My wife and I always try to stop in at Trinity Church near Wall Street in NYC for a prayer and to light a candle whenever we visit the city. Five years ago when we first visited, only a few people would be there—maybe seeking a moment of peace during a break from work or enjoying a quick respite from the summer heat. In the post-Hamilton world Trinity is a hub of activity. Now hundreds of people line the sidewalks in the churchyard searching for Hamilton’s grave, and bus loads of tourists roam the sanctuary between Morning Prayer and the noon time Eucharist.
On this particular day a recent rain had created a miniscule mud puddle the size of my hand about three inches from the edge of a sidewalk leading to Hamilton’s gravesite. The mud surrounding it was a deep brown muck posing instant peril for an unsuspecting sandal slipping off the sidewalk. Thinking back to the paddling I got in elementary school for getting my shoes muddy at recess (RIP Mrs. Clara Carruth!) and knowing how generally clumsy I am, I was extra careful to stay on the sidewalk as I passed.
Exiting the Trinity churchyard, we doubled back by the puddle. A small brown wren had landed in it and was exuberantly taking a bath. Flapping and wiggling and fluffing her feathers, chirping and cooing as she bounced up and down in the inch of water. Her delight was overwhelming. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her and the puddle. The mud that I went out of my way to avoid was now her lavish spa. Her gratitude apparent as she ignored the giants lumbering around her and continued to splash. I was suddenly reminded how being present with an open heart brings a deepness to life I sometimes miss out on. My minor inconvenience was her saving grace. That teeny wren found more joy in an instant in that puddle than I sometimes manage to muster in an entire day. I walked away from Trinity with a new prayer. Please let me be more like the splashing wren than the rushed human avoiding the mud. Let me transform…Peace y’all.
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Producing vs. Designing
Recently a colleague asked which of my degrees was in instructional design. Learning that I do not have a degree in instructional design, she stated well you talk the language. It’s not that I speak the language—in fact, it is quite the opposite. For media producers the goal is communication. We create media messages. And good producers excel at delivering that message from sender to receiver via a channel while mitigating the noise in between. Communication is the heart of learning. Knowing how, when, and where to convey a message is key.
ID is about method and process. It is about applying a specific set of learning techniques or theories to information. One of those methods is backwards design where the designer decides on the wanted outcome and then builds a lesson accordingly. Another takes a systems approach. Even others see instructional design as a cycle continually reinventing instruction to make it effective. But learning is not necessarily about information reorganization and repetition. It is not about every student arriving at exactly the same place. There are many ways of knowing. Learning is internalizing information so that it impacts future thoughts, actions, and experiences.
I have many colleagues who are great teachers. Instructional design is part of their DNA. It is as natural to them as breathing. They understand Bloom and Maslow. They excel at organizing the flow of interaction and discussion in the classroom. They choose appropriate content and assessments for the course. As a student, I love studying with these teachers.
Great teachers don’t come to me seeking instructional design. They come to me for help in crafting their message and integrating technology into their teaching. They come to me to capture a digital version of their teaching skills. In the digital realm combining technology, identity, and pedagogy is powerful. I like to think of them as a triangle with each side building on the other. All three can stand alone, but they are much stronger together with a broad solid base and a sharply focused apex. So call me. Let's "triangulate", er, communicate.
ID is about method and process. It is about applying a specific set of learning techniques or theories to information. One of those methods is backwards design where the designer decides on the wanted outcome and then builds a lesson accordingly. Another takes a systems approach. Even others see instructional design as a cycle continually reinventing instruction to make it effective. But learning is not necessarily about information reorganization and repetition. It is not about every student arriving at exactly the same place. There are many ways of knowing. Learning is internalizing information so that it impacts future thoughts, actions, and experiences.
I have many colleagues who are great teachers. Instructional design is part of their DNA. It is as natural to them as breathing. They understand Bloom and Maslow. They excel at organizing the flow of interaction and discussion in the classroom. They choose appropriate content and assessments for the course. As a student, I love studying with these teachers.
Great teachers don’t come to me seeking instructional design. They come to me for help in crafting their message and integrating technology into their teaching. They come to me to capture a digital version of their teaching skills. In the digital realm combining technology, identity, and pedagogy is powerful. I like to think of them as a triangle with each side building on the other. All three can stand alone, but they are much stronger together with a broad solid base and a sharply focused apex. So call me. Let's "triangulate", er, communicate.
