Showing posts with label software. Show all posts
Showing posts with label software. Show all posts
Thursday, 22 June 2023
Recommendations for QDAS developers from 'Noteworthy disparities with four CAQDAS tools- explorations in organising live Twitter data', forthcoming
Dr Corrie Uys, Dr Pat Harpur and I are working on a manuscript that explores the research implications of differences in Qualitative data analysis software (QDAS) packages’ support for live Twitter data imports. This paper's software comparison contrasts the four prominent QDAS tools that support such imports, namely ATLAS.ti™, NVivo™, MAXQDA™ and QDA Miner™. We discuss key discrepancies in their use during the organisational phase of qualitative research and address related methodological issues.
Outside the paper's scope, our software comparison also uncovered several suggestions that developers of these QDAS tools might follow to improve the user experience for Twitter researchers:
Outside the paper's scope, our software comparison also uncovered several suggestions that developers of these QDAS tools might follow to improve the user experience for Twitter researchers:
1 Make tweets easier to sort & link them to their original context
QDAS typically present a myriad of isolated tweets in one spreadsheet document that seems to divorce tweets from their conversational context. Researchers would benefit from being able to order and sort tweets as data. QDAS should also provide the option to quickly link to the original tweet in Twitter. Only NVivo made it relatively efficient to see the original context of a tweet in a Twitter discussion.
2 Provide more extensive support for modes and Twitter affordances
Linking to the original context with Twitter is particularly important where audio, emoji, font, image, and video modes and Twitter affordances for hashtagging and @mentions disappear. These may not be imported into QDAS spreadsheets as QDAS tools differ widely in the data they extract for Twitter affordances and modes.
3 Support conversational analysis
Research into Twitter conversations was poorly supported by all four QDAS tools. Each presented a myriad of isolated tweets, with no way to display the original conversational thread. QDAS and Twitter should work together for providing qualitative researchers with ready access to Twitter exchanges. The added benefits of API2 functionality (such as conversation tracking) seem MIA in QDAS. Such integration would seem a useful step for promoting wider research into healthy conversations that Twitter described in 2018 as an important business priority.
4 Provide examples for live Twitter data analysis
QDAS companies that provide Twitter import functionality should provide resources that address not only how to extract data, but also examples of how their software is used in analysing microblogging data. While Twitter is actively encouraging and training academic researchers to transform raw JSON into CSV files for research purposes, QDAS companies seem to provide scant examples for live Twitter data analysis. The online resources they provide could be improved by adding examples. For example, we look forward to seeing how QDAS are used in analysing Twitter conversation threads.
5 Spotlight the black box of Twitter data organisation
QDAS developers could make the ‘black box’ of Twitter data organisation visible by showing a model of the data undergirding the tweets, and also the spreadsheet's data excludes. Researchers could benefit from such an overview for the great deal of Twitter fields that are missing.
6 Missing in extraction
Another black box concerns the process of data extraction from Twitter. While the functionality of running live imports for select criteria is efficient, more information could be shared regarding the context of the extraction. For example, what are the internal and external limits on the maximum number of tweets a QDAS can import.
Do let us know what you think of these suggestions by submitting a comment below, or contacting me.
Do let us know what you think of these suggestions by submitting a comment below, or contacting me.
Monday, 1 October 2018
Knowledge gaps in African design for my Post-doc research to address
Written for readers interested in the directions that my future Post-doctoral research will take (and won't!)
Doing a PhD helps one understand that there are many gaps in human knowledge. It helps clarify the existence of important gaps and challenges one to do appropriate research that help with closing them. As part of writing Post-doctoral Fellowship applications, it became important to reflect on what my inter-disciplinary media studies research contributions have been so far and how I might build on them, and move onto new topics, in the future:
In working for UCT's 'ICT Access and Use' project (2011/12), I explored how media students followed a form of connected learning for developing identities linked to creative industry as undergrads. Together with Associate Professors Cheryl Brown and Laura Czerniewicz, we addressed a gap in the literature regarding university students’ extramural creative production with varied online services. Three case studies illustrated how Connected Learning can be empowering: each student provided a vivid example of digital practices embedded within social contexts, exemplifying the processes students undertake when constructing meaning and knowledge in the digital world. Such cases have been lacking in the literature, especially from developing country contexts (GAP1). Future research can build on ours by exploring how Connected Learning is experienced in other South African contexts and more broadly in the global South.
My PhD thesis contributed to closing a research gap concerning digital inequality. Its research described how the e-portfolios of young Cape Town visual arts students at two secondary schools were shaped by their privileged or marginalised circumstances. There is an opportunity to extend this pathfinder project by looking at completely underserved schooling environments. For example, what digital repertoires are young visual creatives in Cape Town's marginalised settings (poor suburbs in schools without support for visual art or design) developing (GAP2)? This focus also suggests an opportunity to combine research interests in connected learning and participatory culture for exploring the visual creative productions that occur in underserved contexts outside formal academic settings in Cape Town and how these repertoires link to academic cultural capital, or not (GAP3). Multimodal researchers could also explore the longitudinal changes to visual creatives' e-portfolios (GAP4). For example, how students change their e-portfolio styles after leaving school and preparing to apprentice in creative industries or helping justify future study).
African design is an understudied and emergent field, which could benefit from more scholarship documenting its existing practices (Venter, 2018)}. After lengthy consideration, I have decided to develop an inter-disciplinary proposal for this field that addresses three distinct, but overlapping, concerns related to bitmap design, digital access and collaborative software design:
The first concern is what bitmap designs are marginalised young creatives producing and sharing online? This online content analysis will serve as a starting point for exploring the second concern- what does 'access' to digital design really mean in under-served contexts. For example: How accessible are apps and open source software to mobile-centric designers in highly constrained circumstances? What role does English as a 'global language' play in shaping Xhosa mother-tongue creatives' access and use to bitmap software? What cultural repertoires (i.e. fashion, gaming) seem to motivate interest in being a bitmap designer? The final concern is to contrast what happens when design thinking and design strategy approaches are used for collaborative software design focussed on localisation. I will describe the benefits and limitations of both, using workshops for aspirant, but under-resourced, visual creatives. They will be consulted for understanding how Create With's new functional specifications for https://www.createwithpixels.com might provide better access for young South Africans.
By addressing these three concerns, my Post-doc research should make a solid contribution to the field of African design. It addition to its novel exploration of bitmap designers' content and circumstances, it should also generate interesting findings concerning the meanings of 'access', plus the differences between two design approaches' outcomes for collaborative software localisation.
Doing a PhD helps one understand that there are many gaps in human knowledge. It helps clarify the existence of important gaps and challenges one to do appropriate research that help with closing them. As part of writing Post-doctoral Fellowship applications, it became important to reflect on what my inter-disciplinary media studies research contributions have been so far and how I might build on them, and move onto new topics, in the future:
In working for UCT's 'ICT Access and Use' project (2011/12), I explored how media students followed a form of connected learning for developing identities linked to creative industry as undergrads. Together with Associate Professors Cheryl Brown and Laura Czerniewicz, we addressed a gap in the literature regarding university students’ extramural creative production with varied online services. Three case studies illustrated how Connected Learning can be empowering: each student provided a vivid example of digital practices embedded within social contexts, exemplifying the processes students undertake when constructing meaning and knowledge in the digital world. Such cases have been lacking in the literature, especially from developing country contexts (GAP1). Future research can build on ours by exploring how Connected Learning is experienced in other South African contexts and more broadly in the global South.
My PhD thesis contributed to closing a research gap concerning digital inequality. Its research described how the e-portfolios of young Cape Town visual arts students at two secondary schools were shaped by their privileged or marginalised circumstances. There is an opportunity to extend this pathfinder project by looking at completely underserved schooling environments. For example, what digital repertoires are young visual creatives in Cape Town's marginalised settings (poor suburbs in schools without support for visual art or design) developing (GAP2)? This focus also suggests an opportunity to combine research interests in connected learning and participatory culture for exploring the visual creative productions that occur in underserved contexts outside formal academic settings in Cape Town and how these repertoires link to academic cultural capital, or not (GAP3). Multimodal researchers could also explore the longitudinal changes to visual creatives' e-portfolios (GAP4). For example, how students change their e-portfolio styles after leaving school and preparing to apprentice in creative industries or helping justify future study).
I would like to continue developing longitudinal studies that range from young adult creatives in Cape Town that are heavily involved with online content creation to those that are scarcely involved. There are many related gaps for local researchers to explore:
I am currently preparing Post-doctoral Fellowship applications for Cape Town universities and the positions that might support research contributions to (1- 7) and tackling GAPS1-4 are very scarce.
A further challenge is that justifying a Post-doctoral fellowship position requires a narrow focus on the type of gap selected. One's post-doc work is required to develop knowledge that moves one's 'field' forward by addressing its 'critical knowledge gaps'. As an interdisciplinary researcher, whose PhD has spanned disciplines ranging from media studies to cultural sociology, the academic field I must contribute to seems blurred and difficult to address. Which 'field' and what 'gaps' must my interdisciplinary focus prioritise? Which unrelated threads of work can I link that might change current research? What concepts and approaches can be extended to address critical knowledge gaps in my field?
- What are the advantages and pitfalls of young online content creators developing their technical cultural capital plus digital symbolic capital?
- How are social networks and technical cultural capital becoming more important as determinants of opportunity (see Jenkins, Ito and boyd, 2016).
- How are people being included, or excluded, in participatory culture based on their cultural, ethnic, gender or racial affiliation?
- How might such differences be echoed or different in the global South?
- How are inequalities of opportunity reproduced via schooling and how might this be or challenged?
- How does cultural taste impact on what is valorised or dismissed and which identities and communities of practice are permissable in different creative contexts?
- What novel forms of creative production result from new media literacies and how do creators perceive them to be successful, or failures?
I am currently preparing Post-doctoral Fellowship applications for Cape Town universities and the positions that might support research contributions to (1- 7) and tackling GAPS1-4 are very scarce.
