Final Presentation - April 28, 2006
The Usual Bugs
- I originally intended to have my video clips hosted at Castpost but had to change over to Geocities.
- I was without a computer for almost two weeks when my laptop crashed and my new computer did not arrive on time.
The Personal Glitches
- Looking back can be hard - this project brought up a lot of emotions about this time in my life it wasn't always easy.
- On the other hand, where I had initially intended to post a bit every day I found that I could easily spend hours at a time. My solution - I would work on it one or two times a week for 3-5 hours at a time.
The Purpose
My original Executive Description: "I am using the wiki to develop an online scrapbook of my Fall 2004 trip to New Zealand. Included in this scrapbook will be my photographs, personal written journal, written class journal, blog, and photoblog from my trip to New Zealand in the Fall of 2004."
"My hope is to create a story-like depiction of my adventures in New Zealand and Australia. I will also include my personal feelings about what transpired during this time and in the year since. I know I have changed a great deal from these experiences. I struggled with fitting back into the "real world" and it is my hope that, through this scrap-booking, I may both relive the good times and come to make peace (if not sense) of the rougher patches."
Although my wiki is not complete, I do believe I am well on my way to acheiving my goals. The feedback I received from classmates was quite positive and their reactions indicate that they felt they were right there with me. I believe the videos are a big part of this, but it's the combination of video, pictures, and the text that give them this feeling. This is a unique blending of media and I'm very pleased with the results thus far. Also, the comments I added as I went (in reflection) also add to the experience."
"I will also endeavor to find sites related to New Zealand and Australia to link to including (hopefully) other New Zealand and Australian bloggers."
I did this through my quoting of blog posts.
Structure
- Page by page - short form not practical - too many pages would have been required.
- Main pages:
- I originally intended to have at least one picture per page - but this was not always appropriate. Instead, I opted for have several pictures per page - when appropriate.
- Each pages has navigational links at the bottom to the previous page or the next page. There is also a Sidebar to aid in navigation.
- Does it work as is? How could it be improved?
What my classmates had to say about my project:
WG
"Her choice to include back story – as it is truly where any story starts – is an inspired one. The reader is able to see how her life progressed from the inception of her idea to abscond to New Zealand for her student teaching, way long ago on January 24th of 2003."
Absolutely! This is all part of my attempt to engage the reader in my story... my experiences.
"She includes items and occurrences from her life that aren’t directly related to her experience in NZ (that’s ‘N Zed’ for those uninitiated), that one may ask to what relevance? Aspen puts it quite simply, “Because it's life. It's all interconnected. This experience altered me, my perception… It was life changing and significant.” I love when one can see that no matter how distinct any experience is, it’s only so because of every other experience one has."
Again, in an attempt to connect my audience, give them a sense of where I was in my life.
"One other thing I find worth mentioning is that Aspen hasn’t chosen her favorite parts to start with and then fill in the blanks and flesh out the story. She’s started at the very beginning (a very good place to start) and endeavored onward from there."
At times I feared I was putting in too much detail, but I figured if the reader was interested enough they could read it, or they could just look at the purty pictures.
JH
"The posts are chronological and easily accessible in the month by month categorization. I enjoyed reading through them and seeing her trip unfold. Not only did she include information about preparing for her trip, but she also included blurbs about life changing events during this time of preparation. This gives the reader a better feel for what was going on and the emotions that must have been flowing. The blurbs aren't too long to read."
"At first I wasn't sure why a wiki was used, but I understand now. She doesn't want other people changing the wiki, but the format of the wiki is good for this kind of project. It's an easy way for her to organize her month by month activities and edit them as she goes. It's more of a final product kind of thing than a blog would be. If she had used a blog, the overall picture may not be looked at, but the individual posts would be. It seems that Aspen wants the reader to be able to click on the links and figure it out a little more on their own. There is chronology to the wiki, but it's not as enforced as the blog."
"Originality. Nobody else can make a wiki like this. She gives her own experiences, but she also provides a ton of information about New Zealand. It's amazing to see all of the preparation that she put into it. It's great to learn more about NZ but also learn more about Aspen at the same time."
