Kristen's Capstone blog

must share email conversation: “Simplicity is an Art.”

knwilson — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:47:35 +0000

Hey Kris. Send me the question form again. I closed it by mistake. I’m excited for you. This has great possibility. Just keep simplifing and sharpening.
Remember the old saying, “I’m sorry I wrote you such a long letter. I didn’t have time to write a short one.” Simplicity is an art.
N.

Noel Hoffmann Fine Paintings, Prints and Portraiture
Represented by Dog&Horse Fine Art Gallery, Charleston,SC www.dogartdealer.com

www.noelhoffmann.com
noelh@noelhoffmann.com
802 375-5560
“Heel on.”

_____________________________________•__•__•__•__•

Noel is a solid stakeholder and has been an incredible influence from the start. She is mentor, friend, artists, and a beautiful and patient person.

So happy to have her as a member of the team!

This email was just so good, I had to share it. Noel and I had just finished a round of usability testing, which I have recorded, and she had some excellent feedback for me. Find the results from the Usability Test.

image by KNW

People and the PROCESS

knwilson — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:13:08 +0000

Just finished a first round of usability testing, a bit late in the game, albeit, however yielding excellent suggestion and collaboration, and data.
This form can be accessed via the web: http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=pHx3JgXd5u4QM5vkJDOEyQA&email=true
Thanks to my mentor Kevin Burke, Pawblo LLC for his usability tests contribution.

It is a hard run to the finish! Capstone defense is July 31st!!! I can see the finish line now! The grad center has been so helpful in focusing our capstones, exact deliverables, rubric, to be clear as to the expectation of the graduate! The small tools and self-evaluations have helped my process along as a guide. This has been the project of my life! I look forward to seeing it in it’s glory (full of action / collaboration / education / and fun!

change management

knwilson — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 17:26:40 +0000

From:

http://connect.educause.edu/Library/EDUCAUSE+Review/DesignoftheLearningSpaceL/40557

Before taking these steps to determine the principles that will guide the process of designing the learning space, the planning team should consider changes in life-cycles, in how people learn, in the technologies used for teaching, and in the students themselves.

Life-Cycles

The life-cycles of buildings are much longer than the life-cycles of technologies or even of learning theories. Plans usually allow for buildings that will last fifty to eighty years. In contrast, a technology refresh cycle suggests that computer hardware should be replaced every two to four years and that nondigital assets such as blackboards, desks, and tables should be refreshed with an eight- to ten-year cycle. These rapid changes are requiring us to rethink how we teach and learn. Effective practices are emerging around these very new technologies as users collectively figure out what can be done with them. Discussions of space must thus include how to meet this rapid change. The planning team should ask: “Can we be sure that the spaces built today will still be useful later in their life-cycle?” “How do we support, update, and modify these spaces in a rapidly changing environment?”

Pro Moodle

knwilson — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 17:23:08 +0000

http://promoodle.com/

“You cannot have innovation, unless you are willing and able to move through the unknown and go from curiosity to wonder.”

knwilson — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 10:36:11 +0000

Dawna Markova, author of “The Open Mind”

I need all the engineers in the room at the same time! Too many pieces and parts, I see the forum area as filling this gap, although my less techie friends believe otherwise…..

Another rich exchange of working ideas of our development of VT Art Trails yesterday. I encouraged Beth to keep the name specific for the art trail, same name as the website: VT Art Trails, an online tour and actual creative driving tour of southern Vermont’s finest artists…

Three different groups : Educators / Art Biz Profess. / Students

How to become part of the trail?

Beth is really pushing the Trail as a focus, and marketing piece, as she is right, so I feel I will not make “artists areas” because that is for the specific juried artists for the VT Art Trail, The online and real time art tour.

As Kevin Burke has encouraged, keep it simple, keep it focused.

Beth wants to mirror what Diane Zeigler has done with dimensionsofmarble.org She has used Google maps to make her trail, complete with multiple images to view per stop, along the trail…
I agreed with Beth that this could certainly and very easily be implemented…
Then each artists has a special page in Joomla, or Moodle, where they show off their stuff.
I was panicking about this, but the more I think about it, It can be done!!! And since the foundation is set, this is just adding a module…SIMPLE!

See the real overwhelming factor here is the Art Trail isn’t a deliverable of my capstone, and on top of all these new graphic jobs I am taking on….WOW! TAlk about management!!! Hang On Little Tomato!