A further challenge is that justifying a Post-doctoral fellowship position requires a narrow focus on the type of gap selected. One's post-doc work is required to develop knowledge that moves one's 'field' forward by addressing its 'critical knowledge gaps'. As an interdisciplinary researcher, whose PhD has spanned disciplines ranging from media studies to cultural sociology, the academic field I must contribute to seems blurred and difficult to address. Which 'field' and what 'gaps' must my interdisciplinary focus prioritise? Which unrelated threads of work can I link that might change current research? What concepts and approaches can be extended to address critical knowledge gaps in my field?
African design is an understudied and emergent field, which could benefit from more scholarship documenting its existing practices (Venter, 2018)}. After lengthy consideration, I have decided to develop an inter-disciplinary proposal for this field that addresses three distinct, but overlapping, concerns related to bitmap design, digital access and collaborative software design:
The first concern is what bitmap designs are marginalised young creatives producing and sharing online? This online content analysis will serve as a starting point for exploring the second concern- what does 'access' to digital design really mean in under-served contexts. For example: How accessible are apps and open source software to mobile-centric designers in highly constrained circumstances? What role does English as a 'global language' play in shaping Xhosa mother-tongue creatives' access and use to bitmap software? What cultural repertoires (i.e. fashion, gaming) seem to motivate interest in being a bitmap designer? The final concern is to contrast what happens when design thinking and design strategy approaches are used for collaborative software design focussed on localisation. I will describe the benefits and limitations of both, using workshops for aspirant, but under-resourced, visual creatives. They will be consulted for understanding how Create With's new functional specifications for https://www.createwithpixels.com might provide better access for young South Africans.
By addressing these three concerns, my Post-doc research should make a solid contribution to the field of African design. It addition to its novel exploration of bitmap designers' content and circumstances, it should also generate interesting findings concerning the meanings of 'access', plus the differences between two design approaches' outcomes for collaborative software localisation.
Sunday, 6 October 2013
I'm using an iTunes Store SA account. Should I terminate my account with the iTunes Store US ?
Written for SA iTunes users with US iTunes Store accounts.
With the release of iTunes version 11, the iTunes Store was officially launched to South Africans in December, 2012. The entertaining shopping experience it provides is impressive. This begs the question for locals with iTunes US accounts, should we close the latter?
In making this decision, I suggest you weigh up the benefits of having two accounts against the inconvenience (and added risks) of managing accounts for multiple territories:
Under benefits, account holders of more than one iTunes Store can benefit from being able to select the best one for; i. speediest access and easiest browsing; ii. a wider product range or one better suiting their tastes, iii. lower prices and iv. quicker delivery. In my case, as a local iTunes Store and iTunes US customer (who predominately shops for music), my experience of these benefits has been:
i. Ease of access and browsing.
Accessing the SA store via iTunes is speedy and I seem to have less difficult being interrupted for repeat logins which the US service requires when I'm purchasing music on my laptop or via other devices. Overall, the local service is better.
ii. Product range.
An important reason for accessing the latter is to get the latest US entertainment content, which are unlikely to be available in the local store at the time it is released in the States. As for TV shows, these are currently not offered in South Africa; nor are free games or iTunes radio.
iii. Pricing
A disadvantage of using the US store is the premium that South Africans pay organizing vouchers in terms of purchasing dollars and the associated exchange rate and service provider fees. While purchasing songs en-mass may still be cheaper via the US store (at $ 0.69 to $1.29, compared to R 6.99 to R 8.99), album prices for purchases are often cheaper on the SA store (or local music specialists).
iv. Purchase and delivery process
The local payment system is credit card-based and far more efficient that redeeming vouchers on the iTunes US Store. A further challenge is that songs downloaded with a US account may have a 90-day waiting period before they can be played from your computer, if it is associated with a South African account.
Having used the SA store since its opening, I now rarely log-in to use my US account. However, I will keep the latter until the range of formats and content offered locally approximates that of the iTunes Store US. I believe the advantages of this approach outweighs the minor inconvenience and small risks associated with holding two accounts.
Let us know your approach by adding a comment, thanks?
With the release of iTunes version 11, the iTunes Store was officially launched to South Africans in December, 2012. The entertaining shopping experience it provides is impressive. This begs the question for locals with iTunes US accounts, should we close the latter?
In making this decision, I suggest you weigh up the benefits of having two accounts against the inconvenience (and added risks) of managing accounts for multiple territories:
Under benefits, account holders of more than one iTunes Store can benefit from being able to select the best one for; i. speediest access and easiest browsing; ii. a wider product range or one better suiting their tastes, iii. lower prices and iv. quicker delivery. In my case, as a local iTunes Store and iTunes US customer (who predominately shops for music), my experience of these benefits has been:
i. Ease of access and browsing.
Accessing the SA store via iTunes is speedy and I seem to have less difficult being interrupted for repeat logins which the US service requires when I'm purchasing music on my laptop or via other devices. Overall, the local service is better.
ii. Product range.
An important reason for accessing the latter is to get the latest US entertainment content, which are unlikely to be available in the local store at the time it is released in the States. As for TV shows, these are currently not offered in South Africa; nor are free games or iTunes radio.
iii. Pricing
A disadvantage of using the US store is the premium that South Africans pay organizing vouchers in terms of purchasing dollars and the associated exchange rate and service provider fees. While purchasing songs en-mass may still be cheaper via the US store (at $ 0.69 to $1.29, compared to R 6.99 to R 8.99), album prices for purchases are often cheaper on the SA store (or local music specialists).
iv. Purchase and delivery process
The local payment system is credit card-based and far more efficient that redeeming vouchers on the iTunes US Store. A further challenge is that songs downloaded with a US account may have a 90-day waiting period before they can be played from your computer, if it is associated with a South African account.
Having used the SA store since its opening, I now rarely log-in to use my US account. However, I will keep the latter until the range of formats and content offered locally approximates that of the iTunes Store US. I believe the advantages of this approach outweighs the minor inconvenience and small risks associated with holding two accounts.
Let us know your approach by adding a comment, thanks?
Monday, 24 December 2012
Tips to improve your iTunes library's artists view.
Written for iTunes users who are passionate about organizing their music library.
Out of iTunes 11's four library music views ('songs', 'albums', 'artists' and 'genres'), I now enjoy using artists the most. It wasn't always like that; an erratic collection of compilations had resulted in a long scrolling view that was irritating to navigate. Tired of the genre view and wanting a fresh way to select my music-of-the-moment, I decided to spend time improving my artists view.
Tagging album and song information more appropriately (as described in the tips below) was a good choice as I now have a much better iTunes-user experience: I not only have a speedy way to select an artist's songs and benefit from a more varied listening-experience (than my past reliance on playlists or Genius Mixes), but now also can quickly use the linked 'iTunes Store', 'Listeners Also Bought' and 'Related' options views to find pre-releases, live and cover versions, novelties and remixes that I ordinarily would not have been aware of.
Follow these steps below and you can also have a better iTunes experience using your artists view:
1. Find and change your compilations' album artist titles
The highest selling albums in South Africa have tended to be compilations, which may pose a challenge for local iTunes users' artists view as iTunes prioritizes the 'album artist' field when displaying an artist's albums and singles. This may result in some of your favorite artists, DJs and tunes being hidden in this view, particularly if they are labelled 'Various Artists', 'Various' et al. in the album artist field and their album is also ticked as a compilation type. It's easy enough to check the extent of this challenge in your library, by opening the 'compilations' and 'various artists' "artists" in your artist view and seeing their size (you should also check that there are no namesakes (like 'Various'). It is easy enough to fix, select the songs of your 'best of' albums and change the album artist name to his or her name. (N.B. If you tire of being automatically redirected to the start of your artist view, remember to use the shift and letter shortcut to get back to where you were making changes).
2. Hide artists best viewed under genre
Your library may feature artists who's oeuvre is not large or interesting enough to merit your focus in the artists view. Simply change their album artist field to 'Various Artists' and they will be hidden in the artists view.
3. Change individual album artist names to their more famous band's (or vice-versa)
To ease selection, you may want to move an individual artist under their band's name (say Agnetha Fältskog under ABBA). Simply change their album artist field to their band's name. Of course, this may be reversed, where relevant (i.e. by placing Cream under Eric Clapton). Although nitpicking purists may frown at this, it's your music collection to label and the resulting streamlined view is likely to take priority over complete accuracy.
4. Order tunes and the best remixes under your favorite DJs and producers
In those cases where DJ mixes, re-mixes or producer work are so distinctive that they merit being featured under artists, you should enter the DJ or producer's name in the 'album artist' field. I suggest you also append all DJ's names with DJ (i.e. 'DJ Tonka' or 'DJ Armin Van Buuren'), which makes it easy to select and see the DJs you follow under the artists view's DJ section (just press 'shift' key, followed by 'd' then 'j'). Unfortunately, iTunes only supports one artist entry under its 'artist' and 'album artist' fields, so you may be forced to choose which DJ to highlight a seminal collaboration (such as DJs Sasha and John Digweed) or to label the duo as a distinctive artist.
5. Group soundtrack albums by their composer or director
Following on from DJs, there are also some composers (such as Angelo Badalamenti) or directors (like David Lynch) whose soundtracks are so distinctive that you want to group them under the composer's or director's name. Again specify the 'album artist' field to arrange it.
6. Collate an artist's pseudonyms under one artist's name
Electronic music artists in particular are well-known for using multiple aliases and it is helpful to use the 'album artist' field to group work that would otherwise be listed under distinct artists (i.e. AFX, Blue Calx, Bradley Strider, Caustic Window, DJ Smojphace, GAK, Martin Tressider, Polygon Window, Power-Pill, Q-Chastic, Tahnaiya Russell, The Dice Man, Soit-P.P., and speculatively The Tuss, for the Aphex Twin).
