024-01-22T07:42:28.416-08:00This November has five Wednesdays.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><b><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">Right.... I forgot... This November has five Wednesdays..</span></b></span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /><div>
<img class="CToWUd" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEg2w_HooiIdhDyQtti1rX3dKvlEVKJKUko_nqCdDQnOHlgr7TGGBd_vkgb1e_Gmmf3WiEmO8_uYEApTKxlpYJngn5OJMD_bsJ0IOfvm-AiJ0ugyndHDuumwlbF7d2ogGaECJ09jwKVgbmYcH8nbru62JVRcuTvUByFq8tn7EjrcWW_ZS-02wCS94gh98H2Lq4of9zSuervS=s0-d-e1-ft" width="286" /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<img class="CToWUd" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEj1B2W5s5Kk16gZGLeBlPRNjhO7-d8E8TqzJ-IsZK8yiuCrTWhnTHUPWEiBKvYo9kk62wn0uaK6iF2Gex5Q_pgkRAlhJqMzyhwrVWaEdPKA0stXMydvBdrgjjdg0ufFk2SNKuY2164DApBjWMPUKxy3Rk3mbKDyN9-0quudlhswET4cHRLR9BHwFWhMFWFgz-y1Z-VSBsBSIATHv6c=s0-d-e1-ft" width="320" /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<img class="CToWUd a6T" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEh1GtKZVHL3rpeQD2s-8ifUiy66nuQlqae_X3fMaeALiwDXiQakBzEJT7o1xNAqfnDrBLTHLep5vbFtSq0JO4Pbsq2OzoQg3jRYWaNp6gNc-R-QDXMclFq6hmpCCZRtc0ckRvdOlo6Qcf71juoHNUY5kEzIONi_N8zdpF59cCgq4zsbMVNrRxCadvyoPcilUcjdrw8IqNE1vG4oXF8BLRxDP4YM9Lo0DGcVi8iq=s0-d-e1-ft" style="outline: 0px;" tabindex="0" width="400" /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<img class="CToWUd" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEgznNw6mHTa8t00SADdE8_ewNzVvgXZtyFp04_8wKwHQFlxvFXZHB-I67de8AZ7O57yN5jQrqJKCcXm7xWbQs2IoW9ZPAbzTfEegTwunEdG9DFJUjxltNO7JEfId5-MxNhk7Gq-zl-HZ08RhYNSbhCbJp3UlC5Gi1s3f65rxMMYr5hEX_JLeLITwoJAgveMiogp6z88GKDt=s0-d-e1-ft" width="237" /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<img class="CToWUd" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEhuId2EqE5h7yv6u5i6jwF54_14axlGjNW_ylP11QxAjq5Tek1U43WDJICkdZys_gZMYaVwTC5LYPmlklNz_tGZL9Z66m9YinwTqxBtCMd1G8N2o55i9v_TYE9NJmRj78Wez-sLYTj7vNLXOdWv2WXdQxiE47F938zHmq-YGpe3CJfR5QzedO8mdYIy9OTEjc5ITGaKho0EM-bHChAxysg1SYN_tGNnwbps8a-TRIq0B5NeLJD1ip0ItRhNzMfXzfo=s0-d-e1-ft" width="280" /></div>
</div>
William Hanffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01354916454801550512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6675841233301942912.post-2395858558425420492016-01-31T12:39:00.000-08:002016-01-31T12:39:25.932-08:00Where there's a wig, there's a way.<a href="https://imgflip.com/i/yd3hl"><img src="https://i.imgflip.com/yd3hl.jpg" title="made at imgflip.com" /></a>William Hanffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01354916454801550512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6675841233301942912.post-47657110120401111332015-09-09T12:50:00.001-07:002015-09-09T12:50:06.835-07:00SmartPhone Video Producer [Complete Training]<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PLqWbPmfqzG-3Qoz1OyHo7_6KlcVolwIIK" width="425"></iframe> I'd been looking for a series or a course for teaching smartphone videography for about a year now. There is a course over at <a href="https://www.udemy.com/mobilejournalism/" target="_blank">Udemy that looks promising</a>, and <a href="http://www.videomaker.com/article/15083-smartphone-cinematography" target="_blank">a short article</a> at good old <i>Videography</i> that but for a series of videos that could be remixed and reordered for one of my classes, this looks really good. The only problem is that the hardware and software keeps changing so quickly, some of the videos will be outdated the moment they're posted. Well, that's life in digital media.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
And I'd like to know if there are any 'course designers' in Higher Ed, or do they all work in K-12? Because there are some <a href="https://community.articulate.com/articles/smartphone-video-training-course-designers" target="_blank">very clever modules</a>, that could work just as well for undergrad courses.William Hanffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01354916454801550512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6675841233301942912.post-86968084221842471842015-07-08T07:14:00.002-07:002015-07-09T09:29:07.589-07:00Formalism, Realism & Museums<div style="font-family: 'PT Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">
For the last few times I've facilitated and taught an online class in Art History, I've been thinking a lot about how the display of art in Museums works on us as audiences -- particularly Egyptian art. I'd spent some time in Cairo about 15 years ago, and noticed that while the museum there is very impressive, so much of the best known works <em>aren't</em> there, but instead have been scattered across museums in Europe. And they have been for several centuries. The Egyptian collections in Rome go back way before 19th century colonisation.</div>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">
Not to say that many of the collections of Mesopotamian and Egyptian art held in Europe weren't straight up demonstrations of imperial power. (the Egyptians and Persians did the same thing at their heights)</div>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/RvUie5__ihBbwuyMN29IK7WoL9rjOlEQ0-Coz1kAvgTwR4O45YO0xCcE8pKXLYbFm2Mjsg=s400" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/RvUie5__ihBbwuyMN29IK7WoL9rjOlEQ0-Coz1kAvgTwR4O45YO0xCcE8pKXLYbFm2Mjsg=s400" width="320" /></a>During weeks 3 and 4 of the most recent course I was teaching, I was visiting Berlin with my family and we'd taken an afternoon to visit the "Museum Island" and a very similar collection of Egyptian art to that in Rome. Once again, that interplay of realism and formalism became very apparent. I was gobsmacked by this depiction of a man's head:</div>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">
Which contrasted so much with the more formal elements common to Egyptian Art:</div>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/K0kRJr9vltdNitURGYFPBCMnFJ8xz3rrG96UiokWYyUllLL-bBou2E4xDoOweJgajQQqUw=s400" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/K0kRJr9vltdNitURGYFPBCMnFJ8xz3rrG96UiokWYyUllLL-bBou2E4xDoOweJgajQQqUw=s400" width="320" /></a></div>
I was struck by how even at it's more formalised, the Neues Museum in Berlin had chosen to show off the more realism-driven side of Egyptian art -- probably because it lined up with something they culturally valued when the museum was originally built in about 1850, and is still a deep part of thier culture as a modern, multi-cultural city. Without a doubt, the most famous example, that's almost become a icon for Berlin is the bust of Nefertiti. (photographs weren't allowed, so here's a link)</div>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">
<a data-mce-href="http://www.egyptian-museum-berlin.com/c53.php" href="http://www.egyptian-museum-berlin.com/c53.php" target="_self">http://www.egyptian-museum-berlin.com/c53.php</a></div>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">
The artwork resonates so well with the city, that they created a 'Vegas-style' laser-show with </div>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">
acrobatic dancers based on it. (really, not kidding)</div>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">
<div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">
<img alt="Wyld Show Poster" data-mce-src="https://i.vimeocdn.com/video/505791003_640.jpg" height="160" src="https://i.vimeocdn.com/video/505791003_640.jpg" style="border: 0px;" title="Wyld Show Poster" width="400" /></div>
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">
And as silly and cliche as it is, it shows how museums (and art history) can have a profound effect on the broader culture. This is where we go to learn about form, theme and content, but it's also where we go to learn about our connections to earlier cultures -- and that we take these artworks and continue to make new artforms based on the forms, themes and content that resonate with us. The museum in Rome is focused on the abstract formalism of beauty (early dynasty art), the museum in London on the writing (Rosetta stone), in Berlin on realism of Beauty (Nefertiti bust), in New York on the architecture (Temple of Dendur). While each of these museums has a representative collection of artifacts, their place in time and culture highlighted something that resonated with the people there. That's why travel is such a great way to educate yourself.</div>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">
A city of architecture and a city of words:</div>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<img alt="Temple of Dendur" data-mce-src="http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/images/h2/h2_68.154.jpg" src="http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/images/h2/h2_68.154.jpg" height="217" style="border: 0px;" title="Temple of Dendur" width="320" /> <img alt="Rosetta Stone" data-mce-src="http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/graphics/rosettastone-detail.jpg" src="http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/graphics/rosettastone-detail.jpg" height="320" style="border: 0px;" title="Rosetta Stone" width="240" /></div>
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">
Aside from out global multi-media Internet, we still see the vast majority of the art we experience in galleries, salons and art museums. This is an incredibly important part of the context of each of the artworks we view. Museums have been with us for at least 2,500 years, but their position in society has changed; it continues to change in our fast-evolving and hybridising media-driven world. I believe that they will become increasingly important as we become more of a virtual society. The ability to visit a place in real-time, and real-space will become more and more important. In many ways, museums help us return to the real.</div>
William Hanffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01354916454801550512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6675841233301942912.post-25110738473331949272014-03-13T18:10:00.001-07:002014-03-13T18:19:23.222-07:00Catchin' the SunThere was a vinyl LP that my father would play on the weekends, it was called <i>Catchin' the Sun </i>– an instrumental jazz-funk-pop-fusion album that seemed to have whole worlds in its catchy sax refrains and synth solos.<div><br><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-jrCbhTmT8D2tDTjtvkftRYyDYT30DfZLxlYtH0Oq_7FpKTfKrAxxWdSoijdzUD7HbxuXmVfKsqvdBSZpyRIeUy3ov-W331XpfiEAC3pUwXMUgk5bNRF6qD9cZwUpfMPmuYNlTxqhprmw/s640/blogger-image-348188177.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-jrCbhTmT8D2tDTjtvkftRYyDYT30DfZLxlYtH0Oq_7FpKTfKrAxxWdSoijdzUD7HbxuXmVfKsqvdBSZpyRIeUy3ov-W331XpfiEAC3pUwXMUgk5bNRF6qD9cZwUpfMPmuYNlTxqhprmw/s640/blogger-image-348188177.jpg"></a></div><br><div>I must have been about eleven or so. The songs rolled one into another, weaving complete complexity. This was nearly an unfairness that those of us who grew up in the late 20th century have to deal with... ...this hermetic perfection of near-perfect pop music. Emotional experiences triggered by slick production that could make your own attempts feel so clumsy in comparison. Younger and older generations ran in, where Gen-Xer's feared to tread.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Still, we're all trying to be that compiler, that artist, that writer who is – <i>Catchin' the Sun</i>.</span></div></div><div><br></div><div>The self-publishing we've got at our fingertips retrieves the essence of those 18th century pamphleteers who caught ideas, re-molded them to fit changing times, used a messy technology, a gossip-network, and changed the world.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilvwNq8sig6xu35dBBwI_ryZCgMEBD_tYKjPbGegwLXmNPmdNDqRjGY32KgHqoG0oAMIop7SQX_tZrDxLWHSl8jy8NLKE6d8fhU6FdSHiG7vuI0F8NtFj0kDAuavPmB4nV1wwWyoEZKZd7/s640/blogger-image--1349863561.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilvwNq8sig6xu35dBBwI_ryZCgMEBD_tYKjPbGegwLXmNPmdNDqRjGY32KgHqoG0oAMIop7SQX_tZrDxLWHSl8jy8NLKE6d8fhU6FdSHiG7vuI0F8NtFj0kDAuavPmB4nV1wwWyoEZKZd7/s640/blogger-image--1349863561.jpg"></a></div></div><div><br></div><div>All energy comes from that Sun of ours. Energy from tens of millions of years ago burst from that star, fell on some plants on the surface of our world, those plants soon died, and spent eons below ground turning from funk to slime to gunk to thicker gunk, to gas. That gas pulled from the ground, burned, and electrified, passes through a near-incomprehensible grid of power, and into the battery of a slim, glowing tablet — on which I write, and you read — and if our ideas line up with each other's, and if our electrons line up from sun to funk to gas to light again. Maybe we can change the world.</div><div><br></div><div>Then maybe, just maybe, you and I are – <i>Catchin' the Sun</i>.</div><div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj22_TF9d8cNPZ8QrA7DSXfu9m0zl6Wl7bFkEeNhRBZD7eW5GpxaYeGMYut8COikH_UPu11l1mBNnzn4ktR9qO7GYe-3WbK2uEKiX1CJkeeUwQa804BiKRVQ8JdVFdnvgrHTqSyUruMRRyr/s640/blogger-image-1583413357.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj22_TF9d8cNPZ8QrA7DSXfu9m0zl6Wl7bFkEeNhRBZD7eW5GpxaYeGMYut8COikH_UPu11l1mBNnzn4ktR9qO7GYe-3WbK2uEKiX1CJkeeUwQa804BiKRVQ8JdVFdnvgrHTqSyUruMRRyr/s640/blogger-image-1583413357.jpg"></a></div></div></div></div>William Hanffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01354916454801550512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6675841233301942912.post-45813122711853896592013-09-24T11:29:00.000-07:002013-09-24T11:29:12.051-07:00From the Bottom to the TopMany of my students use Wikipedia as a source for online discussions and even within their answers for quizzes, tests and exams. I've given this mini-lecture on "From the Bottom to the Top – or how to read a Wikipedia Article." so many times, that I've decided to copy and paste a written version that I'd recently used as a response to a student who had copied and pasted from Wikipedia. Fittingly, the article chosen was the article on 'Homage'. So, I consider this a meta-homage to meta-homage; while at the same time being a light-hearted, pedantic "learning opportunity" for a new kind of digital hyperlinked style of education. ...or perhaps something else altogether.<br />
_________________________________________________________________________________<br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><strong>Good extrapolations. From your wikipedia quote: </strong></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New';">a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something by simple declaration</span>", </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><strong>but the quote continues:</strong></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> "</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: small;">but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">" </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><strong>And here's where things get complicated. But we'll return to this 'problematization' in a while. </strong></span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><strong>I frequently say that the best way to read a Wikipedia article is from the bottom up. You'll notice that at the very bottom of this article (<a _fcksavedurl="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage</a>) lists the topic-structure that this article is organized withing: </strong></span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Category" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Category" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none;" title="Help:Category">Categories</a>: </span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<ul style="display: inline; line-height: 1.5em; list-style-image: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">
<li style="border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; display: inline-block; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.25em; margin-bottom: 0.125em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.125em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0.25em; padding-right: 0.5em; padding-top: 0px; zoom: 1;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Film_techniques" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Film_techniques" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Category:Film techniques">Film techniques</a></li>
