VisualVisual CommunicationCommunicationss Journal 2002 Table of Contents
ii Acknowledgements iii Editor’s Note Charles D. Johnson 1 Graphic Communication Industry Training: A Critical Comparison of Knowledge Gained and Satisfaction of Learners Between On-Site Delivery and Web-Based Delivery* Penny K. Osmond & Jerry McMurtry 9 Using Free and Open-Source Software to Teach Graphic Production** Chris Lantz 22 Hypertext: A Brief History*** Bill Havice 26 Faculty Training in an Interactive Television Classroom** Rita L. Dobbs 34 Establishing a Computer-Mediated Communication Laboratory in a Graphic Communications Department*** Cynthia Carlton Gillispie-Johnson, Derrek B. Dunn, Dewayne Brown, & Vincent W. Childress 38 Taking the Magic Out of Scanning*** Mengtsung Tai & Charles D. Johnson 43 The Re-evolution of Visual Language: Student-Produced Film in the K-12 Classroom*** Jason A. Schmid 48 Advantages of Dual Processing Jonathan Guy for Dr. Daniel Wilson (Student Article) 51 What is Premedia? Mengtsung Tai for Dr. Charles D. Johnson (Student Article) 53 Manuscript Guidelines * denotes refereed article ** denotes juried article *** denotes edited article VisualVisual CommunicationCommunicationss Journal 2002
President Acknowledgements Richard Grim Editor College of the Ozarks Charles D. Johnson Graphic Arts Department University of Northern Iowa Point Lookout, MO 65726 (417) 334-6411, ext. 3512 Assistant Editor [email protected] Mengtsung Tai University of Northern Iowa President-Elect Jerry J. Waite Jurors University of Houston Tom Gray, Z.A. Prust, and Dan Wilson 4800 Calhoun Rd. Cover Design Houston, TX 77204-4808 (713) 743-4089 Paul Casper, Graphic Design student at Western Wisconsin Technical College [email protected] Page Design and Layout Mengtsung Tai, graduate student, Wendy Loeffler and Juli Camarin, FirstVice-President Michael Cermak undergraduate students, University of Northern Iowa Rock Valley College Printing, Bindery, and Distribution 4151 Samuelson Road Gene Van Roy, Janet Oglesby, and Western Wisconsin Technical College Students Rockford, IL 61109 (815) 874-3000, ext. 3074 How We Produced the Journal [email protected] All articles were submitted electronically in the Microsoft Word format. All pho- Second Vice-President Dennis B. Dougherty tographs were submitted digitally and were edited and converted to grayscale Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology using Adobe Photoshop. Graphs and tables were created from Adobe Illustrator 750 E. King Street or QuarkXpress. Page design and layout, were accomplished using QuarkXPress. Lancaster, PA 17602 (717) 299-7767 The file was converted to a press-optimized PDF which was then e-mailed to [email protected] Western Wisconsin Technical College for imagesetting, platemaking, printing, and binding. Secretary Cynthia C. Gillispie-Johnson NC A&T State University About the Journal Graphic Communication Systems The Visual Communications Journalserves as the official journal of the School of Technology International Graphic Arts Education Association, Inc., and provides a profes- Greensboro, NC 27411 (336) 334-7379 sional communicative link for educators and industry personnel associated with [email protected] design, presentation, management, and reproduction of graphic forms of commu- nication. Manuscripts submitted for publication are subject to peer review by the Treasurer Evan G. Jackson Association, and the views and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors Bayside High School and do not necessarily reflect the policy or views of the IGAEA. 4960 Haygood Road Virginia Beach, VA 23455 Article Submission (757) 473-5050 [email protected] Please follow the guidelines provided on page 53 of this Journal. ImmediatePast-President Membership and Subscription David W. Dailey Information Eastern Kentucky University 307 Whalin Technology Information about membership in the Association or subscription to the Journal Complex Richmond, KY 40475-3115 should be directed to IGAEA Second Vice-President. (859) 622-1190 [email protected]
ii Editor’s Note
Congratulations to all the authors software. Instead of using lack of A team of authors (Gillispie- whose articles are being published funds as an excuse for not teaching Johnson, Dunn, Brown, and in the 2002 Visual Communications certain applications, he shows how Childress) from North Carolina Journal. I believe you will agree that software can be obtained with little Agricultural and Technical State they have done an excellent job of or no funds. A wide variety of University provide a plan and providing useful and timely infor- products are presented, and I sus- rationale for a communication lab- mation to others in the profession. pect many will be new to you as oratory with a wide variety of With the exception of student they were for me. telecommunication and instruc- articles, all of the manuscripts are One of the important aspects of tional tools needed by students for blind reviewed by a jury of graphic the history of graphic communica- basic understanding