Noir106

Jerry of Eastside for Sale on eBay

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As the #noir106 cohort works on character development as collaborations and listens to their audio #ds106radio episodes over the next two weeks, I am opting for some creations based on the open course week 8 for this week. I am of course changing it up and adding my own little slice of the UMW Noir Cohorts to my mix.

I started using my dad as my character. He really doesn’t interact with any of the Noir characters, but the time period I am focusing on now starts during that era. As others create Twitter personas for their characters and will develop stories and interactions I realized these assignments are the updated version of ds106 and Storytelling within the Web.

I began with this first assignment – WebAssignment713. This is a 5 Star assignment. Story telling within the web. I chose an eBay page for this first attempt. I searched for 1955 and came up with some great auction items. I chose to replace the first 9 items with some of my work and other photos of Jerry across his life – just some samples. You can see the screen shot below and go to a working html page by clicking this link: Jerry Eastside on eBay

Story in Web

The eBay story should help in identifying different parts of Jerry’s life and things that happened to him. Marriage, activities, love, etc.

I used X-Ray Goggles to reconstruct the eBay page. I even changed some of the text to #ds106. 🙂 At first I thought I had to change all the parts to go to a page that would just explain that this was all a story and not go to the original products. When I was finished, it produces a page, but the links do not go anywhere – so that step can be eliminated. That makes this more of a one layer kind of presentation which is a lot easier to think out than the multiple branches and side trips that could be created and make this a far deeper and complex assignment. (Update: upon another load and look – the links do work – so now the ones I changed go to a blank page of my site – oh well! – next time!)

I can see using this for different characters in search pages, IMD, and maybe even Facebook or LinkedIn so that you can tell the story but not have to create an account and set up etc. to support. It reminds me of prior to Photoshop and other remixes having a magazine cover with your own photo inserted.

Building a portfolio for a character could easily be accomplished using this method to tell a story.Threading a full trail “in” the web for a character will add dimensions and interaction for readers. This first attempt has sprouted many tangents and ideas of how to use the web as the story for telling. I want to also explore further into how to work with the CSS of a page to alter the content to my choosing.

ds106.ioAnimatedNewOldFriend_290NOTE: Listen in M-Th the weeks of March 8 and March 15, 2015 to #noir106 radio shows.
9pm EST at ds106radio and
Tweet along with other listeners and the creators using hashtags:-#ds106radio, #noir106, #ds106.

My ears are ringing = Summary Unit 7

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Another week of audio creations not only working on some of my own, but listening to others’ work. #noir106 is in group work and producing radio shows that will be broadcast on DS106 radio after the UMW Spring Break. Week of March 8, 2015 – ds106radio

My plan was to attempt to do an audio event of about 5 minutes. I have put that idea aside for now. I am working in Audacity and creating some tracks. I am looking towards a time when I have more purpose for a full audio event. Until then, I am trying to step up each practice by using new tools, features and ideas in using sound.

I started with the theme song. While I felt accomplished, taking music and trying to cut it up into something new was not easy. My final outcome I was happy with – but not as a finished product. There are some choppy transitions that I just couldn’t smooth out and the more I tried, the farther down the path of losing my direction I headed. I decided to stop. At this point, it should be a complete restart. I am okay with that-  this is about the learning. I chose a favorite song of my Dad’s, A taste of Honey played by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.

Next I went to commercial creation. Not because I need commercials, but as the topic and assignment to use for more audio practice. I decided on Oriental Drugs of Milwaukee. This one had 14 tracks going and aside from having to use my voice for the voice over, I was pleased with the outcome.

I had another commercial idea ready to go. Not being able to find anyone to read some lines for me, I had seen in Ronald L’s Google+ post that he had used text to speech for voices. I gave it a try and was happy with the results and that it would add variety to an audio session so it would not sound like 5th grade Kathy on a rainy day passing time creating a one person radio show! I was finding it difficult in deciding if I wanted a female or male voice over. I decided to do both figuring it would be something that could be used by having two different spokespersons. I named my product Riverside Whiskey, named after the park of the Eastside story.