<li style="border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; display: inline-block; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.25em; margin-bottom: 0.125em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.125em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0.5em; padding-right: 0.5em; padding-top: 0px; zoom: 1;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Intertextuality" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Intertextuality" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Category:Intertextuality">Intertextuality</a></li>
<li style="border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; display: inline-block; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.25em; margin-bottom: 0.125em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.125em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0.5em; padding-right: 0.5em; padding-top: 0px; zoom: 1;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Literary_concepts" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Literary_concepts" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Category:Literary concepts">Literary concepts</a></li>
<li style="border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; display: inline-block; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.25em; margin-bottom: 0.125em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.125em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0.5em; padding-right: 0.5em; padding-top: 0px; zoom: 1;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Narrative_forms" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Narrative_forms" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Category:Narrative forms">Narrative forms</a></li>
<li style="border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; display: inline-block; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.25em; margin-bottom: 0.125em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.125em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0.5em; padding-right: 0.5em; padding-top: 0px; zoom: 1;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Art_stubs" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Art_stubs" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Category:Art stubs">Art stubs</a></li>
<li style="border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; display: inline-block; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.25em; margin-bottom: 0.125em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.125em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0.5em; padding-right: 0.5em; padding-top: 0px; zoom: 1;"> </li>
</span></ul>
<div>
<ul style="display: inline; line-height: 1.5em; list-style-image: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><strong>
<li style="border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; margin-bottom: 0.125em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.125em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0.5em; padding-right: 0.5em; padding-top: 0px; zoom: 1;"><br /></li>
</strong></span></span></ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="display: inline; line-height: 1.5em; list-style-image: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><strong>
<li style="border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; margin-bottom: 0.125em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.125em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0.5em; padding-right: 0.5em; padding-top: 0px; zoom: 1;">Above that you'll find a collapse-able table around a much more sophisticated study of this by amatuer and professionals in this field — particularly Art Historians:</li>
</strong></span></span></ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="display: inline; line-height: 1.5em; list-style-image: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><strong>
</strong></span>
</span></ul>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">
</span>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><table cellspacing="0" class="navbox" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fdfdfd; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; clear: both; font-size: 11px; margin-bottom: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: auto; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-align: center; width: 1034px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(211, 211, 211); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(211, 211, 211); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(211, 211, 211); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(211, 211, 211); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px; padding-top: 2px;"><table cellspacing="0" class="nowraplinks collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" id="collapsibleTable0" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(211, 211, 211); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(211, 211, 211); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(211, 211, 211); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(211, 211, 211); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; color: inherit; font-size: 11px; width: 1030px;"><tbody>
<tr><th class="navbox-title" colspan="2" scope="col" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #ffcc99; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(211, 211, 211); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(211, 211, 211); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(211, 211, 211); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(211, 211, 211); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; line-height: 1.5em; padding-bottom: 0.25em; padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em; padding-top: 0.25em; text-align: center;"><div style="font-size: 12px;">
<a _fcksavedurl="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appropriation_(art)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appropriation_(art)" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: underline; white-space: nowrap;" title="Appropriation (art)">Appropriation</a> in the arts</div>
</th></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><strong>If you click on that word 'Appropriation', you'll open up an amazing array of ideas that are very applicable to this course, which we will discuss when we begin critiqing your draft art reports. Above that you'll find the most professional citation in the article, the References</strong></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"></span></div>
<h2 style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.6em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0.17em; padding-top: 0.5em;">
<span class="mw-headline" id="References">References</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; display: inline-block; font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1em; margin-left: 1em; padding-right: 0.25em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a _fcksavedurl="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Homage&action=edit&section=2" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Homage&action=edit&section=2" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Edit section: References">edit source</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2>
<div class="reflist" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; list-style-type: decimal; margin-bottom: 0.5em;">
<ol class="references" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 3.2em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.3em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<li id="cite_note-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><strong><a _fcksavedurl="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage#cite_ref-1" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage#cite_ref-1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-color: initial !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-style: initial !important; border-top-width: 0px !important; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); height: 1px !important; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: absolute !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up</span>^</a></strong></span> <span class="reference-text"><span class="citation" id="CITEREF" style="word-wrap: break-word;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=qtgotOF0MKQC&pg=PA686" class="external text" href="http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=qtgotOF0MKQC&pg=PA686" rel="nofollow" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(data:image/png; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #3366bb; padding-right: 13px; text-decoration: none;">"Homage"</a>, <em>Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages</em> <strong>2</strong></span></span></li>
<li id="cite_note-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><strong><a _fcksavedurl="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage#cite_ref-2" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage#cite_ref-2" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-color: initial !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-style: initial !important; border-top-width: 0px !important; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); height: 1px !important; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: absolute !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up</span>^</a></strong></span> <span class="reference-text"><span class="citation" id="CITEREFRobin_M._Derricourt" style="word-wrap: break-word;">Robin M. Derricourt, <a _fcksavedurl="http://books.google.com/books?id=ESFS7XXhujAC&pg=PA75" class="external text" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=ESFS7XXhujAC&pg=PA75" rel="nofollow" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(data:image/png; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #3366bb; padding-right: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><em>An author's guide to scholarly publishing</em></a></span></span></li>
<li id="cite_note-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><strong><a _fcksavedurl="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage#cite_ref-3" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage#cite_ref-3" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-color: initial !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-style: initial !important; border-top-width: 0px !important; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); height: 1px !important; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: absolute !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up</span>^</a></strong></span> <span class="reference-text"><span class="citation" id="CITEREFUmberto_Eco" style="word-wrap: break-word;">Umberto Eco, <a _fcksavedurl="http://books.google.com/books?id=H4q8ZosSvB8C&pg=PA88" class="external text" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=H4q8ZosSvB8C&pg=PA88" rel="nofollow" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(data:image/png; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #3366bb; padding-right: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><em>The limits of interpretation</em></a></span></span></li>
<li id="cite_note-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><strong><a _fcksavedurl="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage#cite_ref-4" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage#cite_ref-4" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-color: initial !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-style: initial !important; border-top-width: 0px !important; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); height: 1px !important; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: absolute !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up</span>^</a></strong></span> <span class="reference-text"><span class="citation" id="CITEREFJohn_Shepherd" style="word-wrap: break-word;">John Shepherd, <a _fcksavedurl="http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=0tz5YpijuksC&pg=PA616" class="external text" href="http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=0tz5YpijuksC&pg=PA616" rel="nofollow" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(data:image/png; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #3366bb; padding-right: 13px; text-decoration: none;">"Rock Homage"</a>, <em>Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World</em></span></span></li>
<li id="cite_note-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><strong><a _fcksavedurl="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage#cite_ref-5" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage#cite_ref-5" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-color: initial !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-style: initial !important; border-top-width: 0px !important; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); height: 1px !important; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: absolute !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up</span>^</a></strong></span> <span class="reference-text"><span class="citation" id="CITEREFRichard_Grusin" style="word-wrap: break-word;">Richard Grusin, <a _fcksavedurl="http://books.google.com/books?id=wWNnBndF9uEC&pg=PA497" class="external text" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=wWNnBndF9uEC&pg=PA497" rel="nofollow" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(data:image/png; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #3366bb; padding-right: 13px; text-decoration: none;"><em>Routledge encyclopedia of narrative theory</em></a></span></span></li>
</ol>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><strong>Obviously, each hyperlink will take you to the full text of the referenced citation. I've actually read a good portion of Umberto Eco's<em>The Limits of Interpretation</em>, and while it can get a little overwhelming, it's a great primary resource for discussing the meaning of what's 'real' and what's 'fake' or 'a mere copy' in art and art history. If you click on the links for references #1 and #4, you'll find that the majority of the content of the article is taken from the <em>Encylopedia of the Middle Ages </em>and <em>Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World.</em> This allows us to track back your quote through the Wikipedia page to an earlier source. The next section up from the bottom is similar to the 'categories' section, but was placed by several of the Wikipedians because there are very strong thematic links to three other articles on Wikipedia. </strong></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"></span></div>
<h2 style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.6em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0.17em; padding-top: 0.5em;">
<span class="mw-headline" id="See_also">See also</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; display: inline-block; font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1em; margin-left: 1em; padding-right: 0.25em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a _fcksavedurl="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Homage&action=edit&section=1" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Homage&action=edit&section=1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Edit section: See also">edit source</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2>
