August 12, 2004
Enabling Pedagogy through New Media
Pedagogy is currently experiencing a renaissance with regards to technology and the enabling capacity of new media. Web CT, Blackboard, electronic reserves and other internet technologies offer a range of methods to present, disseminate and digitally archive current academic curricula. This entry looks at my UM colleague, Dr. Lyn MacCorkle's online application for enabling a recent team taught course at UMiami on "The Sixties". This entry abstracts parameters to open discussion regarding this type of application as a way of assisting academics but also providing students with learning tools.
"The Sixties" is a cross-listed interdisciplinary course (English/History/American Studies) taught by Dr. Zack Bowen (English) and Dr. Donald Spivey (History). Innovatively, the course utilizes UM faculty in week by week 'thematic panels' to introduce students to relevant sixties themes through the polyphony of UM faculty experience.
Method and Video Possibility
For this course, faculty members were videotaped on panels surrounding thematic-based topics. These tapes were then digitized and edited so that individual speaker's comments regarding particular themes (i.e. Civil Rights, Kennedy Era, Vietnam) became digital clips. Methodology here on the one hand deals with a university's interdisciplinary 'collective expertise', 'oral histories' but also setting up speaker panels and the mechanics/politics of videotaping.
Online Presentation
The presentation of the larger sixties site is elegant, following an unobtrusive visual design to foreground course materials through information retrieval. The site is simultaneously a 'learning tool', archive and information portal. Methodologically, visual design 'themes' course parameters with accompanying visual images but also university specific video regarding the sixties ranging from early UM university President Dr. Henry Stanford to UM student body figures recalling events.
Homepage
On a homepage, the site, visually divides into two areas. On the left sections divide into a video archive, bibliography and chronology. On the right a list provides a thematic breakdown of major course sections: WWI & the 50s, the Beats and Counter Culture, Civil Rights, Kennedy, Vietnam, Student Unrest, Gender, Age of Aquarius, Urban Riots. Underneath this is a link to the course syllabus. Each of these links further breakdown. The information design presents a university-level academic course enabled by electronic 'information retrievable methodologies in a succinct, easy navigable manner.
Syllabus
The syllabus is presented online with course summary and associated speakers by date. Students/later audience may review talks at their leisure, follow readings, assignments etc. and trace the original course.
The panel speaker videos are also placed within and connected to a database (MySQL/PHP). Users search videos by speaker, theme (i.e. Age of Aquarius, gender issues) or keywords. Innovatively, the videos and 'live course' becomes an 'archive' for future generations - the collective historical faculty expertise becomes codified as digital library.
Metadata and Video
In developing this site, Dr. MacCorkle worked with metadata librarian Fiona Kelleghan to on the one hand abstract the content of various speakers' videos and on the other provide keywords and subject headings for later database search and retrieval. The higher level of metadata (information describing information) is evident. With videos ranging from 2-60 minutes, summaries from a professional abstracting librarian provided precise, controlled and detailed commentary of otherwise lengthy video data that would be difficult to search. The summaries, controlled vocabularies and 'keywords also provide grist - more precise search capabilities are enabled.
Course Bibliography
A bibliography link provides a further page which can be searched in six ways. Visitors can search the course by course theme, browse various media by assigned subject headings or search terms by title and associated annotation. Succinct annotated lists are provided of selective websites, books and videos in the UM libraries collection regarding the sixties. The key here within websites is the selective and discriminating function of the digital librarian/subject specialist. Faculty expertise could also be used here to draw up these bibliographic lists. The innovation comes in annotation of titles which again provide precision of material. Material can later be quickly searched through a database. All books and videos link to present library resources through the catalog for easy retrieval by faculty and students.