I felt as if I was improving with each creation. Aside from some computer generated voice blips, I was proud of how these came together. I even played them together  – but didn’t post the dual voice track.

Next was an intro bumper. My Dad was a Muppet show fan and like Waldorf and Statler – the grumpy old men hecklers. This pulled together nicely and quickly – in comparison to the first audio assignments. A lot smoother than the previous creations. I did get some feedback that the background music could be louder and that it sounded lost behind the dialog. Looking back at what I did, I can now see before a final export, I should take off my headphones and listen as someone who might find the sound would do. In my headphones the stereo and sounds seem well-balanced – listening just on a laptop speaker the music is a little distant. Tweaking to one or two listening option configurations should probably be done to insure a good sound product.

Spent a lot of time reading other blogs and noir106 assignments posted and tweeted as groups and individuals were completing over the week. Again the learning is happening for me in seeing how others learn and what they discover that I might not see on my own.  I even found a few blogs that were new to me. It is great to see the growth of everyone in 7 weeks. Truly amazing.

Since I am on the ds106 path the same time as #noir106 – some of the traditional students have taken the time to offer feedback and look at my work. That has been helpful and great to be part of an energized and active community. It is great to now be getting some feedback and suggestions too, instead of just a positive comment – which is nice and always appreciated – but the feedback is helpful too. I even got called out by one of the students for not putting enough detail in my write up for a daily create! Terrific!. @mburtis, @jimgroom, @pbh256 all have to be tickled pink at what a great and creative cohort in action right now.

The group radio shows sound fantastic. So unbelievable how well group work in an online environment can pull together. I know it can happen because I have been a part of similar things in the past. What I have enjoyed this time is watching how it develops, grows and succeeds and to see all the light bulbs go off when it happens. Great 2 weeks for watching good practice in action.

I have listened to some that have posted their group shows. I think the “public premieres” will be even more exciting than listening to the soundcloud postings. Listening to the postings now Is kinda like watching the dress rehearsal. Exciting – but definitely not as great as the opening night. It will also be nice to listen the week of March 8 and catch all the little things a first listen does not uncover. The added plus of listening with others will be fun too. I am very impressed with all the groups works and the variety of shows.

I didn’t keep up with the Daily Creates this week – I only did two. Not to offer excuses, but I am creating daily- just not always digitally or to the prompt that is listed. I have a pig painting in progress and also have been doing some window treatment creations for my daughter’s new home. They just closed on Friday the 27th.

buying paint IMG_1903 IMG_0448

The TDC prompts I did compele:

https://konarheim.com/daily-create/emojination-story/
https://konarheim.com/daily-create/racoon-attack-of-the-turkey/

I thought I would create during the UMW spring break – and I still might. But I am also scheduled to paint rooms in the new house and 10 gallons of paint are calling and curtain rods and curtains to be hung. So while the UMW cohort is on break  – I will also be taking a short break.

ds106 – 4 Life.

Eastside Audio Blitz Week 1- behind

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The week went by quickly and I have fallen into the behind category. My week 6, 7, and spring break I have charted a little differently as an open course learner than the path of the UMW cohorts in #noir106. That has proven more challenging. I really have to set up my own markers and targets.

First of all – the #noir106 cohorts are rockin! Wow – so many great creations in design and audio. And a huge surge in community connectedness. Usually about week 6 in an online course the wall hits you in the face – but this cohort saw a wall and said ” We are going over it!”

The instructor led sections have required everyone to comment on at least 10 others blogs, soundclouds, flikr etc. as a requirement this week and next. I have done that already and haven’t been tracking where I go. I did some shout outs in my summary of unit 5. Since I am not tracking points – I am skipping the listing this summary – but you should see me on the comment pages. 🙂 Sometimes I spend more time reading and learning from those than doing my own assignments. 🙂

Special thanks to the UMW students who did check out my work and offered suggestions and comments.

