How to get triggered for triggers.....

18 + 19 March 2009

Sometimes you really want to structure your ideas,feelings or reflections on paper, but yesterday and today there were more reflections in my head and not yet ready for paperwork, and, to be honest: I was/am a little bit tired!
But,still I'll try to make a short reflection.

The last two days were very interesting for me. I was triggered to make triggers by the good lectures and information of the Xavier, Trude en Lisbet from the Mediacentre. And I really want to learn to make a good trigger,not only for Vircamp, but also to use in my own lectures.
And again I recognised a lot of the given information from my own art education.
The most important points:

A trigger is a multimediaproduction (text, graphics, photography, film music, animated items etc.
-we have many senses but one attention! Each element contributes to the total message - avoid 'noise'en remove unintended stories.
A trigger can be a methaphor - must 'trigger' to reflecting, thinking about something etc..
- what caches people's attention?
- movement
- focus
- big items
- colours

Anothter posssibility is the Digital Story - a collection of pictures or film with music, that tell the personel story of somebody (see www.storycenter.or - Myyshoes.
Than we started with brainstorming Gudrun, Ursula en Pieter vP.
I experienced the difficulty for the technicals to understand the content of the communitywork module. The first hour was listening to eacht other, asking questions, arguing etc. I experienced that I had strongly to keep in mind not to give the clue or the solution to something, but to let students think about that!
At the end of the afternoon we had the subject: starting point is a picture from the shrinking city serie from Gudrun. We want to trigger the students by showing them that bad areas can be changed in good areas, with the social worker as one of the keyrole playerss for projects and projectplanning.
Before and after the dinner in Egons restaurant, I worked on the first draft of mu screenlecture: 'Art as tool for social change'. I noticed that it was a long time ago that I was able to work so quiet for some hours! It still triggers me how to make a dynamic screenlecture without much read text by one 'head'.

Thursdaymorning: first the Trigger of the day (I really should have to see the film s slumdog millionaire!) and than back to the Triggerwork.
I received the mail from Eduardo with a summay of the film we made of the social sofa project. This is wonderful material for the screenlecture! I gave it to Xavier to experience of this is the good quality for taken in the lecture.

After a discussion about the form of the Trigger, with help of Trude, we (= our Triggergroup) came to our final decision: one building - with photoshop - sound and music - the change from the desolated area till the liveble and good area. After all it took a very long time to come to a good decision together. Finally: starting the work!
For the first time in my life I put some sounds in a scheme, cut, fade out etc.

In lunchtime we went to Vilvite - a centre for scientific recreation and learning and we were allowed to be homo ludens for about an hour and a half. A wonderful experience with presenting the wheatherforcast, making a digital painting, looking under the sealevel etc. etc.
After still 2 hours working is was obvious that we each group needed more time to finish the triggers, so tomorrow another hour to work on.

Than: fresh air! With Lssma, Bieke and Pieter up to Floyen! Lasma and I went to the top with the train and walked down - a nice walk with lovely views of a beautiful landscape in the sunset.
Bergen, Norway- I feel really at home here..

Now I am going to publish this blog and hopefully I will be lucky to publish some foto's and the 'painting' from Vilvide.....the blog still has some hidden secrets for me....

Screenlectures.....

Tuesday evening March 17 2009

This was the day of the screenlectures. A good topic because we (the WP2 workgroup) have to produce about 6 screenlectures. And we were talking already (in Mannheim for instance) about how we would like to have screenlectures in our Communitywork module.

We started the day with of course coffee en the presentation of the first 2 blogs. For me, it is always hard to make a start and to get familiar (again) with putting your thinking in English on the wwww. Hopefully it will be a difference after this week!

Xavier Bonete from the Mediacenter 'triggered' us with his presentation about what is a screeenlecture and what is a GOOD screenlecture.
He also showed an example: the use of the new i-pod. Very well done, Immediately decided to buy one!

Well, about the questions - what is a screenlecture?
Is a screenlecture part of the curriculum? a teaching method? or a place for reflection?

And what is a good screenlecture? we tried to answer that together the i-pod example in mind:
- it must have a clear message
- it is done in a convincing way
- it is done in an appealing way

And of course a lot of tips and trics:'don't forget the Pedagogy, make the faocus as clear as possible, use the visualisation possibilities to emphasis the impact, make short short pieces, to enable the student to find that piece he wanted to see again,
For the recording: record in a controlled environment, talking to the camera, white bakcground, grey texts, etc. etc.

We excercised with Moviemaker - a very comfortable editing program. I really liked to work with that: not difficult and good results! It was a pity that we have to stop with that.

Now we had to make a kind of a screenlecture ourselves - we were divided in groups of 2 and I was together with Anne Karin. We decided to do this lecure in the videoroom, the others decided to use the computer - the webcam or pictures in moviemaker.
We decide to make an introduction to a parative lecture. In a dialogue we would ask each other about the cities we live in (Bergen en Delft) and put some pictures to support the text.
So we went in it after a short preparation and after a stiff start, we ended rather relaxed.
One of the mediastaff people helped us with editing, but unfortunately the pictures we want to add were of bad quality and of course, the time was too limited to make a good product of it.
We discussed all the different productions and it was good to see the different possibilities.
The reactions: too long, a bit boaring, sometimes too serious, to much talking and to little pictures etc.
For me it was important to be (for the first time!) in front of a camera in a videostudio, to know what it is and what it look likes. May be I am not the right person for a screenlecture for this targetgroup....
I found it too longer either, and of course other material has to be put in. And may be another setting to talk in, and less but better subjects to talk about.
Students are asking these times for fast, new trics etc. so, we really have to work with new media.
The question of what is a good screenlecture, I cannot answer right now, but: I think that the mentioned critical points of our screenlecture show what is NOT a good lecture....
I have an idea now what it is to do a lecure in front of the camera. And I have an idea what you have to do and not to do to make it an attractive one!
I'll come back to that.
To be continued.......

Here I am again!

March 16, 2009

After 8 months, again a new part of my Blog which I started in May 2008 in Bergen when I followed the E-ped course.
Now I am again in Bergen and this time in the Vircamp Mediacourse, especially because of my participation in the curriculum development of the module Community work.

The first day we had a lot of presentations and I had to do one myself - about he curriculumdevelopment up till now. So I had to think over really well: what do the ict people need to know about the new module to be able to support us in developing the mediasstuff?
Afterwards I had the feeling to have given a clear presentation, but I am not quite sure if, for the ICT colleague, it was really clear and helpful.
I also realised that even for us, the 'content'people, the curriculum development and the weekschedule is still under construction!
We also started a Blog for this week and I realised that still it is not yet familiar to me to put my reflections on my blog. My technical qualities still have to be developed......

I really enjoyed the lecture of Lisbeth about Visual Communication. for me it was: the party of recognition! As my background is 'art' as well practical as theoretical, I am familiair with it, but is so good to hear and see it again and of a new perspective. So, she triggered me to do my work here with this 'language' in mind!

The day ended by a real nice event: cooking a dinner together at Neptuns lille Kokkeskole. It was really good to work together and enjoying a wonderful dinner

to be continued.....