Discussion (20%)
For this part of the course, you'll contribute substantively to discussion of course readings twice per week (the minimum requirement for discussion), except for week 1, when we'll post introductions. Each week, we'll have one discussion forum posted on Monday that may have a number of threads. You don't have to post every thread though please spread your required posts out over the week and over the threads. Please read and respond to other peoples' posts. Also, feel free to contribute as much as you like and to start new threads if you'd like to take discussion in another direction. While personal experience and your opinions are highly valued, make sure that your posts refer specifically to the concepts in the readings as well. Make connections among readings when you can; feel free to include links to outside sources, examples of concepts, etc.
In a few weeks, you will begin taking turns as discussion leaders. I'll send out a list of when people will take turns leading. I go alphabetically in assigning discussion leaders. If you get a ssigned to a week that is problematic for you, see if you can trade with someone.
In addition to the forums for discussion of readings, I will start forums where you can discuss your questions and comments on course projects. Use the discussion boards to get and give assistance.
Discussion Leaders beginning with week 3
Week |
Reading |
Leaders |
3 |
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4 |
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5 |
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6 |
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7 |
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8 |
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10 |
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11 |
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12 |
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13 |
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14 |
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15 |
Leaders should not summarize the reading for others, but give your take on an aspect of the reading that you think is interesting. Pose questions about the reading that will help start conversations. You can also ask people to find examples that illustrate concepts and post those to discussion.
3 Activities (15%, 5% each)
Short activities will focus on developing skills for creating graphics. These will be spread out through the semester. If you know how to use these tools already, you might want to take what we're doing a step farther.
These activities are not meant to be busy work or just something else I can grade. People have told me they don't have experience with tools or particular types of work with multi-media and I want to help with that. So please don't make these activities any harder than they have to be. Just try each one. I'll provide further instructions on each and help with anything you want to try. You can get free trials of all kinds of software, usually for 30 days, so be strategic about the scheduling if you are relying on free trials. If you have questions about what kinds of tools you might choose to accomplish particular activities, I can help you brainstorm that.
I'll ask that we post these activities to Blackboard discussion with explanations of how you created them so we can knowledge share.
Activity 1: Exploring social media/other interactive environment. For this activity, you'll engage in/with some form of social media that you haven't tried and consider the possibilities, potentials, affordances, and problems of the media. You might try Second Life, which is a virtual environment that people use to meet and do all kinds of things (ECU has had a presence there and some people teach there). I put together a brief intro about getting on Second Life. There may have been some changes sisnce I made this, but you might find it helpful.
You can use Pinterest, Second Life or something similar, Google maps or hangouts, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr, or some other social platform. EXCEPT Facebook--no Facebook for this. Think about the possibilities--what could people do with these spaces that they are not? (Or what are some people doing that is pretty cool?) Google Earth is pretty cool too. You might try out Story Maps. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/en/
Write about what social media you explored, what you found there, what you did, what other people are doing, and what purposes the social media might be used for. Take screen shots if you can to show what the environment/platform/ap looks like. Make sure to label any screenshots or other graphics. Write as much as you want to cover your ideas--750-1000 words would probably be good.
Activity 2: Rethinking an "old" tool--animating with PowerPoint or Prezi or some other presentation tool. (Alternatively, you might suggest a different rethinking activity with other tools. Talk to me about that.) You'll create a short animation with one of these presentation tools. Check this out! More examples to come. Your animation should be no longer than 5 minutes. The piece must be an animation--it can't be just a fancier Powerpoint presentation with more fades and blinky things. Also, you can only use 10 words in print text. I will provide a tutorial on using Powerpoint to animate.
Dots. Presentation on a very simple animation in PowerPoint 2007 on a PC, Windows 7. The technology has changed slightly, but the ideas may be helpful.
PowerPoint (You can look through the PPT to see how everything was done.)
PowerPoint Presentation (Packaged to start automatically)
Robot. Presentation on a very simple animation in PowerPoint 2010 on a PC, Windows 7. This newer example has some more functions than 2007 and some changes to the menus.
PowerPoint (You can look through the PPT to see how everything was done. If you run it as a slide show, it should run automatically and loop.)
If you're using a Mac, or Windows 8 or 10, some of the tools and/or the location of tools in the software interface will be different and you may have to look around a bit. However, the basic ideas are the same.