Chronology and Organizational Parameters
A detailed chronology is also built. Each year's breakdown contains a list of significant selected events, highlighted keywords for scanning and link to a wealth of internet related resources. The chronology attests to the wealth of information present on the wider internet and electronically relates to the larger course 'organizational parameters'. In terms of information design and metaphor, the specificity of this model (chronological, thematic) could be abstracted on a course by course basis (i.e. Molecular Biology, Sections of the molecule or cell etc.) in consultation with faculty presenting specific courses. While not pursued in this iteration, this chronological area could also be further be broken down into a searchable database.
Thematic Course Breakdown
On the right of the homepage is a thematic course breakdown, moving from WWII to Kennedy and Vietnam to Gender. Each of these clickable headings leads to a respective page further describing/detailing the particular topic. Images elegantly frame each section branding the theme and giving larger immediate visual cue to the section's content. Within these 'thematic pages', larger course context is preserved. The entire course subject breakdown is presented on the right. A set of buttons (bibliography, videos,chronology) searches the bibliographic database, course video database by thematic topic area. The innovation here is the 'remix' and 'repurposing of resources for information retrieval.
Larger Models
To reflect on the wider applicability of the model, the digital video clips and easy retrievability as a database forms the centre of this application. Future value as a 'digital archive' is undeniable. Because of the intense and large amount of work involved here, this perhaps is not a recommended methodology for every course. This result is the work of many voices. Here also its value lies. Every university has a few of these jewels. With regards to academics taking the time to organize courses that are university-wide labors of love and interdisciplinary endeavors, these are large efforts. This model is one that should be developed further. It opens larger questions regarding, methodology, learning methods and future digital archives.
August 11, 2004
A Note on Information Retrieval, Search Engines, Current Page Rank Technologies
There is an evergrowing depth of information with regards to bodies of knowledge present on the Internet. The problem becomes not whether information exists but 'how' to find specific information within larger bodies of data. Whether academic university site or subject-centred website, questions surround 'metadata' (i.e. data describing data) but also different search methodologies and page rank technologies. By looking under the hood of various search engines, it is possible to glimpse at some of the parameters of 'information retrieval within larger information spaces.
To begin, different 'search engines', employ different 'page rank' technologies. Google uses networked PC's rather than mainframes to 'troll' for information. Page rank technology here relies not so much on how many times a particular 'keyword' appears on a particular page but on how many pages 'link' to the particular page. Google puts this,
Instead of counting direct links, PageRank interprets a link from Page A to Page B as a vote for Page B by Page A. PageRank then assesses a page's importance by the number of votes it receives.
'Yahoo' allows web developers to suggest under which taxonomy a particular site resides. For example, Regions | Cuba | Social Science | History | The Cuban Rafter Phenomenon describes a hierarchical taxonomic tree that classifies subject areas on a genus/species type model.
Most search engines also include a paid inclusion model and make a distinction between search engine 'submission' (i.e. making sure your site is listed) and search engine 'optimization' ( altering your site so it ranks well for particular terms). Yahoo also has 'human editors' compiling its results as opposed to most other engines which use 'crawlers' or bots. All of these factors should be taken into consideration when either listing or beginning to promote/market/place a site
.
In terms of metadata, (i.e. data describing data), the fast rule here is that the various search engines employ metadata (i.e. keywords, tags) differently. In terms of librarian-type standards for metadata, there are higher standards such as the "Dublin Core Metadata Initiative" which provides a more robust methodology of classifying information but this is not yet widely implemented or used by engines or webmasters though it is gaining acceptance by a smaller group of systems librarians. Circa Summer/Fall 2004, search engine ranking is less science than art and information retrieval methodologies still in a healthy flux vying for both superior search strategies in terms of precision and recall and market share in terms of internet web applications.
August 2, 2004
Histories of Proto-Multimedia Visionaries
Jose Ferez Kuri's "Brion Gysin: Tuning into the Multimedia Age" presents a series of essayistic portraits of the mercurial and proto-multimedia visionary, "Brion Gysin". Gysin is largely known through his more famous colleague, William Burroughs and Burroughs oft-quoted remark that Gysin was the originator of the 'cut-up' technique. In terms of digital library possibilities Gysin is important - his biography provides a window to the historical protogenesis of multimedia. A glimpse at Gysin's proto cut-n-mix digital montage aesthetic also provides a talisman as to the future development of digital libraries.