of this cutting- communications professors. Based tions is the origins of hypertext, edge technology, and needed by on the jury response, the accepted and Bill Havice from Clemson instructors for delivering courses in articles are designated as edited, University does a nice job of pro- a variety of distance and face-to- juried, or refereed. In the case of viding this foundation. He provides face formats. This should help oth- student articles, the editor makes a all the detail you will need for a ers proposing such a laboratory. decision on acceptance. nice lecture on this topic, or as an I worked with my doctoral stu- option, that students can access on- The 2002 Articles dent, Mengtsung Tai, University of line, www.igaea.org. Northern Iowa, to develop a practi- The first article in the 2002 Visual Rita Dobbs, from The Communications Journal, by Penny cal article on scanning basics. This University of Texas at Tyler, pro- Osmond at California Polytechnic is information that might be of vides a synopsis of her research on State University and Jerry help to instructors as they develop training educators to use interac- McMurtry at the University of a lecture on this topic, or as tive television and distance educa- Idaho, provides an overview of assigned reading. By the way, in tion. She compared concerns of research which was conducted to order to be fair to the other compare on-site and web-based educators who receive only class- room training on distance educa- authors, this article was blind delivery of industry training. Even reviewed by the jurors also. though no significant differences tion with those who receive both Jason Schmid, from Washington were found, distinct advantages classroom training and laboratory were found for each method. As experiences. Her results indicate State University, provides the case this technology continues to that the addition of laboratory for using student-produced film in advance, this issue certainly need to experiences enhances the training the classroom. He believes that this be revisited. considerably, and this supports pre- provides students a depth of experi- Chris Lantz from Western vious research that shows that users ence with topics not easily taught Illinois University shows how of telecommunication systems in other ways. This might provide instructors can teach graphic pro- greatly benefit from in-depth train- you some new ideas for class assign- duction with free and open-source ing. ments.
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There are two student articles in Editor for the many extra hours he first year Graphic Design student, this year’s Visual Communications spent on the journal. I simply is to be congratulated for designing Journal. Jonathon Guy from could not have done this without the 2002 Visual Communications Pennsylvania College of Technology their help. I was amazed to watch Journal cover. This is excellent discusses the advantages of using them work on the design, and pore work, and another fine example of dual processing, which is found on through each article to assure con- the capabilities of our students. the Apple Power Macintosh G4. sistent style. As you can see, this journal is Mengtsung Tai, from the Gene Van Roy, with the help of certainly a team effort, and I appre- University of Northern Iowa, pro- his students at Western Wisconsin ciate all that each person accom- vides a short overview of premedia, Technical College, has printed most plished. I am deeply honored to be a term which he thinks may replace of the Visual Communications able to work with such a fine group prepress in the future. Thanks to Journals since 1991, and has con- of professionals. Thanks again for both of these students for submit- tributed untold hours to the all your effort. ting their articles for publication. International Graphic Arts The People Who Made This Education Association. It becomes Journal Possible a family affair at crunch time and Charles D. Johnson, Editor his wife Kathy and daughter Sarah 2002 Visual Communications Journal This year’s jurors are Tom Gray, Z. help with manually collating the A. Prust, and Dan Wilson, well journal, as well as preparing the known professors in the graphic journal for mail out, which is a communications field. I believe huge job. We owe each of these each of these people were actually individuals a huge debt of grati- too busy to assist with the review tude. process, but helped out anyway Janet Oglesby is an instructor in because of their sense of profession- the Electronic Imaging and alism. Thanks to each of you for Printing Program at Western your dedication and hard work. Wisconsin Technical College and I also need to thank the design has also put in countless hours on and printing team for this year’s the Visual Communications Journal. journal. The design and layout, She is in the prepress area, and with the exception of the cover, was assisted this year with film output, done by University of Northern as well as final journal assembly Iowa students Mengtsung Tai, and mail out. Thanks for all your Wendy Loeffler, and Juli Camarin. hard work Janet. In fact, I thought I should also give Speaking of Western Wisconsin Mengtsung the title of Assistant Technical College, Paul Casper, a