7. Get rid of multiple titles for an artist
iTunes does not support attribution to multiple artists, which I have found particularly problematic with classical music; where the conductor, composer and orchestra have all been attributed under the 'artist' field. To address this, I have decided to only use the artist field for the most important performer and to cut-and-paste the composer's information into the 'composer' field. How you address it depends on your priorities; you are most welcome to label Mozart under "artist", for example!
8. Get rid of 'one hit wonders'
To reduce the artists present in your view, you can also remove any one hit wonders {who only play for a short time when selected, anyway}. However, before doing this, check the artist's 'In The Store' view, just in case the 'one hit wonder' describes your library's content, not the artist's output :) !
If you have any other helpful tips, please share them in the comments box below.
Out of iTunes 11's four library music views ('songs', 'albums', 'artists' and 'genres'), I now enjoy using artists the most. It wasn't always like that; an erratic collection of compilations had resulted in a long scrolling view that was irritating to navigate. Tired of the genre view and wanting a fresh way to select my music-of-the-moment, I decided to spend time improving my artists view.
Tagging album and song information more appropriately (as described in the tips below) was a good choice as I now have a much better iTunes-user experience: I not only have a speedy way to select an artist's songs and benefit from a more varied listening-experience (than my past reliance on playlists or Genius Mixes), but now also can quickly use the linked 'iTunes Store', 'Listeners Also Bought' and 'Related' options views to find pre-releases, live and cover versions, novelties and remixes that I ordinarily would not have been aware of.
Follow these steps below and you can also have a better iTunes experience using your artists view:
1. Find and change your compilations' album artist titles
The highest selling albums in South Africa have tended to be compilations, which may pose a challenge for local iTunes users' artists view as iTunes prioritizes the 'album artist' field when displaying an artist's albums and singles. This may result in some of your favorite artists, DJs and tunes being hidden in this view, particularly if they are labelled 'Various Artists', 'Various' et al. in the album artist field and their album is also ticked as a compilation type. It's easy enough to check the extent of this challenge in your library, by opening the 'compilations' and 'various artists' "artists" in your artist view and seeing their size (you should also check that there are no namesakes (like 'Various'). It is easy enough to fix, select the songs of your 'best of' albums and change the album artist name to his or her name. (N.B. If you tire of being automatically redirected to the start of your artist view, remember to use the shift and letter shortcut to get back to where you were making changes).
2. Hide artists best viewed under genre
Your library may feature artists who's oeuvre is not large or interesting enough to merit your focus in the artists view. Simply change their album artist field to 'Various Artists' and they will be hidden in the artists view.
3. Change individual album artist names to their more famous band's (or vice-versa)
To ease selection, you may want to move an individual artist under their band's name (say Agnetha Fältskog under ABBA). Simply change their album artist field to their band's name. Of course, this may be reversed, where relevant (i.e. by placing Cream under Eric Clapton). Although nitpicking purists may frown at this, it's your music collection to label and the resulting streamlined view is likely to take priority over complete accuracy.
4. Order tunes and the best remixes under your favorite DJs and producers
In those cases where DJ mixes, re-mixes or producer work are so distinctive that they merit being featured under artists, you should enter the DJ or producer's name in the 'album artist' field. I suggest you also append all DJ's names with DJ (i.e. 'DJ Tonka' or 'DJ Armin Van Buuren'), which makes it easy to select and see the DJs you follow under the artists view's DJ section (just press 'shift' key, followed by 'd' then 'j'). Unfortunately, iTunes only supports one artist entry under its 'artist' and 'album artist' fields, so you may be forced to choose which DJ to highlight a seminal collaboration (such as DJs Sasha and John Digweed) or to label the duo as a distinctive artist.
5. Group soundtrack albums by their composer or director
Following on from DJs, there are also some composers (such as Angelo Badalamenti) or directors (like David Lynch) whose soundtracks are so distinctive that you want to group them under the composer's or director's name. Again specify the 'album artist' field to arrange it.
6. Collate an artist's pseudonyms under one artist's name
Electronic music artists in particular are well-known for using multiple aliases and it is helpful to use the 'album artist' field to group work that would otherwise be listed under distinct artists (i.e. AFX, Blue Calx, Bradley Strider, Caustic Window, DJ Smojphace, GAK, Martin Tressider, Polygon Window, Power-Pill, Q-Chastic, Tahnaiya Russell, The Dice Man, Soit-P.P., and speculatively The Tuss, for the Aphex Twin).
7. Get rid of multiple titles for an artist
iTunes does not support attribution to multiple artists, which I have found particularly problematic with classical music; where the conductor, composer and orchestra have all been attributed under the 'artist' field. To address this, I have decided to only use the artist field for the most important performer and to cut-and-paste the composer's information into the 'composer' field. How you address it depends on your priorities; you are most welcome to label Mozart under "artist", for example!
8. Get rid of 'one hit wonders'
To reduce the artists present in your view, you can also remove any one hit wonders {who only play for a short time when selected, anyway}. However, before doing this, check the artist's 'In The Store' view, just in case the 'one hit wonder' describes your library's content, not the artist's output :) !
If you have any other helpful tips, please share them in the comments box below.
Monday, 17 December 2012
11 points to improve iTunes (versions 11.2 and beyond)
Written for Apple iTune's developers and their future users.
iTunes 11 featured many improvements from version 10. Coming soon after a version 11.1 update, here's my eleven points worth on improving aspects of the user's experience (which I just submitted to the iTunes team on http://www.apple.com/feedback/itunesapp.html):
1. Add functionality to import wishlists from one's previous iTunes Store.
For those customers moving from one country's iTunes Store to a newly-opened one, consider providing them with the ability to copy their wish-list from their original Store to the new. In the ideal world, these could even be cross-linked; highlighting which content is only available in a particular iTunes Store.
2. Make artist labeling more idiot-proof.
What is the difference between 'Fleetwood Mac' and 'Fleetwood Mac '? Well, one hard to spot space at the end of the name, that's what. And these are then considered "different artists". There are more easy to spot variations, such as; 'The Jacksons', 'The Jackson 5' and 'Jackson 5', but which is the best option to replace all names with? It would be useful if iTunes could help prevent duplicate artists popping up by flagging commonly misnamed ones and suggesting the 'official spelling'. {Also, where names are duplicated, how about a 'country' tag to differentiate them?}
3. Multiple lines for artist names.
In cutting-and-pasting, I noticed by mistake that one can enter a paragraph-long entry for an artist's name? Not sure who uses this, but if it's as useless as it looks like, please remove the multiple lines option for an artist's name. Or let me know what it's for, ta?
4. Provide an override for auto-corrects to artist album or names
While iPhone auto-corrects can be hilarious (as proved on http://www.damnyouautocorrect.com/), it's not so funny when every time you try and correct an incorrectly-named-album-or-artist and it just keeps defaulting to the prior, incorrect name. The work-around of typing the correct entry in another field and copying-and-pasting it into the correct field is a bit of a schlep. So, please give users like me an override option, thanks.
5. One step forward, two scrolls back.
I'm unusually detailed (yes, that's the nice way of saying it) in wanting accurately-defined iTunes song labels and recently spent a few hours ensuring my artist list didn't feature 'one hit wonders', et al., so that I could readily select the more prolific using the 'Music > Artists' view. However, this was a time-consuming process; after changing a song or multiple songs' information, I was bumped back to the start of my Music Library and returning back to where I was could take a few scrolls or keystrokes. So, kindly give the user an option to stay where they are, after making changes to song information, too.
6. Suggest a shortcut.
The shortcut to quickly move through the 'Music > Artists' view is to 1. select an Artist's name, 2. Press down the shift key, immediately followed by the artist's name's letter(s) i.e. TKZ. It would be very helpful to highlight shortcut tips where I selected the same style of operation via the long keyboard way round! {And while you're at it, how about a shortcut function to quickly navigate through album titles?}
7. Please can I hide that artist, song, album or whatever?
In going through my iTunes song list, I was shocked and amazed to discover that it featured a remix of a Paris Hilton tune and some song by that woman-beating Chris Brown… or other. And then there was even Blondie's "Greatest Hits". Who added that; it could't possibly have been me :) ! As an alternative to deleting them, how can I prevent my (few) hipster, synth-playing friends spotting those trashy tunes and ridiculing my terrible taste? Well, I can't until iTunes gives me an option to hide them…
8. Where is that playing from?
While iTunes gives you great access to a range of media, the flipside is that it's sometimes hard to remember where you've been and to easily get back to what you're currently playing. Especially if it was viewed via the 'Music > Artists > In the Store' route and one's subsequently moved into the deep recesses of your Music Library. It'd be neat to have a show 'Currently playing in the iTunes Store' shortcut.
9. A best-practice user guide
In adding new music to iTunes from non-iTunes Store sources, it'd be useful to have an online reference showcasing the best ways to: title a single versus an album; assign a song to multiple artists, etc.
10. A 'request that song' function
I was searching for Qkumba Zoo's 'Cloud Eyes' under the South African iTunes Store and it wasn't available. It would be useful if I could add items that aren't currently in the store to my wish list, as a variety of 'back-order'.
11. More user-friendly network error messaging
Coming from a bandwidth-constrained, developing-world country, I'd appreciate better error-messaging around network issues. While 'Can't access the iTunes store' is accurate, it doesn't give the user much to act on. For example, warning the user not to 'simultaneously stream music, download songs and order new ones' would be more so...
N.B. Apple's iTunes team don't normally provide individuals with feedback, but I'll add it as a comment to this post, if they do.
Monday, 11 June 2012
More changes I'd like to NVivo 9.
Written for NVivo 9's developers, QSR International, and their future NVivo users.
In 2011, I wrote Six key changes I'd like to see in NVivo 10. As NVivo 10's development nears completion, here's a further nine improvements for QSR International to consider implementing:
7. Provide a program execution status
It is useful for the user to know whether NVivo is initializing, running or shutting down. If the software seems to be unresponsive, seeing a status message, like: 'initializing', 'running', 'paused' or 'shutting down' would be helpful to the user and a better alternative than using Windows Task Manager to double-check.
