Limping across the Finish Line

In an earlier post, I indicated that this blog has been a spin-off of a distance education course called Digital Media Skills and Innovation for the Global Economy (CEID 100 - Ryerson University, Toronto). Officially, the course ends today (August 1), meaning that all summer I've been "in school." With summer temperatures, kids out of school, and triathlon training in full swing, maintaining focus has been a challenge.

Following the final exam last week, the final project--undertaken in pairs--has been our (mine and Shawn's) priority this week. Once again, I downloaded new software and learned how to use new programs--at the eleventh hour. This week's new resources included Audacity and Windows Sound Recorder for recording a narrative, and Windows Media Player.

Audacity

Windows Media Player

Through daily communication via Google hangouts, email, and dropbox, Shawn and I have prepared the following instructional video on the subject of online privacy, with a focus on social media. The projected audience is high school students.

With that, "school's out," and my blog posts on all things digital are likely to become fewer, with more time in between. For all those who have been lurking in on my digital learning, thank you for your interest. Perhaps my learning has been of benefit to more than just me.

"No more keyboard, no more books, no more teacher's weekly...hooks?" (This rhyme needs a digital adaptation--I don't think this lame attempt will go viral...)

Predicting the Digital Future

So what can we expect for our digital future? While we can't know all the details, we can count on more interoperability going forward. 

Cloud-based computing can be expected to grow, wherein computing will increasingly be delivered as a service rather than a product. This is essentially an "in progress" paradigm shift in computing. As cloud-computing continues to grow, computer memory or a user's particular device will become less important for storing data or running programs, and small companies will be able to realize digital opportunities that were previously out of reach. While cloud computing is an advantage in many ways, as data is shared and accessed via a greater number of devices, security challenges may increase, and privacy will be under greater threat.

Going forward, the electrical grid, which is similar to cloud computing in its delivery, is expected to advance to a "smart grid," allowing for more efficient energy allocation and more environmentally friendly use of energy resources. If the smart grid materializes, high levels of data interconnection with regard to energy consumption and demand are expected to give way to energy efficiencies through system communication and automatic adjustments. Palfrey and Gasser (2011) liken the smart grid to an "energy Internet" that integrates "technologies and functions into one network of networks" (p. 242).

An Internet of Things (IoT) is also expected to emerge, in which physical items--appliances, razors, buildings--can be turned into "smart" (computerized) objects that are connected to the Internet for the purpose of data collection, analysis, and application. Again, privacy and security are concerns with the emergence of IoT.

Information overload may be expected to continue to increase, necessitating continued development of search tools and facilitating growth of social technologies. As information grows, it will be used in new ways, and the need for data processing and databases (big data challenges) will expand. Media multi-tasking will be increasingly normative, and technology will become ever more personalized. Different media will continue to converge into digital forms, allowing media texts to be distributed across a variety of devices.

On a related note, transmedia presentation of narratives will expand stories into new and more complex forms. Through transmedia storytelling, audiences will experience congruent entertainment experiences that span a variety of media, with each extension contributing something unique to the understanding of a story. The result will be the creation of dynamic, new, synergistic narrative collections.

In general, these predictions will lead to new user experiences, in which people interact with media and the world in ways unknown to our ancestors. In the digital world, we can expect change to be the only constant.

Palfrey, J., & Gasser, U. (2012). Interop: The promise and perils of highly interconnected systems. New York: Basic Books.

Web Analytics 101: A Framework for Data Analysis

Analytics is the discovery and communication of meaningful patterns in data. Applied to the Web, analytics refers to collecting, measuring, analyzing, and reporting data that website owners can collect from the website visits of users. This allows website owners to understand and optimize their Web strategy to seek better results, or a better return on investment in online strategies.

According to Avinash Kaushik, the basics of Web analytics can be found in defining business objectives, goals, metrics, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), targets, dimensions, and segments and in analyzing data accordingly.

Kaushik presents an overview of these concepts in his blog post, "Web Analytics 101: Definitions: Goals, Metrics, KPIs, Dimensions, Targets."

Given that a PDF of Kaushik's blog post is 12 pages of text and graphics, I've summarized his post in a visually appealing infographic, using Piktochart (below). While a week's worth of study doesn't qualify anyone as an expert in Web analytics, Kaushik lays a foundation by which to get started.

