I've lived with RSS as a major source of information for over a decade. I've been using Shaun Inman's fantastic FeverËš self-hosted reader since 2009 or so. It's been a solid workhorse, and I've built quite a workflow around it. Shaun is refocusing his efforts on software that he uses himself, and is putting FeverËš and Mint out to pasture. That's a hard decision to make, and I admire him for making it. Since FeverËš is self-hosted, I could just keep using it until it eventually crumbles (as PHP updates around it, etc.) but I'm taking this opportunity to take a look at how I manage my feeds.

Work

It was a quiet week, but maybe that gave burnout a chance to catch up to me. I don't know how to explain it - I've worked much harder before, but there's something about my current role that seems to keep me constantly close to the edge of burning out. I need to figure this out. I'm not going to speculate publicly, but there are some things I'm going to tweak in the next few weeks, and throughout the coming year. This stuff is too important to just keep trying to brute-force my way through it, hoping things will magically change. It doesn't work that way.

Now I remembered why I stopped doing these week-in-review posts. My blog became nothing but these things. Dear Diary…

Work

The EDU had another EDUPortfolio Extravaganza - a morning where the whole team got together to plan and write/update articles in the department eportfolio. We'll be editing and publishing those in the next few weeks.

Tom Carey visited the Taylor Institute. I wasn't able to participate in his workshop, but had some interesting lunch conversation with him about innovation in higher ed.

Work

We hosted some visitors from MRU, to give a tour of the TI and talk about active learning and pedagogy and eat some pie. MRU is doing some really interesting things, and we need to work more closely with them…

I did some testing with a prof and TA, trying out connecting Raspberry Pi dev kits to the fancy 50" displays in the learning studios. Worked like a charm. Her course next semester is going to be kind of awesome, with students hacking hardware and software to build sensors and convert input into music and visualizations.

Initially, I had thought of my potential PhD research project as a single large project – looking at fully capturing the environment, participants, and performance within a space – and then using that as “digital field notes” to be analyzed later from any number of frameworks and perspectives. I still think there’s something there, and will likely include at least part of this in my research, but after the discussions we had today I’m thinking much more about how to carve off smaller projects or experiments to deeply explore a given topic or question, and then weave those together to tell a broader story. Something roughly like…

Work

The UCalgary Makerspace community met over in the Environmental Design fabrication shops. Lots of awesome stuff going on there, and they’re adding 2 giant 5-axis robot arms for high end custom fabrication.

Reps from Top Hat were on campus, doing a series of workshops for instructors and staff. Top Hat is used pretty extensively in some of our largest courses, but also in many smaller ones. The more interesting uses involve anonymous questions and formative feedback from students…

Having done the delete-social-media-account dance again, I’m without Twitter and Facebook. And still feeling really really good about that. But, I miss being part of an extended community of interesting people who share ideas quasi-synchronously. A social network, as it were.

So. I’ve been looking at some of the alternatives. I don’t think any of them are “there” yet, but they each provide an opportunity to explore different aspects of community and software design. When looking at these alternatives, I’m trying to learn about how the design of software affects what people actually do with it. I’m also aware that much of the difference, when compared with twitter or facebook, is due to novelty and freshness - there are no trolls there (yet), and everyone who is exploring the platforms is doing so because they care and are interested and interesting. So, not apples-to-apples. But, still, there is much to learn by actually using these things. That’s the only way I know of to really learn what these things mean.

A talk by Adam Bradley, to the CMD community.

Slow analytics – allowing space for human reflection, contemplation, exploration and discovery.

BIG DATA != DEEP MEANING

Data as an opportunity for interaction.

Factual vs. Rhetorical data/knowing

Metaphors and motivation – what it MEANS

Gap between object and subjective – experiential knowledge

How to not get away from the ART? Distant reading –> too much data, not art.

How to retain the experience of “letting it wash over you“?

So… after a year-long hiatus from doing this weekly review thing, I'm thinking it's time to start it back up. I'm not sure what the format should be…

Work

We hosted the (fourth?) TI Learning Spaces lunch session, to help bring together instructors who are teaching in the TI so they can share what they're doing. This month's topic was assessment - how do you assess learning in a flexible space, with active learning and a strong focus on student agency? Lots of great ideas from the instructors - and TI staff - who participated in the session. And we're all looking forward to a gala dance in the forum next semester as part of a course on Jane Austen…

in order of increasing complexity and unscriptedness / improvisation:

1. monologues
2. dialogues
3. multi-actor performances
4. small group project work
5. multiple group project work

Progression from simple, scripted performance to complex, dynamic, unscripted, improvised, open-ended.

How does the complexity of a performance affect how it is perceived? Recorded? Interpreted?

What role does the portfolio model have in each type of performance? And what kinds of critical reflection can take place?

Why start with monologue?

Portfolio model of documenting, assessing, reflecting on performance over time. [See Morrow et al (2016). Measurement and Evaluation in Human Performance]

What if the goal of performance recording (what to call this?!?) is to build a repository of a person’s work over time?

High fidelity snapshots of performance, reviewed, collected, and presented as part of personal reflection and formative assessment?

Use of theatrical monologue practice as a pilot exploration for recording performance? Highly simplified performance, short duration, self-contained.

Sit in on PF’s DRAM 200 monologue class? (not sure how to cram this into my calendar. will try to get creative…)

Would need to observe as many monologue sessions as possible, to learn about what a monologue is and how to fully record/document/capture it.

Potentially offer to record students to try it out? Give them sample media for their own use?