Del.icio.us links added
We are finding more possibilities than we can feature with a certain measure of reflection, so you will find a new “Recent Del.icio.us Links” section on our sidebar. We’ll include a line or two regarding where our thoughts were going when we encountered the link. The rest is up to you. As always, we hope this helps.
Related posts
More Than a Bunch of Stuff – Argumentative & Experiential History Sites
In working with students in the Digital History course, we’ve repeatedly bumped up against the idea that it’s harder to make a cohesive argument on the Internet (vs a traditional paper) or that constructing a web-based exhibition abdicates controls you have in physical space. There are frequent examples of archives referenced in the texts (Valley of the Shadow for instance) but for various reasons (age, limited time/space/knowledge) there aren’t many decent examples of constructing a multimedia argument or experiential/immersive examples. So here’s an attempt to show some sites that are far more than a-bunch-of-stuff-on-the-Internet and some elements that help them do that. Kennedy/Oswald It’s a bit heavy on the parallax for my taste but it’s a pretty direct parallel to a museum exhibit. It sets out to parallel the lives of Kennedy and Oswald reinforcing that parallel with visual metaphors (split screen transitions, similar images etc.) to reinforce that concept. There is a main text-based storyline, music to reinforce a certain mood,I’m not a fan but . . . it is something you can control and think about. and the ability to see supporting elements by clicking on various items. The movement through the site is very guided. The links are kept within the site and remain contextualized rather than leading to other sites. The ancillary materials are a mixed […]
Why I loathe Portaportal
The following is an attack on an idea and a structure. I am in no way trying to attack you if you use Portaportal but I would like to change your mind. I encourage you blasting back in the comments but if you call me names, I’ll likely cry. Sure, I get a lot of dirty looks from educators when I loathe PortaportalIt may be because I say it in a really low voice and really draw out the looooooaaaaaathe part.. Portaportal is, after all, the educators friend. “Look how easy it is!” “I can share links with my students!” “It’s free!” Yes, yes and yes but just about everything is easy and shareable these days. I have twoThree if you count the name. main problems with Portaportal. Round One – The Surface I’ll deal with the minor stuff (relatively) first. The thing is hideous. It is appallingly unattractive- everything from the color schemes to the jagged icons. Who in their right mind comes up with a flesh tone and pink color scheme? “But,” I can hear the rebukes, “Craigslist is ugly and look how popular it is.” or “I don’t care what it looks like as long as it does what I want.” First of all, Craigslist is ugly but it’s taking you to free things you actually want. […]
Time Line and EditGrid
EDIT- What I should have said was check out the SIMILE Time Line project and their Exhibit project on US Presidents. They both show some interesting interactive ways to check out data. If you’re interested in my at least semi-geeky pursuit of an easy way to generate the XML for the timeline read on at your own risk. Real geeks will probably just be annoyed at my ignornace. ______________________________________________________________ My interest in the SIMILE time line project was peaked by this post on TuttleSVC. It is by far the best time line option I’ve seen. I encourage you to check it out even if you have no intention of trying to create your own versions. The Presidential Exhibit example is also awesome and well worth checking out. It works in google maps and the Time Line feature as well as a variety of optional searches based on lots of data. Positives interactive lower level overview view (I know that sounds awkward) is a good idea you can embed images and links in the pop up windows (like google earth/maps) so the time line can become a pretty effective index for a historical website that helps teach concepts while you navigate Negatives difficulty for teachers/students to create their own content css knowledge is needed for more advanced formatting I played around […]