8. Show closing down status messaging
Further, if NVivo is slow in closing, it would be useful to show how it is progressing. This is very important; if the user thinks that it has stalled, he or she may "force quit" the program when it prevents Windows shut down. As failing to close NVivo down properly can corrupt the project file, thereby costing the user much more time, the value of accurate status messaging (and even warning the user 'do not force quit') should not be underestimated.
9. Provide better communication when there are errors
Just as Microsoft impresses with problem messaging linked to solutions via its Solutions Centre, so too should NVivo consider linking its error messages to online help. For example when I was trying to fix an NVivo installation, the message "Database component did not initialise" could have been made far more helpful by linking straight to an FAQ page with possible solutions.
Given that NVivo users are qualitative researchers, it is unlikely that many of them have experience troubleshooting software. Providing us with more thorough and helpful error messaging will provide an improved user experience just where we experience most difficulty.
10. Report on third-party interference
I have noticed that NVivo's timebar may be paused (at 67%) for several minutes when an important Windows 7 process runs (such as deleting a backup snapshot, running a backup, et al.).
It would be helpful if the user could be shown that third-party software has interrupted NVivo, ideally in the software itself. Even a notification from Windows OS would be helpful.
11. Offer a back-up file option
Just as Apple's OS X Lion introduced Versions to protect users' files, so should NVivo consider adding a 'backup' option in addition to 'auto-save'. For users whose files became corrupted and had failed to create a back-up, this prompter could be very beneficial.
12. Provide a video rewind shortcut
For researchers working with many video interviews, a rewind F button shortcut would be great. I recently started work on a PC laptop and simply having the F7 (play/pause) shortcut available is a real timesaver {after moving from Mac, where I did not have this option}.
13. Allow the user to set a volume limit
The user should be given an option that sets a limit to NVivo's volume. In working with listening to mobile phone videos of varied audio-quality through headphones, this would be useful to protect my hearing as I move from soft, low-quality files to very loud, high-quality ones and forget to change volume.
14. Offer a pseudonym generator
As qualitative research invariably involves the ethical requirement to protect the privacy of one's subjects, it would be a nifty value-add if NVivo added a pseudonym generator.
In 2011, I wrote Six key changes I'd like to see in NVivo 10. As NVivo 10's development nears completion, here's a further nine improvements for QSR International to consider implementing:
7. Provide a program execution status
It is useful for the user to know whether NVivo is initializing, running or shutting down. If the software seems to be unresponsive, seeing a status message, like: 'initializing', 'running', 'paused' or 'shutting down' would be helpful to the user and a better alternative than using Windows Task Manager to double-check.
8. Show closing down status messaging
Further, if NVivo is slow in closing, it would be useful to show how it is progressing. This is very important; if the user thinks that it has stalled, he or she may "force quit" the program when it prevents Windows shut down. As failing to close NVivo down properly can corrupt the project file, thereby costing the user much more time, the value of accurate status messaging (and even warning the user 'do not force quit') should not be underestimated.
9. Provide better communication when there are errors
Just as Microsoft impresses with problem messaging linked to solutions via its Solutions Centre, so too should NVivo consider linking its error messages to online help. For example when I was trying to fix an NVivo installation, the message "Database component did not initialise" could have been made far more helpful by linking straight to an FAQ page with possible solutions.
 |
| Nvivo error message: 'Database component did not initialise' (10 April, 2012) |
10. Report on third-party interference
I have noticed that NVivo's timebar may be paused (at 67%) for several minutes when an important Windows 7 process runs (such as deleting a backup snapshot, running a backup, et al.).
 |
| NVivo stalled at 67 percent progress (6 June 2012) |
11. Offer a back-up file option
Just as Apple's OS X Lion introduced Versions to protect users' files, so should NVivo consider adding a 'backup' option in addition to 'auto-save'. For users whose files became corrupted and had failed to create a back-up, this prompter could be very beneficial.
12. Provide a video rewind shortcut
For researchers working with many video interviews, a rewind F button shortcut would be great. I recently started work on a PC laptop and simply having the F7 (play/pause) shortcut available is a real timesaver {after moving from Mac, where I did not have this option}.
13. Allow the user to set a volume limit
The user should be given an option that sets a limit to NVivo's volume. In working with listening to mobile phone videos of varied audio-quality through headphones, this would be useful to protect my hearing as I move from soft, low-quality files to very loud, high-quality ones and forget to change volume.
14. Offer a pseudonym generator
As qualitative research invariably involves the ethical requirement to protect the privacy of one's subjects, it would be a nifty value-add if NVivo added a pseudonym generator.
15. Provide an auto-save that does not auto-interrupt
I find auto-save very useful, and appreciate that this is probably an impossible request given the requirements of the 'save file' process, but it would be helpful if accepting the auto-save function did not automatically delete the incomplete timesheet entries a user was busy with. It would also be useful to be returned to the transcription block one was working on post auto-save, rather than being sent to the top by default. This can be irritating if working with a long interview and auto-save is set to be frequent.
I trust these ideas are constructive and helpful. Please let us know your thoughts in the comment box below, thanks.
I find auto-save very useful, and appreciate that this is probably an impossible request given the requirements of the 'save file' process, but it would be helpful if accepting the auto-save function did not automatically delete the incomplete timesheet entries a user was busy with. It would also be useful to be returned to the transcription block one was working on post auto-save, rather than being sent to the top by default. This can be irritating if working with a long interview and auto-save is set to be frequent.
Sunday, 10 June 2012
Five ideas for Apple Mail to better accomodate 'rules' troubleshooting.
Written for the software developers behind Apple Mail's 'rules'.
Using rules to automatically sort out your Inbox is similar to baking a cake; just one poorly-judged ingredient can ruin the batter. One of 360 rules used to manage my Mail inbox was created in haste and had been placing nearly all the email messages I received into the wrong folder... As testimony to how good Mail's search functionality is, this had happened for months and I only noticed my mistake last week!
To say it was a serious time-suck to resolve is an understatement. Rather than write on how I fixed it, here are five functionalities that would make it relatively easy for users to troubleshoot their badly-defined rules in Mail. Mail's software developers, please consider adding these ideas under Preferences > Rules, thanks!:
1. Show how often a rule has been actioned.
If the user can see that a rule is actioned with every single message, regardless of origin, it is likely that the rule is problematic and should be changed.
2. Show the date that each rule was created.
By seeing when misplaced messages were first placed, it is generally easy to spot the date at which the wrong rule was created. The user could then simply see which rule was created on, or just before, that date, then correct it.
3. Allow the user to sort rules by date.
It may be a problem local to my system, but I cannot sort the rules and am unsure how Mail goes about ordering them. It would be useful if users could sort the rules by their name and/or the date they were created.
4. Allow the scroll window size to be maximisable.
Scrolling through many rules in the small window, below, is an eye-straining, slow process.
The user should be given the option to maximise the rules window to speed it up.
5. Allow the user to define a default option for Mail 'rules'.
A new Mail rule currently defaults to whatever was last applied. However, it would be safer for users to given the option to create a default rule and choose whether it should be re-applied after every new rule is created.
I enjoy using Mail and it makes rules simple to create. However, if a user creates a poorly defined rule {amongst many other well-defined ones}, it can be difficult to identify his or her mistake. Here's hoping that Mail's developers will support 'occasional dummies' like me with better rules troubleshooting functionality in the not-too-distant-future.
Let my blog's readers know your thoughts in the comments box below. Ta.
Using rules to automatically sort out your Inbox is similar to baking a cake; just one poorly-judged ingredient can ruin the batter. One of 360 rules used to manage my Mail inbox was created in haste and had been placing nearly all the email messages I received into the wrong folder... As testimony to how good Mail's search functionality is, this had happened for months and I only noticed my mistake last week!
To say it was a serious time-suck to resolve is an understatement. Rather than write on how I fixed it, here are five functionalities that would make it relatively easy for users to troubleshoot their badly-defined rules in Mail. Mail's software developers, please consider adding these ideas under Preferences > Rules, thanks!:
1. Show how often a rule has been actioned.
If the user can see that a rule is actioned with every single message, regardless of origin, it is likely that the rule is problematic and should be changed.
2. Show the date that each rule was created.
By seeing when misplaced messages were first placed, it is generally easy to spot the date at which the wrong rule was created. The user could then simply see which rule was created on, or just before, that date, then correct it.
3. Allow the user to sort rules by date.
It may be a problem local to my system, but I cannot sort the rules and am unsure how Mail goes about ordering them. It would be useful if users could sort the rules by their name and/or the date they were created.
4. Allow the scroll window size to be maximisable.
Scrolling through many rules in the small window, below, is an eye-straining, slow process.
 |
| Apple Mail Preferences' Rules (10 June, 2012) |
5. Allow the user to define a default option for Mail 'rules'.
A new Mail rule currently defaults to whatever was last applied. However, it would be safer for users to given the option to create a default rule and choose whether it should be re-applied after every new rule is created.
I enjoy using Mail and it makes rules simple to create. However, if a user creates a poorly defined rule {amongst many other well-defined ones}, it can be difficult to identify his or her mistake. Here's hoping that Mail's developers will support 'occasional dummies' like me with better rules troubleshooting functionality in the not-too-distant-future.
Let my blog's readers know your thoughts in the comments box below. Ta.
Monday, 30 April 2012
Avoid NVivo 9 installation interference from antivirus software.
Written for those struggling to install the embedded SQL software in an NVivo 9 installation.
The ICT Access and Use project recently purchased a PC laptop to work with a NVivo 9 project file I'd previously run on my Mac Pro desktop (running Parallels and Windows 7). I thought the installation of NVivo 9 would be simple on a laptop configured to operate within the University of Cape Town campus' network. However, there are three important actions that must be taken to avoid seeing this error message during your installation:
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| NVivo 9 installer "File is corrupt." error message. 29 April 2012. |
First, read the NVivo 9 software installation tips FAQ, which clearly states: "You should disable Antivirus, Antispam and Firewall applications (such as Norton Internet Security) before installing NVivo 9". I now know that an NVivo installation is not so simple and doing some preparation with background reading would have saved me much time and travel troubleshooting!