iv Graphic Communication Industry Training Graphic Communication Industry Training: A Critical Comparison of Knowledge Gained and Satisfaction of Learners Between On-Site Delivery and Web-Based Delivery According to Kouzes and Penny K. Osmond Posner (1995), we are in a new Graphic Communication Department global village in which we are all California Polytechnic State University connected electronically, yet the world is more diverse and frag- Jerry McMurtry mented than ever before. They Division of Adult, Counselor & Technology Ed. emphasize the reality that knowl- edge is the new currency. University of Idaho Competition is fierce. The digital revolution is upon us. Printing Introduction ty and within a profession. companies are facing the same There is a need for training in the Schrieber also believes that a goal issues as other technology-driven graphic communication industry of education is to help individuals businesses. To stay competitive, (Osmond, 1999). Companies that develop self-directed learning skills they must invest in the technology provide training to their employees for continued personal growth. and decrease the production cycle. are more likely to remain competi- Training addresses specific skills As with all new technologies, the tive. Technology has brought and knowledge that help improve need for training is greater than about change for the graphic com- job performance. Organizations ever. Even for the graphic commu- munication industry and created need current knowledge and skills, nications industry, knowledge is more of a need for training. but are also finding that lifelong becoming the new currency. However, not all companies can learning is a necessity (Schrieber, Educators are finding alterna- afford to send their employees 1998). With the increase in tech- tive ways to deliver education to somewhere for outside training. nology and consequently the short students unable to attend the insti- Technology has enabled training shelf-life of knowledge, it is tution. Educators have experi- within some industries to be con- important to encourage employees mented with many alternative ducted using the World Wide to develop self-directed learning forms of delivering education. Web. skills to be competitive. Some of these forms of delivery According to Schreiber & Berge Senge (1990) and Buhler have included correspondence (1998), there is an inherent (1999) point out that today’s using the U.S. Postal Service, dichotomy between organizational emphasis should be on the learn- radio, TV & video-tape delivery, training and academic education. ing organization. A learning video-conferencing, CD/DVD Education is a process of acquiring organization focuses on employees delivery, compressed-video and new knowledge typically through becoming life-long learners. The recently the World Wide Web. some type of school or university. development of the workforce, Research has been conducted on Education is aimed at enriching including life-long learning, is nec- the effectiveness of distance learn- and expanding the lives of individ- essary to successfully compete in ing in terms of student learning. uals to enhance their role in socie- today’s world. Ferguson and Wijekumar (2000)
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found that web-based instruction options through CD/DVD and Purpose for safety professionals provided a tutorial textbooks specific to par- The purpose of this research was to convenient and quality learning ticular software. A few schools study two different methods of environment for students. They and companies are offering train- delivering training, on-site and concluded that students achieved ing in the graphic communica- web-based, to employees in the “the true value of learning” and tion industry using web-delivery. graphic communication industry. “were able to seek, analyze, synthe- Wilken (2000) mentions The study measured and compared size and apply knowledge to real- Rochester Institute of Technology the knowledge gained between the life safety issues”(p. 32). and Arizona State University as two methods and also measured two schools offering distance trainee satisfaction between the Graphic Communication learning courses. However, very two methods. Industry little is being done in the graphic There has always been a need for communication industry in the Research Questions training in the graphic communi- area of web-based education or This research addresses two ques- cation industry. The transition web-based training. tions specific to training in the from analog data to digital data graphic communication industry. Effectiveness and Cost for graphic arts companies makes 1. Is there a difference in knowl- the training needs greater than It is important to conduct edge gained between training ever. According to Wilken research regarding the effective- offered on-site at a training cen- (2000), “The graphic arts indus- ness of training delivered using ter and training offered using a try also is a witness to the need the World Wide Web compared web-based method of delivery? for technical, marketing, and to traditional training methods. 