suekaelin

My Design Document

2005-11-05T12:25:00.000-05:00

New and IMPROVED Storyboard

2005-11-04T23:17:00.000-05:00

Sue's new & IMPROVED Storyboard

Check it out!!!

This is it?!

2005-11-04T16:06:00.000-05:00

Alright as an adieu to this class and to our readings, I decided to read the short article by Donald Norman. It put into perspective some things I had toyed with when thinking about how I wanted to design my website. Norman talks a lot about aesthetics and how this is an important factor when considering designing anything. In his example about how two Japanese designed two ATM machines and how the attractive model gained more responses than the unattractive model, I began thinking about a lot of things. As human beings, does that make us superficial? We only like things that look good? Ay! I know I've been guilty of this numerous times in my life, but to actually read an article on it that blatantly spells out why we are superficial is kind of sobering and makes me feel a little disappointed in the human race. Why do we put so much value on the way we look or the way other people look. As consumers, we tend to buy things that look good or make us look good. For example, Maya and I went into a shoe store today. I tried on a pair of Tsubos becasue I've heard really good things about them and because they are cute. Maya tells me they look good on me and two seconds later, I buy them. I have to admit I'M SUPERFICIAL! And now, thinking about it, doesn't make me feel particularly good about myself. I realize a lot of the way we think about things as human beings has to do with influence from outside environmental factors like the media, society, our friends, our family, etc... It's human nature, I guess. Although, why shouldn't we want to look good, buy things that make us look good and create things that do the same? On the creative note, this article has made me (like I said earlier) think about my website design and what I want to do to make it more appealing for my target audience. Afterall, I do want my medical students and prospective students to be able to access my website to see what NYU SoM Office of Student Affairs has to offer in order to make their lives easier while attending or thinking about medical school. Some of them may only want to look at the website if it's pretty and easy to navigate. I guess these are factors I need to consider.

On a different note, I want to say thank you to Jim Diamond. He's been a great instructor these past eight weeks and I think I've learned more from him this semester than in any of my other classes. Even though it's been a hell of a lot of work, blood, sweat and tears in front of the computer screen as well as wanting to guage my eyes out during one of our assignments, it's been well worth it and most importantly, FUN! Congratulations on a job well done as our instructor!

PS- What's your drink of choice? The class is buying =o)

OWARIMASHITA ('Finished!' in Japanese)!

Decoding Assignment #3

2005-10-29T16:03:00.000-04:00

Sue's comments webpage #3

Readings for 10/29

2005-10-29T09:54:00.000-04:00

In Nathan Shedroff's artice, he makes a lot of good points about how we transmit information to any given audience. He mentions how information design addresses the organization and presentation of data. I really understood the importance of his section on organizing things and how this can directly affect one's target audience. He says there are seven ways of organzing things: alphabet, location, time, continuum, number, category or randomly ordered. How Shedroff describes all of these things in his article makes perfect sense and is logical. The thing he talks about that puts organizing things into perpective is the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, DC. He mentions why the memorial starts off shorter on one end, gradually increases height and then again gets shorter. He discusses the significance of why the shape and how the names of the fallen Vietnam War soldiers are listed in the way the are listed. It makes the memorial more meaningful and adds a significance to it. Not that my website that I create will be this meaningful or emotionally driven, but I hope to add significance to it in the way that it is organized and how my audience perceives the design of it. I would like for the website to be easily navigable and have all information organized by importance.

Shedroff's second article, Recipe for a Successful Website touches upon this as well. In his opening paragraph, he mentions that his the key elements to creating a website are: content, organization and navigation, visual design, performance, compatibility, and interaction. He mentions how important it is to create a website with all the essential ingredients mentioned above and formulating it into something that is appealing and worthwhile to the target audience. While providing the information is important, being creative in the website design is just as important. All of these factors are things that I will definitely consider when designing and creating my website.