<ul style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small; line-height: 1.5em; list-style-image: url(data:image/png; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 1.6em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.3em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allusion" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allusion" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Allusion">Allusion</a></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intertextuality" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intertextuality" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Intertextuality">Intertextuality</a></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastiche" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastiche" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Pastiche">Pastiche</a> </li>
</ul>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><strong>How are these ideas similar and different from the idea of Homage? Try clicking through to learn more about this idea. These particular links are the most 'curated'. By that, I mean that a series of Wikipedia authors have reached a consensus that these ideas are so interconnected that they deserve to be tied together by the very hyper-textual nature of Wikipedia. Again, these authors are both professionals as well as amatuers (as well as <a _fcksavedurl="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Chester_Minor" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Chester_Minor">fanatics</a> and even occasionally <a _fcksavedurl="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Most_vandalized_pages" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Most_vandalized_pages">vandals</a> or <a _fcksavedurl="http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/06/paul-revere-sarah-palin-and-wikipedia/?_r=0" href="http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/06/paul-revere-sarah-palin-and-wikipedia/?_r=0">hired P.R. hacks</a>) But over time, the most-trusted professionals decisions about content and links are the ones that remain. All of this finally brings us to the least consequential part of the Wikipedia article, the part that sadly gets the most attention: the "content." </strong></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><strong></strong></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.4em;">
<b>Homage</b> (<span class="nowrap" style="white-space: nowrap;"><span class="IPA" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none !important;" title="Help:IPA for English">/</a></span><span class="IPA nopopups"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none !important;" title="Help:IPA for English"><span style="border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px;" title="/ˈ/ primary stress follows">ˈ</span></a></span><span class="IPA nopopups"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none !important;" title="Help:IPA for English"><span style="border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px;" title="'h' in 'hi'">h</span></a></span><span class="IPA nopopups"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none !important;" title="Help:IPA for English"><span style="border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px;" title="/ɒ/ short 'o' in 'body'">ɒ</span></a></span><span class="IPA nopopups"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none !important;" title="Help:IPA for English"><span style="border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px;" title="'m' in 'my'">m</span></a></span><span class="IPA nopopups"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none !important;" title="Help:IPA for English"><span style="border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px;" title="/ɨ/ 'e' in 'roses'">ɨ</span></a></span><span class="IPA nopopups"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none !important;" title="Help:IPA for English"><span style="border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px;" title="/dʒ/ 'j' in 'jam'">dʒ</span></a></span><span class="IPA" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none !important;" title="Help:IPA for English">/</a></span></span> or <span class="nowrap" style="white-space: nowrap;"><span class="IPA" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none !important;" title="Help:IPA for English">/</a></span><span class="IPA nopopups"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none !important;" title="Help:IPA for English"><span style="border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px;" title="/ˈ/ primary stress follows">ˈ</span></a></span><span class="IPA nopopups"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none !important;" title="Help:IPA for English"><span style="border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px;" title="/ɒ/ short 'o' in 'body'">ɒ</span></a></span><span class="IPA nopopups"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none !important;" title="Help:IPA for English"><span style="border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px;" title="'m' in 'my'">m</span></a></span><span class="IPA nopopups"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none !important;" title="Help:IPA for English"><span style="border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px;" title="/ɨ/ 'e' in 'roses'">ɨ</span></a></span><span class="IPA nopopups"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none !important;" title="Help:IPA for English"><span style="border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px;" title="/dʒ/ 'j' in 'jam'">dʒ</span></a></span><span class="IPA" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none !important;" title="Help:IPA for English">/</a></span></span>) is a show or demonstration of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Respect" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Respect">respect</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dedication" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Dedication">dedication</a> to someone or something, sometimes by simple declaration but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic.</div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.4em;">
It was originally a declaration of fealty in the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feudal_system" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Feudal system">feudal system</a> (see <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage_(medieval)" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Homage (medieval)">Homage (medieval)</a>)—swearing that one was the man (French: <i>homme</i>) of the feudal lord.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage#cite_note-1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[1]</a></sup> The concept then became used figuratively for an acknowledgement of quality or superiority. For example, a man might give homage to a lady, so honouring her beauty and other graces. In German scholarship, followers of a great scholar developed the custom of honouring their mentor by producing papers for a <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festschrift" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Festschrift">festschrift</a></i> dedicated to him.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage#cite_note-2" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[2]</a></sup></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.4em;">
The concept now often appears in the arts where one author shows respect to a topic by calling it a homage, such as <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage_to_Catalonia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Homage to Catalonia">Homage to Catalonia</a></i>. Alternatively, creative artists may show respect to a veteran of the field or to an admired practitioner by alluding to their work.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage#cite_note-3" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[3]</a></sup> In rock music this can take the form of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribute_album" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Tribute album">tribute album</a> or of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampling_(music)" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Sampling (music)">sample</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage#cite_note-4" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[4]</a></sup> As of 2010, the digital techniques used to generate many forms of media make it easy to borrow from other works and this <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remediation_(Marxist_theory)" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Remediation (Marxist theory)">remediation</a> may be used in homage to them.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage#cite_note-5" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[5]</a></sup></div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><strong>Don't get me wrong, the "content" of this article is actually very good, and covers some of the very different meanings and contexts that both the word and its meanings have had across time. Obvioulsy <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/04/world/europe/04iht-orwell.1.7373101.html" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/04/world/europe/04iht-orwell.1.7373101.html">George Orwell</a> and The <a _fcksavedurl="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapper's_Delight" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapper's_Delight">Sugar Hill Gang</a> were working in different media, times and contexts but both use the idea of Homage. So there may be considerable confusion as to what this word means to begin with. This brings us up to nearly the top of the page with a funny-sounding word. </strong></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><strong></strong></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; line-height: 19px;">For other uses, see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage_(disambiguation)" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Homage (disambiguation)">Homage (disambiguation)</a>.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><b>Yes, it means to make-less-vague. As we've noted many times during lectures, group discussions and quizzes, if you're so vague that you can't be wrong, you also can't be right. So right at the top of the page, Wikipedia is giving you the tools you need to make sure that you're being precise with your language and your words. If you were to click this link you would find a new page: </b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"></span><br />
<div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.4em;">
<b>Homage</b> may mean:</div>
<ul style="line-height: 1.5em; list-style-image: url(data:image/png; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 1.6em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.3em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Homage">Homage</a>, a show of respect.</li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage_(feudal)" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Homage (feudal)">Homage (feudal)</a>, the medieval oath of allegiance.</li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commendation_ceremony" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Commendation ceremony">Commendation ceremony</a>, medieval homage ceremony</li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">"<a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Homage_(Magni_Nominis_Umbra)&action=edit&redlink=1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #ba0000; text-decoration: none;" title="Homage (Magni Nominis Umbra) (page does not exist)">Homage (Magni Nominis Umbra)</a>", a song by Hollenthon from their 1999 album <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domus_Mundi" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Domus Mundi">Domus Mundi</a></i></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Homage_(song)&action=edit&redlink=1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #ba0000; text-decoration: none;" title="Homage (song) (page does not exist)">"Homage" (song)</a>, a song by <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_You_Will_Know_Us_by_the_Trail_of_Dead" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead">And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead</a> from their 2002 album <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source_Tags_%26_Codes" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Source Tags & Codes">Source Tags & Codes</a></i></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Homage, a 2008 DVD/CD combo by violinist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Ehnes" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="James Ehnes">James Ehnes</a></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage_Comics" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Homage Comics">Homage Comics</a>, a comics imprint.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><b>So, yes, you did find the correct page. All of the other pages are very specific uses of the word. Which, of course is at the very top of the page.</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"></span><br />
<h1 class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: black; font-size: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span dir="auto">Homage</span></h1>
<div id="bodyContent" style="font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 1.5em; position: relative; width: 1038px;">
<div id="siteSub" style="display: inline; font-size: 12px;">
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia<br />
<br type="_moz" /></div>
</div>
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><b>But wait! There's some more stuff above that. And this is actually the least-important for you as a consumer or Wikipedia, but very important to you as a professional (whether that's as a professional student, a professional art historian or professional acadmeic) </b></span><br />
<br />
<ul style="background-image: url(data:image/png; background-position: 100% 100%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 16px; height: 40px; line-height: 1.5em; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<li class="selected" id="ca-view" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; background-image: url(data:image/png; background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: repeat no-repeat; display: block; float: left; height: 40px; line-height: 1.125em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: nowrap;"><span style="background-image: url(data:image/png; background-position: 100% 100%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; display: inline-block;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; display: block; float: left; font-size: 0.8em; height: 1.9em; padding-left: 0.5em; padding-right: 0.5em; padding-top: 1.25em; text-decoration: none;">Read</a></span></li>
<li id="ca-edit" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; background-image: url(data:image/png; background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: repeat no-repeat; display: block; float: left; height: 40px; line-height: 1.125em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: nowrap;"><span style="background-image: url(data:image/png; background-position: 100% 100%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; display: inline-block;"><a accesskey="e" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Homage&action=edit" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; cursor: pointer; display: block; float: left; font-size: 0.8em; height: 1.9em; padding-left: 0.5em; padding-right: 0.5em; padding-top: 1.25em; text-decoration: none;" title="You can edit this page.