Sunday, January 06, 2013
My Favorite Things
Sitting on the pew on Epiphany Sunday, Pam and I realized that it was the 10th anniversary of the first Sunday we attended St. James Episcopal Church. During the past 10 years we have passed numerous milestones in our lives and been on the receiving end of far more blessings than I probably deserve. To mark this auspicious occasion I’m offering up a list of 10 of my favorite things about St. James.
In no particular order:
1.The children’s procession to the altar with their offerings. Those beautiful little faces fill me with hope.
2. Mary Muir’s smile. We met Mary on that first Sunday at St. James. She sought us out, welcomed us, and introduced us around. I have never spoken with Mary when she didn’t have something positive to say. Her spirit is infectious. She makes me smile.
3. The reflection of the stained glass windows on the wall of the chapel during the late fall and early winter. Not to go all southern on you — but Drew Hawley once told Pam that his daddy used to say it looks just like a Christmas tree all lit up.
4. The foodies who bring fabulous food to our gatherings and share recipes. The St. James Cookbook should get updated regularly. In fact we need a searchable online database of recipes. Who has programming skills? I know some great cooks.
5. The old people, and by old I mean all of us over 50. St. James is one of the first places where I met older adults championing diverse views. I appreciate the conversation. The exchange of ideas allows me to grow.
6. The increasing population of exes — former fundamentalists, former nonbelievers, former seekers. We’ve all left some religiously sanctioned judgment in search of that place where God loves us. Welcome!
7. The bliss of sitting on the pew after we’ve been traveling. Pam and I love to explore, and we try to attend services when we are on the road. We’ve visited large cathedrals in Rhode Island and small chapels in Arkansas. We’ve prayed in 200-year-old church buildings in Tennessee and received the Holy Eucharist with a crowd of seven in Vermont. Each of those gatherings and gathering places enriched us, but no matter where our travels lead, there is something peaceful about coming home to the familiar and the familial St. James.
8. The community of having someone to connect with at any given moment of the pre-dawn when I am awake obsessing over things I cannot control. I tip my hat to the sleepless. The late night Facebook roll calls buoy spirits and build kinship.
9. Prayer shawls and those who knit, purl, or crochet every stitch. Receiving a prayer shawl is incredibly touching. I’ll be forever thankful for mine.
10. Singing “Thou, Whose Almighty Word.” Each time we sing it I promise not to cry, but by the time 150-plus voices join together and sing “…move on the waters' face bearing the gifts of grace, and in earth's darkest place, let there be light!” I start to choke back tears. When we reach “…boundless as ocean's tide, rolling in fullest pride, through the world far and wide, let there be light!” the tears overflow. Those words move me in ways I can’t articulate. It is by God’s grace that I live in a place of light. I never take that for granted.
There are so many more reasons I love St. James. Please share yours. Peace y’all.
1.The children’s procession to the altar with their offerings. Those beautiful little faces fill me with hope.
2. Mary Muir’s smile. We met Mary on that first Sunday at St. James. She sought us out, welcomed us, and introduced us around. I have never spoken with Mary when she didn’t have something positive to say. Her spirit is infectious. She makes me smile.
3. The reflection of the stained glass windows on the wall of the chapel during the late fall and early winter. Not to go all southern on you — but Drew Hawley once told Pam that his daddy used to say it looks just like a Christmas tree all lit up.
4. The foodies who bring fabulous food to our gatherings and share recipes. The St. James Cookbook should get updated regularly. In fact we need a searchable online database of recipes. Who has programming skills? I know some great cooks.
5. The old people, and by old I mean all of us over 50. St. James is one of the first places where I met older adults championing diverse views. I appreciate the conversation. The exchange of ideas allows me to grow.
6. The increasing population of exes — former fundamentalists, former nonbelievers, former seekers. We’ve all left some religiously sanctioned judgment in search of that place where God loves us. Welcome!
