My newest blog – the DS106 Assignment Bank Mashup. The Assignment Bank  Mashup I picked was the holiday mashup. The assignment suggested I should explore my chosen storytelling theme. My theme is work-life balance and I have always made sure I was home early or took days off around certain holidays. I think holidays are an […]

DS106 Mashup: Gears of Mario “Take two existing video game covers and mash them up so that both can be identified but in a different style. Try to be creative in the title and artistic design.” The Process Wouldn’t this be an awesome game to play?! I know that this week’s DS106 assignment was supposed […]

The task for this assignment was to mashup a children’s book with another  cultural artifact.  I chose this assignment for a couple of reasons.  For one thing, I have never used any sort of photo editing (besides paint, and I’ve only used that to add text to a picture) and wanted to see what I was capable […]

tdc1640 Hard to get the angle right with a selfie, but successful nonetheless. Also, I couldn’t find a cake (or children).

By now you should know that I am not a great rule follower. I let my kids listen to their music with explicit lyrics during class, allow the use of phones, deviate from the crap curriculum that the district has laid out for use of a more creative state...

WOW! WOW! WOW!This is my choice for Week 5--but I'm going to need some time to really distill it down into a blog post. So on today, Tuesday, I'm just putting it here as a placeholder because it fits my theme so perfectly.

#ds106 #ilt5340 My cousin just got married in Brazil and my family was unable to go due to the Zika Virus and my wife is 6 months pregnant. Many other family members were not able to make it due to … Continue reading →

Week #5: Mashup Assignment Mashup Those Movies The assignment was to take different movie posters and mash them into one. I chose one movie about teaching, Freedom Writers, and a second movie about working, 9 to 5. My focal theme … Continue reading →

It’s the same old (challenging song): I look through the mashup assignments and find several that look exciting and challenging, but I must narrow them down to a single one that I can adapt to my theme of “Libraries and Librarianship”. Arguably, most of them can be adapted to relate at least tangentially to my […]

In case you can’t tell, this is a mashup of the classic children’s book Goodnight  Moon and the anime Sailor Moon. My father is a HUGE anime fan. Fullmetal Alchemist, Bleach, Rurouni Kenshin, Gurren Lagann, InuYasha, Fate/Zero – you name it, he’s watched it. That is the power of Netflix. All this anime watching has also… Continue reading Goodnight Sailor Moon →

Average/Exceptional week for me this week as I am traveling and visiting with family back east. The average part comes from my actual classwork in which I have felt that I am rushed and not able to get in depth … Continue reading →

I’m nowhere near thinking about running a marathon yet, but I just happened to come across this digital story and found it humorous. At this point in my training, I can also relate to how the storyteller feels when I Read more...

The post Week 5 Story Critique appeared first on Robert Grotans - Professional Website.

It is already week 4!  Wow!  My goal from last week was to get things done earlier in the week and that happened, except for my reflection.  Good.  Once again, I had a great time working on the Daily Creates and I was able to put into practice several of the tools and skills I […]

I just don’t have much to say or for that matter time to say it this week.  A funeral, many relatives, grieving and comforting, many commitments and a family pet kills a kitten in front of small children and everyone is stunned and faced with death and grieving again. I feel I did the best … Continue reading Reflection Week 4

Week four is down–four more to go. This week was more manageable. I didn’t feel rushed and I feel like I am getting to …

How well do you feel you completed the requirements of the week’s assignments (inclusive of at least two TDCs, your DS106 Activity Bank Assignment, response to course readings (grad students only), critique of digital story, various responses to CU Denver peers, and engagement with other online social networks)? What gave you trouble? What did you […]

Wow, is it really the half way mark already?! I have to say this week flew by the quickest but perhaps that is because it is a holiday weekend. Or perhaps it is because it is as they say, “Time flies when you are having fun!” Either way the fourth week is coming to a […]

For this week’s story critique I decided to scope out a video on kayaking and toddlers. It goes well with my theme, “Through the Eyes of a Toddler” because it isn’t showing how an adult should kayak but rather has tips on how to do the activity with a toddler. The timing for this is […]

I have been mulling over this week's reflection for a couple of days now.  As I think back on the week's reading and activities, it all boils down to creating communities of practice.  I found it useful to go back and read through my annotati...

The article focused on three main things, self-publishing online, the nature and fabric of blogs as texts, and the development of social networks through blogging. In discussing blogging, the article talks about how blogs blend personal information publicly. Stating that, “it is a little like displaying a personal journal in a shop window.” The jargon […]

Week 4 is done – halfway done with the class. This was a good week for me. I finished most of the assignments head of time and wasn’t frustrated.  I am beginning to feel good about my daily creates and assignment bank assignments. I am having fun with them and being silly. I think that is […]

Week 4 was tough for me – though it had very little to do with the class.  I came down with a stomach virus that took me out for most of the week.  At first I thought that the fact that I was just lying around all week (and actually had someone else take my […]

Global Voices spoke to me this week. The organization works to find compelling and important stories coming from marginalized and misrepresented communities. Their mission includes speaking out against online censorship. This illustration alone consisted of an entire blog post called the Whirlpool of Silence – a Balkan discourse. This site contains some well written pieces including […]

This is what happens when you pick a neghborhood based on commuting… and then you end up working from home. Next time, I’ll go for community with trees.

Listener: Narrative Through Lights What types of “involvement” – and by the author/creator(s), participant(s), and/or audience – are apparent in this story? In this story the public art serves as the creator or author for the piece. Those who pass by become the participants if the choose to engage with the lights. I suppose the … Continue reading "Week 4: Digital Story Critique"

It is Sunday morning and I'm sitting in my armchair listening to  the roar of lawnmowers, a crying baby next door, and the incessant barking of the neighborhood dogs.  The noise is continual--and it is the cacophany which is suburbia on a wee...

El Vendedor De Alcatraces, Diego Rivera 1941It is important that from time to time we stop and remind ourselves what it is that we are seeking, what is it that we hope to contribute and obtain in our daily interactions with the world that we live in. I...

I am just continually amazed by the technology that is out there these days. I am soooooo far behind when it comes to technology. This week I watched some great videos that my colleagues shared and read some great articles that they shared as well. I am feeling extremely inspired…it is the beginning of July […]

Ok, so I found this article that I am really excited about.  Technically it is an article about digital story telling, and not so much a story.  But, I chose to use it because it ties in SO well with my theme-so bear with me. The article is titled A Reflection: Trials of Using Digital […]