BP12_Final Video

Pitch for student mentors.

PE7_Flash CS5

Michael Werner, the student whose story is featured in PE6, went on to become the first Mac Lab legend. Second in the legendary artist list is Jeff Micklos, classmate of Michael's, pictured at left, and animated here. Both created a wealth of incredible work over the three or four years they spent in the class. Both excelled at Photoshop and Flash and both pushed the quality/expectations bar in the Mac Lab sky-high.

Jeff graduated with honors from the Art Institute and is currently working in in San Francisco. Michael branched out on his own and currently freelances.

Those two weren't the only exceptional students in the early years but they helped open the door for all who followed, like Brian Sweat and Daniel Fields, the next in the series of Flash gurus in the Mac Lab. It's been a few years since anyone has pushed Flash as we've focused on other tools in the Creative Suite arsenal.

And that brings me back to my own return to Flash. With step four, the journey—or at least the initial part of it—is now complete. Here are the results:



Flash Example | Higher Quality Version of the Video

Credits: Image courtesy of Michael Werner.

PE6_Flash CS5

In the first few years of teaching, I bought and read an amazing number of Flash books. Surprisingly, each of them seemed to approach Flash in virtually the same manner. Thinking it must stand apart, I finally bought the Flash MX 2004 Bible. Though I read through much of that hefty tomb in the early years of teaching, I've rejected most of the strategies in all of these Holy Books as each seems to offer the same dogmatic method of introducing one to the interactive nature of the almighty program.

I began to develop my own approach to reaching and teaching Flash, all the while trying to impress upon my students the high standards that the Mac Lab has come to be know for. An underclassman named Michael dove into Flash with relish, eager to tell his tale. His first video was met with cheers. The rest of the story unfolds as told in one of my first blog posts:

I challenged him several times, Is that the best you can do? He responded with this and this and this. That's it? That's the best you got? That's pitiful! And the kids around him laughed, though not at him. He was a hero for taking the pro-PC stand against Skocko—for putting down Skocko's beloved Macs. But he knew what I really meant. He felt the challenge. And he rose to meet it (press the play button).

Now we were getting somewhere. While the other kids just saw a cooler version of destroying a Mac, he and I discussed the robot and its movement. What he'd accomplished was actually quite impressive. It showed real promise and I encouraged him to take the animation further. He worked. We talked. He came up with this series of animations (resize the browser window to better fit the SWFs): one, two, three, and four. Only those who understand Flash can begin to appreciate just how far this student pushed himself. That's a journey one doesn't easily forget. 

But I digress. Now back to the story of my partial resurrection as a Flasher...



Flash Example | Higher Quality Version of the Video

Credits: Flash MX 2004 Bible image courtesy of PhotoshopSupport.com.

PE5_Flash CS5

About a month after I began teaching in January of 2002, I challenged the mostly uninspired crew I inherited to learn a new application. My pitch to the so-called advanced classes on a Friday morning? Let's learn Flash together!

Since none of us knew anything about using the program, I challenged the kids to beat me at the learning game. The response was less than enthusiastic. Impulsively, I said something like: If I can create something cool to show on Monday, will you give it a try?

What happened that Monday? Click. And the great Mac Lab Flash rush was on.

Continuing my efforts to regain my Flash footing in CS5, here's the scoop to date:



Flash Example | Higher Quality Version of the Video

Credits: Flash 5 splash graphic courtesy of Reinaldo Aguilera via GUIdebook.

PE4_Flash CS5

Once upon a time, people from around the world came to my little website to learn to use Flash. Sometimes the people would leave a few breadcrumbs behind. All was well in the world.

Then the day came came to pass that Adobe released the CS4 collection. I opened Flash and much to my surprise, none of my basic skills were of any use. My old friend had changed the locks to all her doors and though disappointed, I had no great urge to rediscover how to unlock the program because the rest of the Master Collection was packed with other exciting tools to explore. Flash became a distant memory, like my very own Puff, the Magic Dragon.

Now, however, thanks to this assignment, I've dusted off some old skills and discovered a few new ones as this video demonstrates:



Flash Example | Higher Quality Version of the Video

Credits: Flash logo courtesy of Adobe.

BP11_OMM_Instapaper

For more information see BP8.

Credits: Instapaper

BP10_Link to My Comment on Connie's Blog

Link to comment on Connie's Blog.

Credits: Image courtesy of Quizegg.com.

BP9_Link to My Comment on Jen's Blog

Link to comment on Jen's Blog.

Credits: Image courtesy of Glogster.com.

BP8_Instapaper

I have thousands of bookmarks. Some I've carefully exported and preserved, safe in archived folders, backed up on multiple hard drives, and seldom, if ever, accessed as the years drift by. Most of the others, as you can see to the left, are gathering virtual dust in nested folders in my browser's bookmark bar.