7. The bliss of sitting on the pew after we’ve been traveling. Pam and I love to explore, and we try to attend services when we are on the road. We’ve visited large cathedrals in Rhode Island and small chapels in Arkansas. We’ve prayed in 200-year-old church buildings in Tennessee and received the Holy Eucharist with a crowd of seven in Vermont. Each of those gatherings and gathering places enriched us, but no matter where our travels lead, there is something peaceful about coming home to the familiar and the familial St. James.
8. The community of having someone to connect with at any given moment of the pre-dawn when I am awake obsessing over things I cannot control. I tip my hat to the sleepless. The late night Facebook roll calls buoy spirits and build kinship.
9. Prayer shawls and those who knit, purl, or crochet every stitch. Receiving a prayer shawl is incredibly touching. I’ll be forever thankful for mine.
10. Singing “Thou, Whose Almighty Word.” Each time we sing it I promise not to cry, but by the time 150-plus voices join together and sing “…move on the waters' face bearing the gifts of grace, and in earth's darkest place, let there be light!” I start to choke back tears. When we reach “…boundless as ocean's tide, rolling in fullest pride, through the world far and wide, let there be light!” the tears overflow. Those words move me in ways I can’t articulate. It is by God’s grace that I live in a place of light. I never take that for granted.
There are so many more reasons I love St. James. Please share yours. Peace y’all.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
A Word from the Vault
As I was preparing for a guest lecture I'll be giving in a First Year Studies course next month, I found this essay I wrote several years ago. It is my response to a young man who asked the Commission for LGBT People at UT (which I served on at the time) why we felt it necessary to celebrate LGBT History Month. He went on to ask if we also thought UT should observe Non-LGBT History Month.
Americans tend to celebrate those who have contributed to our society. We celebrate Washington’s birthday, Lincoln’s birthday. We have Columbus Day and Constitution Day. We also schedule time to raise awareness of issues, causes, or movements and thus events like World AIDS Day, Breast Cancer Month, Labor Day, and Dance Marathon were created. Sometimes we create events just for the warm fuzzy feeling—thus we have Bosses Day, Father’s Day, Book Month, and SEC Player of the Week.
I believe any acknowledgement of a positive contribution to society is appropriate. Not that I think of myself as a great patriot, but one of the privileges of living in the United States is the freedom to choose.
Celebrating a particular group doesn’t diminish the contributions or significance of other groups. Does celebrating my birthday make your birthday any less important or eventful? And observing a day/month/event doesn’t necessarily mean you support or don’t support the underlying cause. For instance, I consider myself a pacifist, yet, I respect Veterans Day which pays tribute to the contributions of military personnel. In fact there is an extremely long list of things I don’t support, but I do support the right of others to pay tribute to what is important to them as long as it does not harm others.
Some people may feel it is absurd to celebrate ideas different from their own views, but as for me I feel celebratory, so hats off to George Washington, Jane Addams, Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, Ben Franklin, Amelia Earhart, Thomas Jefferson, Maya Angelou, Thomas Edison, Susan B. Anthony, Martin Luther King, David Ho, Rosa Parks, Breast Cancer Survivors, Laborers, Bosses, Fathers, Mothers, Teachers, and Librarians everywhere…
Americans tend to celebrate those who have contributed to our society. We celebrate Washington’s birthday, Lincoln’s birthday. We have Columbus Day and Constitution Day. We also schedule time to raise awareness of issues, causes, or movements and thus events like World AIDS Day, Breast Cancer Month, Labor Day, and Dance Marathon were created. Sometimes we create events just for the warm fuzzy feeling—thus we have Bosses Day, Father’s Day, Book Month, and SEC Player of the Week.
I believe any acknowledgement of a positive contribution to society is appropriate. Not that I think of myself as a great patriot, but one of the privileges of living in the United States is the freedom to choose.
Celebrating a particular group doesn’t diminish the contributions or significance of other groups. Does celebrating my birthday make your birthday any less important or eventful? And observing a day/month/event doesn’t necessarily mean you support or don’t support the underlying cause. For instance, I consider myself a pacifist, yet, I respect Veterans Day which pays tribute to the contributions of military personnel. In fact there is an extremely long list of things I don’t support, but I do support the right of others to pay tribute to what is important to them as long as it does not harm others.