Please review your changes before saving. [ctrl-alt-e]">Edit source</a></span></li>
<li class="collapsible" id="ca-history" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; background-image: url(data:image/png; background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: repeat no-repeat; display: block; float: left; height: 40px; line-height: 1.125em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: nowrap;"><span style="background-image: url(data:image/png; background-position: 100% 100%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; display: inline-block;"><a accesskey="h" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Homage&action=history" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; cursor: pointer; display: block; float: left; font-size: 0.8em; height: 1.9em; padding-left: 0.5em; padding-right: 0.5em; padding-top: 1.25em; text-decoration: underline;" title="Past versions of this page [ctrl-alt-h]">View history</a></span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><b>You're currently looking at the 'Read' version of this article. If you click the next link you enter the 'Edit' version of the article. And yes, you can make changes. In fact, if there's a minor error (e.g. typo, spacing problem, etc.) you're encouraged to fix it and click "minor edit". In some upper-level courses in some universities, students are assigned to write articles for Wikipedia. So you may get to know this function in the future. Lastly, you can enter the 'History' version of the article and see all of the edits that have been made, and by whom. This particular page has been edited over 500 times since 2003. </b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><b>So we see that Wikipedia is an evolving resource, not bound by the strictures of printing and distribution. This doesn't make it any more or less valuable in terms of its content. Like any secondary resource, you must be aware of the people who are writing and quoting to create it. Where Wikipedia does excell is in linking ideas together, giving readers multiple pathways through ideas. This is a big deal, and you can take advantage of this ability in a Wikipedia article if you learn to read each page from the bottom up.</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><b>Good luck!</b></span></div>
</div>
William Hanffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01354916454801550512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6675841233301942912.post-18920345621380741902013-07-14T05:27:00.000-07:002013-07-16T08:31:46.942-07:00Strategies for the Gamification of Education"<b>Strategies for the Gamification of Education</b>: On Creating a Flexible Constellation of Praxes for Evolving-Yet-Enduring Systems of Public-Private Educational Settings, Accreditations and Digital Networks." <br />
<br />
or:<br />
<b><u>"Now <a href="http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite4_1_25/02/2013_484049" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Lyceum</span></a> ...now you <a href="http://archive.org/projects/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">don't</span></a>"</u></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVhm6jMPISPQcS5x3qbjf8zT2Ve68Lc-Maa3ihMEbB4J4GSYKQDBUhoudQYU71rwd75qPPTJvu5Zt8GuxWs69VvnuwpYhCGOS5GbkGy6k_OKVbLmuduNvuJzElmAun_G17Xbhs3SPh9E6t/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-07-13+at+10.00.08+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVhm6jMPISPQcS5x3qbjf8zT2Ve68Lc-Maa3ihMEbB4J4GSYKQDBUhoudQYU71rwd75qPPTJvu5Zt8GuxWs69VvnuwpYhCGOS5GbkGy6k_OKVbLmuduNvuJzElmAun_G17Xbhs3SPh9E6t/s320/Screen+shot+2013-07-13+at+10.00.08+AM.png" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As a follow-up to my <a href="http://prezi.com/9_t7lbgct7s4/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">presentation last April</span></a> to the Broadcast Education Association, and as part of the 'Web-work' that I am doing for <a href="http://www.learnliberty.org/academy/course_details/getting-politics-out-of-education/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">an online seminar</span></a>, this essay will explore ideas for how to evolve systems secondary education (the last two years of high school in the US) and the first two years of higher education (the first two years of college or<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.linkpics.de/gbbilder/anlaesse_und_feiertage/abitur_abschluss/978abitur-abschluss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="100" src="http://www.linkpics.de/gbbilder/anlaesse_und_feiertage/abitur_abschluss/978abitur-abschluss.jpg" width="160" /></span></a></div>
Associates Degree in the US) It's worth noting that this roughly corresponds to the "Abitur" in Germany and the "A Levels" in the United Kingdom, although these names for both are also evolving.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.newrafael.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/montessori-cubes-700x584.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="166" src="http://www.newrafael.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/montessori-cubes-700x584.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div>
<a href="http://www.artvalue.com/photos/auction/0/51/51952/beham-hans-sebald-1500-1550-ge-the-seven-liberal-arts-7-3166659.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="120" src="http://www.artvalue.com/photos/auction/0/51/51952/beham-hans-sebald-1500-1550-ge-the-seven-liberal-arts-7-3166659.jpg" width="260" /></span></a>Two precedents have set my theories of self-directed education into motion: the Montessori method and the curriculum design at the <a href="http://bauhaus-online.de/en/atlas/das-bauhaus/lehre" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Bauhaus</span></a> of <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/24/arts/24iht-germart.3653712.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Weimar</span></a>-<a href="http://hcl.harvard.edu/hfa/films/2010octdec/weimar.html" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">era</span></a></span> Germany. There are plenty of resources on both, and I highly suggest the first few chapters of each. Neil Postman's <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/p/postman-bridge.html" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">book</span></a> "<a href="http://books.google.com/books/about/Building_a_Bridge_to_the_18th_Century.html?id=Z4ReXIAI_7MC" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Building a Bridge to the 18th Century</span></a>" also had a large impact on my thinking about <a href="http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/153953-1" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">this phase</span></a> of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJcXtCiNrPI" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">education</span></a>. Because it puts education in a longer historical perspective, and removes the 'privilege of the present'. In other words, the people of the 22nd century may well want to know many of the same things that people wanted to know in the 18th century. We shouldn't let our present situation (at the twilight of the modern era and the dawn of digital networked culture) blind us to the fact that grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy (the traditional liberal arts) will remain relevant in education regardless of the era.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://scholasticbookclubs.teachforus.org/files/2011/09/middle_school_worst_years.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://scholasticbookclubs.teachforus.org/files/2011/09/middle_school_worst_years.gif" width="126" /></span></a></div>
<a href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_l9zch8rIoW1qzttbmo1_1280.gif?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAI6WLSGT7Y3ET7ADQ&Expires=1373813179&Signature=rtEV4oazidqRRXz79W29jP1nXww%3D#_=_" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="173" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_l9zch8rIoW1qzttbmo1_1280.gif?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAI6WLSGT7Y3ET7ADQ&Expires=1373813179&Signature=rtEV4oazidqRRXz79W29jP1nXww%3D#_=_" width="230" /></span></a>One area that will <i style="font-weight: bold;">not</i> be addressed in this exploration is the education of students between the ages of 10 and 14 years old. This is a <i>very important</i> and <i>very difficult</i> portion of any education. It is also too fraught with coming of age, adolescence and redefining family boundaries and relationships. Even the most advanced Montessori curricula tend to stop at this age. I would personally urge more research in this area, particularly here in the US, where our systems of education seem weakest at this most critical point in learning. The other area <i style="font-weight: bold;">not</i> discussed will be the later two years of higher education and graduate school. Institutions at these phases tend to do a better job at blending discipline-specific knowledge and general information, as well as fostering a working relationship between the instructors (often tenured faculty) and the students (as research assistants or other valued workers). In fact, we will explore how this relationship can be ported into other phases of education through the use of school choice, competition, digital technologies and most importantly the <a href="https://www.coursera.org/course/gamification" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Gamification</span></a> of <a href="http://gamification.org/wiki/Gamification_of_Education" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Learning</span></a>.<br />
<br />
<u><b>Explaining this "</b></u><u><b>Flexible Constellation"</b></u><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://beautifultrouble.org/wp-content/uploads/Beautiful%20Trouble/PRINCIPLE%20Praxis%20Makes%20Perfect/PR_Praxis%20Makes%20Perfect_Praxis%20wheel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://beautifultrouble.org/wp-content/uploads/Beautiful%20Trouble/PRINCIPLE%20Praxis%20Makes%20Perfect/PR_Praxis%20Makes%20Perfect_Praxis%20wheel.jpg" width="232" /></span></a></div>
<br />
These "flexible constellations of praxes" from my (ridiculously long) title <i style="font-weight: bold;">do not</i> refer to standards, requirements or curricula imposed from above, but instead guidelines for "evolving-yet-enduring systems" that could be used by existing school systems, start-up charter schools, museums and other cultural institutions, software developers, course designers and even semi-legitamate for-profit colleges to interact with each other and with students to create a more flexible environment for learning, both <a href="http://chris.pirillo.com/why-didnt-second-life-become-a-hit/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">online</span></a> and in <a href="http://meatballwiki.org/wiki/MeatSpace" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">real-space</span></a>. <br />
<br />
Again, this requires keeping "choice" as free as possible for both the student/parent team (free to use their education capital where they imagine it will give the best returns) and for the schools (free to select students who fit into the various curricula of their institutions) and for the educators (free to move between institutions for the best fit, and the ability to earn more capital themselves) [a side note: as a society, we should allow that educators want to make a lot of money <i>and</i> shape the hearts and minds of the next generation — teachers need not be postmodern monks]<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.cognitivemedia.co.uk/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/900x430/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/r/o/robinson_thumb03.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="152" src="http://www.cognitivemedia.co.uk/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/900x430/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/r/o/robinson_thumb03.png" width="320" /></span></a>These "public-private educational settings, accreditations and networks" should provide learning pathways and options for the study of the 'hard' sciences, policy/law/rhetoric, artisanal trades, design/engineering and service/hospitality/human resources. But these disciplines should not be seen as exclusive of each other. A student tracked to become an attorney is rarely taught woodworking, or calculus or customer service. This has become a problem because our educational systems do not meet the challenge of career flexibility and job switching. Instead, most <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">educational systems reinforce a coercive system of mass production</span></a> that is less and less relevant in a digitally interconnected free-market of ideas. On the supply side, the semi-cartel of teachers unions needs to adapt and evolve away from an industrial model and toward a more flexible <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guild" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">guild system</span></a> which intersects with the training of educators and the constant churn of the marketplace of ideas.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXTfPgVb1Rj42U_EImjnvnfg_7bvmPrxZ2YMbdpdY61XmdIzB73If66eEZJkjlS2JdBqwy-SDOKuIoGmjgz7F9rcONT-6biLhUprJqtuiiTdu8F7ifKptndObgIsyJs_mhpZWhf9xK4vU/s400/Salman+Khan+Academy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXTfPgVb1Rj42U_EImjnvnfg_7bvmPrxZ2YMbdpdY61XmdIzB73If66eEZJkjlS2JdBqwy-SDOKuIoGmjgz7F9rcONT-6biLhUprJqtuiiTdu8F7ifKptndObgIsyJs_mhpZWhf9xK4vU/s320/Salman+Khan+Academy.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
