T4T Mini-Con (TESL Toronto)

I just did a fun workshop at the Tech for Teachers Mini-Conference with TESL Toronto. If you missed it or just wanted a refresher on my talk please find the powerpoint and handout below:

T4T 2015 (The PowerPoint)

Social Media in the Classroom Activities (20 Activities for you can use, we test run a few them in the workshop)

Please take these and use them in your classroom! All I ask is that if you do use them with great results let me know. Better yet, if you thought of other creative variations on these activities pass the love my way 😉

Thanks for making it such a great session guys!

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Other ideas that are not my own but would have loved to share can be found below:

(Cellphones in classroom)

1. https://xyofeinstein.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/33_interesting_ways_to_use_mobile_phones_in_th.pdf

(Facebook in classroom)

1. http://www.onlinecollege.org/2012/05/21/100-ways-you-should-be-using-facebook-in-your-classroom-updated/

(Twitter in classroom)

1. http://www.teachhub.com/50-ways-use-twitter-classroom

2.http://www.panasonictoolkit.org/foundation/Site.nsf/Files/Twenty_Nine_Interesting_Ways_to_use_Twitter_in.pdf/$file/Twenty_Nine_Interesting_Ways_to_use_Twitter_in.pdf(Pinterest in classroom)

(Pinterest in classroom)

1. http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/blog/2012/02/05/37-ways-teachers-should-use-pinterest/

Initial visualizations with ImageJ

After some playing with ImageJ and working through tutorials through the Cultural Analytics Project, I have started to come out with some initial composites. These images map a set of 200 images from the archive according to mean greyscale values (x-axis) compared to area of image (y-axis).

 

Clay Shirky: How the Internet will (one day) transform government

This is an oldie but goodie. One of my fave TED talks of 2012 by Clay Shirky.

What is ImageJ and how is relevant to my research?

ImageJ (inherently Fiji)  is an open source image processing program developed by the National Institute of Health (Maryland, USA) in 1997 has been described as ‘the standard in scientific image analysis (XXIV Focus on Bioimage Informatics, 2012).  As with most public domain projects, ImageJ was developed with an open architecture that is conducive to plugins that add expand functionality to the software. Essentially ImageJ was developed to work as an editor and Java compiler to process and analyze large data sets of images in the field of health science.

ImageJ’s current functionalities as described on http://rsb.info.nih.gov are listed as  follows:

–       It can display, edit, analyze, process, save and print 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit images. It can read many image formats including TIFF, GIF, JPEG, BMP, DICOM, FITS and “raw”.

–       It supports “stacks”, a series of images that share a single window. It is multithreaded, so time-consuming operations such as image file reading can be performed in parallel with other operations.

–       It can calculate area and pixel value statistics of user-defined selections. It can measure distances and angles.

–       It can create density histograms and line profile plots.

–       It supports standard image processing functions such as contrast manipulation, sharpening, smoothing, edge detection and median filtering.

–       It does geometric transformations such as scaling, rotation and flips. Image can be zoomed up to 32:1 and down to 1:32.

–       All analysis and processing functions are available at any magnification factor.

–       Spatial calibration is available to provide real world dimensional measurements in units such as millimeters.

–       Density or gray scale calibration is also available.

Although originally developed for biomedical researchers using microscopes, is clear the image processing tools inherent in the program could prove useful in any field of research that requires the analysis and visual representation of large image data sets.

As part of the Software Studies Initiative of the California Institute for Telecommunication and Information Technology (Calit) a project has emerged that has expanded the applications of ImageJ in the study of Digital Humanities.  Cultural Analytics, developed by Lev Manovich in 2005, is developing research  methodologies around data-driven cultural analysis. The mandate of Cultural Analytics is to “create more comprehensive and inclusive understanding of human cultural evolution and dynamics using all available digitized and born-digital cultural artifacts in any media from all of human history.” (http://lab.softwarestudies.com/2008/09/cultural-analytics.html).

‘Image Map’ Comparison of Obama TV ads.
x-axis = mean grayscale value for all pixels in single frame
y-axis = mean standard deviation for pixel grayscale values in single frame

‘Image Map’ Comparison of McCain TV ads.
x-axis = mean grayscale value for all pixels in single frame
y-axis = mean standard deviation for pixel grayscale values in single frame

Through the visualization of large cultural data sets the project maps patterns in existing digital artifacts. Projects include the visualization of the 2008 US Presidential online video ads that mapped out each frame of twelve campaign ads from Barak Obama and John McCain and organized them visually according to greyscale. Other notable projects include the visualization of Vincent Van Gogh’s work.

This project is relevant to my own research in that I am seeking a method in which to visualize the Philippine diaspora community. Inherent in this research is the analysis of large sets of images. The first data set I came across in my study of the ‘Philippine visual identity’ was the fronds at the Archivo General de Indias in Seville which housed several thousand drawings of colonial Philippines date back to as early as 1555.  The process I initially took to visualize these archives involved the collage of several choice images with my own photography and painting to create a pastiche that used colonial maps to explore the complexities of Philippine history from a postcolonial lens.