To say Gysin was a visionary and ahead of his time is an understatement. Many of his pre-internet statements regarding 'multimedia' archives, future libraries and directions have proven true. Regarding others, the utility is unexplored. "Painting is fifty years ahead of literature...there can be no new writing or new images, simply a remix of the old". On the cut-up method (the staple of multimedia web design in a digital arena)
"Use any system which suggests itself to you. Take your own words or the words said to you. The very own words of someone else living or dead. You'll soon see that words don't belong to anyone. Words have a vitality of their own and you or anybody can make them gush into action".
It is interesting to think about Gysin's forward reflections on language and books with regards to digital issues regarding copyright that we experience today. Through his early work, Gysin explored the 'breakdown' of the verbal signifier and a move towards 'visuality' and multimedia exploring technological possibilities and other realms of 'information' organization. There is much to reflect on here. Gysin's approach towards 'multimedia' was at first called by one of the originators of Fluxus, George Maciuna, 'Expanded Cinema'. On technological possibilities Gysin writes,
"There was a whole muggy area of doubt as to what to call this monstrosity I helped bring about. Because of the machines involved, the electronics, I would have called it 'machine poetry' but everyone shied away from that. I felt good about creating through the machines and they did not. I wanted to make language work in a new way, to surprise its secrets by using it as the material one passed through available electronics to amplify the voices of poetry."
In terms of internet possibilities, Gysin was interested in 'network' possibilities. In a project with Burroughs called the third mind Gysin writes, "Whenever two minds come together, a third is created. Use multimedia to create 'interference' patterns' to free thought up from the linear western space/time grid". Much of Gysin's time was spent in Eastern countries and the exploration of non western cultures (Arabic, Japanese, African).
To say that Gysin had a multimedia ethic in a lingering monomedia culture is an understatement. Repetition, permutation, remix, collage, montage, multiple variants and things we deal with daily in multimedia information design and archives were modalities in which Gysin thought. For this alone, this book is worth reflecting upon.
Cuban Rafter Multimedia Archive
Between 1959 and 1994, in defiance of Cuban law, more than 63,000 citizens left Cuba by sea in small groups and reached the United States alive. Thousands more washed up in the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands and other Caribbean shores. Over the years, they have been collectively known as balseros (rafters) and their precarious vessels as balsas (rafts). At least 16,000 additional rafters did not survive the crossing.
Over the summer of 2004, I had the opportunity to develop a multimedia archive on this topic working with Dr. Holly Ackerman, one of the world's experts on this rafter phenomenon. The result was The Cuban Rafter Phenomenon: A Unique Sea Exodus.
Project Challenge
This challenge for this interactive multimedia website was to create a digital environment to explore the experience of the thousands of citizens who left Cuba in small boats, homemade rafts and other unusual craft. The site would focus on those who precipitated and participated in one specific sea exodus – the raft crisis of 1994. Through photos, videos, bibliography, primary documents and narratives the site would examine the 1994 crisis and, by extension, begin to investigate the nature of the larger theme of post-1980 Cuban migration.
The 'educational' objective of this project was to present a stylistically elegant yet intellectually robust interactive multimedia website exploring the Cuban Rafter Phenomenon. Because this recent 'history' was only beginning to be told and understood, it was important that this site be balanced, wide ranging and (re)present/(re)collect a variety of academic and bibliographic sources regarding the Rafters and rafter phenomenon. The challenge was not to create a typical academic scrolling text heavy research site but a digital library that would take advantage of multimedia to present the rafters' experience through a range of sound, video, interactivity and images. Abstractly, the challenge was to expand epistemological horizons for representing a history or body of knowledge through narrative by pushing past a strictly linear textual structure to one that would encompass a wider spectrum of media (images, audio, video). Because a large portion of the audience was 'Spanish' speaking, it was also important that major sections of the site be presented in both English and Spanish and that the design be easy to navigate, information rich and balanced.