Using the <a href="http://montessorium.com/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">existing</span></a> <a href="http://www.duolingo.com/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">systems</span></a>, and those <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diamond_Age" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">coming in the near future</span></a>, we could create ubiquitous and personalized digital curriculum where every student had an "I.E.P", an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individualized_Education_Program" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">individualized education plan</span></a> that, like Creative Commons <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">copyright licenses</span></a>, is human-readable, lawyer-readable and computer readable. Examples abound of providers such as <a href="http://www.khanacademy.org/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Khan Academy</span></a>, Duolingo, Open Courseware, <a href="https://www.coursera.org/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Coursera</span></a>, MOOCs and many, many more. [another aside—please feel free to leave your favorite examples in the comments sections below e.g. <a href="http://fold.it/portal/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">FoldIt</span></a>] <br />
<br />
<b><u>Gamification of Learning and Education</u></b><br />
<br />
In my own personal experience, I have begun to write a curriculum for teaching the history of cinema in general, and the Hollywood Studio System in particular, while using Activision's '<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><a href="http://lionhead.com/the-movies/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">The Movies</span></a>'</span> as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Movies" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">didactic (yet still fun</span></a>) game. Students learn both the æsthetics of camera angles and editing in the sandbox mode; then students learn the financing of a studio and a (tounge-in-cheek) day-to-day operations of a fictional Hollywood studio. Many 'bleeding edge adopters' were disappointed by the shortcomings of <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2011/11/why_second_life_failed_how_the_milkshake_test_helps_predict_which_ultra_hyped_technology_will_succeed_and_which_won_t_.html" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Second</span></a> <a href="http://pandodaily.com/2012/07/06/philip-rosedale-the-media-is-wrong-secondlife-didnt-fail/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Life</span></a>, but pleasantly surprised by the long-term success of <a href="http://www.simcity.com/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Sim City</span></a> and <a href="http://www.spore.com/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Spore</span></a>. The relationship between console games and PC games will be important to the long-term success of the gamification of learning. Some real-life examples point to a history of using collborative practices within traditional schooling: debate clubs, collaborative sports teams, theatre productions, student art shows and many others. [again—please feel free to leave favorite examples]<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/in-app-android-unmanaged-purchase.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/in-app-android-unmanaged-purchase.jpg" width="320" /></span></a>But the revolutionary idea here is to create a system where once a student has a basic mastery of a subject, their continued practice in the area would actually pay them money for their usable work on computer networks. For example, <a href="http://www.duolingo.com/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Duolingo</span></a> provides a translation service for outside clients. The computer algorithm takes chunks of text that need to be translated (Spanish-English, English-German and a few others right now) and crowd-sources them through thousands, or even tens-of-thousands of students using their software who are practicing their translation skills while learning Spanish, English or German. Students could be paid in actual currency (USD, EUR, GBP) or <a href="http://www.wowwiki.com/Money" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">in-game currency</span></a>, school-specific currency or other forms of currency (<a href="http://whuffie.tumblr.com/post/24871874768/via-jmcmichael-how-a-bitcoin-transaction-works" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Bitcoin</span></a>, <a href="http://craphound.com/down/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Whuffie</span></a>, etc) Student skills that are likely in demand as a crowd-sourced commodity are: text editing/conformation, calculation/auditing, technical writing, graphic design, language translation and even physical crafts and artworks.<br />
<br />
Again, these are not institution-specific initiatives, but instead run by competing, accredited groups of curriculum suppliers who would also act as 'solutions contractors' who provide crowd-sourced services. As such, these double-providers would have an incentive to create both good digital curriculum modules and an incentive to have good students in their talent pool.<br />
<br />
[there's an <a href="http://www.csulb.edu/~eruyle/Rereading%20the%20Critique.htm" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">irony</span></a> here: "from each according to his ability, to each according to their I.E.P."]<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://picturesforinstagram.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/27157_quotes_4673681658_973ef24f06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="137" src="http://picturesforinstagram.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/27157_quotes_4673681658_973ef24f06.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div>
There are two specifics, however that should probably be required of every overlapping institution involved in this project. First, that there should be some form of discipline program. At its core should be the idea that the most hurtful thing a student (or teacher, or administrator) could do is to <a href="http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.74686-Smoking-in-Public-Places-and-The-concept-of-Choice-Theft" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">diminish</span></a> or <a href="http://eldraeverse.com/2012/09/01/one-law-for-all/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">take away</span></a> the choices of others. Again, this idea is important to have as a foundation of these "evolving-yet-enduring" systems, but the precise measure of 'choice-theft' and its consequences should be left to the multiple, competing institutions providing the education services. <br />
The second idea is encapsulated nicely in Samuel Becket's play "Westward Ho"(1983). The full quote also reinforces the idea that education today shares much with education 200 years ago and 200 years from now:<br />
<br />
"All of old. Nothing else ever. <br />
Ever tried. Ever failed. <br />
No Matter. Try again. <br />
Fail again. Fail better."<br />
<br />
<br />
<u><b>The Praxes</b></u><br />
Whether this "flexible constellation" is being used by an existing school, or start-up, or software developer or museum it should have an "evolving-yet-enduring" structure that resembles the theoretical design of a utopian design for a campus — something between Jefferson's '<a href="http://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/jeffersons-plan-academical-village" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Academical Village</span></a>' [sic] and Hakim Bey's '<a href="http://hermetic.com/bey/periodic.html" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Periodic Autonomous Zone</span></a>'. It's important to remember that this is not a description of an actual building, but could be. "<a href="http://fff.cmiscm.com/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Form</span></a> follows <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Louis_Sullivan_buildings" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Function</span></a>."<br />
<br />
0) The beginning point in this system are the games and simulations that teach, reinforce and re-enframe the basics or "necessary-but-non-sufficient" conditions of knowledge. Examples have been mentioned previously, but would also include the MOOCs and the systems for assessing and delivering the content in a game-theory-centered manner.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/game.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://blog.bufferapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/game.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div>
<br />
1) The first phase would be a group meeting space, a quiet space in a library or a board room with either a large table or several reconfigurable tables. Here small to medium sized groups come together to plan for a project, study for an accreditation exam, follow-up on an event or production — diagram, design, paste-up ideas and assign duties and responsibilities according to the needs of the task at hand. Instructors/Professors/Teachers would likely be present and overseeing multiple projects and tasks. Like the scriptwriting software <a href="https://www.celtx.com/seeds.html" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Celtx</span></a>, this phase overlaps with both phase 0 (learning the basics through simulation) and other application phases<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.wilsonsd.org/cms/lib01/PA01000270/centricity/domain/253/imagePOE.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://www.wilsonsd.org/cms/lib01/PA01000270/centricity/domain/253/imagePOE.bmp" width="200" /></span></a></div>
2) The core importance of physical books and online libraries in this system is reinforced by phase 2 which includes library research using a real-life library (regardless of physical size) and digital collections for quiet research and contemplative thinking. These physical and virtual libraries should provide a space where students can "geek out" and deeply learn the subject they are currently exploring.<br />
<br />
3) Radiating out from the libraries would be a series of Labs and Workshops where students could work on the creation and experimentation of the projects that they have been researching. Here again Instructors/Professors/Teachers would be present to guide the application of ideas. Also student teams could work together and integrate the work of single groups together.<br />
<br />
4) Farther out in the system would be display spaces/shops, theater spaces, common areas, auditoriums – all spaces for doing or displaying work that is ready for public feedback, consumption, marketing or critique. This gives a place to put student work that has reached a level of completeness.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1343/1394029371_63f711fe11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1343/1394029371_63f711fe11.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div>
<br />
5) Lastly, this system should be 'porous' with society or 'the city' in general, where the public has some access to both the works in progress and the best work on display. The institution should be interesting enough to attract visitors – in the form of museums, shopping arcades, hotel, movie theatre, etc. (an interesting potential might be to retro-fit a dead suburban shopping mall)<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2nR9ChHCxII0epzydqozhInEAsLOnlnS8SK40gI8KmAe7V8FsUMp3DoSRB2rxtHcZXlaptwWW1Aw1qLCvo5irTsKPCtuXb__0mvLeUjl_9qRT2dZ6e_GYPPVh_fw1hQTV0cWfc-yZj1Ba/s1600/photo-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2nR9ChHCxII0epzydqozhInEAsLOnlnS8SK40gI8KmAe7V8FsUMp3DoSRB2rxtHcZXlaptwWW1Aw1qLCvo5irTsKPCtuXb__0mvLeUjl_9qRT2dZ6e_GYPPVh_fw1hQTV0cWfc-yZj1Ba/s320/photo-2.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
Most importantly, these phases are <i>not</i> linear. They bend back around on each other pivoting on the simulations (gamification of learning) and the labs/workshops (practical experiments). Students engage in learning while spending time at each of these different phases.<br />
<br />
Over time, the less self-directed students will likely be more comfortable in phases 4 and 5 and will hone their skills in artisan crafts, management, technical trades and and service skills. The more self-directed students will likely be more comfortable in phases 1 and 2 and will learn integrative thinking, discipline-specific skills, management and research skills.<br />
The overlap is the management and integration that all students learn through the simulations and labs.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/lBvaHZIrt0o/hqdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/lBvaHZIrt0o/hqdefault.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div>
<br />
The administration of each of these educational settings/digital networks should be sleek, evolving-yet-enduring, open to competition but allowed to freely choose its students and its curricula. Done correctly, the market forces should help keep these systems in balance. The administration that administers best administers least. Or put <a href="http://vimeo.com/2285902" target="_blank">another way</a>,<br />
"The wise man's tools are analogies and puzzles."<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://cre8te.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/DSA-Find-Job-Keyboard-Image-Small.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://cre8te.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/DSA-Find-Job-Keyboard-Image-Small.png" width="200" /></span></a></div>
