Wk2 Reading - Welcome to the Club!

http://www.art-photograph-gallery.com/image-files/pictures-of-corn3.jpg

"Congratulations!  As of today, you are designers!  You are MY people…OK, that sounds a little weird, but it's true!  From this day on, I will look at you differently.  Every time I see you in the hallway, or on the soccer field or at the McDonald's around the corner, I will see you as one of US.  By the end of this class, 45 minutes from now, you will be a different person, with new skills a new attitude and a new future.  When you need me to help you, I will, because you are fellow designer.  When you need to use the awesome equipment that we have in this lab, you can, because you're a designer.  If I have a computer open, the seat is yours, because you're a designer, like me.  We designers help each other.  We're part of a team, a super-selective group, an exclusive, talented, secret-society of creative-minded individuals that cooperate to make the world a better place.  No matter where you go in life or what kind of career or job you have in the future, you will be part of this group, because you are a designer.  You will be better at everything you do, because you are a designer.  You'll be better at your job than the person in the next cubicle.  You will be a more desirable employee than the guy next to you waiting to interview for the same position.  Any door will be open to you because you are a designer and I am honored to work with you.  Alright, now I'd like to get to know you.  When I call your name, tell me what else you're good at…"

That rather long diatribe is my opening salvo.  This is how I greet my Introduction to Graphic Design students for the first time (more or less - I'm not one for reading my comments, so I may get creative and ad lib a bit, but if I were reading it, that is what it would sound like).  I want my students to know right away that they have stepped into a new world and are full-fledged members of that new world.  They instantly have all the privileges and access they need to do their job and that I am there as a guide, a cohort, a colleague.  I tell them 2 other things before allowing them to leave that first class;  "Please don't go back to your other classes and look at your fellow students with an arrogant "I can do something you can't do" attitude.  Know it in your heart, but be generous with your knowledge or at least friendly with your comments.  You will be able to do that illustrative book report better than they will, but the grade will show that, you don't have to."  The other thing I share is equally important to teenagers.  Knowing that they have the skills to be the best is one thing, but how will that help them? The next thing I say is that I am going to teach them how to take their new skills and make money.  Now, compared to the first statements I made, this seems blatantly capitalistic, self-centered and shallow…and I agree.  I think that's all there is to say about that.  If offering the occasional self-serving capitalistic lesson is wrong…how interesting!

I wanted to share this bit of teaching, because I think it demonstrates the corn/husk or marble/statue mentality discussed in our reading.  "I already know you are great (I can taste the buttery goodness now…), I just want to help clear away the chafe so we can see the essence.  I am Giving an A to my students without them having to lift a finger, memorize a vocabulary word or prove anything other than they can show up, plant their butts in one of my chairs and honor me with their presence.  I think that being positive for positive's sake is an awesome self-motivational tool.  I can always choose NOT to be anything; glum, depressed, bored, tired, ill, successful, etc.  No, I'm not eschewing modern medicine, I'm just saying a positive attitude goes a long way, and when used correctly can be almost as powerful as a pill or vitamin.

As long as I can get my students to label themselves "talented" or "skilled" or "part of the team", I have gone a long way toward encouraging their success.  I fight less battles in the classroom and they fight less battles with the subject.  As teachers, you and I must believe in success!  We must assume that our students will shine.  We must assume that they will teach US and make sure that it happens.

We don't need no stinkin' boxes.  I can see the box, but I don't fit in it.  My talents are so great that I can think around the box.  I can use the box, but I won't be limited to the box,  In fact, I wonder what's really in this box?  If I wind it up until it pops, what surprise comes out of the box?  Wouldn't it be great if we could get all of our students to think that way?  Wait until they realize that it is merely themselves exploding out of the box.  They will be emerging from the norm.  They will be inquiring.  They will ASSUME that they can fix the world, and just need to experiment with it until they discover the answers under the husk.

Image Credit: http://www.art-photograph-gallery.com/image-files/pictures-of-corn3.jpg

WK1: Thinking Outloud - Nollywood, Technology and Power to the Peope

http://reason.com/assets/mc/jwalker/2010_12/nollywood.jpg

I was genuinely amazed to learn about Nigeria's feature film production volume.  I consider myself a global thinker and I'm aware of many cases where technology has put developing nations, or those not considered to be world powers in money or resources,  on the map or brought attention to the people in those countries.  The Nollywood situation is intriguing.  This is a direct transference of technology to real world issues.  Bootleg copies of videos have been produced for decades, but now that similar technology is being used to create original content, the efforts to create respect for local copyright (where there is none for non-local product) is interesting.  It's hard not to question the obvious.  If it is not right to steal our own content, why is it OK to steal the work of other humans?  The answer seems to be merely one of enforcement.  It's OK if I don't get caught and the police don't care about the other stuff.  This is not a new issue, but still sad for the future of a technologically leapfrogging society.

Wk1: BlogResponse - Jen Selix

This week I discovered that there is much more to copyright law than I’ve ever truly known or understood. This is a bit frightening and shocking to me, being as that I have been working as a technical writer and media asset creator in the public sector for over ten years. e

 

The biggest shock was discovering how little protection and legal support we have through Fair Use. I admit that I had a false sense of security in the past, from what I believed to be legally binding Fair Use principles. However, after watching, Eyes on the Fair Use of the prize, I discovered how little power we have. Not only are copyrights and rights of fair use convoluted and challenging to defend, we can lose the right to use media assets altogether if outlandish royalty fees are not met.

As a writer and consumer of media, it saddens me and makes me nervous for our cultural and societal history to know that money and bureaucracy have the power to constrain our right to knowledge.

I welcome your thoughts and comments.

