Today, we build digital representations of ourselves; we don’t really look at facades… It’s more about the message. What ideas would like to share?
(The text formatting function of the app used to create this image was not functioning; the text should have been a light grey.)
As promised, I’ve made modifications…
1. I switched the iPad into do not disturb mode.
2. I’ve installed slack.
3. I’ve insisted that all communications relating to the productions that I am organizing go through slack.
Slack is the place where I can keep professional communications, files, notices, production documents, images, and a separate channel for nonsensical communications.
I’ve got a channel set up for every production and commitee/special interest group; they’ve all just sent in their posters for our newsletter. Because they all live on slack, I don’t have to scour Facebook, drive, Dropbox, or my email for any files. (The Google drive integration is fantastic)
Now that Staller’s Cabaret and Theater Three have been outfitted with deliciously functional wireless networking equipment, rehearsal is a pleasure to document; I don’t even have to leave the immediate area to be productive, online.
Selections and responses from Clue Train:
The first among these is: Thy network shall move all packets closer to their destinations without favor or delay based on origin, source, content, or intent.
This idea is in jeopardy.
On the Net, we are the medium. We are the ones who move messages. We do so every time we post or retweet, send a link in an email, or post it on a social network.
Something that many people don’t realize is that the Internet is just the infrastructure that permits our communication. If we do not contribute, the Internet does nothing.
When you place a “native ad,” you’re eroding not just your own trustworthiness, but the trustworthiness of this entire new way of being with one another.
The Internet is much more beautiful without the ads.
This week I discovered that the iPad gives me opportunities to procrastinate. I usually have several projects happening that require hourly communications during the stressful phases of the projects. When I am working on the iPad, it is difficult to be productive and neutralize twenty to forty notifications spread across several communication/social media apps. I get distracted.
The onscreen keyboard makes it a chore to type up papers, and using the content management system for this blog, in safari or chrome, can become somewhat nightmarish, once images/videos are introduced. The interface becomes unresponsive; it’s tough to predict how much time will be used to reattempt an operation like inserting a photo, when the technology doesn’t want to cooperate.
I need this device to be a utility and not a distraction. This is not the fault of the device; I’ll try making some modifications to the way I receive notifications. Hopefully I will be more productive next week.
Pocket Theatre is in the middle of rehearsals for Next to Normal! This semester, we wish to document the process, with photos, videos, and text notes. All of the data/media should be pushed up to drive, but unfortunately, our rehearsal space in the union basement does not have quality wifi. My iPad can’t even find our network; it just refreshes and searches. Every network has some dead spots, but it just so happens that our other two rehearsal spaces in Staller are also dead zones. The cabaret, Staller 0003, like the union, doesn’t have a signal strong enough for the iPad to detect it. The connection in theater three, Staller 1020, is better, but not reliable. All of the projects currently have ten or more files stored in Google drive for ease of access and collaboration. How can we consider using iPads in the academic environment if the wireless network coverage is spotty in high usage areas? Such circumstances prevent students from trying to implement the widely used technology.
Pocket Theatre – Next to Normal Rehearsal
Wenger qualifies a “community of practice” as a balance of mutual engagement, a joint enterprise, and a shared repertoire. While the interactions of the humans discussed in his chapter on community are specific to claims processors, I read it in the context of a theatre company; theatre companies, groups, or organizations are all communities of practice. Providing that individuals decide to be part of some sort of collective, relationships form between the individuals, the individuals have their own unique qualifications that supplement their peers’ qualifications, and a model of power, influence, and change is acknowledged, the community in question is one of practice.
This psychologically insightful analysis of community objectifies the scary, and sometimes unpredictable, nature and happenings in collaborative communities. Wenger mentions that collaboration is not implied, but the communities that he describes can only thrive if there is participation, in/with groups, which is collaboration.
The section about joint enterprise really spoke to me. For three years I have served as the President and Artistic Director of Pocket Theatre. One of my jobs is to assemble teams of individuals with the intent to collaborate, so examining shared repertoire is a crucial part of determining who gets to mutually engage. I recently worked on a production; tensions were high, arguments were not uncommon occurrences, and productivity was often slowed by those two things. The lack of mutual accountability caused every issue. Because Pocket Theatre is a student organization, all individuals involved with our projects are students; holding students accountable for anything extra-curricular is a nightmare.
So, here is my “original question”: How can we hold students accountable for the responsibilities that they take on in the extra-curricular setting? (Note: it is sometimes more effective to keep an inefficient person on a team, and correct work, than firing that inefficient person and replacing them.)
This is the basic layout of jobs / responsibilities in the theatre. In smaller companies, these jobs get condensed.
In the diagram above, communities of practice are contained within larger communities of practice. Crews are their own communities, but they report to supervisors / designers who exist in a larger community. (The communities nest further, going all the way up to the board of directors.)