2. Is there a difference in trainee general business learning and There is a need for training in satisfaction between training training programs in order to the graphic communication offered on-site and training stay abreast of changing tech- industry yet sending an employee offered using web-delivery? nologies”(p.103). Wilkens to a seminar, conference or work- assessed six major industry organ- shop is expensive. Not all compa- Methodology izations that offer various types nies can afford to provide this of training and found that none type of training for their employ- Subjects of them offered on-line training. ees. If web-training is as effective The population of interest for this Training for the graphic com- as traditional training methods it study was employees working for munication industry has tradi- may provide a cost-effective alter- companies belonging to Printing tionally been delivered through native for training needed in Industries of America, Southern on-site training, conferences, many companies. It may give the California (PIASC), Printing workshops, trade-shows and on- companies the advantages they Industries of Northern California the-job-training. Recent tech- need to stay profitable and com- (PINC) and employees working in nologies have provided training petitive. San Luis Obispo County printing
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companies. A group of 327 com- face-to-face instructor. Knowledge was changed to reflect the web- panies were randomly selected gained was measured using the based delivery method rather than from PIASC and PINC member- written exam included in the cur- the televised delivery method. The ship lists and asked to voluntarily riculum as a pretest and a posttest. same Likert scale was used on the participate in the study. SSS as was used in Biner’s study. Convenience sampling was then Instruments Since the SSS was originally conducted with San Luis Obispo Each group was given a compre- designed for televised courses it can County printing companies. hensive written pre-test from the be considered reliable for measur- Companies were allowed to have GATF Imaging Skills Training ing satisfaction specific to that more than one employee partici- Programat the beginning of the method of delivery. Since it was pate in the training. A total of 16 study. Training was then conducted slightly modified for this study, it companies agreed to participate for both groups. Upon completion cannot be considered completely with a total of 21 people agreeing of the training, each group was reliable for web-delivered courses. to complete the study. Once the 21 given the same comprehensive It did, however, provide data for participants were selected, they written exam as a post-test. The this study to be examined with were randomly assigned to either pretest/posttest used was from the regard to student satisfaction. the control group (on-site training) Imaging Skills curriculum devel- or the treatment group (web-based oped by GATF. The Procedures training). pretest/posttest was used as the Companies assigned to the control instrument to measure the knowl- group were allowed to send one or Design edge gained. The instrument is more employees to the on-site This study was an experimental reliable for measuring knowledge workshop that was conducted design, specifically using a Pretest- since it is a standard instrument over a one and a half-day period. Posttest Randomized-Groups used in the industry to determine A total of twelve employees com- Design. A quantitative question- knowledge gained after completing pleted the workshop representing naire, The Student Satisfaction the GATF Imaging Skills Training seven companies. Questionnaire(SSS), was also used Program. Companies assigned to the to measure learner satisfaction. A quantitative survey was given treatment group were allowed to measuring student satisfaction. The have one or more employees par- Training Curriculum Student Satisfaction Survey(SSS) is ticipate in the web-based work- The Graphic Arts Technical an established questionnaire (Biner, shop. This workshop was con- Foundation (GATF) Imaging Skills 1993) slightly modified by the ducted over a four-week period to Curriculum was used as the con- researcher to collect data reflecting allow employees to continue tent delivered to both groups. The the appropriate methods of deliv- working at their job. A total of GATF curriculum is currently in ery. Biner developed and used the nine employees completed the the form of CD-ROM instruction. SSS to measure learner satisfaction workshop representing eight com- It is designed to be delivered by a in televised courses. Terminology panies.