Second, un-install your Antivirus softwares: on our laptop, McAfee Anti-Virus was blocking changes to system files, which SQL was attempting to make as part of creating a virtual server to run SQL's databases locally. Once McAfee and NVivo were uninstalled, the fresh installation of NVivo installed Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R service pack 64 successfully.
Third, after successfully installation, reinstall your anti-virus software. In the case of a UCT laptop, the McAfee agent remained on the laptop after un-installation, and I contacted ICTS for instructions on how to reinstall the Antivirus software.
While you can successfully install NVivo without completing the SQL installation, you will not be able to run your project files locally. NVivo's open file function will ask you to connect to an NVivo server or will show the following error message when you try to launch NVivo from a local project file:
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| NVivo 9 standalone local connection error message. 29 April 2012. |
Special thanks to Ferdi (from Fimex - Softec) for identifying that anti-virus software was causing this problem and to Michael Harris (UCT ICTS Acquisitions Department) for fixing it.
Monday, 2 April 2012
New codings for the ICT Access and Use Research Project's fourth phase.
Written for researchers interested in the ICT Access and Use Project's coding indices' development.
Three months after making the initial coding indices for the fourth phase of the ICT Access and Use project publically available, I have just updated indices for "Past -", "Current -" and "Future ICT Use" to reflect the subsequent additions to our NVivo 9 project file's nodes (as illustrated below). These coding additions were necessary to reflect new insights from our research subjects' first and second interviews. They are described below under their relevant index:
Personal ICT Use coding index changes
Nodes were added for "Other ICT exposure 1.15" and "Self-taught 1.16" as not every student received formal schooling in ICT: for an example of 1.15; A Fort Hare university student had never had professional or formal classes in computing. For 1.16, the only training a Rhodes University student had was teaching himself; he fixed his family's computers himself. And a University of the Free State student "used to touch the home computer" to teach herself.
I thought it was a bit old school for freshers in 2011, but was suprised when MS Dos was mentioned as a first operating system! So, the node "MS Dos 1.26.4" was added.
One student accessed computers outside school and home at secondary school (hence "Internet cafe 1.43"), two students volunteered information on why they got mobile phones ("Why get a mobile phone 1.21.3"), another spoke about one's first computer tablet ("First tablet 1.28").
Current ICT Use coding index changes
The largest index saw the most revisions. Given the research project's interest in the use of mobile phones, the most important change was adding nodes that would allow the research team to track the most common platforms used to access online services and apps ("Platforms used in access 2.26" included "Computer 2.26.1", "Laptop 2.26.1.1", "Desktop 2.26.1.2", "Mobile 2.26.2" and "Tablet 2.26.3").
I also added the online services ("Webmail 2.21.13", "Music downloads 2.21.14", "Whatsapp 2.21.15", "Online forums 2.21.16", "YouTube 2.21.17", "Snap2 2.21.18", "Shazaam 2.21.19", "Online radio stream 2.21.20") and mobile phone apps ("Cognician 2.22.10" and "ToGo 2.22.11")recently mentioned by students. I also added the node "Does not use apps on mobile 2.22.9" to cover those students who explicitly stated that they did not download and/or use mobile apps.
Given the prevalence of iPods, I had to add "Music players 2.15.4" under the category "Other ICT owned"! Some students mentioned that they had "Access to ICT at home 2.17", while "Multitasking 2.23.9" was added as a theme that kept cropping up in students' use, for example of social media in the background as they worked on assignments.
The line between the use of social media for social and academic use is becoming blurred, as students report using social networking tools for both formal and informal academic work. This seems largely to be due to social media's affordances for ease of communication, efficient creation of academic groups and even saving money on MXit. This was reflected in student interviews and nodes for "Status update 2.24.10", "Messaging 2.24.11" and "Friending 2.24.12" were added, which could be applied to tracking affordances typical of social media.
Some first-year students also volunteered a fair amount of information on their preferences for response times ("Availability and feedback speed 2.25.11"), what they preferred to access services on ("Service preference 2.25.12"), how they felt about losing network access ("Mobile network access 2.25.13") and whether they experienced any limitations from their cellular provider ("Service limits 2.25.14").
Several students described having problems when using photocopying equipment for the first time ("Photocopies 2.31.7") and the importance of formal provision of either analogue and/or digital course material ("Textbooks and course reader 2.31.6").
Interviews revealed a wider range of actions with university software than initially identified, so the following nodes were added: "Group practicals 2.33.10", "Lecture notes 2.33.11", "Catch up missed classes 2.33.12", "Read announcements 2.33.13" and "Question and answer 2.33.14". And the following nodes were added under phases and types of academic use; "Frequency and duration of use 2.35.7", "Desired use 2.35.8" and "Self taught 2.35.9".
Future ICT Use coding index
Due to having recently upgraded mobile, laptop or other ICT technology and/or experiencing financial constraints, some students indicated that they did not want an upgrade ("No new mobile phone upgrade desired 3.11.2", "No new laptop upgrade desired 3.12.2" and "No other ICT desired 3.13.2").
Some students spoke about their ambitions at university ("University ambitions 3.24"), as well as the services they wanted to be on ("Academic services 3.31.1" and "Personal services 3.31.2"). Another University of Cape Town student mentioned his community involvement and promotion of ICT, so the node "Community involvement 3.4" was added to reflect this.
Lastly, a node "Play at Conferences 4" has been added to track the most interesting segments of student interviews. These are intended to be exported and formatted for playing at conferences by the project's research lead, Laura Czerniewicz, or principal investigator, Cheryl Brown.
Three months after making the initial coding indices for the fourth phase of the ICT Access and Use project publically available, I have just updated indices for "Past -", "Current -" and "Future ICT Use" to reflect the subsequent additions to our NVivo 9 project file's nodes (as illustrated below). These coding additions were necessary to reflect new insights from our research subjects' first and second interviews. They are described below under their relevant index:
Personal ICT Use coding index changes
 |
| Scribbled changes to the previous coding index for Past ICT Use 1 (30 March, 2012) |
Nodes were added for "Other ICT exposure 1.15" and "Self-taught 1.16" as not every student received formal schooling in ICT: for an example of 1.15; A Fort Hare university student had never had professional or formal classes in computing. For 1.16, the only training a Rhodes University student had was teaching himself; he fixed his family's computers himself. And a University of the Free State student "used to touch the home computer" to teach herself.
I thought it was a bit old school for freshers in 2011, but was suprised when MS Dos was mentioned as a first operating system! So, the node "MS Dos 1.26.4" was added.
One student accessed computers outside school and home at secondary school (hence "Internet cafe 1.43"), two students volunteered information on why they got mobile phones ("Why get a mobile phone 1.21.3"), another spoke about one's first computer tablet ("First tablet 1.28").
Current ICT Use coding index changes
 |
| Marked changes to the initial coding index for Current ICT Use 2 (30 March, 2012) |
The largest index saw the most revisions. Given the research project's interest in the use of mobile phones, the most important change was adding nodes that would allow the research team to track the most common platforms used to access online services and apps ("Platforms used in access 2.26" included "Computer 2.26.1", "Laptop 2.26.1.1", "Desktop 2.26.1.2", "Mobile 2.26.2" and "Tablet 2.26.3").
I also added the online services ("Webmail 2.21.13", "Music downloads 2.21.14", "Whatsapp 2.21.15", "Online forums 2.21.16", "YouTube 2.21.17", "Snap2 2.21.18", "Shazaam 2.21.19", "Online radio stream 2.21.20") and mobile phone apps ("Cognician 2.22.10" and "ToGo 2.22.11")recently mentioned by students. I also added the node "Does not use apps on mobile 2.22.9" to cover those students who explicitly stated that they did not download and/or use mobile apps.
Given the prevalence of iPods, I had to add "Music players 2.15.4" under the category "Other ICT owned"! Some students mentioned that they had "Access to ICT at home 2.17", while "Multitasking 2.23.9" was added as a theme that kept cropping up in students' use, for example of social media in the background as they worked on assignments.
The line between the use of social media for social and academic use is becoming blurred, as students report using social networking tools for both formal and informal academic work. This seems largely to be due to social media's affordances for ease of communication, efficient creation of academic groups and even saving money on MXit. This was reflected in student interviews and nodes for "Status update 2.24.10", "Messaging 2.24.11" and "Friending 2.24.12" were added, which could be applied to tracking affordances typical of social media.
Some first-year students also volunteered a fair amount of information on their preferences for response times ("Availability and feedback speed 2.25.11"), what they preferred to access services on ("Service preference 2.25.12"), how they felt about losing network access ("Mobile network access 2.25.13") and whether they experienced any limitations from their cellular provider ("Service limits 2.25.14").
Several students described having problems when using photocopying equipment for the first time ("Photocopies 2.31.7") and the importance of formal provision of either analogue and/or digital course material ("Textbooks and course reader 2.31.6").
Interviews revealed a wider range of actions with university software than initially identified, so the following nodes were added: "Group practicals 2.33.10", "Lecture notes 2.33.11", "Catch up missed classes 2.33.12", "Read announcements 2.33.13" and "Question and answer 2.33.14". And the following nodes were added under phases and types of academic use; "Frequency and duration of use 2.35.7", "Desired use 2.35.8" and "Self taught 2.35.9".
Future ICT Use coding index
 |
| Changes drawn on the coding index for Future ICT Use 3 (30 March, 2012) |
Due to having recently upgraded mobile, laptop or other ICT technology and/or experiencing financial constraints, some students indicated that they did not want an upgrade ("No new mobile phone upgrade desired 3.11.2", "No new laptop upgrade desired 3.12.2" and "No other ICT desired 3.13.2").
Some students spoke about their ambitions at university ("University ambitions 3.24"), as well as the services they wanted to be on ("Academic services 3.31.1" and "Personal services 3.31.2"). Another University of Cape Town student mentioned his community involvement and promotion of ICT, so the node "Community involvement 3.4" was added to reflect this.
