1. thejasondunbar

    DS106AB – Mashup

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    This weeks DS106AB assignment was a ‘mashup’ assignment. In support of my focal theme (change management) I chose to complete the A Changing Character mashup assignment. The requirements for this assignment: …pick any chacter and follow thier progression that they have had (TV characters from a long standing TV show will probably be best).  Use video […]
  2. emilysmayy

    Ode to the DJ

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    I have to say, I struggled a lot with our week five DS106 Mashup Assignment. I probably spent entirely way too long sifting through the assignment bank in search of something that felt like a good choice and related to my focal theme of emotional expression through creativity. I kept coming back to the music mashup assignment, Opposites Attract so… Read more →

    The post Ode to the DJ appeared first on Emily S. May.

  3. kirklunsford

    The Everyday Remix Practices of Teachers: A Critique of Christopher Emdin: Hip-Hop and the Remix of Science Education

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    UC Denver digital storytelling students wishing to comment on this critique: 
    Although I would love it if everyone had the time to watch the full youtube video, you can get ‘the just’ of this remix practice within 5-10 minutes of watching if you would like to participate in comments. Please don’t shy away because of the length of the video.

    Critique Format
    As part of the continued practice in digital storytelling, in INTE 5340 MA ILT at CU Denver, I will consume digital stories and offer critiques. Until now the course has focused on Jason Ohler’s assessment traits as criterions to assess stories. For the remainder of the critiques in the course, I will focus on “everyday remix practices” as described in the Lankshear and Knobel text New Literacies: Everyday Practices and Social Learning Third Ed by Colin Lankshear and Michele Knobel, on pages 127-140.

    Introduction
    In efforts to transition and answer some of the questions from last week, I started to dig into some everyday remix practices of teachers. This also in light of the critique of @Remiholden #youthclinica15 with Denver youth @hivedenver5280.
    @Remiholden picture from exercise #youthclinica15
    Remember that ‘ed reform helicopter’ with the ‘help bubble’ and no stickies around the brainstormed topic? I’m hoping to answer some questions about ‘education reform’ especially in urban youth culture. After watching the lecture “Hip-Hop and the Remix of Science” by Christopher Emdin on youtube, a professor at Columbia University, I’m starting to think more about the things teachers can do, whether or not ‘reformed education’ is part of the curriculum. After much research and scholarship on the issue of ‘the importance of creative arts in education,’ I’m convinced the best practices of teachers may be to ‘remix’ the major subject at hand with creativity and culture whilst still supporting the required material. Christopher Emdin is a superb example of this with his integration of hip-hop into science material. Although his lecture did not mention how his hip-hop lyrical poetry helps students retain material, per se, I’m willing to theorize that with engagement, connectivity, and relativity to one’s life this allows students to retain learnt material. If nothing else, Christopher’s artful and relatable technique melts the ‘ice grill’ of any stone-cold look and opens the door to learning.


    Kind of Remix: Political Remix (if one must be chosen from L&K text)


    Three Literacy Dimensions:

    1. From political remix: “Having something to say that appeals to others.”
    2. From political remix: “Identifying how to convey a lot of meaning in a limited amount of space or time.”
    3. From political remix: “Requires being up to date with current news events, or familiar with significant social issues.”


    “Having something to say that appeals to others.”


    Firstly, Christopher’s lecture appeals to me as an educator so my ears perk up when he talks about pedagogy and methodology. I’m sure the other educators in the room during his lecture did the same. Secondly, some young students also attended his lecture and Christopher called them out as appreciating his rhythmic and poetic use of acapella hip hop around the topic of physics and science as a whole. Furthermore, Christopher talks about the culture of urban youth and the physical presence often presented as a defense mechanism to things that sometimes make them feel vulnerable. In urban slang, also known as ‘ice grill.’ Christopher says his hip-hop is appealing to his students and it brings them to the threshold of learning by melting their ‘ice grill.’ One can imagine the appeal in being able to melt that ‘ice grill’ and see the grins of engaged students. “The beautiful thing about ice is what? Ice can always be melted.”


