Comments for Digital Chalkie http://www.digitalchalkie.com Group blog for Learning & Technology Chalkies Sun, 05 Jul 2009 04:03:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.3 Comment on Comic Life and Second Life by Laura Seabrook http://www.digitalchalkie.com/2007/06/02/comic-life-and-second-life/#comment-24904 Laura Seabrook Thu, 12 Feb 2009 22:49:30 +0000 http://www.digitalchalkie.com/2007/06/02/comic-life-and-second-life/#comment-24904 I have one other question, which I can't find answer to on the Murku wiki (no doubt the answer is right there and I keep missing it) - where/how does one get it? I have one other question, which I can’t find answer to on the Murku wiki (no doubt the answer is right there and I keep missing it) - where/how does one get it?

]]> Comment on Comic Life and Second Life by Laura Seabrook http://www.digitalchalkie.com/2007/06/02/comic-life-and-second-life/#comment-24902 Laura Seabrook Thu, 12 Feb 2009 22:36:14 +0000 http://www.digitalchalkie.com/2007/06/02/comic-life-and-second-life/#comment-24902 Murku looks really interesting (and I shall definitely try it), though the examples could do with some improvement, as per my comments above. Positioning can be important - see the Blambot article at http://www.blambot.com/grammar.shtml Murku looks really interesting (and I shall definitely try it), though the examples could do with some improvement, as per my comments above. Positioning can be important - see the Blambot article at http://www.blambot.com/grammar.shtml

]]> Comment on Comic Life and Second Life by Kim Flintoff http://www.digitalchalkie.com/2007/06/02/comic-life-and-second-life/#comment-24795 Kim Flintoff Wed, 11 Feb 2009 03:55:00 +0000 http://www.digitalchalkie.com/2007/06/02/comic-life-and-second-life/#comment-24795 Murku is designed to facilitate the construction of comics based on content in a Second Life TM, ie SL, environment. Murku will be of interest to those who have always dreamt of creating their own comics but who find the drawing of comics either too challenging or too laborious. For example you might create comics the following way, this is most appropriate for those who are graphic artists: http://murku.pbwiki.com Murku is designed to facilitate the construction of comics based on content in a Second Life TM, ie SL, environment. Murku will be of interest to those who have always dreamt of creating their own comics but who find the drawing of comics either too challenging or too laborious. For example you might create comics the following way, this is most appropriate for those who are graphic artists:

http://murku.pbwiki.com

]]> Comment on Comic Life and Second Life by Laura Seabrook http://www.digitalchalkie.com/2007/06/02/comic-life-and-second-life/#comment-24689 Laura Seabrook Sun, 08 Feb 2009 08:05:04 +0000 http://www.digitalchalkie.com/2007/06/02/comic-life-and-second-life/#comment-24689 Actually there was a typo in my previous comment. I meant to write wouldn't be, not would as far as being the first to do an SL comic. I discovered Plywood shortly after starting my own, which can be found at http://www.plywoodcomic.com/strip1.htm Actually there was a typo in my previous comment. I meant to write wouldn’t be, not would as far as being the first to do an SL comic. I discovered Plywood shortly after starting my own, which can be found at http://www.plywoodcomic.com/strip1.htm

]]> Comment on Comic Life and Second Life by Kim Flintoff http://www.digitalchalkie.com/2007/06/02/comic-life-and-second-life/#comment-24675 Kim Flintoff Sun, 08 Feb 2009 01:24:17 +0000 http://www.digitalchalkie.com/2007/06/02/comic-life-and-second-life/#comment-24675 Hi Laura, The example in the article wasn't intended to be a highly refined product - it literally took me 60 seconds to create with some random images grabbed from my hard drive. The points you make about production value have some validity in a publishing model - however in a learning model the focus might be mainly on constructing ideas through the process of creation. I've often found, when introducing materials to teachers and students, that there can be a disincentive to pursue a task if the examples offered seem to be too far beyond their perceived capabilities. When all is said and done, I'm a drama teacher - I can see some uses for this sort of work in the process of teaching and learning... and yes, I can see it as a publishing platform too... but in the classroom the final product isn't always the most important thing. And if you were starting SL comics in 2007 you're mistaken about being the first to do so - I saw comic strips from SL being created back in 2005 shortly after I started playing in the space. Hi Laura,

The example in the article wasn’t intended to be a highly refined product - it literally took me 60 seconds to create with some random images grabbed from my hard drive.

The points you make about production value have some validity in a publishing model - however in a learning model the focus might be mainly on constructing ideas through the process of creation.

I’ve often found, when introducing materials to teachers and students, that there can be a disincentive to pursue a task if the examples offered seem to be too far beyond their perceived capabilities.

When all is said and done, I’m a drama teacher - I can see some uses for this sort of work in the process of teaching and learning… and yes, I can see it as a publishing platform too… but in the classroom the final product isn’t always the most important thing.

And if you were starting SL comics in 2007 you’re mistaken about being the first to do so - I saw comic strips from SL being created back in 2005 shortly after I started playing in the space.