Storyboard #1

2005-10-22T13:49:00.000-04:00

Sue's Storyboard #1

Comments website #2

2005-10-22T13:45:00.000-04:00

Sue's comments webpage #2

Mayer & Moreno Reading

2005-10-22T00:19:00.000-04:00

Cognitive overload. It's an interesting concept and I had never really thought of it prior to this reading. Or maybe I had, but didn't have good name or phrase to call it. I know that I've definitely experienced it more than a few times in an NYU classroom between the time I've started my program and now. It's something I like to call "checking out." It's when my brain has had enough and I literally "check out" of the class for a few minutes or more. Maybe it's due to cognitive overload? I don't know. Most of the time I just think it's stress. Well, according to M & M, it has more to do with over stimulus/ stimuli. If there are too many things happening at once, (ie. text and image going on at the same time when looking at a computer program) then it is more difficult for a person to focus on one thing. If this happens, M &M suggests weeding or signaling to reduce the sensory overload. These are important factors to consider when creating a computer program and for our classes' sake our websites. I guess what M & M is trying to say is find the simplest, but most efficient way possible to get your message across to your audience. Don't make their brains go nuts with audio narrative and text at the bottom of the screen while an image is spinning around on your webpage. Make it simple.

comments webpage

2005-10-15T12:41:00.000-04:00

Sue's comments webpage

Readings...

2005-10-15T10:15:00.000-04:00

According to Bransford, we have come a long way in the way we learn. He mentions that back when the colonists came to America, they were considered literate if they could write an 'X' on a deed or sign their name. And if you could regurgitate a passage from a textbook, you were pretty well off. In the present day, that wouldn't even be considered skimming the surface. Requirments in schools now call for analyzing and critiquing texts and creative writing. Thank goodness for originality.

Branford talks about learner centered, knowledge centered and assessment centered styles of learning. Learner centered learning is a way for students to talk about their thoughts in a sensitive environment while taking into consideration cultural and conceptual aspects. Knowledge centered environments take seriously that it is important for students to become knowledgeable through understanding concepts and being able to transfer this knowledge in other situations. In assessment centered learning, students should be able to receive feedback and revisions. I guess the style of learning that I can relate the most to is learner centered. I always felt better talking through classes in order to grasp some of the concepts we were learning about. Knowledge centered is a close second and assessment would be last. I was never good at self-assessment when I was younger and it's only more recently that I can be an honest critic of my own work. And I always found it difficult to take my teachers' criticisms because I felt that I was failing them and not being a good student.

I liked the section on community learning and why teachers and administrators need to be sensitive to different cultures. Having taught English in Japan for three years, I could completely relate to section where the author discusses how in Japan students learn from others' mistakes and creating a class discussion out of it. It is important for teachers and administrators to take into account students cultures in a learning environment. Now that American classrooms are becoming more and more culturally diverse, I feel that it is important for instructors to take cultural differences into account when teaching.

Bransford also goes on to discuss the effects of television on children since most children spend a considerable portion of their day watching it. It's true that in some cases t.v. can be educational, however, it's when children are left to watch t.v. unmonitored that it can do more harm than good.

So, yes, we have come a long way from what was taught in days past. Students are able to think more critically now and are learning to apply things that they learn in the classroom to everyday life and vice versa. As long as teachers understand the various ways in which students can and should learn, they will benefit.

my webpage

2005-10-08T13:15:00.000-04:00

Sue's Website--yeah!

AHHHHH Majorly frustrated!!!

2005-10-08T08:09:00.000-04:00

Like Maya, I am MAJORLY FRUSTRATED about this week's assignment. I have spent a maximum of seven hours (maybe more) on the assignment and I still can't get my sites to upload to the server! Maybe it's because I am using Dreamweaver 8 on my laptop at home and I'm just not familiar with it or I am just doing the assignment totally wrong. I am at my wit's end, really annoyed and don't know what to do, so I think I'll just wait to the start of class to ask Jim what I'm doing wrong. What a waste!

As for the readings, I really enjoyed Collins' article. I thought he had a lot of valid points regarding the direction of education today with the integration of technology within the learning environment. He mentioned pros and cons to each facet of learning (memorization vs.thoughtfullness; whole tasks vs. component skills; breadth vs. depth of knowledge; diverse vs. uniform expertise; access vs. undertstanding; and cognitive vs. physical fidelity). One of the things he mentions is the evolution of technology more and more students are not taught basic skills such as spelling and algorithms because there are programs designed to do these things for us. Are students missing out because they aren't learning these basic skills the 'old-fashioned' way? Some argue yes. Some argue no. Having the computer programs in the learning environment frees up more time in the classroom to learn more things--things more pertinent to the 21st century. Others say that these are rudimentary skills that students should know. I think schools need to better assess school curriculum and decide which subjects and topics are essential to teach a student in the 21st century. If a computer program can take care of menial tasks so that a student can learn about community service or interviewing someone who lived through the civil rights era, I'd say the program is beneficial. But in reality, what students learn in the classroom today really does depend on the classroom teacher and/or school district and what they decide is essential for today's student.

