Wow, this was quite an intense week. I have to admit I found the visual artefact task really challenging! I think this was a) because I don’t feel I’m a very creative person and b) I don’t feel very technologically able (which is why I find this whole MSc very daunting sometimes). I think the lifestream reflects how I was searching for tools and pictures and this was very random at first. I was looking at storybook, slideshare, photostory, prezzi, etc. Photoshop particularly was a real revelation. I’d heard about it, but never used it so far. Then the first artefacts were finished and I really enjoyed them all and thought they were incredibly well done. The comments and peer review have also been extremely interesting to read. Ifeel I’ve learnt loads through this exercise and it’s really given me confidence to try out more tools and applications. It’s surprising how easy it is to use them. On the other hand it’s not only about using them, it’s also about wanting to say something with them.
There is a downside to all this, however, which was described very well in the reading “Mind the Gap”. Are we creating an exclusive society where some people become increasingly confident with technology while others are left increasingly insecure. (I can empathise really well with this. As I’ve described above I don’t feel naturally drawn towards technology, and I’m lucky to have the time and the money to embark on a programme like this MSc, otherwise I’d be one of the people left out in the rain.) I’m investigating e-readiness in my dissertation and am becoming increasingly aware that the digital divide is not only a world-wide problem of access and money (even though this is a huge problem). But also within our society you really need to keep up with the rapidly changing technology and a lot of people don’t have the resources to do this. The stunning visual artefacts that have been created really bring to life what is possible if you have the skills and the tools.
On another note I really liked the reading by Rose. I felt this was very relevant to all interpretation of visual materials whether digital or not. I liked the idea of meaning being created at various levels. The artefacts showed this, particularly the ones that weren’t immediately obvious. It was interesting to see how we (the audience) were interpreting them. But it was also interesting to hear what the authors had wanted to create. The artefacts were also very much an indication of our times and of what is possible to create in this digital era.
A very thought provoking week! I feel quite exhausted!
Merchant, G (2007) Mind the gap(s): discourses and discontinuity in digital literacies, E-learning, 4 (3), 241-255.
Rose, Gillian (2007) Researching visual materials: towards a critical visual methodology, chapter 1 of Visual methodologies: an introduction to the interpretation of visual materials. London: Sage. pp.1-27.