Students, Faculty and Administrators would all share in phases 0 and 3 to learn and teach evolving standard skills and create a shared cultural literacy that they'll be guided toward — but ultimately create anew in each new cohort. This should incentivize a focus on portable digital skills and allow for career changes and institutionalize the practice of multiple job opportunities during a career. This also encourages latent customer-service skills in all professions and removes barriers to time away from careers like sabbaticals, family leave, spiritual retreats, etc. These educational settings/digital networks could be used to guide and support mid-career changes with experienced professionals returning to teach their discipline-specific skills, both online and in an "Education Setting" (e.g. school, museum, etc) as a standard cultural practice.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><u>Marketplace of Ideas</u></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6087/6081039718_167947a957_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="198" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6087/6081039718_167947a957_z.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
The gamification of learning is both really cool and potentially disruptive. This essay has been trying to look past the novelty and explore some of the possible practices that could evolve along with it. The hardware and software that are used will have an impact on the long-term social institutions that rise to meet the need. It is important to keep both the technology and the institutions as free as possible. The best way to accomplish this is though choice and competition – a marketplace of ideas and a marketplace of institutions. In this evolving system, phases 0 though 5 will have to interface with the needs of other institutions, perhaps through crowd-sourced and competing accreditation standards. These standards and oversight could be provided by other similar programs in higher education or businesses.<br />
<br />
Some "evolving-yet-enduring" standards to maintain include:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNQvH6XbzPWfgc7e_LzXLjgLZAWZbMJUbq6ryGjBoP_MQf_1W7v5f8t59mLAhvIEiC_wkyI1d807xgEbtSAsIhiYHbEXvEE0LVPddPxLolKiOp-27iNf7xaankVEbc8S6XzcLiCIGorFQX/s400/At+the+School.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="116" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNQvH6XbzPWfgc7e_LzXLjgLZAWZbMJUbq6ryGjBoP_MQf_1W7v5f8t59mLAhvIEiC_wkyI1d807xgEbtSAsIhiYHbEXvEE0LVPddPxLolKiOp-27iNf7xaankVEbc8S6XzcLiCIGorFQX/s200/At+the+School.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div>
—Keeping multiple, relevant, meaningful and competing accreditation organizations would be key. These institutions would also need to connect toward the elementary (and middle) schools and up toward graduate schools.<br />
—Keeping portable credentials and portable student funding would allow for easy movement between institutions, while allowing relevant, meaningful and competing curricula to grow and evolve along with the needs of the students.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.reed.edu/reed_magazine/december2011/articles/features/images/582_almanac_14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="131" src="http://www.reed.edu/reed_magazine/december2011/articles/features/images/582_almanac_14.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div>
—Keeping strong-yet-flexible framework for porting these education settings into varied cultures and social situations and produce measurable results and allow for local ideas to be incorporated without alienating other or degrading academic exploration and performance.<br />
<br />
The long term success of a society usually turns on how well it can absorb new ideas and new ways of doing things. The <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34901" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">free marketplace of ideas</span></a>, where individuals are free to make choices, especially silly or bad choices, will create a robust, evolving system of education based on the gamification of learning. Forms of school choice likely provide the best system for creating evolving-yet-enduring systems of educational settings, accreditations and digital networks. And like games themselves, this process is going to be both educational and fun.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
</div>
William Hanffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01354916454801550512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6675841233301942912.post-48769467280105065552013-07-13T06:41:00.000-07:002013-07-13T06:41:03.937-07:00T-Shirts for Non-Existant Colleges & Universities<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Templeofrosycross.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Templeofrosycross.png" width="157" /></a></div>
I'd been thinking again about the "Invisible College" which existed as a research correspondence society of educated men in England, France and Switzerland in the mid 17th Century. There's been a lot of speculation as to what they were up to (and more than a few conspiracy theories). While many people thought they were "alchemists" forced underground by reactionary governments, it seems more likely that they were mailing each other copies of their research findings as they were trying to figure out the chemical components of "saltpetre", which is really Potassium Nitrate, which is used in food preserving and less volatile gunpowder. Nonetheless, they used the technique of feigned secrecy and the new technology of dependable-mail-service to create a buzz about themselves, and to make a college that didn't exist.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://cleared2drive.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/college-drinking.jpg?w=450" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://cleared2drive.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/college-drinking.jpg?w=450" width="143" /></a></div>
I've been pretty amazed recently when I speak with colleagues who work at actually-existing colleges, and I make references to Dean Wormer and Delta House, and the cultural reference to "National Lampoon's Animal House" is not retrieved. I'd have thought it would be difficult to grow up in the latter decades of the 20th century and attend college without having seen the film. Although there's a brilliant twist, where 'Bluto' (John Belushi's character), well into his seventh year of 'study' wears a sweatshirt that says only...<br />
<br />
<br />
Naturally, this sweatshirt (and the white Oxford shirt beneath it) are available for sale -- although no retailer seems to get the <a href="http://www.zazzle.com/college_tshirt-235501690691507105" target="_blank">font quite right</a>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://andylikesmovies.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/pcu_that_guy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://andylikesmovies.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/pcu_that_guy.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Belushi's character is directly quoted/retrieved/ripped-off by Jeremy Piven's performance in PCU some 15 years later. Once again t-shirts play a small role when 'Droz' corrects an æsthetic faux-pas that 'Gutter' is about to make by wearing the t-shirt of the band whose concert he is about to attend: <br />
"Don't be that guy."<br />
Another clever film reference, that seems to have faded with time.<br />
<br />
T-shirts for both <a href="http://www.cafepress.com/+faber_college_dark_tshirt,176684630" target="_blank">Faber College</a> and <a href="http://www.zazzle.com/port_chester_university_tshirt-235294339118631775" target="_blank">Port Chester University</a> are available from Zazzle and Café Press...and possible others.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSHk6BICU2tjeYm9rZiElfC0CThzpYg3yB_KhmwosSM3TuIHYfg_b3d4VO5H8gOf_ytbAPeTgqa73rYNf_Q-dVyiAkkrJ5TxJdFs5ltN295UE4ljR_BEuUNNMzIaqlvblmyD9y6i8Tg1Es/s320/miskatonic+seal+medium.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSHk6BICU2tjeYm9rZiElfC0CThzpYg3yB_KhmwosSM3TuIHYfg_b3d4VO5H8gOf_ytbAPeTgqa73rYNf_Q-dVyiAkkrJ5TxJdFs5ltN295UE4ljR_BEuUNNMzIaqlvblmyD9y6i8Tg1Es/s200/miskatonic+seal+medium.gif" width="200" /></a>Faber's slogan is "Scientia est Bonus" (Knowledge is Good) PCU's is "Sic Mentem proba di Rectanus"<br />
which isn't nearly as filthy as you might think...(Proof of Mind of the Gods is the Rectangle).<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.proudproducers.com/prodimages/PH01/m-nblw-large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.proudproducers.com/prodimages/PH01/m-nblw-large.jpg" width="98" /></a><a href="http://rlv.zcache.com/miskatonic_university_tshirt-p235052065483782223zvujn_400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://rlv.zcache.com/miskatonic_university_tshirt-p235052065483782223zvujn_400.jpg" width="200" /></a>Given the huge number of Lovecraftians, there are a lot of different takes on the seal and graphic design for the fictional Miskatonic College in Arkham, Massachusetts. There are also several different designs for attire and other terrifying memorabilia.<br />
<br />
Miskatonic has several mottos, some cannonical some less so. The one on the seal above is roughly "Unknown Causes should be Feared."<br />
<br />
Not to be outdone by Cthulu fans, Ayn Rand fans have made t-shirts for the fictional Patrick Henry University, which I believe is referenced in both <i>The Fountainhead</i> and <i>Atlas Shrugged</i> as the alma mater of several characters. Although, it's a really subtle nod.<br />
<br />William Hanffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01354916454801550512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6675841233301942912.post-48150458011116874642013-05-02T18:54:00.001-07:002013-07-13T06:40:37.327-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPYFIIchLBm_xfdNIpXMgu3vHELRZxhSnnrI1D6R_CzUbAayrfcz5YwLAaDYqtQGRwK6Yy1GSsLj3IVwO9_bUSixxgTb5xFVczMgBOKJNBI_RVC3LctfiVC_CbXtlsF40nANLXbkZ_H8jr/s1600/BurundiSwitzIsreal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPYFIIchLBm_xfdNIpXMgu3vHELRZxhSnnrI1D6R_CzUbAayrfcz5YwLAaDYqtQGRwK6Yy1GSsLj3IVwO9_bUSixxgTb5xFVczMgBOKJNBI_RVC3LctfiVC_CbXtlsF40nANLXbkZ_H8jr/s400/BurundiSwitzIsreal.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
An interesting coincidence: Burundi, Switzerland and Israel each have nearly the same population size — about 8 million people. (although the precise population of Burundi is still up for debate)William Hanffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01354916454801550512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6675841233301942912.post-61542984577408060952012-01-17T15:19:00.000-08:002012-01-17T15:19:31.671-08:00There are a lot of area codes in the greater Los Angeles metro area.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Area_code_323.svg/350px-Area_code_323.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Area_code_323.svg/350px-Area_code_323.svg.png" width="233" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
...and deep inside of that area code is 213.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
It's uncanny how much power these three digits have to define us.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.area-codes.org/area-code-map-768.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://www.area-codes.org/area-code-map-768.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>William Hanffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01354916454801550512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6675841233301942912.post-39267654352107141782011-06-26T13:19:00.000-07:002011-06-26T13:45:38.747-07:00Lila's Latching & Online Learning Posting<a href="http://danoday.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/BeanCounterAbacus.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 182px;" src="http://danoday.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/BeanCounterAbacus.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />While working with the Provost's committee for "Learning Outcomes Assessment" over the past two years or so, I've been exposed to ideas of Rubrics and specific outcomes assessment. A few years ago, I'd have dismissed the entire enterprise as "Bean Counting" and as nearly the opposite of "Progressive, Inquiry-Based Education". But now I'm not so sure...<br />I've been waxing philosophical too much already in this course...but with your permission I'm going to indulge hyper-abstraction for just a little longer....because soon, we'll get down to some technical details...and possibly, even some fun!<br />(and as I stated in my post on the other thread, I'm going to copy-and-paste some of my ideas here because they're actually more related to this week's module. Also, I'm "modeling best practices"...in that ideas, once written, can be recycled and re-used in multiple contexts while learning)<br />We're at a point in history where we've had an Internet for about 43 years, and a World Wide Web for about 22 years. We've been porting higher education into both for a while now. Some things have been great, some were lost, others were simply mediocre.<div><br /><a href="http://www.penelopeironstone.com/scribe.gif" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 195px;" src="http://www.penelopeironstone.com/scribe.gif" border="0" alt="" /></a>...and in that same way that education went from memorizing Epic Poems to reading Socratic Dialogues about 2500 years ago...we've already made much of the leap into an Information Age....the work for us to do now is to create a long-term functional framework that can stand the test of time...for us and our students.