]]> Comment on Comic Life and Second Life by Laura Seabrook http://www.digitalchalkie.com/2007/06/02/comic-life-and-second-life/#comment-24654 Laura Seabrook Sat, 07 Feb 2009 09:06:51 +0000 http://www.digitalchalkie.com/2007/06/02/comic-life-and-second-life/#comment-24654 I started doing Second Life comics late in 2007 ( though I didn't use Comic Life - rather I drew bits, used screenshots and put it together using PaintShopPro and Fireworks (for speech balloons etc). I knew I would be the first to make one, and considered it to be a version of fumetti,a comic that uses photos instead of drawings for imagery (which I've also done before). The key factors in doing so with Second Life are being selective with choice of image, cropping, and especially processing that image so that gamma and contrast are optimum. Unprocessed snapshots from SL can suffer from a lack of real life attributes, such as no depth of field and a "sameness" between elements in the image. All of which can be corrected using a graphics editor. I haven't used Comic Life, however the sample shown on this page shows problems with placement (the avatar in panel 4 seems to be thing from her chest and not her head) and fine tuning (the words in that thought balloon run into its borders). This may be a matter of familiarity with the program. I started doing Second Life comics late in 2007 ( though I didn’t use Comic Life - rather I drew bits, used screenshots and put it together using PaintShopPro and Fireworks (for speech balloons etc). I knew I would be the first to make one, and considered it to be a version of fumetti,a comic that uses photos instead of drawings for imagery (which I’ve also done before).

The key factors in doing so with Second Life are being selective with choice of image, cropping, and especially processing that image so that gamma and contrast are optimum. Unprocessed snapshots from SL can suffer from a lack of real life attributes, such as no depth of field and a “sameness” between elements in the image. All of which can be corrected using a graphics editor.

I haven’t used Comic Life, however the sample shown on this page shows problems with placement (the avatar in panel 4 seems to be thing from her chest and not her head) and fine tuning (the words in that thought balloon run into its borders). This may be a matter of familiarity with the program.

]]> Comment on ABC TV embraces participatory culture by michael chalk http://www.digitalchalkie.com/2008/08/23/aussie-tv-goes-web2/#comment-20354 michael chalk Tue, 25 Nov 2008 05:58:08 +0000 http://www.digitalchalkie.com/2008/08/23/aussie-tv-goes-web2/#comment-20354 Great stuff Paul .. lots of good points here. You are right about the ABC - they're really leading the charge into the new era of digital participation aren't they! My favourite thing they do is the way they embed audio and video into every article. Say if there's a written article on screen, they will gather all relevant audio and video from around the nation, and embed it so beautifully into the page. Great for high level literacy classes. best regards, michael Great stuff Paul .. lots of good points here. You are right about the ABC - they’re really leading the charge into the new era of digital participation aren’t they!

My favourite thing they do is the way they embed audio and video into every article.

Say if there’s a written article on screen, they will gather all relevant audio and video from around the nation, and embed it so beautifully into the page.

Great for high level literacy classes.

best regards, michael

]]> Comment on Email is for Old People by Ken Allan http://www.digitalchalkie.com/2008/11/22/email-is-for-old-people/#comment-20211 Ken Allan Sat, 22 Nov 2008 04:48:41 +0000 http://www.digitalchalkie.com/2008/11/22/email-is-for-old-people/#comment-20211 Kia ora Kim! I don't think it is anything to do with HOW we communicate. It is more to do with how kids see email. It is simply to do with the age-old feature of youngsters avoiding ANYTHING that is associated with adults. Tehy say "Adults use email? - we're outa here!" It is for this same reason that kids have hopped social networking application. They found <b>Friendster</b>. Quick to discover that adults were using it too, they switched to <b>MySpace</b>. It didn't take long before the kids found that this was a domain of adults (20y and above!) so they switched to <b>Facebook</b>. That didn't last too long with many kids, and they switched to <b>Bebo</b>. Kids are like that. They find something. It's theirs. They are not so entrenched in custom to think twice about pulling out and settling somewhere else, with their own friends - as long as there are no adults around! Ka kite from Middle-earth Kia ora Kim!

I don’t think it is anything to do with HOW we communicate. It is more to do with how kids see email.

It is simply to do with the age-old feature of youngsters avoiding ANYTHING that is associated with adults. Tehy say “Adults use email? - we’re outa here!”

It is for this same reason that kids have hopped social networking application. They found Friendster. Quick to discover that adults were using it too, they switched to MySpace. It didn’t take long before the kids found that this was a domain of adults (20y and above!) so they switched to Facebook. That didn’t last too long with many kids, and they switched to Bebo.

Kids are like that. They find something. It’s theirs. They are not so entrenched in custom to think twice about pulling out and settling somewhere else, with their own friends - as long as there are no adults around!

Ka kite
from Middle-earth

]]> Comment on I store my knowledge in my friends by Aaron Fisher http://www.digitalchalkie.com/2008/05/20/i-store-my-knowledge-in-my-friends/#comment-18285 Aaron Fisher Wed, 29 Oct 2008 15:08:27 +0000 http://www.digitalchalkie.com/2008/05/20/i-store-my-knowledge-in-my-friends/#comment-18285 This is very cool! It is amazing how those principles from long ago are relevant today, just in different forms. Students do learn better by doing, no matter the subject. We teachers need to do a better job adhering to this philosophy while maintaining the use of technology. The last statement in video could not be more right, we must prepare students for their world. This is very cool! It is amazing how those principles from long ago are relevant today, just in different forms. Students do learn better by doing, no matter the subject. We teachers need to do a better job adhering to this philosophy while maintaining the use of technology. The last statement in video could not be more right, we must prepare students for their world.

]]> Comment on The end of static Learning Objects? by Julie Carney http://www.digitalchalkie.com/2008/06/07/the-death-the-learning-federation/#comment-16181 Julie Carney Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:31:36 +0000 http://www.digitalchalkie.com/2008/06/07/the-death-the-learning-federation/#comment-16181 Thanks for this post, and for posters like Paul who have linked and commented on resources for educators to use. As is the case with most things, it seems the right combination of educator/program/developer can create magic in learning. Thanks! Julie Thanks for this post, and for posters like Paul who have linked and commented on resources for educators to use. As is the case with most things, it seems the right combination of educator/program/developer can create magic in learning.

Thanks!
Julie

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