For Kaushik's complete blog post, please see http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/web-analytics-101-definitions-goals-metrics-kpis-dimensions-targets/

Decoding The Mysteries of Code

This week, we went behind the scenes of Web development by looking at the principle programming languages (or codes) that comprise it. These included HTML, CSS, JavaScript, XML, PHP, ASP, SQL, and API. While Module 9 of CEID 100 doesn't promise to create coding experts, it nonetheless starts students down the path of understanding and using code.

Our assignment involved going to codecademy.com to complete an appropriate course for a programming language that is new (to the student), or one that the student could use more work on, and to complete an associated (short) project through codecademy.com.

Proof of my completion of HTML Basics I:

The final project involved coding a basic personal website/Web page, with a title, several headings, several paragraphs of text, several links, and an image. While I am not yet ready to program Web pages for a living, the mysteries of online code are a little less mysterious, and I have the tools to further unravel such mysteries via course at codecademy.com to improve my skills.

My final code page looked like this:

My Web page includes the code below: 

<!DOCTYPE>
<html>
<head>
</head>
<title>
</title>
<body>
<h1>Florene G. Ypma</h1>
<img src="http://athabasca.iwebez.com/images/%7B6FCD6D8D-2427-4657-82F8-AAF691E97480%7DHwyInterchange2.jpg" />
<h3>Personal</h3>
<p>I'm a parent raising two kids--a teenager and a pre-teen in rural Alberta. Unlike 90% of Canadians, we don't live within 100 km of the American border. In fact, we are likely part of the 1% in terms of how far north we live in Canada. We live approximately two hours north of Edmonton, Alberta in a small town called Athabasca.</p>
<h3>Professional</h3>
<p>Professionally, I'm a Course Production Editor at <a href="http://www.athabascau.ca/">Athabasca University</a>, which means that I basically prepare university courses for online delivery. I work with professors, learning designers, visual communication designers, copyright staff, and multi-media Web specialists to produce course materials. My specific skill-set involves expertise with language, though I'm getting handy with design as well.</p>
<h3>Recreational</h3>
<p>When I'm not engaged in the jobs above, I'm a recreational athlete, competing in road races and <a href="http://www.billyloutit.ca">triathlons</a>. I love to swim, bike, and run, and in the winter, I like to cross-country ski. Along the same vein, I help to coach our local swim team, the <a href="http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.athabascaadvocate.com%2Fapps%2Fpbcsi.dll%2Fbilde%253FSite%253DGR%2526Date%253D20140422%2526Category%253DATH1101%2526ArtNo%253D304229977%2526Ref%253DEP%2526NewTbl%253D1%2526item%253D1%2526MaxW%253D800%2526MaxH%253D600&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.athabascaadvocate.com%2Farticle%2F20140422%2FATH1101%2F304229977%2F0%2Fath&h=600&w=450&tbnid=7C15PKUccM1BwM%3A&zoom=1&docid=T-5FBjhvgEGzxM&ei=O3m0U7rXD9KbqAbShYKgAQ&tbm=isch&client=firefox-a&ved=0CB8QMygBMAE&iact=rc&uact=3&dur=2706&page=1&start=0&ndsp=16">Athabasca Rapids</a>.</p>
</body>
</html>

Visual translation:

Florene G. Ypma

Personal

I'm a parent raising two kids--a teenager and a pre-teen in rural Alberta. Unlike 90% of Canadians, we don't live within 100 km of the American border. In fact, we are likely part of the 1% (population living farthest north) in terms of how far north we live in Canada. We live approximately two hours north of Edmonton, Alberta in a small town called Athabasca.

Professional

Professionally, I'm a Course Production Editor at Athabasca University, which means that I basically prepare university courses for online delivery. I work with professors, learning designers, visual communication designers, copyright staff, and multi-media Web specialists to produce course materials. My specific skill-set involves expertise with language, though I'm getting handy with design as well.

Recreational

When I'm not engaged in the jobs above, I'm a recreational athlete, competing in road races and triathlons. I love to swim, bike, and run, and in the winter, I like to cross-country ski. Along the same vein, I help to coach our local swim team, the Athabasca Rapids.