Lastly, a node "Play at Conferences 4" has been added to track the most interesting segments of student interviews. These are intended to be exported and formatted for playing at conferences by the project's research lead, Laura Czerniewicz, or principal investigator, Cheryl Brown.
Saturday, 17 March 2012
Four NVivo 9 tips to save you from trouble, and one from worry.
Written to save NVivo 9 users some trouble and worries.
I've been working with NVivo 9 for almost a year now and here are four important tips on what to do (and avoid). Plus a fifth on what not to worry about:
1. Work on your files locally, not via a network.
Although I was told this at an NVivo workshop last year, I proceeded to ignore it as working off a project file from the local area network folder seemed not to present any problems; it was responsive and saved me the time of backing up from my local drive. That was all good-and-well until I lost a whole day's work, because the file became corrupt! What caused this, I do not know: I suspect an automated Time Machine backup ran and NVivo subsequently froze. After restarting it, the file would not open and viewing the file's information showed it had shifted from being 180 MB big to 0 KB; not a good sign :(. I now only work locally and backup to the LAN at the end of each workday. Although this means adding an extra few minutes to my schedule, I can be confident of not losing nine hours!
2. If you work via a network, you can also expect big problems if you shut down your computer without closing NVivo properly.
Just in case the thought of losing your entire day's work won't persuade you, how about not being able to work on your file for the rest of the day?! When adding external speakers, I switched my Mac off by mistake. DOH! I was then unable to open the file off the network as I kept getting a message that it was "already in use". I then tried everything I could to circumvent this problem, to no avail (I was blocked from copying the file to another location as it's "in-use"; logging out of the LAN software; re-mapping the drive... even the old restart everything fail-safe failed.) So, the moral of the story is not to work off the network; if your computer's power shuts down unexpectedly, you may find it impossible to work on the same project file that day...
3. Set all automated tasks to run outside your NVivo sessions.
As an NVivo user on Mac, I must run NVivo 9 on Windows 7 above Parallels over MacOSX. And if the computer processing resources available to any one of these fails, NVivo sputters and does not work optimally. To limit this danger, I take these preventative measures:
4. Save a new version of your file each day.
It's a good practice to change your filename for each day. In my case, I simply change the daily date I type in the filename; i.e. "17 Mar 2012 ICT Access and Use UCT". I then backup the file to the relevant project month folder on the network. This ensures that I have the a backup record and can easily show the progress on the work I'm paid by the hour to do. It is also useful when working with other people on the same project file; for example, being a fallback just in case certain attributes are not imported.
5. Don't be afraid to import many, large video files as internal source.
If you want full coding functionality, you should always import files as internal sources, not as externals. Originally, I thought that importing a file as internal source automatically meant that the video was saved into the NVivo file itself. So, I thought I must limit myself to only importing the most interesting videos as internal source. However, through experimentation, I soon learnt that one could use the 62-bit version to import files much larger than NVivo 9's guidelines stated AND many of them (see the screengrab below), without the project file's size growing substantially.
The NVivo file above is just 170 MB in size; you don't have to take my word for it, see below.
As long as the location of the source video remains the same, there are no issues. Now, since the maximum file size of an NVivo project is reportedly 2 GB, I can add many, many more video interviews as internal source. So, with a nod to QSR International's Australian pedigree, it's a happy case of "No worries, mate!"
So, those are the most important tips I have learnt and if you have other ones to share, feel free to submit them via the comments box below, thanks.
As an NVivo user on Mac, I must run NVivo 9 on Windows 7 above Parallels over MacOSX. And if the computer processing resources available to any one of these fails, NVivo sputters and does not work optimally. To limit this danger, I take these preventative measures:
- I ensure that all the computers' backups and software updates (PC and Mac) either run outside my work hours or must be manually activated.
- I do not run more than three software packages simultaneously.
- I run NVivo in full screen (not Coherence) mode in Parallels almost all the time, so there's no temptation to run several Mac and PC applications simultaneously.
4. Save a new version of your file each day.
It's a good practice to change your filename for each day. In my case, I simply change the daily date I type in the filename; i.e. "17 Mar 2012 ICT Access and Use UCT". I then backup the file to the relevant project month folder on the network. This ensures that I have the a backup record and can easily show the progress on the work I'm paid by the hour to do. It is also useful when working with other people on the same project file; for example, being a fallback just in case certain attributes are not imported.
5. Don't be afraid to import many, large video files as internal source.
If you want full coding functionality, you should always import files as internal sources, not as externals. Originally, I thought that importing a file as internal source automatically meant that the video was saved into the NVivo file itself. So, I thought I must limit myself to only importing the most interesting videos as internal source. However, through experimentation, I soon learnt that one could use the 62-bit version to import files much larger than NVivo 9's guidelines stated AND many of them (see the screengrab below), without the project file's size growing substantially.
 |
| Screengrab of ICT Access and Use video interview imports (17 March 2012) |
As long as the location of the source video remains the same, there are no issues. Now, since the maximum file size of an NVivo project is reportedly 2 GB, I can add many, many more video interviews as internal source. So, with a nod to QSR International's Australian pedigree, it's a happy case of "No worries, mate!"
So, those are the most important tips I have learnt and if you have other ones to share, feel free to submit them via the comments box below, thanks.
Friday, 9 March 2012
Create a comprehensive arts portfolio online via multiple presences.
Written for Visual Arts students interested in digitising and publishing a comprehensive record of their artworks online and for the educators helping them.
The good news is that your Visual Arts educator has helped you to develop a showcase electronic learning portfolio (e-portfolio): in my research project, its two educators chose Carbonmade, because it met these criteria. The service suits the pedagogical aims in South African Visual Arts well, where a portfolio of 35 images is often more than sufficient to cover the learner's body of work for an end-of-year (matric) exhibition, as well as tertiary education applications.
The bad news is that the teachers' online portfolio choice seemed to learners to limit them to publishing 35 images online, thereby preventing the publication of their complete oeuvre! In response, an educator highlighted that learners are not limited to using Carbonmade and should consider creating presences with other services to publish the remainder of their artworks. Students could then create reciprocal links between these services to make them easy for Carbonmade's viewers to find; this is a common practice in the profiles of artists with featured portfolios. To help you identify a service you might want to use, I have listed the four commonly linked types, below:
1. An addition to the Social Network presence you already use
(Popular examples: Facebook Pages and Google+)
The impressionist painter, Valérie Pirlot, provides links to many sites, which include online presences; her blog, Flickr account and a Facebook page, galleries; the Saatchi and Victoria Art, and an academy; the Royal West of England Academy.
The value of featuring all these links is that viewers can select specific aspects of her work that they are interested in viewing. It is also testifies to her professional status and the galleries and academy she associates with.
As a learner, you may already have a Facebook account and creating a Facebook page where you upload your artworks should have the benefits of being very convenient, whilst making it easy to share with your Facebook friends.
Google account holders users should consider using Google+. If your digitized artworks are well-labelled, this may have the benefit of producing better ranked search engine results on the world's most popular search engine, relative to other services.
2. A Photo Sharing Presence
(Popular examples: Flickr, Picasa)
(Popular examples: Blogger and WordPress)
Science fiction concept artist, Marek Tarnawski, provides a link to his blog http://farvus-craft.blogspot.com. His blog was created with Blogger, but you could consider using WordPress or other popular blogging software.
The benefit of choosing to blog for you could include:
4. Another Online Portfolio Service Presence
(Popular examples: behance.net, cghub.com)
Carbonmade is just one of many other online portfolio software services focussed on enabling creatives to publish their online portfolios. Each service provides a distinct combination of affordances to cater for the type of creatives they serve; so it's important to define what you may need before selecting one.
For example, CGHub promotes itself as "an online community where computer graphics artists share their latest work, tips, and tools, network with friends, search jobs, and more." So, if you want to improve your computer graphics skills, this may be useful to join. However, if you want to interact with creative professionals outside of computer graphics illustration and want the best visibility of your online portfolio, you should consider using behance.net.
I hope that this overview was useful for you. If there is a type of service I have missed, please mention it in the comment box below. Or if you have any other guidance, please do share. Thanks!
The good news is that your Visual Arts educator has helped you to develop a showcase electronic learning portfolio (e-portfolio): in my research project, its two educators chose Carbonmade, because it met these criteria. The service suits the pedagogical aims in South African Visual Arts well, where a portfolio of 35 images is often more than sufficient to cover the learner's body of work for an end-of-year (matric) exhibition, as well as tertiary education applications.
The bad news is that the teachers' online portfolio choice seemed to learners to limit them to publishing 35 images online, thereby preventing the publication of their complete oeuvre! In response, an educator highlighted that learners are not limited to using Carbonmade and should consider creating presences with other services to publish the remainder of their artworks. Students could then create reciprocal links between these services to make them easy for Carbonmade's viewers to find; this is a common practice in the profiles of artists with featured portfolios. To help you identify a service you might want to use, I have listed the four commonly linked types, below:
1. An addition to the Social Network presence you already use
(Popular examples: Facebook Pages and Google+)
The impressionist painter, Valérie Pirlot, provides links to many sites, which include online presences; her blog, Flickr account and a Facebook page, galleries; the Saatchi and Victoria Art, and an academy; the Royal West of England Academy.
The value of featuring all these links is that viewers can select specific aspects of her work that they are interested in viewing. It is also testifies to her professional status and the galleries and academy she associates with.
As a learner, you may already have a Facebook account and creating a Facebook page where you upload your artworks should have the benefits of being very convenient, whilst making it easy to share with your Facebook friends.
 |
| Valérie Pirlot's Facebook Page (8 March 2012) |
 |
| Leodor Selenier's Google+ page (8 March 2012) |
2. A Photo Sharing Presence
(Popular examples: Flickr, Picasa)
There are many photo sharing sites listed on Wikipedia and in Valérie's example, she chose Flickr. To learners, the benefit of choosing this service, or similar, includes:
- There is a relatively high limit on the number of images that can be uploaded each month;
- It includes a social networking component making it easy to share photos, comments and notes plus join groups you are interested in;
- You could also upload videos;
- It is compatible with many mobile phone applications, so easy to share to when using your phone's camera.