I spent the first part of this week viewing others posts and work (M-Tu). I then got caught up with rooting for everyone to find a group and get going on their team work. Watching the process was interesting and it was great to see the increase in connectedness and sharing. By then it was late in the week and I was ignoring audio and spent time on design for the audio.

Again – I am working through this learning to become better skilled to create family stories. In week 5, I chose my Dad as my character to focus on for assignments. The other side road I am taking is that I am not part of a group for a radio show. I did find a #4life group that was taking on open course 106 participants, but I wasn’t sure if my life and schedules would allow me to carry my weight in a group.  So I have decided to create an “audio event” independently that will follow most of the radio show specifics. I also am building it around my goal of family stories.

This week I created my Personalized Learning Path in writing to see if that would help me stay focused on track. It does – but only if I go back to it and use it!

Some of the assignments I completed during this week are: (you can click on the links to see the assignment specifics and process)

A logo for Eastside.

Eastside Logo

A poster to promote and give a visual design to the audio event. This took some time, but I really enjoyed it and I learned many new things. I did put out a version when I hit the wall and didn’t know what to do or what missing. That is the great thing about the online community. Within an hour I had messages and suggestions which were enough to get me to look at things differently and acted as a huge boost in pushing me to go back and improve. It is that balance of independence and community that creates higher outcomes and makes the learning fun and satisfying.

EastsideRadioPoster

Theme song for Eastside.

This poster is part of the package for the audio event – but was done as part of week 5-design.

Poster: Minimal Design

This puts me behind the cohorts. My rational is I will be working on things while they are on spring break – so I have 1.5 days for every day they have to get things done.

On to the next unit/week!

 

Eastside Theme song……well almost

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This is v1.0 of the theme song for Eastside and “Jerry”. It is only version 1.0. I still need to find some sounds to add to the music.

I didn’t have a character or person to focus on the unit right before this one. Others who are on the #noir106 journey established their characters in unit 1. The idea of the character or theme from the beginning makes a lot of sense in traveling this ds106 path.

I began with lots of analyzing where in the time of the life of my Dad the story will take place. I have been lost in 1953-56 high school year books, photo albums and memories. The other wall I kept hitting was whether this is an intro bumper, a theme song, or a promo. Because I am not really doing a radio show I get caught up in radio show focus instead of how I will use these. I will probably still use this theme for part of his story. It has brought to light that what I really need is an intro bumper to tell who the story is about. A next audio assignment will be to do something as an intro bumper.

I could have chosen to do something that was from the late 50’s – but that reminded me of Happy Days (the TV Show) and didn’t seem to fit. My Dad loved music – all kinds. His records and CDS and the music channels on cable, the radio he would set up when we would go on vacation in northern Wisconsin each year.

A mix of all his favorites would probably sound like a strange mix. I decided to stay focused on the Eastside story and him as a handsome young man navigating new adulthood in the late 50’s. Determining what that sound would be had me listening to all sorts of things – and boy can you go on a tangents and find some neat things you weren’t looking for – but they eat up your time!

One of his favorites in music was Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. I decided to take one of their songs and remix it.

Taste of Honey was the song I chose. I remember it playing on the record player when I was a kid . It was way too peppy and dance like for a theme. I worked with the speed of the clips and slowed them down to get a different sound. I also cut portions out to keep it under 1.5 minutes. In trying to get it to sound like it was one song and not something chopped up, I used WAH WAH to blend sounds, the envelope and lots of adjusting, and fade in and fade out.

Other tools I used were normalize and noise reduction. After the noise reduction, I had to go back and increase the sound decibel. Normalize got rid of the clipping. Noise reduction softened the recording sounds. Increasing the decibel meant I could hear the product without cranking my sound up all the way.

The UNDO command became my best friend  but still turned on me at times! The part I haven’t done is add some other sounds yet. That will be version 1.x-2.

After a good 5 hours of tweaking  – I called it version one.

As for ds106/noir106 I don’t think this hits the targets others are going towards. But for my learning plan, it did keep me in Audacity, in audio editing, and in building that skill and understanding so I am going to call it a success.