Video Editing: Where Google Proves It Is Your Friend

So, this week was make-your-own video-PSA week on the assignment board, and I needed to consult my good friend, Google, to help get me to the finish line.

As expected, it was a whirlwind of working through unit materials, downloading new programs, learning the new programs, and drafting assignment materials in collaboration with my assigment partner in another time zone, and submit the assignment (in media I’ve never seen before) by midnight Friday.

As expected, it was a little nuts. What's more, Google Hangouts turned into Google Glitch, and though we fostered successful collaboration, my assignment partner and I didn't always see eye to eye on the most effective way to present each of the elements in our 40-second video.

Nonetheless, we learned from and taught one another as we went, and ultimately produced a 40-second PSA on cyberbullying, using content licensed through Creative Commons. Picasa photo editing, Windows Movie Maker, Google Hangouts, Google Drive, Dropbox, audio, music, video, and narration all factored into the process.

Whew! As we reached the point of "Done is better than perfect," we had to agree that we learned a lot in the process, and we may revisit this collection of media for our final project.

"Cut!" (and post.)

And here it is: Say NO to cyberbullying.

Whetting My Appetite for Apps

This week's assignment was to build an informational app on any topic. In my my other life, I've been immersed in business and activity for a swim club that I'm affiliated with this week, so I've created an informational app for the Athabasca Rapids Swim Club, called "Rapids Swim Updater" through the Appy Pie app-builder tool.

In so doing, I've gotten a rapid-fire introduction to the world of apps, which is a bit of an unknown for me, as I'm not a smartphone or tablet user. I can see how this tool may be useful, but I soon discovered that the option to edit an app, which will be critical for an app that is intended to update users with information about upcoming swim events, is only available through a paid app subscription. Nonetheless, the exercise has opened up a new digital world for me, with new possibilities.

Though I'm unlikely to keep the app live under these circumstances, it's available for preview (for now) at http://apps.appypie.com/marketplace/iphone-android/rapids-swim-updater. With more time and opportunity, this could become a useful tool. At present, however, it's more of a trial run.  

Elevator Pitch: "And What Do You Do?"

 

This week's task was to develop a personal brand statement, to use as part of one's "Elevator pitch." So, how did I go about this?

First, I Googled "personal brand statement," since this concept wasn't covered in this week's course materials. Jörgen Sundberg of the UndercoverRecruiter indicates that a personal brand statement consists of "1-2 sentences answering what you are the best at (value), who you serve (audience) and how you do it uniquely." She indicates that it should be "memorable, punchy and solution oriented."

• VALUE

• AUDIENCE

• UNIQUE CONTRIBUTION

True to form, I started with a functional and specific statement that addressed an audience, a measure of value, and a unique contribution. Once composed, however, I quickly determined that my statement, though functional and specific to my current employment, lacked any punch and left a "snore" impression. (I credit this to spending too much time spent in academia.) Draft 1 read like this:

 Florene keeps distance education students on track by anticipating their needs and ensuring clarity and functionality in their course materials.

YAWN.

Upon second reading, I also recognized that while this statement was accurate, it limited my skills to an unnecessarily specific purpose and population, so I strove to broaden the potential interest group and to strive for less "academic" language. Meanwhile, as a rural Albertan (who likes it that way), I also wanted to integrate my preferred surroundings and my geographical client base into my statement. So, I referred to my current Twitter description, which incorporates geography and philosophy with my skill set as follows:

Florene is a professional communicator living a simple life in rural Alberta.

While this broadens my interest group and reflects who I am, it doesn't suggest unique value, nor does it target the needs of a rural audience. What's more, it doesn't have an action orientation.

It needs more punch.

My third run represents a statement that can dip in many directions, while using plain language to indicate that I'm a communicator that writes to meet the needs of rural Albertans (primarily). This statement can change and grow, but it's a good start, I think.

So, if I meet you on an elevator, and you ask me what I do, I might tell you something like this (and hope you ask for details):

Florene draws the attention of audiences in rural Alberta and beyond through clear, engaging written communication that anticipates the readers' needs and tells them what they need to know.

 Much better. :)