(Popular examples: Blogger and WordPress)
 |
| Marek Tarnawski's concise Carbonmade profile (8 March 2012) |
Science fiction concept artist, Marek Tarnawski, provides a link to his blog http://farvus-craft.blogspot.com. His blog was created with Blogger, but you could consider using WordPress or other popular blogging software.
The benefit of choosing to blog for you could include:
- There is no limit on the number of images that can be uploaded;
- You could also upload other media (such as videos);
- You can provide descriptions of your working process;
- Viewers can choose to subscribe to your blog;
- You can create reciprocal links with other blogs via a blogroll.
4. Another Online Portfolio Service Presence
(Popular examples: behance.net, cghub.com)
Carbonmade is just one of many other online portfolio software services focussed on enabling creatives to publish their online portfolios. Each service provides a distinct combination of affordances to cater for the type of creatives they serve; so it's important to define what you may need before selecting one.
For example, CGHub promotes itself as "an online community where computer graphics artists share their latest work, tips, and tools, network with friends, search jobs, and more." So, if you want to improve your computer graphics skills, this may be useful to join. However, if you want to interact with creative professionals outside of computer graphics illustration and want the best visibility of your online portfolio, you should consider using behance.net.
 |
| Nook's Carbonmade About page features a button that links to his portfolio on the Behance Network (14 March 2012) |
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
The optimal adoption of Web 2.0 services in seven stages for Visual Arts and Design educators
Written for secondary and tertiary Visual Arts and Visual Design educators and decision makers.
The optimal process for a Visual Arts or Design educator to adopt Web 2.0 services (like social bookmarking and electronic learning portfolios) could involve these seven stages:
The optimal process for a Visual Arts or Design educator to adopt Web 2.0 services (like social bookmarking and electronic learning portfolios) could involve these seven stages:
- Personal experimentation with social network services;
- Exploration of online services for curricular adoption;
- Personal use of these services;
- Achieving school management buy-in;
- Introduction of online services in a curriculum;
- Sustained adoption of these services in the syllabus;
- Self-publication with other web2.0-based services.
1. Personal experimentation with social network services.
Post the online self-publishing revolution, educators with an insider mindset will appreciate that the affordances offered by new technologies makes the world different for them and their students. As an example, Dr Paul Redmond highlighted in his talk; "GENerally speaking: Generation Y, Digital Natives and the challenges facing higher education" how the Millenial generation comes to university with different pedagogical expectations to previous generations based on their experience of growing up with technology. In particular, Dr Redmond argues that students now want interaction, peer-learning, contact and control. As a result, he encourages university educators to reconsider their curricular designs in light of addressing millenials' expectations.
Based on initial experiences with a few Visual Arts educators, I would argue that they are better able to appreciate the potential benefits of including Web2.0 services (such as social bookmarking and electronic learning portfolios) into their syllabi, after having personal experience of online social networking services' {such as Facebook or Google+} benefits. Through first-hand experience of finding old friends and colleagues, posting status updates, sharing pictures and other content, then rating it, educators can begin to appreciate how online media use might benefit them and why social network services are proving popular, particularly with their students.
6. Sustained adoption of these services in the syllabus.
After the initial adoption has proven successful, the educator should take steps to ensure that the use of online services in the Visual Arts or Design syllabi are sustainable. Three examples of these by a private school's Visual Arts department head were: improving his class' resourcing and ensuring his students were given access to digitization equipment in the school's library and computer lab, thereby addressing time constraints with scanning; getting school management approval for his department's new policy that all students from grade 10 to 12 should develop e-portfolios, and documenting how the best examples of previous student work could be linked on the school's Visual Arts website section. The educator has also been active in promoting the use of e-portfolios and social bookmarking to other educators at his school and in Cape Town.
Post the online self-publishing revolution, educators with an insider mindset will appreciate that the affordances offered by new technologies makes the world different for them and their students. As an example, Dr Paul Redmond highlighted in his talk; "GENerally speaking: Generation Y, Digital Natives and the challenges facing higher education" how the Millenial generation comes to university with different pedagogical expectations to previous generations based on their experience of growing up with technology. In particular, Dr Redmond argues that students now want interaction, peer-learning, contact and control. As a result, he encourages university educators to reconsider their curricular designs in light of addressing millenials' expectations.
Based on initial experiences with a few Visual Arts educators, I would argue that they are better able to appreciate the potential benefits of including Web2.0 services (such as social bookmarking and electronic learning portfolios) into their syllabi, after having personal experience of online social networking services' {such as Facebook or Google+} benefits. Through first-hand experience of finding old friends and colleagues, posting status updates, sharing pictures and other content, then rating it, educators can begin to appreciate how online media use might benefit them and why social network services are proving popular, particularly with their students.
2. Exploration of online services for curricular adoption.
It is important that Visual Arts and Design educators understand that there are many Web2.0 services outside the most popular social networking ones. Some of these are particularly useful to contemporary visual creative professionals. My research focuses on two types:
Firstly, the varied online portfolio services that are used by creatives. These can be re-purposed to create free electronic learning portfolios (e-portfolios) in new syllabi at schools {ideally meeting these criteria}.
Secondly, social bookmarking services (such as Delicious and Diigo) make it easy for educators to create an archive of digital learning materials and to share relevant ones with different grades. This is particularly useful for sharing online museums', art magazines' and local galleries' content.
While my research originally promoted the use of online portfolios before social bookmarking's use, I now encourage the latter's use first; it faces fewer technical barriers and can be integrated more easily into educators' existing pedagogical practices. For example, students can be given exercises to search online galleries, track down artists' paintings and bookmark those not accessible in their textbooks or other curricular materials.
3. Personal use of these services.
In using online services for the first time, educators are likely to be exposed to digital literacies and new literacies they are inexperienced with: an example in using social bookmarking is bookmarking a website with appropriate tags, then sharing it with a list of users. Another is researching a service's preferred syntax for tags, exploring users who have contributed the most in a tag of interest, then searching their contributions to bookmark the most relevant sites.
Through personal use of online services, educators can develop their digital/new literacies, whilst being better able to motivate for, and adopt, online services into new curricula and syllabi.
4. Achieving school management buy-in.
Ideally, the educator should prepare a pedagogical rationale for management and his or her department's staff which provides credible justification for the curricular adoption of new media. Providing sound grounds for securing management support is vital: the initial resourcing required to support these services is likely to be underestimated and management support for additional funding could be essential for sustained adoption. An educator may also need school management to provide additional teaching resources, IT and policy support, plus online publication integration to fully realize any new curriculum's potential.
5. Introduction of online services in a curriculum.
In the complex schooling environment, the successful adoption of online services into a new curriculum depends largely on; school management support, the educator's pedagogical choices and students co-adoption of the service.
My research focuses on the latter's choices with portfolio and social bookmarking services, as their use of these services is likely to have the greatest influence on whether their educator chooses to sustain the curricular adoption, or not. So far, my research has revealed
the importance of educators choosing a grade that is keen to achieve success in the Visual Arts or Design subject in launching the new curriculum. Alternatively, the curriculum can be adopted as an after hours activity with keen volunteers.
Research also highlights the importance of integrating the e-portfolio and social bookmarking curriculums with activities throughout the syllabus (rather than seeing the curriculum as a once-off, add-on). Only through sustained use of online services can students learn how to best use new media and produce showcase work.
It is important that Visual Arts and Design educators understand that there are many Web2.0 services outside the most popular social networking ones. Some of these are particularly useful to contemporary visual creative professionals. My research focuses on two types:
Firstly, the varied online portfolio services that are used by creatives. These can be re-purposed to create free electronic learning portfolios (e-portfolios) in new syllabi at schools {ideally meeting these criteria}.
Secondly, social bookmarking services (such as Delicious and Diigo) make it easy for educators to create an archive of digital learning materials and to share relevant ones with different grades. This is particularly useful for sharing online museums', art magazines' and local galleries' content.
While my research originally promoted the use of online portfolios before social bookmarking's use, I now encourage the latter's use first; it faces fewer technical barriers and can be integrated more easily into educators' existing pedagogical practices. For example, students can be given exercises to search online galleries, track down artists' paintings and bookmark those not accessible in their textbooks or other curricular materials.
3. Personal use of these services.
In using online services for the first time, educators are likely to be exposed to digital literacies and new literacies they are inexperienced with: an example in using social bookmarking is bookmarking a website with appropriate tags, then sharing it with a list of users. Another is researching a service's preferred syntax for tags, exploring users who have contributed the most in a tag of interest, then searching their contributions to bookmark the most relevant sites.
Through personal use of online services, educators can develop their digital/new literacies, whilst being better able to motivate for, and adopt, online services into new curricula and syllabi.
4. Achieving school management buy-in.
Ideally, the educator should prepare a pedagogical rationale for management and his or her department's staff which provides credible justification for the curricular adoption of new media. Providing sound grounds for securing management support is vital: the initial resourcing required to support these services is likely to be underestimated and management support for additional funding could be essential for sustained adoption. An educator may also need school management to provide additional teaching resources, IT and policy support, plus online publication integration to fully realize any new curriculum's potential.
5. Introduction of online services in a curriculum.
In the complex schooling environment, the successful adoption of online services into a new curriculum depends largely on; school management support, the educator's pedagogical choices and students co-adoption of the service.
My research focuses on the latter's choices with portfolio and social bookmarking services, as their use of these services is likely to have the greatest influence on whether their educator chooses to sustain the curricular adoption, or not. So far, my research has revealed
the importance of educators choosing a grade that is keen to achieve success in the Visual Arts or Design subject in launching the new curriculum. Alternatively, the curriculum can be adopted as an after hours activity with keen volunteers.