SP
"... thank you Aspen for the map! It works really well in your wiki, and it helped me regain my bearings. The videos are great; it literally puts the reader in the passenger's seat!"
"The orange gives her wiki a lot of energy and pizazz that you don't find on a simple white wiki page. I also like the way her wikiwords are randomly capitalized. The visual stimulation is very refreshing. I am looking forward to seeing more of New Zealand through Aspen's eyes."
DS
"I wish navigating around the wiki (especially the project proposal) was easier."
"The first thing that stood out is your use of little extras within the wiki itself. I love the color, absolutely love it. Also the use of different forms of media such as photo’s and videos gives the wiki an uniquely educated feel."
This is where I branched outside of the traditional wiki format - I knew I could use these elements with a wiki, though you don't usually see video in a wiki. My hope with using the orange color was to add some fun-excitement-energy to my wiki (something more than the plain-jane-white).
"You really seemed to reach way back (04) and pull information and memories out. Although it is arranged by month, I still think that it is lacking in organization. I am still struggling to find things on the wiki. I tried to log on, but it would not let me register."
And you have hit on a major difference between this wiki and most others. This project is something very personal to me and I feared letting people have access to it. (P B Wiki has recently added a comment page for free - but you must register with them in order to comment on my wiki.)
So - Is it still a wiki if I am the only one who can edit it? Are the wiki words enough to make it a wiki? Is this more of a traditional "website".
This wiki stretches the rules more than a bit and as I talk about later - it is rare in its purpose as well as content.
"The balloon pictures seem to tell the visitor a story, especially when combined with the captions. The different media options are the strength of your wiki. It gives it an awesome feel and some real life. I am finding myself more interested in the pictures and videos anything else. You got an awesome grasp on how to operate a wiki inside and out. Very impressive!"
Using all of these media to tell my story is unique. It's something new that the wiki (the internet) allows us to do. I was excited to take on this project of blending video, pictures and words to share my adventures.
"A more descriptive first page that is easier to navigate and a possible link to the project proposal or another kind of introductory statement would really enhance it."
I do have a link on the first page entitled: WhoAndWhat - Who is Aspen and what is this?
*Should I have more of an introduction on the first page? Yeah I think so. Thanks for the input!
M
"your personality truly sparkles through every detail of your documentations, and this enriches your project as a whole."
I'm really glad to hear this. I wanted this to be like a real scrapbook experience - with the person right in there telling you and showing you - and I wanted to go above and beyond the usual scrapbook experience by using videos to help tell my story.
"If I could see more of one thing though, it would be more serious reflections of how this all affected you personally. In your project proposal you wrote "I know I have changed a great deal from these experiences." I would like to hear more about that; but, I expect I will see more to come along that line, in your unfinished "Time Since" category."
Indeed! I had hoped to finish this before the end of the semester but the rest of the wiki took more time than I had anticipated. (probably do to my excitement and desire to make it as detailed as possible) I have every intention of continuing to add to this wiki - and will fill out the TimeSince category."
Graduate Portion:
"The Grad Portion of my project will consist of finding similar sites on the web and comparing their attempts with mine. What was successful? What should I do differently? Would a blog work for this? Did the video and links add to the scrapbook? How?"
I was actually quite shocked at the lack of online scrapbooks. There are several sites where you can buy scrapbooking supplies and even sites where you can scan in and share your scrapbook pages with people who have similar interests (scrapbooking rings). As far as blogs and wikis - there were almost none, though I found more blogs than wikis.
WIKIS
WEBSITES
BLOGS
Overall
I am quite happy with my project. While it is not completed, it has surpassed my original expectations. The feedback I have received has been very positive. I feel through the use of my first person narrative - insight now - looking back on then - as I talk about the time before and during - combined with my use of pictures and video - succeeds in putting my readers right there with me. They see what I saw, read what I thought then and as I was reflecting - and with the video they get more insight into my experience than they would with a plain old paper scrapbook. And while they don't get to hear the excitement in my voice as I talk about these experiences, I believe my writing has the same effect.
What works: The interconnectedness of the wiki - the easy links - and the hypertext/style of writing.
The wiki allows freedom to arrange my story in any order I see fit - whereas a blog would limit me to chronological (or reverse-chronological order).
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