Some people may feel it is absurd to celebrate ideas different from their own views, but as for me I feel celebratory, so hats off to George Washington, Jane Addams, Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, Ben Franklin, Amelia Earhart, Thomas Jefferson, Maya Angelou, Thomas Edison, Susan B. Anthony, Martin Luther King, David Ho, Rosa Parks, Breast Cancer Survivors, Laborers, Bosses, Fathers, Mothers, Teachers, and Librarians everywhere…
Tuesday, December 06, 2011
Five
Five has always been a good number for me. My friend, Helene, tells me that five represents travel and adventure. Others link the number to motion and movement. Regardless of a deeper meaning, here’s what I know about the number five today. Five years ago this morning I woke up as a cancer patient, and five years ago tonight I went to sleep a cancer survivor.
If you can have a good experience with cancer, I did. Give or take a few healing issues with my anemic body following surgery, the process was fairly uneventful. Thanks to an excellent medical staff, good insurance coverage, and a job with ample sick leave benefits the technical parts of the disease were easily managed. The cancer was surgically removed negating the need for chemotherapy or radiation treatments. Pam who is wonderful in five million ways made sure the home front was taken care of. She fed me, chauffeured me to countless doctor’s appointments, worried over me, and loved me as only a partner can. Her support was and is invaluable. Recovery took a few weeks, but I was able to return to work and school pretty much on schedule.
After surgery the new goal was five, as in five years. At the five-year mark, if I had experienced no recurrence of the cancer, then I would be deemed cured. After two years, the chances of recurrence dropped significantly, but the five-year mark is the golden ring (every pun intended). So here I sit after five years typing my relief in a hodgepodge of emotions. On December 14 (if anyone is counting 1 plus 4 equals 5) I’ll get the official exam and five-year endorsement. Until the official results come in let’s just keep celebrating the number five. Cheers.
If you can have a good experience with cancer, I did. Give or take a few healing issues with my anemic body following surgery, the process was fairly uneventful. Thanks to an excellent medical staff, good insurance coverage, and a job with ample sick leave benefits the technical parts of the disease were easily managed. The cancer was surgically removed negating the need for chemotherapy or radiation treatments. Pam who is wonderful in five million ways made sure the home front was taken care of. She fed me, chauffeured me to countless doctor’s appointments, worried over me, and loved me as only a partner can. Her support was and is invaluable. Recovery took a few weeks, but I was able to return to work and school pretty much on schedule.
After surgery the new goal was five, as in five years. At the five-year mark, if I had experienced no recurrence of the cancer, then I would be deemed cured. After two years, the chances of recurrence dropped significantly, but the five-year mark is the golden ring (every pun intended). So here I sit after five years typing my relief in a hodgepodge of emotions. On December 14 (if anyone is counting 1 plus 4 equals 5) I’ll get the official exam and five-year endorsement. Until the official results come in let’s just keep celebrating the number five. Cheers.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Looking to the Summitt
For the record I am an unabashed Lady Vols basketball fan. Also in the spirit of full disclosure I am employed by the University of Tennessee, hold a doctorate from the University, and own season tickets to Lady Vol basketball. I am not unbiased when it comes to my favorite sporting team nor my favorite coach. Not surprisingly I’ve spent the last few hours at my desk, eyes rimmed in tears, frantically searching Twitter and various media sites for details regarding Pat Summitt’s diagnosis of dementia. I am shocked and broken-hearted at the thought of my beloved idol enduring the adversity of a wretched disease that can rob one of dignity, grace and sometimes even the essence of the human spirit. Yet, I marvel at the strength of this woman who looks straight into the camera, announces her infirmity, and then refuses to yield to it. There will be no pity party, no resignation, and no shuffling off into oblivion.
Coach Summitt does not back down. She demands fearlessness and commitment from her players, and she leads by example. She and her staff insist on nothing short of excellence. Together they identify, recruit, and mentor a team of world-class athletes who also achieve academic accolades. I brag about the program’s 100% graduation rate waxing eloquent about integrity and work ethic as if I had anything to do with it, but as a student and as a teacher I know the time investment required by academic pursuit. Coach’s dedication to greatness “starts the engine.”