Oh sure, I've tried Delicious and Diigo, both with some success but neither was as fun, simple, and effortless as I'd hoped. My bookmarking addiction probably falls under the category of hoarding and though I've yet to find the perfect long-term solution, I've recently discovered the best one-two punch for knocking out the short-term bookmark blues.

I've detailed Evernote here and here but Instapaper is the perfect cure for the must-read later but how will I remember blues. Well, the seemingly perfect cure.

I could write about this but let's face it, a video is worth a thousand (or more) words. Here's Instapaper in action:



Note: The idea voiced in the video (to add Instapaper to my morning bookmarks) was news to me. The words slipped out and a part of me got to experience the jaw-drop of witnessing a brilliantly simple and obvious idea surfacing, seemingly of its own accord. I offer the following screenshot as a peek into what I'll see when opening that first set of bookmarks in tabs tomorrow morning.

Had I not chosen to make that video, I might have never discovered such an obviously useful method of reviewing the prior day's bookmarks. Like I said, brilliant! (In a totally subconscious sort of way.)

Once again, another golden idea gleaned from my journey through the EMDT program at FSO.

Thanks!

A higher-quality version of the video may be found here.

PE3_iMovie

I wondered what would happen if I tried the same process as in the prior post without removing the Ken Burns effect. No better way to find out than by trying.

The results, while not satisfying, do indicate that this process might lead to expressive ways to animate artwork. I consider this a successful failure.



Credits: Artwork courtesy of former Mac Lab student Steven Moyer. Stock image via Stock.XCHNG.

PE2_iMovie

I've recorded way too many video tutorials demonstrating how to animate Photoshop composites using Flash. Though the steps are simple and straight forward, Flash is not the easiest program to learn and not all students succeeded in creating elegant animations.

While pondering what in the world I could do to experiment in iMovie, sudden inspiration! Would it work? As you can see below, the process was a success. Like the original method, the steps are simple and straight forward. Unlike Flash, iMovie does not require nested symbols and multiple timelines.

I think this strategy might help more students succeed in animating their composites. The experiment succeeds.



Tutorial: A brief, incomplete preview of the required steps to produce this may be found here. More detailed instructions to follow.

Credits: Artwork courtesy of former Mac Lab student Steven Moyer. Stock image via Stock.XCHNG.

PE1_iMovie

The last time I used iMovie was in 2003. There wasn't much in the Lynda.com videos about working in odd aspect ratios so I thought I'd give a series of still images a try. The embedded video is 550 x 550 pixels.

It looks like I have a lot to learn about this process but, with the exception of a few images, this short video did turn out crisper and cleaner than I expected. No idea why some images looked so much better than others.



Credits: Images courtesy of Mac Lab students.

BP7_OMM_Evernote 2.0 Beta 1

I've recorded this video so many times I'm about to go crazy. From the original two plus minutes I've finally got the recording down to 1:03. I'll take it and move on.

Note: I could nail it by cutting the and they all lived happily ever after but I'm a sucker for happy endings.

For all the time Evernote has been saving me, this video has taken it all back. :P



Higher quality version of the video may be found here.

Credits: Image courtesy of Oleg Volk.

BP6_Link to My Comment on Matt's Blog

Link to comment on Matt's's Blog.

Comment on Michael's blog.

Credits: Image courtesy of Google.

BP5_Link to My Comment on Jenney's Blog

Link to comment on Jenney's Blog.

Comment on Shamina's blog.

Credits: Image courtesy of Busuu.com.

BP4_Evernote 2.0 Beta 1

The unconscious, though one cannot force it, will not produce new ideas unless it has been painstakingly stuffed full of facts, impressions, concepts, and an endless series of conscious ruminations and attempted solutions. On this we have the testimony of many creative people.
— Morton Hunt / The Universe Within

Sherman, set the WABAC Machine to 1974...

My first graphic design teacher at Cal Poly stressed the importance of beginning and maintaining a morgue file—a manilla folder containing photos, ads, logos, color—anything that sparked one's imagination. In the third of a century+ since that day I've collected thousands of images, first in a series of manilla folders (during the initial 20 years) and in countless digital folders (in the past 15 years).

In many ways, the manilla folders served me better as I could always find what I was looking for (though it may have taken a while). The digital archive contains far more imagery but it is currently scattered across four computers (two laptops, a Mac Pro, and a G4 that won't die), stacks of CDs, and a half-dozen portable hard drives. I just searched for Images in my user account on this laptop (not even a year old) the Finder's results say it has: More that 10,000 items.