I am eager to use some of the methods of analysis in Manovich’s Cultural Analytics project towards the visualization of the Seville archives and possibly more image sets that I come across in my research.

New directions

Writing a doctoral thesis can be a long and lonely test of endurance and confidence. I’ve spent the last three years starting and stopping this particular dance. Things I’ve learned along the way are that:

1. The biggest of feats can only be accomplished by the successive and persistent completion of small goals. The scale of a PhD project is by no means a lifetime’s amount of work, but before you’ve crossed the threshold of a complete and solid draft, the 200,000 words or more (plus art in my case) can seem daunting. My struggle has been to stay motivated but I’ve found breaking down the project into bite-sized pieces has helped me to deal.

2. Plans are meant to be changed. As I reach another crossroad in my research I’m finding that I have to pair the project down again. I started things with big dreams to create a project that connected Philippine digital artists, visually represented the diaspora community in real-time, and spoke to a greater trend of open sharing facilitated by the internet and ICTs. Rather lofty aspirations which are all entirely valid and attainable however maybe not realistic for one mere PhD Project. Maybe so if I wanted to complete my PhD in 20 years but as it stands I know of know of no post-graduate program or funding body that will support such work from a PhD candidate 😉 Garnering support is a process and for now it is essential that I pair the work down to a scale that fits my current time and financial restrictions. This in fact makes the project more focussed and valid and most importantly more able to see the light of day.

3. Stay focussed. Don’t take on too much. In the course of doing this research, as it is with most eager and able post-graduate researchers exciting opportunities perpetually dangle within your field of view. I have designed and taught a digital humanities course about networked communities, I have presented my papers at exciting conferences in the UK and Canada and have initiated several research projects one of which perpetuated dialogue between scholars in OCAD University and Goldsmiths. All of these are important to the larger picture of a healthy and vibrant academic career, but none of these are as important as getting the PhD done.

And so I am here. I have officially completed 2 years and am currently in my second year of ‘official interruption’. I started the  project in the 2010-11 academic year. Took leave 2011-12 for the birth of my beautiful daughter (the second of my little monsters). Returned for furiously fast year 2012-13 where I taught, wrote, initiated projects, bought a house, watched my eldest start school and my dad start dialysis treatments for his renal failure. And now, 2013-14, I am on leave again recovering from a badly broken collarbone that required the surgical implant of substantial piece of metal in my shoulder (I have a medical note for metal detectors and I can forecast the onset of a storm better than my iPhone). While I heal my broken wing, I will make art, write, make art, write and write some more.  My plan is to get this PhD done within two years.

One significant shift that has occurred is that I am consciously putting ‘the practice’ back into the ‘practice-based PhD’.  Somewhere along the way I got lost in the engagement of literature and conferences and writing and I am trying to tie this all into to my art practice. I of course have the work I have done with the data set of images in the colonial archives in Seville, Spain but I am currently looking into a project a came across several years ago spear-headed by Lev Manovich. Manovich’s Cultural Analytics project hacks a medical visualization program initially meant for (MRIs?)  called ImageJ to create visualizations that explore the large data sets of images being generated by social media, film, design, etc. The project is open source so welcomes public exploration into newer avenues. In fact, in a talk by Manovich at OCAD University in 2011, he was hoping to encourage public adoption of this project to possibly deepen and widen the scope of this method of cultural analysis.

I aim to use this method to visualize the presence of the Filipina online. A large part of the current Philippine diaspora has started from the initial casting of women as domestic labourers along foreign shores to work as care givers in the homes of young families and the elderly.  These women save a potion of their wages to send back ‘home’ to their children and families and they are leaving a digital trail in online communications as they work to stay in connected with the lives they left behind.

I hope to embark on this project as a continuation of my initial visual exploration of the archives in Seville. Both these initiatives help to define and visualize the Philippine diaspora.

Life is a rich and exciting journey. While I am healing my broken wing I am working on completing the little things, staying flexible and maintaining focus.

Back after a little ‘break’

First day back after a while. I actually have been doing work ‘behind the scenes’ but I haven’t really been blogging. I’ve decided to get back to the blogging for two reasons. Primarily, I’ve reached another lull in my writing and I figured this would be a great way to get the juices flowing again. Secondly, I unfortunately had a pretty serious cycling accident (severely fractured collarbone) that has meant a world of pain, surgery and limited mobility for over a month now. The prognosis is that I will need at least 3 more months before my bone forms a solid union and a little longer before I can use my right arm (the dominant side). This has made writing a bit difficult as I prefer to get things initially done the old fashioned way – pen on paper- first and typing has come with pain after sessions longer than ten minutes.

