True innovation is rarely the result of new technology. No, true innovation comes from an insightful application of new technology. This is the reality facing innovators in augmented reality (AR). Mixed-reality technologies could have as great an impact on how we operate within society as social media had, perhaps even more so. My particular interest […]

My final reflections on the summer ILT5340 Digital Storytelling course taught by Professor Remi Holden. Me as a learner: This course brought to light some things about myself as a learner. I am a hard worker and I don’t shy away from challenges, yet I find I have to meet these things on my own […]

This summer we journeyed into digital storytelling. Guided by the very capable Professor Remi Holden, we explored new ways of interacting with each other, on public platforms, and in small groups. Many tools were brought in to facilitate this new experience in learning. Using the DS106 platform, Twitter, Hypothes.is, wordpress and various digital production tools, […]

Ok. I am just going to say it. My life has become one long episode of Game of Thrones. I have seen all the seasons and I am in the middle of reading the books (at 1000 pages each). I am living with these charaters and I recognize the stereotypes in our contemporary (real-life) version […]

Often the most interesting part of a story is the mystery. Even in academic papers, the really intriguing parts are the ideas left ambiguous or unexplained. In reading Monica Nilssan’s “Developing Voice in Digital Storytelling Through Creativity, Narrative and Multimodality”, one of the most intriguing things in the paper is listed right below her name. The words […]

Content from the source material Rationality and emotional resilience are neural connections that can be strengthened. Through this neural mechanism, self-awareness can enhance our life experience. Social Neuroscience When we express ourselves and our views are appreciated, dopamine neurotransmisson activates our reward neural network. This increases our feelings of empowerment and self-esteem. In this way our beliefs or […]

Traditional academics believe the best learning takes place within a mind deep in contemplation. New ideas about learning, however, are challenging this. According to this week’s reading of Lankshear and Knobel’s book New Literacies (chapter 7): Knowledge in the modern era is no longer considered a private possession. It is considered a social activity. Depth of […]

“Thought can’t go where the roads of language have not been built.”  -Terence McKenna Words hold the magic of world-creation, yet so often we overlook the power they hold. So powerful are words that knowledge acquired over the course of millennia can be lost if their words are lost. Conversely, new courses of human evolution can […]

Can what we consider as popular culture really be considered ‘culture’ or simply fandom? That is to say, if cultural artifacts originate from corporate products are they, in fact, ‘authentic’ cultural expressions? An interesting distinction was made in this week’s reading, Henry Jenkins’ “Afterword: Communities of Readers, Clusters of Practice (2008). Jenkins made a clear distinction between the ‘participatory […]

There is this myth that we only use 10% of our brain. It was originally based on some science, but it was misunderstood. Early in neuroscience it was proposed that our brain is comprised of 10% neurons and 90% everything else, called glial cells. Neurons were believed to be the primary mechanism of the working […]

Guess what? Just ’cause you read and write does not make you literate anymore. That’s right! The definition of “literacy” is proliferating to include everything possible in the cybersphere. Reading and writing? That’s for remedials. No, literacy is now a social practice. Literacy is an event! Now, you can even commit an act of literacy! […]

When we no longer know what to do we have come to our real work, and when we no longer know which way to go we have begun our real journey. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings. —Wendell Berry Let us think together for a […]

“…throughout the 20th century the dominant common sense model for mobilizing resources was based on the logic of “push.” Like resources, information needs a vehicle to move. If we think of our common, conventional mode of mass communication “The Push” as, say, a super highway then perhaps we can think of “The Pull” as more like […]

We are all in a process of growth. We grow as individuals, as groups, and as a collective. Some people are able to recognize patterns and trends and foresee growth. These people are called ‘Thought Leaders’. Beyond this, however, there are those who are able to recognize growth patterns and then activate growth in others. These people are […]

  I design therefore I become.  -Jason Silva Games are the secret to life. They weave stories with interactivity. Beyond storytelling, however, they transcend the linear nature of the narrative and offer you an active place within it. On a meta level, I think games are the hidden operating systems behind the church, the government and culture […]

Think outside the egg.

“Dreams do not lack reality. They are real patterns of information.” Richard Doyle If you are looking to expand your paradigm, take some time to listen to Jason Silva. He paints luminous pictures with his words. He helps us get a glimpse into what is possible, what we strive for as humans, and how to […]

Review of Lankshear & Knoble’s “New Literacies Sampler: New literacies and digital epistemologies” (2007). Chapter 1. Summary The new ways of thinking are nothing short of epochal, say the authors of the book “A New Literacies Sampler“. A shift of paradigm into “post-industrial thinking” is slamming into the industrial mindset of the old guard, and the […]

Rules of communication are changing. Radically. Beyond how we engage with each other through social media. Beyond how we consume and generate new information. Beyond, even, the emergence of an entirely new class of skills called the 21st Century Literacies. If we look deeper than all of this, we see that communication is becoming more […]

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