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The same instructor, who was Table 1: Raw mean scores for difference between pretest and also the researcher, taught both posttest workshops. This served to control any bias in instruction between the Condition n Mean Score two groups. Because the researcher On-site delivery 12 11.25 was the instructor, this could potentially pose a threat by includ- Web-based delivery 9 10.67 ing a bias by the researcher towards good results. To control for this sentations and classroom discus- to the on-site group. Once the bias, the researcher did not pro- sion. Hands-on exercises were training was completed each par- mote or advocate one method of required and students were allowed ticipant was sent a posttest and delivery over the other during the to take self-study quizzes which quantitative Student Satisfaction research to anyone involved in the reinforced the concepts taught. Survey. study. The researcher tried to con- Once the training was completed trol any bias throughout the study each participant was given a Results in any form. posttest and a quantitative Student Nonparametric statistical tools Conducting the Training Satisfaction Survey. were used to determine if a signifi- cant difference existed between the The curriculum used for both The web-based participants group that received the on-site groups was the Graphic Arts received information through the training and the group that Technical Foundation (GATF) use of e-learning software called Imaging Skills Curriculum. The Blackboard CourseInfo. Each par- received the web-based training. curriculum consists of five modules ticipant also received a set of CD’s Analysis was done for both knowl- representing the entire printing made by GATF that were designed edge gained and satisfaction of the process. Since this study focused to instruct people taking the learner. An alpha level of 0.05 was more on training specifically in the Imaging Skills Curriculum. The used for all statistical tests. prepress area, only three of the five same questions that were asked in Knowledge gained was meas- modules were presented to partici- the classroom discussion for the ured by the difference in partici- pants. The on-site training was on-site group were posted in the pant scores from the pretest to the conducted in a one and a half day discussion board within posttest. The pretest/posttest used time period. The web-based train- Blackboard. Instructions were pro- was from the standard Imaging ing was conducted in a four-week vided that included reviewing Skills curriculum developed by time period. The same material materials on the CD, taking self- GATF. The test score was from a was covered in both groups. study quiz assessments, participat- possible 60 points. The differences The on-site participants ing in the discussion board ques- between the pretest and posttest received the information through tions and participating in the same scores ranged from 1 to 33. A the use of lectures, PowerPoint pre- hands-on exercises that were given Kruskal-Wallis analysis was used to
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Table 2: Raw mean scores for student satisfaction survey web-based group in knowledge gained, X2(1, N=21)=.046, Condition n Mean Score p=.830.(see Table 3). On-site delivery 12 31.75 A Kruskal-Wallis analysis was used to compare the mean scores Web-based delivery 9 29.44 to each other. The analysis revealed that there was no statistical differ- ence between the on-site group compare the mean scores to each were compared between the on-site and the web-based group in learner other. The on-site group had group and the web-based group. satisfaction, X2(1, N=21)=1.56, twelve participants (n=12) while The mean scores for SSS between p=.212 (see Table 3). the web-based group had nine par- the on-site group and the web- Analysis and Discussion ticipants (n=9). The mean scores based group were 31.75 and 29.44 for the difference in participant respectively (see Table 2). A score This study addresses the question scores from pretest to posttest of 24 would represent an overall of whether web-based training can between the on-site group and the satisfaction of Average, while a be a viable option in the graphic communications industry. As stat- Table 3: Test statistics for Kruskal-Wallis ed earlier, there was no significant difference between the web-based group and the on-site group for 2 Source df X p measurement of both knowledge Difference between 1 .046 .830 gained and satisfaction of the pretest and posttest learner. A Kruskal-Wallis analysis was Student Satisfaction 1 1.556 .212 used for analysis of knowledge of Survey learning gained for the on-site p < .05 delivery (control group) compared to web-based-delivery (treatment group). It was also used for analysis score of 32 would represent an web-based group were 11.25 and of learner satisfaction between the overall satisfaction of Good. Both 10.67 respectively (see Table 1). two groups. The sample sizes for Satisfaction was measured using mean scores then are most compa- the control group and treatment rable to an overall satisfaction of a quantitative Student Satisfaction group were twelve and nine respec- Good. Survey (SSS) using a Likert Scale. tively. The Kruskal-Wallis analysis A total score was generated from The analysis revealed that there was used because of the small each questionnaire. Scores could was no statistical difference group sizes. This particular analysis range from 8 to 40. Mean scores between the on-site group and the met the non-parametric assump-