WordPress works as I am using their handy mobile app that allows me to post my thoughts via the ‘thumbs and phone’ medium. I’m uploading this post in my ‘healing room’ (converted living room), reclined on the settee with my injured unslinged arm on my lap.

Quick update (short post). I have put my studies officially on hold for the academic year but I am still plugging away towards my upgrade package. My supervisors have generously agreed to continue to work with me throughout the year even though I am not officially registered. The plan is to blow things open when I officially return in September 2014. For now I work on healing my arm and carefully preparing the dynamite for next year 😉

 

Review of recent feedback

I’m just going to jot down a little post-mortem regarding the tutorial I had with Mick and the feedback I received from Janis in order to tether some ideas that are floating around before they drift away as they most often do!  At the start of the month I submitted the first introductory paragraph for my thesis that read similar to an extended introduction. It was really a test pilot of ideas and a concerted attempt to really nail down an argument past the 2-4 page thesis proposals that I have been re-editing like a mouse trapped in a maze since I started at Goldsmiths. The result was a 20 page document that briefly talks about the main argument of my thesis and describes each chapter accordingly.

What I was able to hash out, was that I want to highlight the paradigm of an open source ethos that prioritizes decentralized, non-proprietary, equality and collaboration. This mandate is facilitated through growing accessibility of ICTs, and a shift towards viewing the internet, and consequently Web 2.0, as an arena of social communication thriving from user-content. This is in contrast to traditional information paradigms that involve resource content that is produced, edited and maintained by an expert elite. I am focusing on the ways in which the shift towards more open models works in nations and geographies with limited resources- mainly the Philippines.

A start anyhow.

After Janis’ valuable feedback, I realize that I will need to deepen my research in two ways. Firstly by basing my postcolonial theoretical framework around the seminal body of work by Edward Said, it may be insightful to look towards feminist critique of his theories. To start I will look at Orientalism and its Problems (Chisman et al., 1993) and see where this road will lead me! Secondly I want to spend more time looking at some of the initial artists in digital art that do not come from the essentialist caricature of ‘digital forefather’ as described by traditional museums such as  TATE Modern and the V&A. People to investigate include Leila Sujir and Lynn Heshman Leeson.

Frame Grab, Lungs with pelicans swimming, Leila Sujir, Bow River, Alberta © L. Sujir, 2008

After talking with Mick, I’m aware of the need to really meld my practice with my research. An interesting direction he proposed involved the review of the philosophy of appropriation in art. Obvious historical connections can be found of appropriation of African and Asian aesthetics in western art but I am very interested in the more contemporary mixing going on now with technology. A promising direction would be to look at sound art, plunderphonics, mashups etc and map how they’ve now transversed and have been reinterpreted visually. Postmodern theory from Fredric Jameson would also be useful to look at specifically in regards to his concept of the pastiche and what happens to materials once they’ve been recontextualized!

Well I think that’s all for now. A lot to digest, but not entirely unmanageable. I have my mother’s constitution. 😉

Queer Loves and Intimacies in Martial Law Manila

I just went to a very informative presentation by Robert Diaz, researcher at Wilfred Laurier, about his soon to be finished book ‘Queer Loves and Intimacies in Martial Law Manila’. It looks in to the way alternate nationalisms are manifested on the periphery of the mainstream. He uses the concept of love as a foil that reveals narratives within the queer community. To illustrate his point he analyzes the years around Martial Law and looks at the both the movie Manila by Night (1980) by Gawad Urian, and the book Dogeaters (1990) by Jessica Haggedorn. In both cases he looks at the ways gendre and gendre roles are played out in the queer narrative and in general how Queer communities are depolitized.

Very interesting work and I look forward to the books completion.

Idea Board

To better help me focus the amorphous mass of ideas floating around my head into something a bit more recognizable as a thesis I’ve taken to adding all major thoughts about the project to an ‘Idea Board’. The board is colour-coded to each chapter and I’ve spent the last month organizing the data while I write.

I’m finding that as I write more the relevance of the board diminishes, but it still serves as a foundation of sanity when I feel the task of writing the thesis overwhelming. Furthermore, it acts as a valuable visual filing cabinet of which I can easily place seemingly random thoughts into an ordered logic to determine their relevance towards my thesis argument.

Thanksgiving return

It has been quite several days since I’ve been back at the studio and I am working off the copious amounts of poultry and sugar consumed these last few days over the Thanksgiving break. I am happy that I set a few fires before I left for the long weekend as it seems as though they all took. I am referring to my SSHRC application which involves the coordinating of referees and acquisition of a lifetime’s transcripts. In any case, by the kind attention of my referees and the prompt effectiveness of the administrative staff of five universities, it looks as though it is all coming together. Today I regroup, take stock and plan for the next few weeks. My primary aim is to have a working draft of one chapter by the end of the month.