Blog # 8

Be prepared for next week's class workshop on Project 2.  For your blog next week:

1.  Choose the software you would like to use in creating your next piece. Write about that choice explaining briefly why you decided to go with that application.  "Play around" with the software, and develop some initial foundation for your project that you may build upon in the week before deadline (April 16).

I am most likely choosing Prezi as the software for project 2. I experimented with i movie and enjoyed it, however was concerned about portability and ease of access from various computers. Work, home and university might have had mac/ ibm transferrability issues. Also, my work will likely not have as much video imagery as much as still image and text movement needs. Lastly, my laptop had a 2009 version and I would have to pay about 16 dollars for the upgrade, which I wasnt sure I needed. Also, I considered powerpoint which i am already somewhat comfortable with. I liked it as a safety net, but thought that i would be settling, or shortchanging myself from a more dynamic and technologically challenging work. Prezi subsequently became my top choice. After some adobe flash player and adobe reader upgrade issues and free upgrades, I was ready to experiment with Prezi, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

2.  Write an early outline of the narrative/text/poem you will be creating.  Describe the intended content for your piece, along with the style and design features you would like to invoke.

I plan on modifying "footprints in the sand" poem in both content and form. I want to rename it "Waves in the sand" I am hoping to use various still images with some background audio. There will be small pieces of text within the visual/ auditory formats, however I am hoping to end with a larger piece of text that resembles the original poem but with different meaning. Instead of good times/ tough times and presence/ absence, i will attempt a different theme of continuity, ebb/ flow, erasure and the overall permanence and longevity of 'sand' regardless of its quantity. Quantitative presence vs. qualitative affect/ impact will hopefully tie into technology and e-lit as a continuos flow that is evolving like waves of sand on a beach. Parts of it may come and go but its impact and imagery as 'the place where land meets sea', will always remain. The hope is that the reader may connect digital writing/ new media as that same bridge where print lit meets electronic lit and the field of composition/ literature can serve as that permanent beach with many grains of sand and great depth. I still have alot to work on regarding these ideas within the theme.

3.  Prepare a question (or a few) to pose to Dr. Flores during our twitter session. 

Is Prezi an adequate tool for digital poetry, moreso can letters move (within slides) similar to flash? or just the slides that move.

What are your thoughts on technology access issues in schools. e.g., old cell phone policies merged with use of tablets or phones for educational purposes?

How can students use technology while in school in a functional, non distracting nature?