Technical Challenge
Technically, the challenge in building this project involved how to present a robust amount of information and different media in an interesting and engaging manner. The project's content had to be designed in such a way as to present a Ph.D. spectrum of text that also seamlessly incorporated images, video, audio and music within an interactive presentation. Macromedia Flash was used to provide an elegant information architecture and to create horizontal timelines, visual metaphor and a condensed structure to present large amounts of information in single screen spaces. Macromedia Dreamweaver was used to quickly build pages and integrate different media (Real video, audio) effectively and efficiently. Organizational elements of Dreamweaver were used to keep track of a massive amount of files in an organized manner while translations changed and files were updated. Cascading style sheets, frames and template capabilities were utilized to build a larger site structure quickly and efficiently and to incorporate changes. Photoshop was used to cut and digitally enhance images that otherwise would be be less interesting. Finally, Adobe Acrobat was used to keep the archival integrity and interest of source documents (i.e. press releases, news articles, government documents). Working with Dr. Ackerman, the challenge was also to take advantage of her extensive knowledge of the topic in terms of visual imagery and spectrum of multimedia to build a new millennia digital library that expanded from book-bound monologic scrolling-text to a more polyphonic representation.
New Cognitive Cartographies
While the site could be easily navigated through a frame-based navigation system, a more non-linear approach was also developed through a central map metaphor. This methodology took advantage of new imaging technology, 'the Zoomifyer'. Here, a large image of a Cuban map was imported which could be zoomed and navigated for cartographic examination. Hotspots using images and captions were 'mapped' so that users could navigate to certain areas (ie. Guantanamo, Cayman Islands) and receive more information. Essentially, the map provided a second route and more intuitive methodology for navigation and robust method to 'encapsulate' various views that could be coded to button icons. A top left contextual map also preserved 'context' if viewers wished to navigate and zoom to very specific areas while keeping in mind their place on the larger map.
Benefits
This site was successfully launched during an international academic conference held in the summer of 2004 between the University of Miami, Florida International University Cuban Research Centre and St. Thomas University Centre for Human Rights. As an educational tool, it was well-received by a spectrum of academics, students, policy-makers and politicians and featured as a large screen/kiosk virtual exhibit in synergy with a physical exhibit done at University of Miami Cuban Heritage Centre. It will continue as a permanent part of the University of Miami Digital Library and as a globally available living archive on post 1980 Cuban migration. Digital tools and a tight synergy between content provider/developer allowed this larger project to be completed in a protracted time frame (8 weeks) with various media and content integrated quickly and easily.
Future Challenges and Speculation
To speculate on future possibilities, the next stage of this build would involve deeper, more robust interactivity to take advantage of the computer's intrinsic specificity. Instead of a frame-based navigation, visual 'markers' would be incorporated as interactive 'buttons' into the map so that cartography also becomes navigation. If there was a longer timeline, all the pages would have been made live (weblog-like and interactive). Comments would be incorporated by 'rafter's' and other interested parties on a permanent basis and on a page by page basis to make this a living archive. Further, the level of 'visual metaphor' would be deepened. Key here are the terms 'visual metaphor' and innovatively structuring 'narrative' in a non-linear dynamic framework. In expanding the range of 'allowable' media (audio, video, images) and keeping to a Ph.D. level of academic integrity, the site begins to ask questions regarding future presentational possibilities, what this means for historical construction and larger questions surrounding epistemology. Academic possibilities in a networked computer media framework with multimedia and interactivity are unexplored. In beginning to harness the power of new media, horizons are vast and still largely untravelled.