I’ve attempted to use the iPad for video and photographs this week. I haven’t been able to get past the iPad’s inability to share content to google drive, facebook messenger, google hangouts, and many other apps. I am hardwired to search for files in locations that have been designated for their storage, before attempting to use them in some way. iOS demands that I begin this search in the application that I wish to use the file in; to lock everyone into this alternate approach, they’ve completely avoided building support to share files to apps from the share button found when viewing the file. Apple is forcing me to push the home button, locate the application that I wish to open the content in, and open that application, navigate to the option/button that allows me to look for images/content/files on the iPad, remember which file it is that I wanted to use, re-locate the file, and continue what I was doing, instead of: push share, select app, move on with life. It damages the otherwise calm and speedy workflow that I get into on the device.
I’m finding that typing on the iPad is getting easier, but I would never use it for typing if I had a real keyboard, and no, the iPad keyboards are not adequate. Gmail, Chrome, Drive, and Blackboard are most valuable to me right now; because I have more screen real-estate, consuming content and responding has become much easier and more enjoyable. Next week, I’ll try using the iPad as a utility while I’m at work. I have a Screen Connect installed, for remote support, and a utility called Fing, which is “the ultimate network toolkit.”
The contents of the bag that holds my scholastic belongings:
In my bag, I’ve got some plays, some books about theatre, two notebooks, a fountain pen, ink for the fountain pen, two charging cables, one power adapter, and an iPad, complete with case. Nothing in my bag can be replaced by an iPad, except for the iPad. At the moment, I can live without the two plays in the bottom right corner of the image, as they are for leisure, but the rest, I must have with me. The only thing not pictured here is my binder, filled with various papers, that is currently in a storage locker at SBU. The most surprising thing that is found in my bag is the bottle of ink (inside the box below Next to Normal.) Unfortunately, I use ink rather quickly, so keeping the bottle close by is a must. The dramaturgy text is not a full time addition to the pile of texts that reside within my bag.
Being new to iProducts, I decided to start by switching off a few unnecessary features and and installing a bunch of Google apps, and other apps, that I have installed on my android device. This week’s goal was to waste as little time as possible trying to figure things out.
Everything seems to be functioning well. The iPad is speeds, responsive, and pretty to look at. Also, I’m finding that screen real estate allows me to be extremely comfortable and productive while using the apps.
I recently discovered that I can’t share data between apps as easily as I can on android, which is terribly upsetting, but this is something that I will try to look past for now. Also, typing is not as easy, or accurate, without a keyboard. I’m sure that my typing will improve on the iPad, but slamming my fingers against glass is completely undesirable when I have a mechanical keyboard at my disposal. Google Drive, Kindle, Chrome, and Spotify are at the top of the most frequently used app list. I seem spend little time using things that are distinctly “iPad”. I am actively trying to use my desktop less, now that I have this device, and this is a drop in replacement for most basic assignments / tasks related to my assignments. With that being said, I still need to use my desktop regularly, but I do enjoy being productive on the go.
Next week, I will try to do the majority of my computing on my iPad, during down time between classes. I’d also like to try and record video a few times.
Hey, I’m Chris! I grew up in Bethpage, NY, but now I live in Wading River. This semester starts my eighth semester at Stony Brook University, studying theatre, and my sixth semester running Stony Brook Pocket Theatre, Stony Brook’s student run theatre company. When I’m not thinking about theatre, I am brewing and drinking copious amounts of coffee. For the past six years, I have been employed as an IT Technician, so technology is not to foreign to me. You can find me on Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn. Technology has woven it’s way into many facets of our lives, but it has not yet reached my fountain pen or books, that’s right– made of paper. Some things are better when left alone. I enrolled in this course because I thought that it would be a great opportunity for me to get comfortable with publicly publishing work, and meeting regular blogging deadlines.
In response to the readings:
I agree that it is time for Education to embrace technology. Essentially, technology has removed geographical obstacles that prevent humans from interacting with one another. The internet allows people to communicate, peer review, create, and share data and ideas, so why not integrate technology into higher education?
We are finally getting over society’s massive initial investment of time to learn how to use technology. It’s here. People use it. It’s not going away. At the University level, students are expected to conduct themselves like adults; if they choose to play games or chat with friends on their devices, while they are supposed to be doing other work, that is their choice, and they will be evaluated the same way the rest of their classmates are evaluated. Technology is a tool with seemingly endless potential; incorporating it into the learning environment is the right move to make.
Intelligent discourse will happen with, or without, the university. It happens in forums and people are even dedicated to documenting information and peer reviewing it– Wikipedia. Isn’t that what makes information credible, peer review? If higher education does not embrace technology, it will probably be left behind. (Think IBM when they decided that the personal computer was a laughable idea.) With online courses, publications, and communities, there is really no reason to go to college in the first place… except the bit about obtaining a degree to list on resumes.
While I do not believe that gimmicky, uni-tasking products are sustainable in the classroom, opening up lines of communication between students and sources of data and storage is the only way to progress in education. If productivity is the desired outcome, then using technology to collaborate anytime and anywhere with network access, is essential.
I am a student and a working professional that is required to constantly check for emails and messages. Work doesn’t stop outside of the 9 to 5 anymore. Everyone is “plugged in,” so everyone expects that availability is extensive. With smartphones and tablets, I can be away from my desk or out of the state; I will still be available when needed.
Students have to opportunity to use the technology to shape the learning environment into something tailored for their own needs; with devices that multitask, on the software and hardware fronts, there is little left to worry about improving before implementing said devices into the daily grind.