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tions required for use of the shop further enabled learners to complete the training. Sometimes Kruskal-Wallis test. construct their own knowledge without an instructor or supervisor In the study of adult education base. Since there was a need for involved completion can be diffi- and training there are two schools both groups to acquire the knowl- cult. Although web-based training of thought that should be consid- edge and take that knowledge back is not a cure-all for a company’s ered when considering the impact to the job, there was a viable rea- training needs, it can fill a void in of training on employees, the son to acquire the knowledge. training were other methods may behaviorist and constructivist theo- Therefore, the results of this study not work. ries. The behaviorist theory focuses follow the constructivist’s view of Conclusions more on the observable behavior learning primarily because of the rather than the inner workings of employee’s abilities to construct In conclusion, this study deter- the mind (Rich, 1971) while the knowledge based on their own mined that there was no significant nature of constructivism is based reality as it related to their jobs. difference between web-based on a person’s experiences and their The graphic communications training and on-site training for ability to interact with and gain industry is a very production and both knowledge gained and satis- understanding of their experiences deadline oriented industry. faction of the learner. If circum- (Tobin, 1992). Employees working Efficient production of printed stances permit, most people would in a particular profession will have material is essential to a company’s prefer to learn in a face-to-face more of a need to know informa- survival. The need for training in environment with the ability to tion that directly applies to their the graphic communications interact with instructor and stu- profession. A student in an educa- industry is not in question. The dents in the same room. When tional environment may not have question is how companies can that is not an option, web-based as much need to acquire the infor- provide the training needed in a training is a viable alternative to mation. The experience is therefore cost-effective manner while main- face-to-face learning. less personal to a student seeking taining the production deadlines Efficient production is a key to an education than it would be to needed for the company. Sending success within graphic communica- an employee seeking training. employees to another site could be tion companies. Training can help Learning in a work environment costly and can impact productivity an employee become more effi- may have advantages over learning on their job. Bringing a trainer cient. However, finding the time to in an educational setting (Berge, into the company could also be provide training is often a chal- 1998). costly and could interfere with lenge. Taking time to train means Even though both groups in employee productivity. Self-direct- taking time away from production. this research received information ed learning strategies such as tuto- Cost can also be a deterrent for differently, both groups had the rial books, video tapes or CD / providing training. If cost and time experience of applying the infor- DVD’s are good alternatives but were not an issue, most employers mation to their current jobs. The require the employee to find the would probably prefer to send hands-on component of the work- time and the self-motivation to
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their employees to a professional References Rich, J. M. (1971). Humanistic training facility, which is more Berge, Z. L. (1998). Conceptual Foundations of Education. flexible for working around a pro- Frameworks in Distance Belmont, CA: Wadsworth duction deadline environment. Training and Education. In Publishing Company, Inc. Unlike other self-directed train- Schreiber, D. A., & Berge, Z. Schreiber, D. A. (1998). ing methods such as books, video L.(Eds.), Distance Training: How Organizational technology and its impact on distance training. or CD/DVD tutorials web-based Innovative Organizations are In Schreiber, D. A., & Berge, Z. training can offer the advantage of Using Technology to Maximize instructor and student interaction. Learning and Meet Business L.