Now we (fans, media people, players, staff, and administrators) know Coach Summitt’s diagnosis. She has been truthful and straightforward about taking the necessary steps to combat the disease. We (or at least I) know others who have been living with the same diagnosis for years. We know if love, hope, dedication, and sheer will can help, then Coach Summitt will persevere. With any adversity knowing is half the battle...
So Coach has asked that we respect her privacy, and I plan to honor that request. I don’t know how this game will play out, but I do know this —Pat Summitt hates to lose. Don’t count her out just yet.
Coach Summitt does not back down. She demands fearlessness and commitment from her players, and she leads by example. She and her staff insist on nothing short of excellence. Together they identify, recruit, and mentor a team of world-class athletes who also achieve academic accolades. I brag about the program’s 100% graduation rate waxing eloquent about integrity and work ethic as if I had anything to do with it, but as a student and as a teacher I know the time investment required by academic pursuit. Coach’s dedication to greatness “starts the engine.”
Now we (fans, media people, players, staff, and administrators) know Coach Summitt’s diagnosis. She has been truthful and straightforward about taking the necessary steps to combat the disease. We (or at least I) know others who have been living with the same diagnosis for years. We know if love, hope, dedication, and sheer will can help, then Coach Summitt will persevere. With any adversity knowing is half the battle...
So Coach has asked that we respect her privacy, and I plan to honor that request. I don’t know how this game will play out, but I do know this —Pat Summitt hates to lose. Don’t count her out just yet.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Final Cut Pro X
The much anticipated new version to Apple's Final Cut Pro video editing suite was unveiled this week at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention in Las Vegas. In true Apple fashion the details were kept under wraps until presented at the FCP Users Network Group Supermeet.
The NAB presentation was only a beta preview. The software will not be available in the App Store until June. However, at first glance I found lots to be excited about. First, the price point at $299 makes the software affordable for even the smallest of producers and production houses. Freelancers the world over should rejoice. And a host of new college graduates will be able to enjoy the "perks" of forming their own production companies without waiting in line to interview for one of the pitifully few openings at network affiliates or established production facilities. I'm sure the price tag will lure me to update the edit suite in my home studio (affectionately known as Blue Plaid Hat Entertainment). I'm equally sure that Apple will market an updated line of hardware later this spring that will supplement the software nicely.
But back to my excitement about the product at hand--FCP X. One notable improvement in the software is range-based keywording and smart collections. That's really just a Apple's term for adding metadata to your clips. While tagging clips in earlier versions of FCP was technically possible, the process wasn't necessarily intuitive. Entering descriptors during capture, adding comments via clip settings in the browser, or creating subclips worked, but it also slowed down your workflow. In FCP X you can tag clips or portions of clips directly in the Browser at any stage of your edit. No need for multiple subclips in multiple bins to categorize your video. Footage can be queried using keywords and easily identified in their smart collections.
Yet another new feature is content auto analysis and the ability of the software to recognize shot attributes during the ingest process. The software divides your footage into close ups, medium shots, or wide shots as well as tallies the number of people in the shot. Like shots are categorized together in a Smart Group list in the Browser. A new expanded filmstrip view with skimming (or scrubbing) gives you even more flexibility. Additional bells and whistles include automatic color correction and audio sweetening. FCP X detects issues as you begin to ingest footage and allows you to apply fixes from the beginning rather than during the edit process.
Apple has redesigned the multiclip functionality so that you can group or link a sequence of clips together and edit from that group in the timeline. The new moniker is "compound clips." It will be interesting to see if the multiclip function remains an option in FCP X or if that folds into the compound clip function. The new Auditioning function is another play on the multiclip functionality. Say you have three versions of a rough cut. Rather than creating three separate sequences all three versions can be placed in the timeline and you can go back and forth between them. Think of this as clip enabling/disabling on steroids. Okay that feature will be a little easier to understand when you see it, but if you've ever used multiclips in FCP you will understand my excitement about these features.
The magnetic timeline and clip connections certainly represent an improvement to FCP's editing interface. Clip connections insures that primary audio and video remained linked (and synced) unless you specifically unlink them. Plus the software allows for creation of a secondary association between video and audio, so music or sound effects can be linked to a video clip. This alone will save me lots of frustration in the edit suite. With the magnetic timeline feature hard tracks (and I hope the destination controls that go along with them) are no longer the norm. FCP now adjusts by automatically adding tracks and moving media to lower tracks rather than overwriting or shifting existing clips in the timeline.