<br />Last year, I took a crack at reading Robert Pisrig's 'follow up' philosophical novel to "Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", called "Lila: An Inquiry Into Morals".<br />Along with many ideas the author explored, is the idea of "Latching" -- that is when a new advance makes itself permanent by establishing a physical or social framework for itself. Here's the best quote I could find to make this idea make some sense:<br />"Sometimes a Dynamic increment goes forward but can find no latching mechanism and so fails and slips back to a previous latched position. Whole species and cultures get lost this way. Sometimes a static pattern becomes so powerful it prohibits any Dynamic moves forward. In both cases the evolutionary process is halted for a while. But when it's not halted the result has been an increase in power to control hostile forces or an increase in versatility or both. The increase in versatility is directed toward Dynamic Quality. The increase in power to control hostile forces is directed toward static quality. Without Dynamic Quality the organism cannot grow. Without static quality the organism cannot last. Both are needed."<a href="http://ux.brookdalecc.edu/staff/sandyhook/tripdata/storms/1sailboat%20aground.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 216px; height: 182px;" src="http://ux.brookdalecc.edu/staff/sandyhook/tripdata/storms/1sailboat%20aground.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />(Robert Pirsig, 1991)<br />An even more complex treatise is available <a href="http://www.quantonics.com/Level_6_QTO_Two_MoQs_Perspective_Introduction.html">here</a>.<br />I believe that what we are trying to do in this particular class ...and at UDC in general (and all of higher ed) is to mix the static and Dynamic in order to evolve ways of learning, teaching and knowing to a higher level of complexity.<br />But what this will require is finding those practices & ideas (software) and even physical things (hardware) that will LATCH online learning and education into the existing systems of digital information networks.<br />Perhaps this is where Quality Matters and other best practices come into our explorations. So for as picayune and tedious as these standards may be, I believe that as long as we keep Dynamic Quality in mind, what we will create by following lists like this...<br /><a href="http://sloanconsortium.org/publications/view/v3n11/images/qmslide.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 225px;" src="http://sloanconsortium.org/publications/view/v3n11/images/qmslide.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />1) Couse Overview & Introduction<br />2) Learning Objectives<br />3) Assessment & Measurement<br />4) Resources & Materials<br />5) Learner Engagement<br />6) Course Technology<br />7) Learner Support<br />8) Accessibility<br />...we will be LATCHING all of the cool, progressive, dynamic ideas we've created online into a new tradition of teaching and learning. Coincidentally, I'd encourage all of you to chat with my colleague Prof. Smith about the "technology of theatre" and something called the "Scena". There was a technological breakthrough in about the 6th century B.C.E. when the Greeks could build amphitheaters and raised stages that allowed for a single narrative to be performed for hundreds (maybe even thousands) of people. This technology for passing narrative around was LATCHED into what we now call "Theatre"...and it's served us well for several thousand years. (In fact, we didn't change it until the late 19th or early 20th century when we started to edit film to tell parallel narratives...but that's [quite literally] a different story)<br /><br /><a href="http://gb.fotolibra.com/images/thumbnails/749895-roman-amphitheatre-fiesole-italy.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 144px; height: 108px;" src="http://gb.fotolibra.com/images/thumbnails/749895-roman-amphitheatre-fiesole-italy.jpeg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />So, I look forward to tweaking and finessing our course content, and our online experiences into these assessment rubrics...not because they're fun (these rubrics probably aren't)...but because these standards will allow us to LATCH our enduring knowledge together with evolving technology to create a new way of teaching and learning.<br />What will we create? What will we find? These and more questions we can grapple with over the next two or three weeks. </div><div><br /></div><div>_</div>William Hanffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01354916454801550512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6675841233301942912.post-36983474891975624702010-04-22T17:09:00.001-07:002010-04-22T17:09:29.853-07:00A fun song!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">My new math-geek bedtime song for kids: "Two plus two is four. Four plus four is eight. Eight plus eight is sixteen. Sixteen plus sixteen is thirty-two. Thirty-two plus thirty-two is sixty-four. Sixty-four plus sixty-four is one hundred and twenty-eight. One hundred and twenty-eight plus one hundred and twenty-eight is two hundred and fifty-six. Two hundred and fifty-six plus two hundred and fifty-six is five hundred and twelve. Five hundred and twelve plus five hundred and twelve is one thousand and twenty-four" (great for teaching kids about RAM upgrades!)</span>William Hanffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01354916454801550512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6675841233301942912.post-16734918132595363682010-02-12T09:50:00.001-08:002010-02-12T09:51:29.418-08:00TIVA presentationHere is the video of the presentation I made at the TIVA Social Media event.<div><br /></div><div><object width="400" height="300"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9351315&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1"><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9351315&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/9351315">Professor William Hanff Jr.</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user2616643">TIVA-DC</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p></div>William Hanffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01354916454801550512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6675841233301942912.post-4228337702057590482009-12-29T18:32:00.000-08:002009-12-29T18:35:09.940-08:00Fellow of StringsWith a name like 'Stringfellow Barr', how can your dialogues not be interesting?<div><br /></div><div>If you have the time, listen to these <a href="http://www.stjohnscollege.edu/about/audio.shtml">recordings</a> (we'd call them 'podcasts' now') from the mid-to-late 1960s from St. John's College.<br /><br /></div>William Hanffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01354916454801550512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6675841233301942912.post-31647585921928507892009-10-27T13:50:00.000-07:002009-10-27T13:53:36.768-07:00caught by the camera<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.a-c-d.dk/brochurer/EUROPE/RUSSIA/jalta900_67.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 406px; height: 309px;" src="http://www.a-c-d.dk/brochurer/EUROPE/RUSSIA/jalta900_67.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div>A Ukrainian car advertisement. I'm not sure if the two men were aware that they were going to be in the ad.</div>William Hanffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01354916454801550512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6675841233301942912.post-65747729901017895762009-09-03T12:16:00.000-07:002009-09-03T13:08:43.683-07:00Pages 101 to 104<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.gamebooks.org/gallery/cyoa012.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 301px; height: 507px;" src="http://www.gamebooks.org/gallery/cyoa012.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>A student of mine recently introduced me to the musical stylings of Calvin Harris. Given my penchant for ridiculous retro-futurism, I was particularly taken with the song and video for "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1S3JCknQJ4">Acceptable in the 80s</a>" This lead me to thinking of the myriad of interactive technologies that did not use personal computers or the nascent internet. <div><br /></div><div>Sitting in my office, on top of the filing cabinet is a semi-functional <a href="http://www.2xlrobot.com/">2XL</a> - a cleverly designed 8-track tape player. Using the ability to jump between tracks, a clever writer-producer-voice actor designed multiple interactive narratives and quiz segments. Really pushing a simple technology to do sophisticated (if campy) things.</div><div><br /></div><div>Although I only had a passing acquaintance with it, the vast majority of my friends (then and now) were hard-core gamers. On the few occasions I'd joined a gamer-pod during a several-hour-long game of original D&D, I was struck first by the <a href="http://www.retroist.com/2008/11/15/the-mysterious-disappearance-of-david-a-trampier-tsr-illustrator-and-creator-of-wormy/">illustrations</a>. But only later did I realize how complex the systems for this analog equivalent of an MMORPG really was. (in time it's become even more complex, but eclipsed by its online counterparts)</div><div><br /></div><div>A few months ago, I was walking by the loading dock at the university where I work, when I noticed several beautiful wooden card catalog bureaus being thrown out. I managed to salvage the four nicest of them. I can't help but think that there's a bit of hubris in ditching the analog catalog simply because there is a more effective digital one. In this respect, I admire my RPG otaku friends who keep playing paper-based games.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then somewhere in the back of my brain I remembered another example of an analog interactive technology, the "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choose_Your_Own_Adventure">Choose Your Own Adventure</a>" series. These were the young adult fiction that I remembered from the 80s. Most of them were cliché even to a budding 12 year old. But buried within these mass-market paperbacks was occasional brilliance.</div><div><br /></div><div>In fact, I think the one above taught me an important lesson at least about novels, if not about life in general. ...and how boredom might have been my first introduction to "<a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/postmodernism/">postmodernism</a>"</div><div><br /></div><div>The contrivance to all of these books was simple: a 2nd-person narrative that prompted the reader to turn to a page to continue along the storyline that was based upon your choice. In theory, a great novelty for YA fiction. A reader with a short attention span is engaged in a physical task, and rewarded for decision making. Each reading of the book could be different, also longer or shorter depending on the intent of the reader.</div><div><br /></div><div>But that's not the post-modern experience I had with these books.</div><div><br /></div><div>On some long trip or another, probably either on a flight back from visiting my grandparents or a drive back from visiting my cousins -- both interminable by the standards of a 6th or 7th grader. I decided to simply read the books cover-to-cover. The result was far more interesting that the simple storylines the authors had intended. It was an experience of multiple overlapping realities. In the book pictured above this reached a brilliant meta-conclusion.</div><div><br /></div><div>The story is of an adolescent ("you") abducted by aliens for inclusion in their zoo. During various predictable plot twists, the characters begin searching for a Utopia with its expected peace and happiness. However, following the instructions of the book, a reader would never come across that narrative thread.</div><div><br /></div><div>These are "pages 101 through 104" - and I'd stumbled across them when, being bored, I'd read the book straight through violating its premise. The intervening years had clouded that memory (too much partying in the late '90s). But it's an important lesson to recall. Breaking across the multiple narratives may be the best way to find those hidden utopias - that are un-seeable from the expected narratives that society gives to us.</div><div><br /></div><div>What are some other means of jumping across narratives? Back the the aforementioned late 90s, I'd heard of a film-studies student who had used the school's video editing suites to re-cut "Pulp Fiction" into its chronological order. What utopias did he find? (or was he himself a film-school urban legend? ...a narrative utopia?)</div><div><br /></div><div>At least we can continue to challenge and hack the stories we tell ourselves. Exegesis may be only the beginning....but I'm beginning to see why esoteric frequently means hidden.</div><div><br /></div><div>Like pages 101 through 104.</div>William Hanffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01354916454801550512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6675841233301942912.post-82855670593097717652009-08-06T07:06:00.000-07:002009-08-06T07:08:24.484-07:00DecoysI was reading about how much of the city of Bristol was saved by erecting a 2/3rds scale decoy farther down the river. A bit more research on Military Decoys brought me to this <a href="http://www.shapeintl.com/military-decoy/gallery_t_1.php">brilliant site</a>.William Hanffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01354916454801550512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6675841233301942912.post-34917537049075876362009-08-05T13:24:00.000-07:002009-08-05T13:34:54.910-07:00Roads that Cross the BeltwayI had begun to list the roads that I knew that crossed the Washington, DC Beltway without an interchange. I thought there were maybe ten to twelve. There are 39. I spent the fifteen minutes that the computer was rendering a video, looking at Google Maps and counting them.