Same destination two different approaches

knwilson — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:03:59 +0000

It has been difficult to gather the stakeholders together for this project.
I feel like I have all my ducks lined up, but no one is hungry. Coordinating everyone’s schedule is a challenge. My sponsor Beth has a very different idea about going forward with this project than I do. We both have a vision of VT Art Trails supporting artists and offering classes. However, her aim is to get the southern VT art trail going now. This is not a part of the deliverables for my capstone, but a future project in my eyes. My focus is to get people together first online in VT Art Trails.com and begin to collaborate on the project! This is being done by my form I put on the website, and Google Docs tracks all the results for me…which have been quite interesting. I have about 14 entries from the website so far, and I clearly see artists lack of confidence. It is really incredible:
“not too sure I am qualified to lead” in response to: what topic would you be interested in leading a discussion on?
Also, this comment is about participating in a class on how to instruct online, the artists’ words: “This scares the “____” out of me”
There are some very real issues to deal with here, resistance to change in regards to technology, lack of self-confidence, and lack of vision.

It is MY aim to gather these artists together, by giving them a “gallery space” on VT Art Trails, and giving them a forum space to collaborate and have discussions in…this will get the creative energy started, and get artists over the hurdles of having a conversation, and creating online. It is so rich you can’t believe it until you experience it! I will tell them!! It really is all about Mentoring.
Kevin Burke and I had a wonderful conversation about mentors, listen for it on the home page of VT Art Trails, it should be there soon. It is at the core of VT Art Trails.

Because Beth, my sponsor, has limited experience with technology, she cannot imagine how I believe and KNOW how this beast will perform and function. Thanks to my work at the Grad Center at Marlboro, I feel quite prepared to use these precious open source tools [Joomla, Moodle]. Simply creating the art trail will not make a lively online environment. Involving the artists and stakeholders from the start will. There are many levels I am trying to create here, and I think they will all be needed to create a successful online learning space.

Beautiful Spring!

knwilson — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:24:57 +0000

I love Spring, and the flowers in my garden are full bloom, roses are just opening, here come those peonies!

The Capstone is also continuing to blossom. I have begun using Google Docs, and it has proven to be a great collaborator. I even embedded a live form link into the vtarttrails.com website, take a look! I am working from a spreadsheet in Google Docs, which tracks the information for me, even with the date and time! This VT Art Trails Questionnaire is half marketing / Informational sheet. I am sending it via email directly to artists / stakeholders, and it is on the VT Art Trails website, AND on my Grad School Capstone Page – whew! Oh MY!

Like so much of technology, if you use it wisely, to leverage your workplace, business, studies, your life, it has interesting and amazing results. Organization being number 1.

Pro Moodle success!!!

knwilson — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:07:06 +0000

Quite exciting! The website has been created: The integration of Joomla into Moodle!!!!!

See for your very own eyes! (Yes lots of work still to do, but the foundation has been set.)

http://www.vtarttrails.com/

Now to fill in the details of the framework. Focus on a CLEAN and CLEAR site. SIMPLE too.

In the News: “..reaching out to collaborate..”

knwilson — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 11:58:32 +0000

“(Keck) Alex Aldrich of the Vermont Arts Council says he is optimistic about the future of the arts in Vermont. But he says organizations that have the best chance of surviving the current economic downturn will be the ones reaching out to collaborate with other organizations to get the most from every dollar.

For VPR News, I’m Nina Keck.”

From: http://www.vpr.net/news_detail/80936/

These are unfortunately the cold hard facts before those of us who live in Vermont.

However, as stated the future of art is a creative collaboration online.
This is VT Art Trails’ future (a success).

Reaching out to Collaborate

Pro Moodle

knwilson — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 18:57:12 +0000

I have been guided to ProMoodle: http://promoodle.com/
Thanks to Jen Kramer, and the Joomla users group I am gaining the knowledge I need to fuse these two beasts together (Joomla and Moodle), there is even a forum for discussion!
The first time I installed it, it seemed to be ok, but after a closer look I did not actually install it properly. I have a meeting this evening for a proper install, thanks to tech / friend Pete Smith!
I’m not sure why I have had the go it alone attitude for so long using technology, it is so social, and so imperative to collaborate to make real progress.