Derek's NEW MEDIA Blog

Twittering and Twaitting...

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:45:00-0600

Derek on Twitter | Tulane Technology on Twitter | Twaitter | Other Twitter apps Twitter continues its uninterrupted advances as it moves to take over the world and enslave us all to its demonic will... No, wait. That's Google. Twitter is the kind, simple, uncomplicated app that's melting the hearts of even the most curmudgeonly of us. Google is the multi-tentacled monster of the deep. Twitter is a sad-eyed kitten. In the end they'll both steal your soul, but you'll feel better about one. You figure which. Anyway, on to more Twitter matters... [More]

eKaqchikel 2009 - Antigua and Home Again

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 08:24:00-0600

eKaqchikel Application | Derek's Flickr Feed for Friday and for Saturday| Marie's eKaq Flickr photos | Twitter #ekaq Friday, July 23 & Saturday, July 24 Lee, Ix'Nal, and I took a tuk-tuk on Friday morning up the street to grab a few market shots. We'll use the footage as intro to our staged market vendor dialogues. Those turned out to be the final video shots of the production. Picked up a lot of great stills there, too. Markets are such colorful spaces full of activity - I think i tried to shoot everything! [More]

eKaqchikel 2009 - Annual Audio Rant

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:43:00-0600

eKaqchikel Application | Derek's Flickr Feed for today | Marie's eKaq Flickr photos | Twitter #ekaq Thursday, July 23 Thought today would be relatively straightforward. Not so much. In the end, production went well and everything we set out to shoot happened, but not without more than a little pain. The teachers arrived late, but as they were spending the time rehearsing, it probably didn't matter for the overall timeline. The biggest problem, as in past years: the sounds of Panajachel! [More]

eKaqchikel 2009 - Staging a Dinner

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:58:00-0600

eKaqchikel Application | Derek's Flickr Feed for today | Marie's eKaq Flickr photos | Twitter #ekaq Wednesday, July 22 - I've talked before about Panajachel, the town where we stay and work from while producing content for the Kaqchikel application. Pana lies along the shores of Lake Atitlán, an ancient volcanic caldera in the Guatemalan highlands ringed by three (probably) inactive volcanoes. It's a beautiful locale that we try to make as much use of as possible in our material. You can't help but see the massive volcanoes towering across the lake when you visit its shores. But in town, it's sometimes easy to forget what's sitting just "out there." Walking along the street this morning, I caught sight of this eerie reminder. [More]

eKaqchikel 2009 - More Kaqchikel

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:28:00-0600

eKaqchikel Application | Derek's Flickr Feed for today | Marie's eKaq Flickr photos | Twitter #ekaq Tuesday, July 21 - Shooting all day today - four dialogues in three locations. Fortunately, able to do them all in the hotel, some on the garden area outside our rooms, and one actually in Marie's room. It's truly amazing how much use we've been able to make of these hotel grounds, and even our rooms, as production locations. Thank god for the Hotel Posada de Don Rodrigo! [More]

eKaqchikel 2009 - First Day of Production

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 22:24:00-0600

eKaqchikel Application | Derek's Flickr Feed for today | Marie's eKaq Flickr photos | Twitter #ekaq Monday, July 20 - First day of actual production! Spent the morning scoping out locations and changing traveler's checks for quetzales. In the afternoon, shot two dialogues with our Kaqchikel teachers and picked up a few audio lines for later use as narration. Even built a sound booth! Not bad for a half day shoot. [More]

eKaqchikel 2009 - Sunday Morning Pre-Production

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 12:57:00-0600

eKaqchikel Application | Derek's Flickr Feed for today | Marie's eKaq Flickr photos Sunday, July 19 - Now fully recovered from the yesterday's travels. I'd like to claim jet lag but we never left our original time zone. We are an hour earlier here since Guatemala doesn't observe daylight savings time. Maybe that's it... [More]

eKaqchikel 2009 - Setting up in Panajachel

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 21:56:00-0600

eKaqchikel Application | Derek's Flickr Feed for today | Marie's eKaq Flickr photos Saturday, July 18 - Arrived safely in Guatemala City this morning with only minimal airline induced delays. Was scrutinized by customs more than usual, but no problems in the end. Found our van driver and was immediately on the road to Panajachel. Three and a half hours later, arrived in Pana. [More]

eKaqchikel 2009 - Outbound: Houston to Guatemala

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 08:28:00-0600

eKaqchikel Application | Derek's Flickr Feed for today | Marie's eKaq Flickr photos Saturday, July 18 - Sitting in Houston airport waiting for our flight to Guatemala City. Uneventful flight fron NOLA to Houston, though there was a bit of unwarranted concern over a balky navigation system on the airliner. Maintenance technician had us filing out to the concourse when the Captain changed his mind and said the plane was good to go, faulty nav or no. The plane was good for one more trip, they said. Wow. That's the way to instill confidence in the air traveling public. [More]

eKaqchikel 2009 - Guatemala in Five Minutes or Less

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 00:22:00-0600

Since 2004 a team from Tulane University has been traveling each year to Guatemala to produce content for a multi-media language application. Next week begins the fifth and final Guatemala road trip collaboration between the Stone Center for Latin American Studies and Tulane Technology Services. The final product of this multi-year effort is a self-paced, online and CD-ROM, Flash-based language learning application. The goal: use innovative new media technologies to teach the Maya kaqchikel language to English and Spanish speakers. [More]

The Four Corners of Classroom Support

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 02:23:00-0600

Last month I attended the New Media Consortium annual conference in Monterey, California, and brought along an entry for the poster competition. I'm a new media sort of fellow, but sometimes paper and ink (even laser printer ink) is the way to go. I'm happy to report that my entry, "The Four Corners of Classroom Support: A Multi-Part Approach to Classroom Technology at Tulane" won a Judges' Choice award. It looked darn nice, too! [More]

Twitter - Staying Relevant with 140 Characters

Sat, 28 Feb 2009 21:30:00-0600

Twitter's been around since 2006 and in the public eye since 2007, but recently it's exploded into the consciousness of the general population. I think we can all agree that when a social technology makes it into the heads of Congress, it's no longer "the-latest-thing." But now that Twitter's hit the mainstream, the social network possibilities have multiplied. [More]

eKaqchikel 2008 - Back Home!

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 22:52:00-0600

Derek's Flickr Feed for today| Marie's eKaq Flickr photos | Valerie's eKaq Flickr photos July 27, 2008 - We're home! Made the road trip from Antigua to Guatemala City with no problems, caught all flights on time, flew through customs with no issues, and - finally - arrived safely at our respective homes: Marie, Valerie and I in New Orleans and Lee in Portland [More]

eKaqchikel 2008 - Volcanos, Vistas and the Old City

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 23:24:00-0600

Derek's Flickr Feed for today| Marie's eKaq Flickr photos | Valerie's eKaq Flickr photos Friday, July 25 - I'm writing this from our hotel in Antigua, Guatemala. It's just after midnight and I'm sitting at a bench outside my room. All the other guests have retired to their rooms and the hotel staff has left for the night. It's breezy and the mosquitoes are light. I guess it's a sign of our times that a weak wi-fi signal now constitutes "roughing it." [More]

eKaqchikel 2008 - Production Comes to a Close

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:08:00-0600

Derek's Flickr Feed for today| Marie's eKaq Flickr photos | Valerie's eKaq Flickr photos Thursday, July 24 - Long day. Not as close to being done as we thought! Started with a final camera setup with a teacher to record simple responses, moved into a lengthy walk through town to videotape and photograph specific locations, and ended with a raucous "good-bye" meal with our teachers. [More]