<div><br /></div><div>These are great ways to avoid rush-hour traffic and get out of town without fighting to get past the Beltway. So, for the edification of the public, here they are from the "12 O'Clock position"(coincidentally the Montgomery/PG county line) running clockwise:</div><div><br /></div><div>1) Riggs Rd.</div><div>2) Cherry Hill Rd.</div><div>3) Rhode Island Ave.</div><div>4) Cherrywood Ln.</div><div>5) Greenbelt Rd.</div><div>6) Good Luck Rd.</div><div>7) MLK Hghwy.</div><div>8) Ardwick Ardmore Rd.</div><div>9) Glenarden Pkwy.</div><div>10) Arena Dr.</div><div>11) Darcy Rd.</div><div>12) Suitland Pkwy.</div><div>13) Suitland Rd/Forestville Rd. (partial exit)</div><div>14) Auth Rd.</div><div>15) Temple Hills Rd.</div><div>16) Livingston Rd.</div><div>17) Oxon Hill Farm Rd. (Dead End)</div><div><br /></div><div>18) GW Pkwy. (partial exit)</div><div>19) Fleet Dr./McGuin Rd.</div><div>20) Backlick Rd.</div><div>21) Heming Ave.</div><div>22) Lee Hghwy.</div><div>23) Idlywood Rd.</div><div>24) Oak St.</div><div>25) Lewinsville Rd.</div><div>26) Old Dominion Dr.</div><div>27) Live Oak Dr. (Dead End)</div><div><br /></div><div>28) MacArthur Blvd.</div><div>29) Persimmon Tree Rd.</div><div>30) Bradly Blvd.</div><div>31) Greentree Rd. (Dead End)</div><div>32) Frenwood Rd.</div><div>33) Cedar Ln.</div><div>34) Kensington Pkwy.</div><div>35) Jones Mill Rd/Beach Dr.</div><div>36) Linden Ln.</div><div>37) Seminary Rd.</div><div>38) Sligo Creek Pkwy.</div><div>39) Burnett Ave. </div>William Hanffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01354916454801550512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6675841233301942912.post-46360751124014483702009-06-14T07:01:00.001-07:002009-06-14T07:01:36.882-07:00Full text of "<a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=A7vnLnfo38EC&dq=Absorbent+Mind&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=WQA1SoK4K5vGM5vK4f4J&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4#PPA171,M1">The Absorbent Mind</a>" is available on Google Books.William Hanffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01354916454801550512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6675841233301942912.post-44822936778647407172009-06-14T04:24:00.000-07:002009-06-14T04:25:22.198-07:00It's all relative.A helpful <a href="http://www.tqc.eu/en/service/calculatordauwpunt/">calculator</a> for DC in the summer.William Hanffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01354916454801550512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6675841233301942912.post-9903500432969297812009-06-13T06:06:00.000-07:002009-06-13T06:39:27.834-07:00The Absorbent Mind in it's early teensI had a long discussion with a friend of mine on a dark, humid night here in DC. He was worried, like many of us are, that he's not as inspired and creative now as he was 15 years ago when we first met. He's got a good job; a journalist for a major national magazine. He's got a pretty decent social life; he'd been flirted with by no less than three young professionals that evening. He's over-worked; but like most of us, he's happiest when busy.<br />Neither he nor I have made the films, documentaries or art-projects we'd planned all of those years ago. The details of life took priority. So looking back at the creative people we'd been years ago, it's easy to feel that we let something slip.<br /><br />My suggestion was three part: <br />1) find a topic to obsess on - something that you can be crazy enough to bleed for; something where your enthusiasm will infect other people. <br />2) go back and watch the films and TV that "creeped you out" in your early teens. As adults we've lost the 'magical realism' that we saw the world through as kids. But in our early teens we're at this specific time when pop culture connects with us, where we can blend the emotional sensitivity of childhood with the rational articulation of early adulthood. (This idea is lifted from Maria Montessori's 'Absorbent Mind' -- the idea that certain times in our development, we're receptive to new ideas and styles of learning, and perhaps sadly, there are times when we resist them)<br /><br />Following this logic, your mid-30s are not a time when your brain is hard-wired for new modes of knowing and learning (I knew some colleagues in grad school who tried to counter this with '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entheogen">entheogenics</a>') But my early to mid teens teemed with new ideas and ways of looking at things. While visiting another friend in his tiny, cramped, rent-controlled apartment, he'd assumed that because I teach TV/Film, I would know virtually every television program ever made. He was still fascinated by a show he'd seen in his early teens on Nickelodeon. He was at exactly the right age to connect with this show. It took some digging, but I found it. It was a rebroadcast of several non-US tween Sci-Fi from New Zealand, Wales, Britian and Canada, repackages for US cable called '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_Eye_%28TV_series%29">The Third Eye</a>'. Thaks to the magic of the internet, we were able to watch some episodes. I had not seen the show during my 'absorbent mind' phase, and as such it struck me as contrived, campy, clever, and mundane. For my friend it was a type of functional nostaglia: he spent the rest of the evening writing (as opposed to surfing the Internet)<br /><br />Back to my discussion and three points.<br /><br />Find the books, TV, music and otherwise disposeable pop culture that unsetteled you in your early teens and re-watch them at least three times, taking notes and critically disecting your emotional responses. Because if you can caputre those responses and articulate them as an adult, you'll have an 'audivisual emotional literacy' that you can then use to write and produce powerful media.<br /><br />My number three is a little less well-formed. In a nutshell, make a PowerPoint presentation. Make a slide-show mock-up: start to assemble to pictures, audio and video while writing a short script on the idea you're obsessing on. No doubt you will find parallels between your functional nostalgia show/album and your chosen topic -- but avoid directly combining the two.<br /><br />Will my friend make is documentary? I have no idea. But at least he's going to spend some time researching and creating something tangible. These little presentations could wind up the equivalent of Facebook postings - short bursts of creativity shared for the love of the topic.William Hanffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01354916454801550512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6675841233301942912.post-16334700715756531282009-01-09T09:21:00.000-08:002009-01-09T18:51:47.361-08:00E-Solutions 4 E-verybodyNot Quite Live-Blogging:<br /><br />Here are the random and unedited notes that I made during the Google/New America Foundations "Wiki Whitehouse e-Government" conference and seminar:<br /><br />http://www.newamerica.net/events/2008/wiki_white_house<br /><br />I busted out the tiny Asus Ee PC and semi-live blogged the event. In fact, since I hung out in the back of the room with the cool kids, I didn't have that good of a view. So I streamed the live feed to my computer (sound off) for a better POV. So now, without further preface, my random musings:<br /><br />Thinking again about the nature of democracy - what is the nature of self-determination within collective action when technology allows for very fluid connections between individuals and groups.<br /><br />Transparency vs. Communication<br /><br />What will be the push back from corporate entities and entrenched political parties? Use of PR and adversing?<br /><br />What is the difference between resident and citizen?<br /><br />What can be "crowd-sourced"? What is the relationship between democracy and "the crowd"? What is the value of mass connectedness? <br /><br />What are the nature of open-source and tech standards?<br />Craig is shopping for a Label. It makes him good at oxymorons. (note - we are not paradoxical, we are optimistic!) "My fellow nerds..."<br /><br />Are we at the rise of "Geek Cultural Revolution". Free the nerds! A new kind of civic engagement: become 'smart' about one topic and get involved online.<br />Don't feed the trolls.-- building discussion boards for vote ups/downs -- will run back into the persistant problems of democracy. For example those people looking to either scam a system.<br /><br />- Net Neutrality is close to agreement, but professional PR trolls get billable hours to slow down genuine discussions.<br />- Digital Divide is being diminished through cheap mobile phones, but the education and thought needed for participation needs to be expanded.<br /><br />What will the opennes to comments on YouTube and WaPo articles do to discourse? Will we start running sources and using social netowrking -- will we demand the same of government info dumps (like budgets and spending bills) Is corporate and government deleting of comments a restriction of 1st amendment rights? Especially in a world where there is no shortage of space (unlike ink & paper)<br /><br />Technocratic Meritocracy! Public Diplomacy.<br /><br />What is the role of comment posts as the new 4th estate for the post-literate age? How literate will the post-literate information era be? (education for new masses?) Or bury dissent in a sea of unorganized information?<br /><br />Is the next decade and a half the rough equivalent of the time period 1776 to 1789? (what is the new form or government that is going to evolve?) What is the relevance of the nation state - controlling resources? What new resources can challenge these old structure?<br /><br />Look again at "Yes Prime Minister". What is "open government"? How do you know when you have it?<br /><br />Innovation: a small video-mixer software where a operator can switch between wi-fi cameras in a room.<br /><br />Are we at the height of a "Praxic Age"? What does it turn into? What are the social ideas which endure?<br />What do we need to do to change the culture? (Bitchun Society?) Education better than Attrition to change from a broadcast to a p2p mentality & culture.<br /><br />----<br />and somewhere I still have my notes from the House of Sweden event I went to over Spring Break. But that's another posting...William Hanffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01354916454801550512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6675841233301942912.post-47776649748334603862008-11-24T18:00:00.000-08:002008-11-24T18:13:47.579-08:00Science<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/08/Useless_Science.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 599px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/08/Useless_Science.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>I'm not worried about Luddism. In fact, in order to be a functional Luddite, you'd have to already be pretty sophisticated in your <a href="http://www.themodernword.com/pynchon/pynchon_essays_luddite.html">approach to science</a>.<div><br /></div><div>What worries me more is that too often we make ourselves willfully ignorant of the science and technology that have such an immense impact on our lives and culture. This is sometimes called a 'magical re-masking' of technology back into the wondrous. Which is a great thing to do for children and for literary suspension of disbelief. But when raised to a lifestyle, it becomes a dangerous philistinism. </div><div><br /></div><div>Carving out new alchemists, high priests and hierophants of technology lets too many people off the hook for understanding the complex and nuanced world around them. Some people are calling for a reversal of this almost as a form of <a href="http://www.myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp?hero=robert_moses">civil rights movement</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>What can we do to make all citizens of a 'digital democracy' into 'media alchemists'? Can we design a system of education to bring all people to the understanding of what had been esoteric gnosticism a few generations ago? What responsibilities do we need to hold ourselves to in order to remain aware of the creation of ideas in a distracting world of cultural spectacle?</div><div><br /></div><div>Granted, there are no easy answers to these questions. But by asking them, at least we can have a thoughtful dialogue on how we want people to think for themselves in the near future.</div>William Hanffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01354916454801550512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6675841233301942912.post-84229239925780682192008-11-22T07:26:00.000-08:002008-11-22T07:32:34.911-08:00gender & politix:thinking about gender and politix:<br /><br />http://charleswjohnson.name/essays/libertarian-feminism/<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3Mt7FMoFrs<br /><br />http://www.bitchmagazine.org/<br /><br />What does it mean to "queer" something when you're philosophical tradition is reasonably conservative?<br /><br />Pardon the pun, but it can make for some pretty strange bedfellows:<br /><br />http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2002/may/15/thefarright.gayrights<br />http://eveningpapers.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/20080424_asegler.pdf<br /><br />http://books.google.com/books?id=TbaL1VYhaNMC&pg=PA270&lpg=PA270&dq=Queering+conservatism&source=web&ots=RgHvPSZqMG&sig=muBZMIQQVnkIX6pdyFDLtQVnV1o&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result#PPP1,M1William Hanffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01354916454801550512noreply@blogger.com0