I Heart the new Photoshop CS2!

1st draft Scratch Team Logo

Here's a first go at a logo. I'm using the same color scheme as the Scratch software, and trying to stay true to what shapes of blocks are what colors. I'm afraid my cat looks a little more like a fox and perhaps a little evil, but I was trying to not make it too young kid-ish. I'm also thinking that I want to add a second character, to metaphor the one-on-one mentoring, but I'm undecided if it should be another cat, or maybe a mouse.

After playing with it a bit, I do like the new features in Photoshop CS2 like grouping layers, all the layer styles and the "morph" option under the Transform menu. Since we've got a week reprieve on the PDF presentation, I'm hoping to use the block theme more and use some old photos of the kids at the Computer Clubhouse using Scratch and other multimedia tools...and maybe do some cool filters like rotoscope-ish look like Waking Life.

Preliminary Website Files

Here's my preliminary html files - no colors, no images.

index.html
about.html
research.html
training.html
video.html

Site Map

New Project Content Idea

Well, projects change depending on demand, and so shall I. The peer mentoring project pilot might not be happening, mostly because timing is bad for the afterschool programs and it's been hard to get a prospective meeting together, let alone getting a training together.

But new ideas arise! Here's part of an email from Natalie at MIT Media Lab about an idea for a video project:

• Since the peer mentoring timing isn't working out, I have a related idea. I wonder if you would be interested in putting together a Scratch peer mentoring video --including footage of some kids who are already using Scratch--including asking for clips (perhaps from Raed, Lucky, Oswaldo, Luversa,etc) teens around the world? I was really impressed with a couple of the high school teen mentors at the Museum of Science who do Scratch--one Carolina moved a year ago from Colombia, and is making bilingual Scrach projects using broadcast, etc. Well, I know you're good at making videos happen, so it's a thought.

SO my new idea is to create some videos highlighting some of the examples of peer mentoring going on and develop some materials. Next comes a site map...

Project Brainstorming

1. Project Name:

Scratch Team is fairly lame, but it does go along with the Boys & Girls Club tradition where everything is a "team" - Tech Team, Design Team, Web Team...

Here's some synonyms for "team" that might work:

crew, gang, squad, partners, force, pals, bunch

But I also want to stress the peer mentoring aspect of the project, so maybe the name should include more of meaning for a "peer" or a "pair":

associate, chum, co-worker, comate, companion, comrade, confidant, crony, fellow, intimate, mate, pal, peer, sidekick

2. Logo

The name of the software, Scratch, came from "starting from scratch" or "scratching a record", but the software also has the icon of a little orange cat. The cat is also a useful icon because it is synonymous with curiosity, dexterity, flexibility, and sometimes being a bit mischievous. There’s also the well known peripheral to the computer, the mouse, which could lead to some imagery around a cat holding a computer mouse in her mouth. But how to connect the cat to the team? Most teams have mascot, usually moving in logos.



3. Website Look & Feel:

It would be nice to have the look and feel of my website to match the current Scratch blog, which is mostly for adult mentors and staff. It's gray and has an interface that's similar to the Scratch software itself. The software and the blog use bright colors to signify different types of actions/themes.



3. Animated Tutorial Ideas:

I’d like to try capturing some videos of using the software and edit it with some original music by one of the youth at the Charlestown Computer Clubhouse just to help the kids get started using the software.

4. Video Promo Ideas:

I’d also like to do a promo video for encouraging peer mentoring in a technology educational setting (both in and after school), including some testimonial interviews and action shots. The MIT group is mentoring with Scratch at a few local Clubhouses and community centers where I can capture some of these images.

My Class Project

Project Description:

First off, check out the entry on my CTC VISTA Project blog for a description of my IDEAS Institute experience and the resulting action project I'm trying to pilot this spring. In short, it's a peer mentoring training for youth to promote and sustain the use of this software under development now at the MIT Media Lab Lifelong Kindergarten group called Scratch.



For my project for the class, I intend to build a website for my youth Scratch Team action project, with the primary purpose to describe the Team, include some of my research and activity ideas, and include some animated or video tutorials for instructors and youth.

Next up...brainstorming a theme and coming up with a logo.

What is Multimedia?

When I start trying to define "multimedia," I hope to veer away from simply saying "communicating in lots of ways at the same time." But the medium itself is often framed not by what it is trying to say, but how it is being said. We as a technologically obsessed society often are distracted by the ways the bells and whistles ring rather than their melody.

For instance, with still art and media, some people find it boring to just go to a museum and look at a painting or even a photograph. Because we are surrounded by still images all the time (on the subway, on our coffee cups), we forget that some still art is created with more than just commerce as a message. Alfred Stieglitz didn’t just take photos of Georgia O'Keeffe to sell her paintings or to sell sewing products - he was exploring a message.

As for dynamic art, we also might be getting numb to time-based moving pieces. But moving images appeal to a different "sense": our "perception of time," usually in chronological order. So many that’s why I enjoy movies such as Memento, where the chronological order of plot is backwards and really challenges the viewer to pay attention or be lost.

I think interactive multimedia has the chance to improve our media saavy and hunger, by interacting with our imaginations (And I think Manovich would agree with me, but I think it’s about more than just the breakdown on the distinctions between types of media). Both The Corpse Bride and Harry Potter movies use a lot of special effects, but they only appease two senses - sight and hearing. The advantage of the website is interactivity, which we could contend appeals to our sense of touch but also has the greater capacity to amuse different users in different ways.

In the sites for the Tim Burton movie and the author J.K. Rowling, Macromedia Flash is used to create menus and games but also a user’s actions can change the experience. Looking at these types of websites, using such dynamic elements such as Flash menus dependant on correct actions such as putting a ring on a corpse’s finger or catching a butterfly, makes me excited about the content. It’s such an effective way to create an entire multi-sensory experience that you forget you’re using a web browser and can enter the worlds being explored.

However, I’m of a practical nature and worry about my fellow users who don’t have fast speed internet connections or the ability to see the screen as well as I. (Does the media convey the message in the forest if no one is there to see/hear it?) Multimedia has so much to do with providing multiple sensory inputs that I wonder about the people that have some disabilities and their reactions to such content. The J. K. Rowling site at least has accessibility tools such as words explaining the sounds and magnifying text that invite all sorts of users to enjoy the site.

So when I start to ponder the question of "what is multimedia?," I’m thinking less of how it’s defined, or with what it is made, but how it can change how we perceive the message. And to be fair, I’m also thinking about how unique and cool it is as well. I am a product of my own environment!