Using iPad Creatively

Many people assume the iPad is a ‘toy’ only useful as a super large phone for Internet browsing and games. The video shows camera connection and creative use of a comic strip app to produce a multimedia product. There are loads out there – this is just an illustrative video to show possibilities.

Conole – Digital literacies for a modern context

Conole 15 june

A fascinating multimedia lecture. Reference points in the talk are use of Twitter and other social media but also Google Wave in comparison with convention email. The mapping to pedagogy section was enlightening for me as was personalised learning and simulation.

New interactive platform developing?

A while ago, I designed an Interactivity Trapezium model for graphically illustrating the levels of interactivity of different media platforms. The shape of the model for console games is picked out in light blue and is distinctive for most of the platform games I’ve played on PS2, Xbox 360 and Wii. Last weekend a new media platform came out for the PS3 and that is in the current form of Heavy Rain on the PS3.

Credited since the it’s launch with an emotion-based AI, the PS3 has a potential game-changer in Heavy Rain in that it is cinematic to the levels of most Hollywoood blockbusters (probably more so in the case of Avatar) and yet key interactive features also feature highly. The trapezium for Heavy rain is nowhere near the norm for consoles!

How far are you prepared to go to save someone you love? This is the central question of Heavy Rain and one that the protagonist, Ethan Mars, is compelled to answer. After Ethan’s son goes missing and is presumed to be the latest victim of the mysterious Origami Killer, he vows to do whatever it takes to rescue his boy. Besides Ethan, you also take control of three other seemingly unrelated individuals that have been drawn into the case: private investigator Scott Shelby, FBI criminal profiler Norman Jayden, and insomniac Madison Paige. Unlike other games that make extensive use of quick-time events, Heavy Rain does not track your progress in terms of success and failure. There is no right or wrong way to play; thus, no matter what your outcome is, the game will move forward and adapt to the consequences of your actions or lack thereof. Though the overall narrative framework is unyielding, your performance throughout the game can have a variety of effects, ranging from subtle changes in how a scene plays out to much bigger adjustments. Entire events may not occur because your actions and choices caused the plot to branch in a different direction. It’s even possible for key characters to die, thus eliminating any subsequent contributions to the story that they might have made. No matter what happens in your play-through, the adaptive plot of Heavy Rain becomes a deeply personal sum of your experiences. (Gamespot review)

I’m hoping this is the start of a new media that mixes the best elements of an involving movie with the interactivity of the best games; maybe Heavy Rain is the first of many in this genre?

Prezi – used well

“Teaching outside the Box” Prezi

I spent a couple of hours learning to use Prezi to make a more visually exciting presentation a few months ago. I found it hard to get right, but once mastered not too bad. Ok, the main idea was to avoid a PowerPoint style bullet listed pages and inspire the audience with more creative structures of presentation. When done well, as the example above, Prezi adds more than just style to a presentation. After all, it isn’t as labour intensive as Flash!

Issues I did experience were that even when familiar with the content, during a presentation it was easy to get lost and have to back track to another part of the ‘show’. I ended up printing out slides using PowerPoint (!!!) through screen shots of Prezi. When other people had to present the same show they had no idea how to navigate around and again needed the slide print outs!

Is Prezi any good? Yes, for making easy multimedia in the style of Flash and not so linear as PowerPoint. No, if you have to present (or someone else does) to 120 people once a day for a week. Instead, post online and send them a link! Prezi – time to add a voiceover and video capture feature – maybe people would pay a premium for these features?

Glogster – graphic blog posters

Presenting Glogster, a great web 2.0 style tool that is free to use, intuitive and highly creative.  What is it? Basically a multimedia poster maker that allows the addition of images, text, shapes and colour with audio and video. How to use? Have an idea for your poster (sketch it out if you need to) but then collect multimedia, links to web sites and even sounds and You Tube video addresses. The interface is simple and lets you add what you need and then resize and drag around the workspace as you see fit. Once happy with your design, you publish and get a link or embed code for broadcasting via a blog or web site. Having recently taught a unit of GCSE Graphics based around Photoshop, I look at this and see the potential for a full on WEb 2.0 approach. Yes it allows online comment and feedback and some aspects of the social networking web. I would suggest some improvements though – what about comment moderation (Blogger has had this for years) and even the option to disassociate from social networks? These minor changes would make Glogster highly usable in UK schools.