    “Identifying how to convey a lot of meaning in a limited amount of space or time.”


    When Christopher spits lyrics he does so in a fashion that is in rapid succession. Rhythmically, and powerfully combined with scientific terminology. Before he began to rap, he first read from the physics text and you can hear the confusion and boredom of the crowd and he asks “Is that clear?” When he combined the information, and more ad lib, you can feel the crowd - even in the youtube video, sit on the edge of their seat listening to what he is saying. As Christopher continues to speak he continues to do so, not as rap, but still rhythmically. And as he does so he is conveying a lot of meaning with his words and the pictures and videos he shares.


    “Requires being up to date with current news events, or familiar with significant social issues.”


    What I really appreciated about Christopher’s lecture was first, his superficial look at the culture of hip-hop and urban youth and then his much deeper dive into the sources of these cultures through a historical and anthropological appreciation. And the concept of ‘education’ through history as an exercise in uniformity, that in many ways, strips or ignores social cultures and is stagnant to change. He talks about a need for new theoretical frameworks to analyze the classroom such as “neo-indigenous cosmopolitanism.” Christopher says, In other words, “what happens historically will play out again in the classroom.” Both globally and locally, these issues have an affect on the culture of the classroom. He compares this to “oppression at the hands of a dominant other,” such as colonial America to what we see today in the criminal justice system. And that we need to understand the connections back to the indigenous people. Not just the street corner or ‘hood’ but the historical context of the things that brought that individual to that neighborhood. I find great relevance with what is going on in current affairs and what Christopher is suggesting in his theory. This puts the magnifying glass on the culture and history and relates it to what is going on with urban youth in the classroom. Chris’s ultimate suggestion to address urban youth in the classroom is “reality pedagogy.” Overall, a very critical and relevant approach to the social and cultural issues at hand.


    Citations
    New Literacies: Everyday Practices and Social Learning Third Ed by Colin Lankshear and Michele Nobel. McGraw-Hill Education 2011.

    Emdin, Christopher. WGBHForum. (2014, April 4) Christopher Emdin: Hip-Hop and the Remix of Science Education
  4. emilysmayy

    Response to Lankshear and Knoble New Literacies: Chapter Five

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    So far, we’ve been learning a great deal about the notion of “new literacies” beginning with concepts and theories to some everyday practices. In chapter five, Lankshear and Knoble discuss blogs and wikis as they relate to participatory and collaborative literacy practices. For the purposes of this post, I’d like to discuss the relationship between participation in an online space… Read more →

    The post Response to Lankshear and Knoble New Literacies: Chapter Five appeared first on Emily S. May.

  5. lisadise

    Slayer of Shortbread – Week 5 mashup assignment

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    I had a hard time finding a Mashup assignment that fit with my focal theme, so I chose one that I had some options as to what I needed to use.  I decided on Opposites Attract.  The instructions state to pick two songs from different genres and remix them together.  I decided to go to […]
  6. mitchellwoll

    Digital Story Critique 8: Green Day: A 5 Minute Drum Chronology – Kye Smith

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    Digital Story
    Green Day: A 5 Minute Drum Chronology - Kye Smith
    Link

    One of the most interesting and thought-provoking sections of Colin Lankshear’s and Michele Knoble’s book, New Literacies, was the one about John Phillip Sousa and his encouragement of amateur musicians. According to Sousa, amateurism was what was going to preserve, and progress music. Amateur musicians would learn to play the classics, and then use their skills to create their own music. With this in mind, this week I wanted to critique an amateur musician's music.

    I can across this mashup medley of Green Day songs. The drummer plays only seconds of the more recognizable drum riffs of each Green Day song off of each other their studio albums (so far). It takes a lot of practice to play drums, and replicate one song by a popular band, but this drummer, Kye Smith, managed to replicate nearly every song in Green Day’s catalog, and mash them together under five minutes!