To combat this disconnect between image collection and delivery to students, I created the Inspiration page on April 5, 2009. While more successful at archiving imagery than anything I'd tried in the past, it is ridiculously labor-intensive to support and is similar to the old manilla folders in that it's not a searchable imagery database. It does serve as an alternative—however unsatisfactory—to Google Images for students to use in order to find inspiration.

But, since beginning this Masters program at FSO, I've not had the hours and hours to dedicate to discovering new resources and, more importantly, to add each image to the Inspiration archive all the while knowing it wasn't the 21st century equivalent of a morgue file I'd hoped it would be.

Enter Evernote.

Or perhaps I should say, enter the Evernote 2.0 Beta that I read about on Macworld four days ago. Unlike image services like Flickr or Picasa, Evernote is neither blocked by the district now nor likely to be blocked in the future.

The Evernote Beta includes something called stacks that are actually nested folders which makes it far more useful but the real clincher is that the Beta introduces Notebook Sharing—the ability to share notebooks (folders) with other Evernote users. The Premium version ($45 per year) allows other users to edit shared notebooks.

I've been testing the Beta the past few days and am ecstatic. I'll be recording a series of videos to chronicle the tool and its uses and will share them here. For now, here's a look at one of Evernote's how-to videos:



One Minute Evernote video may be found here.

Credits: Featured image by Mac Lab students. Evernote logo and video via Evernote and YouTube.

Off Topic | 2010 EduBlog Awards

Without even knowing it had been nominated, I just found out that the Mac Lab Blog made the cut and is now a finalist in the 2010 EduBlog Awards. If you're so inclined, go to the Best Class Edublog page, peruse the nominees, and cast your vote.

Note: One vote per IP address to prevent stuffing the ballot box. :)

BP3_iGoogleScreenShots

A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his. In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts: they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty. Great works of art have no more affecting lesson for us than this. They teach us to abide by our spontaneous impression with good-humored inflexibility then most when the whole cry of voices is on the other side. Else, to-morrow a stranger will say with masterly good sense precisely what we have thought and felt all the time, and we shall be forced to take with shame our own opinion from another.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson / Self Reliance

My past is fraught with bad choices and good ideas cast to the wind, a myriad of wasted opportunities, an ocean of what ifs. Perhaps that would still be the case had fate not intervened and bounced me along a string of unlikely coincidences, leading me directly to Room 246 in Valhalla High School. There, the students and I have proven that Marilyn Ferguson was right when she wrote (in the Aquarian Conspiracy): Our past is not our potential. The Mac Lab is a living testament to abiding by one's spontaneous impression with good-humored inflexibility.

As I wrote in my class blog:

I knew how this second semester was going to unfold when I stood before the class the day we returned to school back in January [2009]. I remember, quite distinctly, how I took a breath and began to speak, but the words weren't anything I'd planned on saying. Sudden inspiration altered our direction that day. The blog was born the following week. We've had one constant though, from that first post right up to yesterday's. We experiment. Every creative act involves a measure of uncertainty. We don't move from A to B in a straight line. We learn though process. We ponder, reflect, imagine, adapt, improve, refine, present, and begin again. We actively seek out inspiration, always reaching higher.

At some point during the first viewing of the video entitled, Networked Student, I experienced that gleam of light which Emerson claims flashes across one's mind and I knew, without a doubt that connectivism will play an important role in my CBR. I've searched and both EBSCOhost and Google Scholar contain papers and articles. And to think we're supposed to finalize our 25 or so sources by Monday. I can't speak for anyone else, but for me the process is fluid and organic, not rigid and structured. The iGoogle project took on new purpose between one breath and the next during that video. The screenshots are posted here and posted early because I want to follow this idea right now.

I'm wondering how many other priceless ideas are waiting in the wings of our Full Sail experience. As was said in my Big Idea Pitch: Theory is all well and good but we need need real world solutions today and that's what I'm interested in.

Note: The imagery on display during that segment should make clear that I'm interested in the practical application of theory and I'm intent on applying it now (as I've done since day one), not waiting until month six.

Every student deserves the best I've got the moment I've got it. In the Mac Lab, we show what we know—both the students and myself. Our experiment is ongoing and the results so far are more than encouraging. (Current qualitative and quantitative findings are described on this page.)

As Emerson wrote in Literary Ethics:

The hour of that choice is the crisis of your history... Be content with a little light, so it be your own. Explore and explore. Be neither chided nor flattered out of your position of perpetual inquiry… Make yourself necessary to the world, and mankind will give you bread.

My classroom already has one of the most extensive teacher-created resources in the world. Between my old website and the blog, there are over 70GBs of resources. On Monday I'll be introducing the students to the concepts of Connectivism and Personal Learning Environments. The Mac Lab is already a hybrid classroom where students work at their own pace via our online resources. With the introduction of these concepts, students will have the opportunity to take even greater control of the pace, depth, and breadth their learning. And maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to connect with a few more of the disenfranchised, the ever-present children left behind, the flatliners.

