Digital Storytelling: an Efficient and Engaging Learning Activity

A digital story is essentially any combination of a spoken narrative and a number of visuals, perhaps with a soundtrack – along with new technologies to edit and share the story. Although the concept of digital storytelling is closely linked to the use of new technology, we shouldn’t forget that it is always the story…

Versu’s Epilogue: How an Interactive Fiction Pioneer’s 15 Year Project Ended Up in Limbo at Linden Lab

However there’s a particularly sad tale tied up in Versu’s fate (literally) and it’s why you won’t find me applauding this clean up any time soon. Versu was co-developed by acclaimed interactive fiction writer Emily Short, and for over a year most of the stories she’s made have been strictly for Versu. The unfortunate result…

DOJ Enters Into Landmark Web and Mobile App Consent Decree

Under the consent decree cite to http://www.ada.gov/hrb-cd.htm, H&R Block must undertake a number of stringent requirements including:Make its web content conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines WCAG 2.0 level AA by January 2015.Make its mobile apps conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines WCAG 2.0 level AA by January 2016.Appoint a Web Accessibility Coordinator…

xkcd: Types of Editors

xkcd: Types of Editors. Similar:Westmoreland County Air Show 2012 (Photos)Traffic leaving the Arnold Palmer Region…AestheticsMcCain: Dictators 'get started by suppressing free press' “If you want to preserve democracy a…CultureWhat My Classroom Looks Like During Today's Video Journalism Workshop Within one minute of being placed in…AcademiaThe Myth of North America, in One PaintingFascinating art history –…

This is what an “umm” looks like

This image, of the audio waveform from a sound clip in Audacity, shows a little “umm” right in the center, surrounded by the larger waveforms of legitimate, fully-voiced words. One reason I enjoy working with audio is I can make myself sound very articulate by carefully snipping out all the vocalized pauses in my speech.…

Stanford to offer new undergraduate majors integrating humanities, computer science

Training humanists who can code like a techie and engineers who can dream like a poet. Well played, Stanford! “We’re also seeing students who want to balance their academic passions with pragmatic considerations about their career development, and this kind of program addresses that need. The intellectual landscape is changing, and the workplace landscape is…

Khan Academy Gets Rare Partnership To Close Wealth Gap In College Test Prep

“We think we can make the playing field more level by making the best-in-class tool and making it free. We hope that beyond individual students, these tools become adopted by after-school and college readiness programs.” With a huge influx of donations from Silicon Valley’s most notable philanthropists, Khan Academy quickly evolved from a YouTube lecture…

What my classroom looks like during today’s video journalism workshop

Within 3 minutes of being placed into groups, my students were out in the field, practicing news gathering. They have one hour to produce a 2.5 min segment. This is the first graded video project of term. (The other two in-class projects have been dry runs.) Similar:The Dadliest DecadeThe eighties, at least, were drenched in…HomeTolkien…

Vulcans, The Secret Garden, and Venn Diagrams

  Similar:National Headline Contest 2011Great headlines from winner David Bowman…AestheticsSurprise sidewalk encounter with my man Hopkins outside the Admin shuttle stop this mornin… Spring and Fall Gerard Manley Hop…AestheticsLen Deighton’s Bomber, the first book ever written on a word processor.The talented and insightful scholar Matt…BooksAnother visit to downtown Pittsburgh with my history-loving son.CultureThe Benefits of No-Tech…

Facebook Puts a Downer on Upworthy

Facebook Inc. changed its newsfeed algorithm. You’ll never believe what happened to Upworthy’s traffic next. —Bloomberg. Similar:On UVa rape story: Rolling Stone editors "regret the decision to not contact the alleged a…Rolling Stone, how about you apologize b…AcademiaHarvard University says it can't afford journal publishers' pricesRobert Darnton, director of Harvard Libr…Academia‘Not good, not nice’: At…