    Remix Practice:
    Music video

    Looking at Lankshear's and Knoble’s definition in New Literacies of the practice of making a music video, Kye Smith’s medley fulfills some kinds of involvement and literacy dimensions required.


    • Expressing fan identity & expressing enjoyment of a particular song or music track – Kye Smith expresses his fan identity through playing unique drum sections from each Green Day song. So this particular music video goes beyond the enjoyment of a particular song, but a band’s entire discography. Kye Smith also shows his enjoyment (and literacy) of playing the drums, highlighting more complicated drum fills, as well as switching time signatures. There is an obvious logical connection between each section, as he starts from the start of Green Day’s career and follows each album’s track order until their latest works. If you are familiar with Green Day’s catalog, you can also recognize that he purposefully selected the more distinguishable drum beats.
    • Expressing a music video editor identity – Aside from being very proficient at playing the drums, Kye Smith shows that he has some video editing skills too, switching camera angles, presenting the albums and songs at the bottom of the screen, and even showing a smaller video of his bass drum, and foot work in the bottom right of the screen. He also layered the sections from the original tracks onto his drum playing to provide listeners some context to what sections he was performing. Kye Smith clearly shows he can fine-tune video and audio to best display his medley.


    There are a couple other kinds of involvement absent from this video that Lankshear and Knoble describe. Green Day is a very popular band, and whether or not people can agree whether it is punk, or pop music, I don't think Kye Smith’s video overtly expresses support for indie music, or for music that is controversial in certain circles. His video does not express support for an issue or injustice either.

    Because of the level of know-how in producing this musical mashup and video, I am assessing Green Day: A 5 Minute Drum Chronology on Jason Ohler’s criteria of Story, Originality, Creativity and Voice, and Sense of Audience.

    Story
    The video lacks any real story. Instead, it acts more as an anthology of Green Day drummer Tre Cool’s performance. Because of Kye Smith’s selections in drum riffs, and his self-imposed limit of five minutes, the audience does not see any progression in Tre Cool’s drum playing either. The video is uncomplicated in its intended goal, and executes exactly what it suggests. Otherwise, story is absent in the video.

    Originality, Creativity, and Voice
    Based on our new definition of “remixes” provided by Lankshear and Knoble, there really isn’t such a thing as originality. Everything, as I understand, is a remix of prior cultural artifacts. We interpret and filter these artifacts with our minds, and when it comes time to create something, we mix, or remix, all these artifacts together into our own artifact. So, with this in mind, I will exclude Originality from this assessment.

    Although his video is a collection of a popular band’s work, Kye Smith was very creative in how he mashed them together. His selections had a clear purpose in being the more identifiable drum riffs in each song. But, because Kye Smith was emulating Green Day, there is a lack of voice in this video. Perhaps the only unique voice present in the video is Kye Smith's video editing choises, the decor in the room, and the fact that he played the medley in five minutes. Nonetheless, Kye Smith’s intended goal was met. This video wasn’t meant to present much voice, but rather to replicate.

    Sense of Audience
    Kye Smith has a strong sense of who he is performing for. You can tell because he could have easily recorded this video of him playing and uploaded it without any video editing. Instead he helps his audience by layering the tracks onto his drum playing, allowing the audience to hear the other instruments and singing which helps the audience understand what parts he is playing. Furthermore, he provides an image of the album and the track name at the bottom of the screen. Without these indicators, Kye Smith’s drum performance would look and sound like an unrecognizable, seemingly off-beat, crazy drum solo.
  7. thejasondunbar

    Mario Theme Song – Dubstep Remix

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    In last weeks post – 99 Problems – I reviewed and critiqued a Political Remix using the “Literacy Dimensions” described by Lankshear and Knobel in the Chapter 4 appendix (p. 127-140). This week I continue my evaluation of these dimensions but with greater focus on the remixing of music, specifically a theme song. The video embedded in this post […]
  8. thejasondunbar

    Digital Story Critique – 99 Problems (Explicit)