Activity 3: Data Visualization. Data--particularly "big" data, is a big deal. Now more than ever, we seem to be awash in data of all kinds. But we have also never been more able to mine, interpret, and present data. For this activity, you will find some already collected data and develop a multi-media visual display of that data.** There are some great examples available that we'll view and discuss as part of the course. One thing that visualizing data helps clarify--at least for me--is that data tell stories. But what a story is depends not only on the data and how it was collected but also on how it is presented. You can use Powerpoint or Prezi (which you'll know how to do at this point), Camtasia (go here for an example demo, links to Camtasia--get the free trial--and tutorials), Flash, Fireworks, or other tool. Check the resources page for other ideas for tools.
**Alternatives: I think it's a great idea for us to learn the tools to make displays. If you prefer to write about data and data displays, that will be an acceptable alternative. In that case, find some examples of visual displays of big data and critique them--what stories are being told? To whom and for what purpose? How are the visuals telling the story? What are the benefits of the visual representation--how is it effective? What might be some drawbacks or problems with the visualizations? Could other stories be told with the same data? **OR** Find some data and discuss what kinds of stories might be told and what kinds of visuals might be created to tell them. The written piece should be 1,000-1,250 words. You should include visuals you discuss.
Here is a brief discussion of inforgraphics that you might find useful: http://attw.org/blogs/bulletin/infographics-technical-writing-and-communication
Big Data and Social Mining has some interesting examples: http://www.the-program-manager.com/project-management/big-data-and-social-mining/
"When (Big) Data Changes the Way We View Our World: A Brief Case Study." Does big data " lead us to meaningful discoveries we were not even seeking"? Includes some interesting examples.
Watch these Ted talks:
Chris Jordan pictures some shocking stats. This presentation might also help you think about what kinds of statistics you might consider an example (How many paper cups do we use a day? How many people are in prison in the US? How many people die of smoking cigarettes?
David McCandless: The beauty of data visualization.
Hans Rosling shows the best stats you've ever seen.
Check out some other examples:
What Percent of Americans Eat Their Fruits and Vegetables?
Geographic Spread of Influenza as Assessed by State and Territorial Epidemiologists
10 great examples of data visualization design
50 Great Examples of Data Visualization
Visualizing Data: 15 Fantastic Examples
Visualization Tools
You can use any tool to create an info graphic--Photoshop, Word, PowerPoint, Excel--you may need to think outside the box a bit about what you can do with them. If you want to try these tools out, check for tutorials from Microsoft, Lynda (which ECU subscribed to), YouTube (there is some good stuff), or e-mail me to set up a time to go over how to do what you want to do. (Think about the PowerPoint activity). Also check out:
Open Data Tools (http://opendata-tools.org/en/visualization/)
"The 37 best tools for data visualization" (http://www.creativebloq.com/design-tools/data-visualization-712402)
39 Data Visualization Tools for Big Data
Where can you find data? Everywhere! But here are a few places to start:
CDC Disability and Health (http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/datasets.html)
CDC Data and Statistics (http://www.cdc.gov/datastatistics/)
CDC WONDER online databases utilize a rich ad-hoc query system for the analysis of public health data. Reports and other query systems are also available. http://wonder.cdc.gov/)
EPA Data Finder (http://www.epa.gov/datafinder/)
EPA GHG Emissions Data Sets (http://epa.gov/ghgreporting/ghgdata/ghgdatasets.html)
EPA Geospatial Data Downloads (http://water.epa.gov/scitech/datait/tools/waters/data/downloads.cfm)
NIH Data, Tools and Statistics (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hsrinfo/datasites.html)
NIH Promis Public Use Data (http://www.nihpromis.org/science/publicusedata?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1)
USDA Open Government --including links to datasets (http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navid=USDA_OPEN)
USDA Data (http://www.ars.usda.gov/services/docs.htm?docid=1328)
US Census Data (http://www.census.gov/data.html)
UVA Historical Census Browser (http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu/)
You don't have to use big data sets for this activity though. You can do a bit of research on a question (for example, "How many pizzas do Americans eat in a year?" or "How many acres of rain forest are destroyed eahc week?") to find some data you can visualize.
Alternative Activities (You can substitute one of these activities for either Activity 2 or 3 above.)
Some people might be interested in working with tools such as Photoshop, Flash, and/or Camtasia. I have the instructions and components for several activities that you might want to try available at http://core.ecu.edu/engl/kaind/vis/notes/tools.htm. The videos may not correspond perfectly to the latest versions of the software, but they should be sufficient to give you a good idea about the concepts you need to know to use the software and the tools you need to apply. The interfaces might be a little different in newer versions of the software. Contact me if you need additional helf working on these.