 

 

#ds106 Personalized Learning Plan Unit 6-7

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cow
Cow – 2014 by KOnarheim Acrylic

As an open course participant I design my own customized learning plan. Does this mean I create all the assignment requirements and criteria and go willy nilly into learning. NO! What it entails is me reflecting on my strengths and weaknesses and the guidance and framework of the course and community to decide what I need as a learner to advance. The open course (and even the facilitated course #noir106) offer guidance and successful building blocks as a framework for learning practices in new skills in alignment with a final standard or outcome.

My process;

  1. Self reflection and looking at earlier feedback and/or assessment data  on work completed. Self assessment of skills for suggested growth and development to identify needs or wants. I can do this independently or through question and inquiry of community members, facilitators or people who offer to mentor.
  2. Reviewing framework of Headless ds106 and #noir106 facilitated group assignments and goals. How do they align or begin to add a thread or shape to my own personal goals (in this instance – how do I develop skills for being able to use the boxes of photos and artifacts (content) from family to create digital stories of our history as a family that someone might actually view and enjoy as well as not lose what makes us special – This goal is almost a tangent from a post by Alan Levine about old technology access – “It’s 2015. I’m Going to Make a HyperCard Stack.” How do we make sure others know how we got to the present to continue towards a future?
  3. Goal Setting – create my goals for a specified time. In this case Units 6-7 (and a week of spring break)
  4. Put into written form the customized path of tasks and learning practice to meet the goal(s) set.
  5. Use the ds106 Assignment Bank and #noir106 Wk 6-7 requirements for constructed guidance and ideas for learning and creations. (side note – in a K12 classroom this could be the lesson plan data base for students – everyone does not need to do water studies or biographies at the same time. My view of personalized learning as teachers helping students learn how to learn and become their own lesson planners using the resources and guidance of an expert. If K12 gets this right – think of all the adults who will naturally fall into being independent learners instead of UNlearning so much or doing things as they have always been done because they know nothing else. How creative would the be and what would the world look like? Maybe more caring and responsible? I can only hope that we might find out some day)
  6. Customize assignments to fit within my context – such as – I will not create a noir radio bumper, but an intro and ending bumper related to my family member character for use in audio and future video. Another example: not a Noir poster, but a poster/logo for my family member for a specific time in life or in general that will become their visuals out all the stories created.
  7. Document,reflectby posting to this blog as my evidence of learning and process.
    1. Post iterations, task completions, reflections and the final outcomes. It is important for sharing and feedback to post the steps as well as stay on track in my customized path. Otherwise project creep will easily set in. Each learning practice is a piece of a greater whole at this point.
    2. it help others who create their own paths by example and ideas
    3. Sharing thru social networks (ie. Twitter) will give feedback and engagement to push my work farther and greater outcomes.
  8. Share final creations with others outside of “working network” for feedback or examples for others to use in their own learning. (could be as a model or as a what NOT to do. Doesn’t matter for my learning if others can use it in some way to advance on their own in their way. Either way the work makes a difference somehow to someone.)

Struggles:

I am still struggling with the template of my customized learning plan. Academically I know it needs certain sections so that this all holds together. Traditional templates have strong points and value, but also seem to constrain me and send me back to traditional system assumptions and criteria. I am also not far enough along to analyze what is working and what is not as effective. I am leaving open that the learning plan format or frame changes each unit at this point and will summarize and decide later within the ds106 structure what was most helpful and kept me tracked as an independent learner on the learning continuum.

While the #noir106 cohort is busy in group collaboration creating their radio shows and then taking a spring break, I will be busy creating my audio products and pulling them together for my character/family. My group collaboration will be in dropping in on the #noir`106 creations as fresh ears and eyes for critical friend feedback if asked (or not), while learning from the groups design, audio and storytelling techniques.

I have pondered most of my week away along with other life activities – time to get this down on paper and move forward!

 Learning Plan Unit 6-7 

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