Fate handed me a second chance. My students deserve no less.

Long ago, far and away, or always somewhere near 

Conductor’s instrumental, sends notes to inner ear 

Harmonic reconvergence, improvisation’s planned 

To amend the broken page, pour melodies from band 

Watering the wildest flowers, a second-handed chance 

To trade in white-washed paddock walls, for suit and horse and lance 

— Dream Yet Complete

BP2_Prezi

We Have Met the Enemy and He Is PowerPoint

— Title, NY Times Article by Elisabeth Bumiller

That title may be a slight exaggeration but as the collaborative, interactive nature of Web 2.0 is to the linear, static version of Web 1.0, Prezi is to PowerPoint.

Prezi is a free online tool that may be used individually or collaboratively to build engaging presentations. A few how-to videos from the folks at Prezi may be found here. I've made a series of videos as well.

I tried Prezi once last year. After testing the waters, I directed my students to construct and embed a Prezi-based portfolio in each of their own class websites. The kids loved the ease of use but my more discerning students were disappointed with image quality. Many reported success in using Prezi in place of PowerPoint for their other classes. Since I have over 200 new students this year, I plan on introducing them to the process as well.

Prezi, like PowerPoint, is not a great tool for displaying high-quality imagery but it is a fun and exciting alternative to Death by PowerPoint. Simple to use, it provides even less-adept students with a confidence-building Web 2.0 experience. Each of my students successfully constructed a Prezi last year. With it's new collaborative features, Prezi Meeting is sure to WOW the kids working on group projects.



To see how easy it is to collaborate, please add your own voice to this vitally important project (link expires on December 5). As you'll see in the following tutorial, setting up the collaborative environment is simply a matter of clicking a button and providing the link.



If you'd rather have written instructions, see this page.

I created the following Prezi for demonstration purposes. In the spirit of feeding two birds with one seed, it's for my FSO classmates as well as my students. In the same vein, I mentioned that I've recorded a series of video tutorials (19 videos). The videos explore Photoshop workflow, shortcuts, strategies, and a few other tips and tricks that you might find of value, especially if you're new to Photoshop. Additional thoughts on Prezi may be found in the final four videos on that page.

2010 Self Portraits on Prezi

Note: I spent a couple of hours exploring the Go2Web 2.0 site and didn't want to force a choice for uniqueness' sake. Like the rest of my Full Sail experience, I'm not really interested in resources that don't directly help my own students succeed. My second choice isn't even listed on the Go2Web site. Maybe I should keep that resource in check for a future post. ;)

Credits: The complex PowerPoint slide is courtesy of US Military (larger version), Death by PowerPoint by Frits Ahlefeldt, Prezi videos by Prezi via YouTube (1 | 2), student artwork via these students, and the video within my Prezi is courtesy of Sir Ken Robinson, RSA, and RSA Animate, via this YouTube page.

BP1_Welcome to My Blog

If you do not specify and confront real issues, what you say will surely obscure them. If you do not alarm anyone morally, you yourself remain morally asleep. If you do not embody controversy, what you say will be an acceptance of the drift of the coming human hell.
— C. Wright Mills

I began using quotations to set the tone for my posts... searching... on July 1, 2009. At the end of that post I mentioned that we'd just logged our 80,000th page view (in three months of tracking). Not bad for a little high school blog, eh?

Since then, we've had almost 600,000 additional page views and I've become a solid believer in the power of blogs. But this one? It seems as if I have a choice; and it's the usual one: (a) Do your job, don't rock the boat, and collect your pay, degree, etc. Or (b) Follow C. Wright Mills' advice.

Education is broken. We don't need Sir Ken to tell us that. The best way to fix a broken system is to step outside of it. We need distance and perspective to see to the root of the problems. We need leaps of imagination to discover potential solutions. We need flexibility and adaptability to implement necessary changes. And as Buckminster Fuller wrote in Critical Path, we need the courage to do what we be believe is right:

The invisible tensive straws that can save us are those of individual human integrities—in daring to steer the individual’s course only by truth, strange as the realized truth may often seem—wherever and whenever the truths are evidenced to the individual—wherever they may lead, unfamiliar as the way may be.

I have no desire to embody controversy but I do intend to specify and confront real issues. A series of open letters will be posted in addition to the class assignments (see right sidebar). I believe the folks at Full Sail care about the state of education and no disrespect is intended by making my case in a public forum but I have some very serious concerns. What I would like is a response that doesn't amount to, "That's just the way it is."

Note: Links in my posts often point to Wikipedia because, as I tell my students, it's a good place to begin a search. (But a terrible place to end one.)


Credits: Photo by Christopher Canel. Apropos comic by Dan Piraro.