more ramblings…

The Visual Communication and Interactive Media area, within the School of Design, are looking to expand the team with new staff members

Link here

I am about to use this methodology in a new brief with my students.

Moving away from the Neilson/Nelson heuristic approach, I wish to use metaphor (as defined in this paper) as a medium for the students to assess their artefacts and processes, reflectively.

Go here to read the paper.

in relation to the Second Life project I am running at University:

The project will enhance learning and teaching through the explicit use of collaborative projects with different learning communities. This approach will give the learner a broader understanding of other approaches with regards to the dissemination of information.
The project is original with reference to the University, but will still be in the vanguard of other educational institutions worldwide who are adopting this approach to various aspects of the learning and teaching experience – such as Yale and Harvard, Cambridge, Edinburgh to mention a few.
As for transferability across different teaching areas; as illustrated above, the community aspect of the project can be used for such events as seminars, critiques with local and distance/international collaborators. This is well reflected in the following approach, where second life is seen as being able to provide :
1: Constructivist environments for synchronous group learning
2: Constructionist environments for asynchronous and individual learning

so ends 3 weeks of xmas and new year holiday. In reality, I had only 2 weeks, having spent the last week collating information for the new modules beginning in semester two (three weeks away).

I think I have been successful – posts to various groups for discussion, have brought forth some great ideas. I just have to make them sticky for level 4 students (UK first years of a honours degree), and not scare them!

I am aiming to introduce the students to HCI, HCD as well as more “immersive and emotive” media design, without them thinking we are heading down the path of coding.

It is the visualisation I am interested in – the concept, the use of space – not just interface as they see it.

Thanks to all who have contributed to my requests

so here’s the srl :

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Northumbria%20Design%20School/68/40/26

if you have second life installed you can view it in google maps, and then go there.

my moniker in SL is Bigtam Aristocrat, so feel free to add me once you are there.

again, any responses to the design, layout etc. well recieved by us here.

I must thank Cube Republic for his committment to building the space.

I thought now would be the best time to begin a new blog – one which I control – into which I can pour ideas about the above.

To be frank, this will initially be a place for reflective activity, a repository into which I will pour things.

Emotive and Immersive Media Design and Human-Centred Design, are two new modules I am about to deliver at University, and I wish to collate as much information and input as possible, to keep them fluid and upto date.

I am also involved in the development of the School of Design within Second Life.  I am very interested in how pedagogical models function in a virtual environment, if indeed they do.