- Jen 


David Burch

As you are using content professionally, I'd be interested to know how the institutions or supervisors that you work under have presented the issue of Fair Use to you.  What kind of restrictions are required by those paying you to create?  Are they protecting themselves and you or are they more interested in the messages that you are creating ("Damn the torpedoes…" and all that)?  This is such a quagmire.  Obviously, the artist /creator of any work deserves to be paid when their work is distributed, but in what is now a global society, is trying to control all distribution more profitable than the exposure of the work to billions of people?

Sunday, September 4, 2011 - 10:30 AM

Wk1: BlogResponse - Alicia Welch

Wk 1 - Copyright

In watching the videos on Copyright and Fair Use, I believe that I am even more confused than before. I have to admit that concerns about copyright have been one of my biggest challenges throughout EMDT. When we all began the program, about 10 months ago, it was stressed to us that plagiarism unacceptable - something I am sure we all already knew. However, as we continued, we began to utilize material in our projects and performances. This materials was often found on the web. This is the material that I have shied away from. Even though a source is referenced, I was concerned about how the copyright laws could effect me. Several times I did not use something, like a piece of music or photo, because I was concerned about where it would fit into the context of the copyright laws.

In watching these videos, I can see how copyright could protect me as well as the original creator of the work. There are also many grey areas. Areas that copyright could be pushed too far. It was stated that ' a small bit' could be used in specific circumstances? That leads to the question, how small is a small piece. What if I use too much? What then? As you can probably tell, I am somewhat of a black/white person. I have to admit that I am uncomfortable with these broad definitions.

Wk1: WimbaArchive Post

It was necessary for me to view the archive post this week.  Being conditioned to expect a request from Prof. Bustillos regarding our attire, I was relieved that his awesome t-shirt was a personal choice and not a required Wimba uniform…

The viewing left me with a few questions and I would appreciate anyone replying if they know the answer.  First, as for the discussion boards, did I get it right that our post can be ONLY a response to someone else's post or are we required to post our own and answer AND possibly respond to others?  As for the Lit.Review for posting, I have a couple of questions; Can the format or look change to match the website (i.e. - font and formatting changes).  Is it OK to go ahead and make the page live if we have received our "Final Approved" LR back from Roxanne DeLeon?  Lastly, on the page reference for the final Publishing Project, I noticed a podcast reference.  If we create a video that highlights our research project with supplemental information like student interviews, etc., can we use this as both an asset on our AR (mine is AR) site AND post the Podcast for download to a wider audience?  Will making the podcast accessible via iTunes or other distributor fulfill the publishing objective?

I am looking forward to this course and hope to see everyone in Wimba on Tuesday. 

EMDTMS/MAC WK1 Reading: Copyright Issues, P1-3: Fair Use and De-evolution

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/
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When I start a lesson on copyright issues (issues mind you, not law) I usually show a segment from CBS Sunday Morning, an outstanding issues/news program that, in my book, ranks at the top of useful news productions - right behind PBS Newshour.  It is the story of Shepard Fairey, a street artist, conscientious objector and, in the eyes of the law, criminal.  This due to the nature of his artistic display of "public art" by defacing public areas upon his own authority.  Fairey's method's land him in court frequently but it is his motivations that may deserve the most attention and, depending on your point of view, the most effort on the part of law enforcement.  His artwork, like Andy Warhol's before him, and hubdreds of other artists, draws from popular culture and the work of other artists and professionals.  Whether during his long running "Obey" campaign where he manipulated images of Andre The Giant or his much celebrated Obama Hope posters, much of Fairey's work is arguably original or theft.  Part of the reason I use this video is to generate a student led discussion of the acceptability of Fairey's methods.  There is a quote in the story that I will paraphrase: What Shepard Fairey does to create his art, regardless of the original inspiration or source, is uniquely Shepard Fairey.  This suggests that "fair use", a term that Fairey himself uses in the story, is based on the creative application of editing an original owned by another.  The results of an Associated Press (the corporate owner of the image used in the Obama Hope poster) lawsuit are irrelevant to my discussion starter, so I don't cover that and I'm not sure if I could cover it objectively.  Which brings me to my point.  We, as teachers, can read, verbatim, the copyright law.  And we, as teachers, can pretend to be as knowledgable as hundreds of university professors, lawyers and big picture think tanks and present our interpretation of the these laws as a black and white or gray (see this week's video prompts) situation.  To put a philosophical spin on this issue, I have to admit that I'm a little perplexed on how to adequately teach the issues that will keep media creators, federal (global?) prosecutors, corporations and end-users (can we call them consumers if they are not paying to license?) in courthouses around the world for years to come.  Where is the line in the sand and does there really need to be one?  Here is the quagmire.  Young people especially, with their native use and inextinguishable access to online content have already decided as a societal movement or a collective agreement that free access to copyrighted intellectual and entertainment property is necessary and desirable. While the majority of teachers (I'm guessing here) over the thirty years of Internet evolution taught a black and white version of copyright law, the young end-users have decided that black and white doesn't make a correct, enforceable argument for them not to try to get away with using copyrighted material in new creative ways.  In my opinion, teaching copyright law as black and white is like teaching that the earth is flat.  On the other hand, if I start saying, out-loud, that this concept is not always enforceable and that the rules fluctuate depending on jury and Supreme (US) Court decisions, aren't I teaching tomorrows young adults that they could and should challenge the system? Aren't I speeding the decline or dismantling of the copyright protection laws?

CrazyTalk Animation

SchoolTube (if you don't have a Teacher account you should check into it) recently sent out a partner announcement regarding CrazyTalk from Reallusion.  Awesome animation program for creating videos using pre-existing characters, photo characters (yourself, maybe) and facial animation (latest release V6).  Please click on the link above to view the latest video.  It will show you the basics as well as the new things you can do with CrazyTalk.  Highly recommended!