Research also highlights the importance of integrating the e-portfolio and social bookmarking curriculums with activities throughout the syllabus (rather than seeing the curriculum as a once-off, add-on). Only through sustained use of online services can students learn how to best use new media and produce showcase work.
6. Sustained adoption of these services in the syllabus.
After the initial adoption has proven successful, the educator should take steps to ensure that the use of online services in the Visual Arts or Design syllabi are sustainable. Three examples of these by a private school's Visual Arts department head were: improving his class' resourcing and ensuring his students were given access to digitization equipment in the school's library and computer lab, thereby addressing time constraints with scanning; getting school management approval for his department's new policy that all students from grade 10 to 12 should develop e-portfolios, and documenting how the best examples of previous student work could be linked on the school's Visual Arts website section. The educator has also been active in promoting the use of e-portfolios and social bookmarking to other educators at his school and in Cape Town.
7. Self-publication with other web2.0-based services.
The Department of Education encourages Visual Arts and Design educators to develop their own curricular learning materials. For educators who have visited interesting sites (such as those highlighted in one of my favorite documentaries; "A Country Imagined") and used their own curricular materials {such as descriptions, photographs and drawings} in developing classroom presentations, a site like Slideshare offers a platform to share one's presentations with a global audience. Another option is to share one's teaching via a blog (see the Monni Abbott's Art Class blog for a good example by a local art teacher).
By self-publishing one's educational content, educators not only have the opportunity to meet like-minded people online, they can also can raise the profile of South Africa and its artists online. A real win-win situation :) !
So, do you think these stages are optimal? Please let this blog's readership know by submitting your comment below. We appreciate your feedback.
The Department of Education encourages Visual Arts and Design educators to develop their own curricular learning materials. For educators who have visited interesting sites (such as those highlighted in one of my favorite documentaries; "A Country Imagined") and used their own curricular materials {such as descriptions, photographs and drawings} in developing classroom presentations, a site like Slideshare offers a platform to share one's presentations with a global audience. Another option is to share one's teaching via a blog (see the Monni Abbott's Art Class blog for a good example by a local art teacher).
By self-publishing one's educational content, educators not only have the opportunity to meet like-minded people online, they can also can raise the profile of South Africa and its artists online. A real win-win situation :) !
So, do you think these stages are optimal? Please let this blog's readership know by submitting your comment below. We appreciate your feedback.
Wednesday, 7 December 2011
My PhD in Media Studies' research problem statement
1 What problem does my research address?
There is a research gap regarding the multimodal choices that online portfolios afford, the choices that secondary school students make and the resonances of their choices. There is also a gap in describing how students negotiate with educators regarding choices the latter view as 'problematic'.
1.1 Who supports the presence of a problem?
David Buckingham (2003, 2007) argues that exposing students to media production in new school curricula can be a very effective form of media education. The new Visual Arts curricula that this Action Research project contributed to launching; “Create your own online portfolio” and “Improve your online portfolio” were intended to serve this aim.
In following these curricula, students made many multimodal choices in creating their online portfolios. Multimodal Theory, developed by Gunthar Kress (1996, 2010) and Carey Jewitt (2006, 2010), is highly appropriate for describing individual choices and their relationships; to each other, the page they help construct and other portfolio pages.
Jewitt (2006) has used Yrjo Engstrom’s (1987, 2001, 2005) Activity theory to explain the complex schooling context in which multimodal choices are made. Second generation Activity theory will be used to explain how the contradictions and tensions that result from a change to the traditional Visual Arts' classroom's 'tools', 'rules', 'division of labour' and 'community' in the new online portfolio activity system contributed to students negotiations with educators concerning 'problematic' choices.
2 How, where and when does the problem impact?
Although Buckingham’s body of research on media education (1990, 2007) suggests that teaching students media production is beneficial, there are few examples in the literature of these interventions by Visual Arts educators. There is also a research gap in students’ choices with online portfolio software.
By supporting successful initial curricular adoptions at a private (2010, 2011) and public (2011, 2012) school, this project enabled research into: select South African students’ multimodal choices with online portfolio software; their choices’ resonances; and uncovers how changes in creating an online portfolio as an adjunct to a traditional one contributed to students’ negotiations with educators regarding 'problematic' multimodal choices.
2.1 Who supports the impact of the problem?
Michele Knobel and Colin Lankshear (2011) have also identified the importance of students being taught “new media literacies” through digital media production and describe the challenge of educators’ “outsider mindset” being an obstacle to digital media’s successful adoption. This project has helped Visual Arts educators to develop “insider mindsets” that are better suited to support the initial curricular adoptions of online portfolios.
Both the private and public school’s curricula support students with creating showcase Visual Arts electronic learning portfolios (e-portfolios). Barrett (2008) has written about the importance of educating students to use e-portfolios for life-long learning. She has also blogged on the decline in North American secondary schools’ adoption of e-portfolios (2010), listing many challenges that e-portfolio adoptions face.
Hazel Owen (2009) did an e-portfolio literature meta-review, which showed that although there are pedagogical benefits of e-portfolio use in well-resourced, tertiary environments, there are many hazards too. My research has supported secondary school educators with exploring the benefits and hazards of their Visual Arts students’ e-portfolio use as an adjunct to the traditional portfolio.
3 Why does the problem exist?
The conceptual basis for the problem is that online portfolios are a new cultural form; freemium Web2.0 services only emerged from 2003. Their novelty partly explains why so little research has been done into the multimodal choices they afford.
3.1 Who supports the conceptual nature of the problem?
There are distinct resourcing barriers confronting adoption of Information Communication Technology in tertiary education in the developing world: Laura Czernieciwz and Cheryl Brown (2004) identified four key resource categories; 'technological' (i.e. availability of ITC resources), 'personal', 'agency' (i.e. access to digitisation and computer equipment), 'contextual' (i.e. formal enabling networks) and 'online content' (i.e. articles written for local audiences) where barriers to adoption occur. These categories arguably apply in secondary education too, as it is a similar formal environment.
My research project project has assisted two secondary school educators in overcoming some of these obstacles and has facilitated the curricular adoption of online portfolios for studying multimodal affordances, students’ selections, their choices’ resonances and uncovers the background to negotiations regarding 'problematic' choices.
There is a research gap regarding the multimodal choices that online portfolios afford, the choices that secondary school students make and the resonances of their choices. There is also a gap in describing how students negotiate with educators regarding choices the latter view as 'problematic'.
1.1 Who supports the presence of a problem?
David Buckingham (2003, 2007) argues that exposing students to media production in new school curricula can be a very effective form of media education. The new Visual Arts curricula that this Action Research project contributed to launching; “Create your own online portfolio” and “Improve your online portfolio” were intended to serve this aim.
In following these curricula, students made many multimodal choices in creating their online portfolios. Multimodal Theory, developed by Gunthar Kress (1996, 2010) and Carey Jewitt (2006, 2010), is highly appropriate for describing individual choices and their relationships; to each other, the page they help construct and other portfolio pages.
Jewitt (2006) has used Yrjo Engstrom’s (1987, 2001, 2005) Activity theory to explain the complex schooling context in which multimodal choices are made. Second generation Activity theory will be used to explain how the contradictions and tensions that result from a change to the traditional Visual Arts' classroom's 'tools', 'rules', 'division of labour' and 'community' in the new online portfolio activity system contributed to students negotiations with educators concerning 'problematic' choices.
2 How, where and when does the problem impact?
Although Buckingham’s body of research on media education (1990, 2007) suggests that teaching students media production is beneficial, there are few examples in the literature of these interventions by Visual Arts educators. There is also a research gap in students’ choices with online portfolio software.
By supporting successful initial curricular adoptions at a private (2010, 2011) and public (2011, 2012) school, this project enabled research into: select South African students’ multimodal choices with online portfolio software; their choices’ resonances; and uncovers how changes in creating an online portfolio as an adjunct to a traditional one contributed to students’ negotiations with educators regarding 'problematic' multimodal choices.
2.1 Who supports the impact of the problem?
Michele Knobel and Colin Lankshear (2011) have also identified the importance of students being taught “new media literacies” through digital media production and describe the challenge of educators’ “outsider mindset” being an obstacle to digital media’s successful adoption. This project has helped Visual Arts educators to develop “insider mindsets” that are better suited to support the initial curricular adoptions of online portfolios.
Both the private and public school’s curricula support students with creating showcase Visual Arts electronic learning portfolios (e-portfolios). Barrett (2008) has written about the importance of educating students to use e-portfolios for life-long learning. She has also blogged on the decline in North American secondary schools’ adoption of e-portfolios (2010), listing many challenges that e-portfolio adoptions face.
Hazel Owen (2009) did an e-portfolio literature meta-review, which showed that although there are pedagogical benefits of e-portfolio use in well-resourced, tertiary environments, there are many hazards too. My research has supported secondary school educators with exploring the benefits and hazards of their Visual Arts students’ e-portfolio use as an adjunct to the traditional portfolio.
3 Why does the problem exist?
The conceptual basis for the problem is that online portfolios are a new cultural form; freemium Web2.0 services only emerged from 2003. Their novelty partly explains why so little research has been done into the multimodal choices they afford.
3.1 Who supports the conceptual nature of the problem?
There are distinct resourcing barriers confronting adoption of Information Communication Technology in tertiary education in the developing world: Laura Czernieciwz and Cheryl Brown (2004) identified four key resource categories; 'technological' (i.e. availability of ITC resources), 'personal', 'agency' (i.e. access to digitisation and computer equipment), 'contextual' (i.e. formal enabling networks) and 'online content' (i.e. articles written for local audiences) where barriers to adoption occur. These categories arguably apply in secondary education too, as it is a similar formal environment.
My research project project has assisted two secondary school educators in overcoming some of these obstacles and has facilitated the curricular adoption of online portfolios for studying multimodal affordances, students’ selections, their choices’ resonances and uncovers the background to negotiations regarding 'problematic' choices.
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