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    Those of you who have followed some of my other digital story critiques will notice a significant change this time around. My previous method of evaluation was derived from Jason Ohler’s Digital and Traditional Storytelling. However, for this critique I will evaluate “Literacy Dimensions” as pointed out by Lankshear and Knobel in the Chapter 4 appendix (p. 127-140). The video embedded in […]
  9. emilysmayy

    Goonies of the Caribbean: A Mashup Movie Trailer Critique

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    Playing off this week’s DS106 mashup assignment in combination with Lankshear and Knoble’s “remix practices” and “literacy dimensions” highlighted in chapter four, I will be critiquing a fun little mashup movie trailer I found on trailercuts.com titled “Goonies of the Caribbean” posted by Steve Concotelli (I don’t know if he created it or just posted). I chose this movie trailer remix… Read more →

    The post Goonies of the Caribbean: A Mashup Movie Trailer Critique appeared first on Emily S. May.

  10. edwyer10

    Dwight Schrute Survial Tips? – DS106 Mash-up

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    This week I chose to do a Mash-Up DS106 Assignment that asked me to create a remix of clips from my favorite television show personality. I chose Dwight Schrute from the american television series “The Office”. As you may have noticed, my focal theme for most of this blog is the outdoors, hiking, camping, etc. I […]
  11. edwyer10

    Pen A Tweet – Daily Create

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    Today’s Daily Create assignments asks readers to handwrite a tweet! If you look at my handwriting its not that bad, however students tend to give me a hard time about letters. When you are a high school math teacher you use lot of letters as variables. In this example I have a few that mess […]
  12. rmsalas72

    TDC #PenATweet day

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    I love the idea to celebrate the value of handwriting with the #PenATweet day TDC assignment . I wrote the first idea that came to my mind when I read about it. To create the image I wrote the sentence in a notebook and drew a tweeter image. I used the photoshop app to mix […]
  13. lisadise

    #penATweet!

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    So today the last person on my team started.  My department has basically been the department of Lisa for almost 7 months.  There was some restructuring and it is no longer the department of Lisa and the last person to fill in started today.  I’m so excited I had to tweet about it!  Why not […]
  14. lishna68

    Life Lesson: Mute Often – AB Mashup

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    I could do this all day! In this assignment, the mashup combines a serious movie scene with inappropriate laughter. The idea is to change the mood of the scene. At first, I was daunted by figuring out what movie scene to select. I had recently watched ...
  15. thejasondunbar

    Daily Create – PenATweet

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    Today’s Daily Create – celebrate all things handwritten. I chose a quote from Winston Churchill to inspire individuals who may be going through a difficult change (work, home, school, etc.). Click here to learn more about PenATweet.
  16. anniemelzer

    #PenATweet day! :)

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    TDC had a “pen a tweet” with instructions below What to do? What we would like you to do is this. In every tweet, use the #PenATweet hashtag. If at all possible, ensure that there is nothing else written into the tweet. Let the handwritten photograph tweet do the talking. Be creative, consider a small activity… More #PenATweet day! :)
  17. emilysmayy

    Celebrating #PenATweet Day

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    #PenATweet Day was July 1st, 2015 and DS106 is keeping the momentum going through today, July 6th. Today’s daily create assignment encourages us to remember the importance of handwriting. Details here. My take: does your handwriting ever change with your mood? Mine sure does! You can tell a lot about a person and how they are feeling from their handwriting–… Read more →

    The post Celebrating #PenATweet Day appeared first on Emily S. May.

  18. ekeating

    Happy #PenATweet Day

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    I woke up this morning (Happy Monday everyone) and decided to get right to work.  I started with checking The Daily Create and I was so excited by what I found!  Last week I struggled with the idea of remixes and the digital age taking over a...
  19. melia838

    INTE 5340 – Week 4 Reflective Summary

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    Finished week 4, halfway through this course. Yay!!?? I’m happy to say I managed to complete, somewhat successfully, my required assignments for this week. After last week this makes me feel pretty good, except I’m pretty sure I’m still not fully understanding what I should be doing for this course. Here I am 4 weeks […]

UMW Spring 2024 (Bond & Groom)

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