design

It Takes All Kinds: Students

Posted by Dean Shareski on in collaboration, design 4 Comments

This post was last updated on September 3rd, 2018 at 11:31 am

This is the final in this 4 part series. 

“Preparing students for jobs that haven’t been invented” I first saw this statement almost seven years ago as I viewed Karl Fisch’s original “Did You Know” It’s one of those important statements that has generated many great conversations.

In our attempt to place some more context on that declaration I’ve been noticing a trend of late. Many people in my circles, those that advocate change and change that revolves around technology, have developed a kind of exemplary model student that demonstrates the potential that exists as a result of the web. The web has enabled and empowered otherwise less privileged students to develop their pathways and own businesses and passions. And this is often associated with the start-up culture. The design-minded, coding entrepreneur working in Silicon Valley making millions. Exhibit A:

Let me say first; I like much of this video. I like the fact that it suggests schools should be teaching coding and programming, although I think an hour might be enough. I tweeted it out as a conversation starter about what schools should … Read the rest

2012: My Year in Numbers

Posted by Dean Shareski on in design, digital stories, digitalstorytelling, fun, gratitude, Personal 2 Comments

This post was last updated on November 19th, 2013 at 07:37 am

It's not like I have nothing else to do but when people ask "Where do you find the time?" it's usually not because they think what I've done is so amazing but rather so dumb or insignificant. 

Thanks for the compliment. 

I take solace in Clay Shirky's statement that "even the stupidest creative act, is still a creative act". If I've not created something in a while I feel a little stale. These web and media tools are my paintbrushes and my canvases. I love that folks like Alan Levine and others are constantly making and fiddling with stuff. They inspire me and remind me to just do it. 

So after thinking about Dan Meyer's 2009 Annual Report and sharing it often as a example of using data to tell storie, I decided to give it a shot. While Dan used a wack sack of tools and does a much more professional job that took him weeks to produce, I wanted to see if I could use Keynote to tell the story of my year in numbers. So after an evening of planning, data mining, … Read the rest

Pimp My Slide

Posted by Dean Shareski on in collaboration, design, digitalstorytelling, networks, socialnetworks 1 Comment

This post was last updated on December 12th, 2011 at 03:14 pm

I like design and I like making slides. We know that images can increase recall and understanding. You don't have to agree and this post isn't so much about convincing you of that as it is about the wonderful ways in which collaboration and push back can happen online and actually make things better. 

I've been thinking about the phrase which I have come to dislike, "it's not about the technology" I wanted to capture that idea in an image and began thinking about the way musicians use their instruments. Trying to find a name of someone who would be most recognizable I chose Yo Yo Ma. You don't have to acknowledge if you've never heard of him before because the image I found tells you all you need to know about his love of music and the cello. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldeconomicforum/2297224410

 

​So I began with this:

 

After I posted it to flickr, Darren chimed in with this suggestion:

 

Try using a brown similar to the cello instead of yellow. You can use the colour picker in Keynote to do that.

Love the pic,

… Read the rest

Let’s Try This Again

Posted by Dean Shareski on in design, flickr, Personal 7 Comments

Last month I posted my first effort of picture of the day set to music. I had some wonderful suggestions on how to improve it and so I implemented the most common suggestion of fading in and out each track.

I switched to Final Cut Express since I have more control and can use multiple tracks. I have to admit I still feel like a novice in that program even though I’ve used it for a number of projects. Keyframing in particular is something I don’t have quite right yet and need to learn a few more shortcuts to improve my work flow.

I also found it much better to use Audacity to edit each music clip and bring them into FCE after that. I would say overall this is a much better product but maybe you disagree. I’ll be happy to take further suggestions on improvement. It took more time I think so I’m weighing that as well. This isn’t even a full month as it includes the last day of January and photos up to February 20th.

… Read the rest

Illustrating the Sweet Spot

Posted by Dean Shareski on in design, networks, presentations 25 Comments

This post was last updated on December 12th, 2011 at 03:15 pm

I’ve probably used the term social learning more than just about anyone I know in the past 3 years. Many believe that all learning is social. While I don’t if I completely buy that theory, I do believe that our schools in general have downplayed the value of learning with one another both in physical classrooms and in “third places“.

As schools begin to recognize the potential of social media or networking as potential learning spaces it might be important to distinguish and identify things a bit more succinctly. I know David Jakes has stated he does not like the term social networking as it suggests social, but doesn’t speak specifically to learning. I agree. The term gets tossed around and means something quite different depending on individual interpretation.

I’ve build a mockup of a diagram I’d like to use to illustrate the merging and blending of social networking and individual interaction with content. This can be either online or offline but primarily I’m thinking about online spaces. Here’s my first draft.

diagram

It needs some work both from a design standpoint as well as the … Read the rest