As for the Plass and Salisbury article, I didn't really like it. They used a lot of acronyms and jargon that I couldn't comprehend. Halfway through the reading, I realized that I didn't understand the first ten pages that I had just read. I'll have to pick it up again later in the week when I'm less frustrated from this week's assignment and give it another try.

As for my final project, I would like to re-design the website at my internship-NYU School of Medicine Office of Student Affairs. No one has really been managing the site since my predecessor left and I feel it needs a makeover. I hope it turns out well.

Everyday Technology

2005-10-01T04:34:00.000-04:00

In Donald Norman's article, he discusses the evolution of technology and how people have been able to improve technology over the years through trial and error. I like how he discusses how manuals came about and why he believes they are not as functional as they should be. The person (or persons) responsible for creating the manual are likely overworked and underpaid. The manual is more of an afterthought as opposed to something that is first created and then the model or new technology is made after it. Oftentimes we the manual is written in technical jargon that many non-technological savvy folk find indecipherable. I know, for me, the manual is the last resort when trying to figure something out. Sometimes I look to it for easy set-up, but other than that, I'd rather ask someone who is familiar with the technology before I consult the manual. I like how Norman explains that we should simplify the task when creating new technology and that mental aids are important. He compares it to how people take notes in everyday life. People sometimes create 'To Do' lists in order to remember things that they need to accomplish in a day or week. I find it easier when certain programs remind the user to do things that are essential to the task trying to be accomplished. It makes the technology more user-friendly and causes minimal frustration. He also mentions how standardizing can be beneficial when creating (or evolutionizing) technology. Standardizing models means familiarity to the user as well as creating consumer satisfaction (less manual consultation = less frustration = happy consumer).

homepage site

2005-09-29T20:25:00.000-04:00

My first homepage-->Check it!

I Love Theory!

2005-09-23T10:29:00.000-04:00

Okay, not so much, but I love discovering there are theories out there that back me up. For example, in Mayer's section on Technology-based vs. Learner-based Applications, he mentions that technology is simply an aid to human learning. That's precisely what I was getting at in the earlier posted blog. Technology is a great means as something to help us enhance our learning experiences, but not to completely take over our minds as a replacement for our thinking processes. In the readings someone had mentioned that at this point in time technology should be so advanced that it does our thinking for us and then questioned 'what went wrong?' because we still have control over the way we think and computers still can't think for us. Don't get me wrong. I love my computer, the internet and e-mailing my friends all over the world, but I'm glad that I can still formulate thoughts on my own and that a computer isn't doing all of the thinking/ calculating/ creating in my life. Wouldn't it be scary if people really did rely on computers to help them develop cognitively? I'm really glad that we still have class in classrooms and that human interaction is still an integral part of the cognitive development process (as opposed to having class via satellite tv from any location on earth). As I mentioned previously in my other blog, I do worry that the youth of today are hindered from developing socially, cognitively, emotionally do to all of the technology that's out there. There are children who sometimes never leave their house because they feel they're engaging in interaction by instant messaging their friend all day on the computer. That's so sad. As Mayer pointed out in the readings, it's important to utilize the technology as a supplement to our learning process and not a crutch.

my start to blogging

2005-09-18T00:47:00.000-04:00

Yay! I'm happy to say that I have finally been introduced to the world of blogging! READ ME, PEOPLE!

blogging all night long

2005-09-18T00:21:00.004-04:00

Crap! I can really see how people could totally stay up all night just blogging. This is the crazy thing with cyberspace... People are on it 24-7! Don'tcha wanna say to people sometimes, "Just go to bed! Cyberspace will be there in the morning!" When the reality of it is, there just isn't enough time in the day to do it all. This is why people blog all night long? Can anyone really know everything that's on the world wide web?! I think not. Keep dreaming, all you overambitious folk.

Has anyone ever thought of what life would be like without the internet? Well, I remember what that was like. My mom didn't get a VCR until I went to college in 1996. We were lucky to have a computer in 1993-4. Internet? Websurfing? That was all taboo. All I remember hearing was that there was a lot of porn on the internet, so I shouldn't go on it. The only thing I knew about computers at that age was that it was good for writing papers and it took a year and a day to print your paper out. It seems like kids nowadays go from the womb to a mac or pc. They'll never know what it was like NOT to have a computer or the internet and I find that fascinating. I guess that's a good thing, but for pete sakes, don't just blog all night long! There are other things to do like (no, not check e-mail, or pay your bills online, or even shop for groceries via freshdirect.com) go outside and take a walk!