Finally the feature I think will be most helpful to amateur producers or new users of FCP is the ability to sync video from secondary cameras via the nat sound track recorded. Using the camera mic to provide a reference audio track will be a life saver when shooting an event with multiple cameras that are not sharing timecode. Jam syncing the timecode is now merely a hindrance from the past.
The inline precision editing tool feels like the most anemic upgrade to the suite. The presenter tried to sell it as new and innovative, but it's really just a graphically oriented repurposing of the ripple/roll and slip/slide tools.
These are few of my first impressions based on the marketing materials released so far. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of the software. I'll follow up as I get to use the tools, but for now I'm excited about a new arsenal of editing tools to add to my suite.
The NAB presentation was only a beta preview. The software will not be available in the App Store until June. However, at first glance I found lots to be excited about. First, the price point at $299 makes the software affordable for even the smallest of producers and production houses. Freelancers the world over should rejoice. And a host of new college graduates will be able to enjoy the "perks" of forming their own production companies without waiting in line to interview for one of the pitifully few openings at network affiliates or established production facilities. I'm sure the price tag will lure me to update the edit suite in my home studio (affectionately known as Blue Plaid Hat Entertainment). I'm equally sure that Apple will market an updated line of hardware later this spring that will supplement the software nicely.
But back to my excitement about the product at hand--FCP X. One notable improvement in the software is range-based keywording and smart collections. That's really just a Apple's term for adding metadata to your clips. While tagging clips in earlier versions of FCP was technically possible, the process wasn't necessarily intuitive. Entering descriptors during capture, adding comments via clip settings in the browser, or creating subclips worked, but it also slowed down your workflow. In FCP X you can tag clips or portions of clips directly in the Browser at any stage of your edit. No need for multiple subclips in multiple bins to categorize your video. Footage can be queried using keywords and easily identified in their smart collections.
Yet another new feature is content auto analysis and the ability of the software to recognize shot attributes during the ingest process. The software divides your footage into close ups, medium shots, or wide shots as well as tallies the number of people in the shot. Like shots are categorized together in a Smart Group list in the Browser. A new expanded filmstrip view with skimming (or scrubbing) gives you even more flexibility. Additional bells and whistles include automatic color correction and audio sweetening. FCP X detects issues as you begin to ingest footage and allows you to apply fixes from the beginning rather than during the edit process.
Apple has redesigned the multiclip functionality so that you can group or link a sequence of clips together and edit from that group in the timeline. The new moniker is "compound clips." It will be interesting to see if the multiclip function remains an option in FCP X or if that folds into the compound clip function. The new Auditioning function is another play on the multiclip functionality. Say you have three versions of a rough cut. Rather than creating three separate sequences all three versions can be placed in the timeline and you can go back and forth between them. Think of this as clip enabling/disabling on steroids. Okay that feature will be a little easier to understand when you see it, but if you've ever used multiclips in FCP you will understand my excitement about these features.
The magnetic timeline and clip connections certainly represent an improvement to FCP's editing interface. Clip connections insures that primary audio and video remained linked (and synced) unless you specifically unlink them. Plus the software allows for creation of a secondary association between video and audio, so music or sound effects can be linked to a video clip. This alone will save me lots of frustration in the edit suite. With the magnetic timeline feature hard tracks (and I hope the destination controls that go along with them) are no longer the norm. FCP now adjusts by automatically adding tracks and moving media to lower tracks rather than overwriting or shifting existing clips in the timeline.
Finally the feature I think will be most helpful to amateur producers or new users of FCP is the ability to sync video from secondary cameras via the nat sound track recorded. Using the camera mic to provide a reference audio track will be a life saver when shooting an event with multiple cameras that are not sharing timecode. Jam syncing the timecode is now merely a hindrance from the past.
The inline precision editing tool feels like the most anemic upgrade to the suite. The presenter tried to sell it as new and innovative, but it's really just a graphically oriented repurposing of the ripple/roll and slip/slide tools.
These are few of my first impressions based on the marketing materials released so far. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of the software. I'll follow up as I get to use the tools, but for now I'm excited about a new arsenal of editing tools to add to my suite.
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