(Eds.), Distance training: How Web-based training can offer on- Objectives (pp. 19-36). San innovative organizations are using line testing providing immediate Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Inc. technology to maximize learning feedback and assessment to the Biner, P. M. (1993). The develop- and meet business objectives(pp. learner. Web-based content can ment of an instrument to meas- 3-18). San Francisco, CA: also be updated more readily. Web ure student attitudes toward tel- Jossey-Bass Inc. delivery will not replace other evised courses. The American Schreiber, D. A. & Berge, Z. L. (Eds.). (1998). methods of delivering training just Journal of Distance Education, 7 Distance training: as web-based newspapers and jour- (1), 62-73. How innovative organizations are nals have not replaced traditional Buhler, P. M. (1999). Managing in using technology to maximize newspapers and journals. It is the 90’s style: An organizational learning and meet business objec- (1st ed.). San Francisco, anticipated that technology will requirement. Supervision, 60 tives increase in both sophistication and (10), pp. 14-16. CA: Jossey-Bass Inc. quantity of users. As this occurs Ferguson, L. & Wijekumar, K. Senge, P. (1990). The fifth disci- web-based training will become (2000). Effective design and use pline: The art and practice of the more readily available to compa- of web-based distance learning learning organization. NY: DoubleDay. nies. environment. Professional Safety, Tobin, K. (1992, April). It is recommended that further 45(12), 28-32. studies be conducted comparing Kouzes, J. M. & Posner, B. Z. Constructivist perspective on edu- . Paper presented the knowledge gained between stu- (1995). The Leadership cational research at the annual meeting of the dents learning in a classroom and Challenge.San Francisco, CA: employees learning on the job. It is Jossey-Bass Publishers. American Educational Research further recommended that studies Osmond, P. (1999). Training needs Association, San Francisco, CA. be conducted comparing the cost in the graphic arts industry, Wilken, E. (2000). Report card on of training for web-based training Visual Communications Journal, job training via the Internet. to on-site training. 29-32. Graphic Arts Monthly,72(9), 103-104.
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Dr. Penny Osmondis an Dr. Jerry McMurtryis an Assistant Professor in the Graphic Associate Professor in the Division Communication Department at of Adult, Counselor & Technology California Polytechnic State Education at the University of University. She teaches in the areas Idaho. He teaches undergraduate of electronic publishing, digital file technology courses and graduate preparation/assessment and con- adult education and human sumer packaging. She has been resource development courses. His teaching since 1987 and has expe- interest and research areas focus rience in high school, community around the nature of adult learning college, four-year college and uni- in the workplace. He holds both versity level teaching. Penny has a bachelors and masters degrees in Ph.D. in Education from the business and a Ph.D. in human University of Idaho in Moscow, resource development from Idaho. Her Master’s degree is from Colorado State University. University of Nevada, Las Vegas and Her Bachelor’s degree is from Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan. Her areas of expertise are in file creation and preparation for successful output, workflow and output issues and packaging prepress including including preparation for the flexo- graphic printing process.
8 Using Free and Open-Source Software to Teach Graphic Production Using Free and Open-Source Software to Teach Graphic Production
for the use of their Unix after the Chris Lantz deregulation of the telephone Instructional Technology Department industry. Universities who used this Unix made extensive Western Illinois University improvements to the program and felt that it was not appropriate for AT&T to charge for a program that was largely created by its users. Introduction books and manuals that are avail- Richard Stallman is the founder able for this software. of the Free Software Foundation Free, open-source and trial ver- and was one such disgruntled user sions of software titles have Open-Source and GNU of AT&T Unix at Massachusetts become effective alternatives to GPL Software Institute of Technology. As a commercial software for many Open-source is the least restrictive response to AT&T, Stallman creat- applications in the classroom. I ed several software tools that later have used free software to teach type of free software and it is often termed copyliftinstead of became the basis of a free form of image editing, image correction, Unix. Stallman released his tools 3D modeling, vector drawing, copywrite. You are not only able under his own license that he and digital video. Free software to use such software for free but it named the GNU GPL. The GNU can be a powerful solution if you can be copied and modified with- tools later became the basis of don’t mind experimenting and out restriction, other than return- well-known open-source software learning on your own. Free soft- ing any improvements to the pub- projects such as the free Berkeley ware can also enable you to teach lic domain. Most open-source classes and content thought software uses the GNUgeneral Standard Distribution form of impossible because of insufficient public license. GNU is a recur- Unix (BSD) and Linux. Linux is a funds for software. There are sive acronym which means “GNU very popular Unix-like operating many free programs in the field of is not Unix.” The GNU acronym system created by Linus Torvalds graphic production and this paper was meant as a means of poking and other contributors that will be details just some of them. I have fun at AT&T, which was responsi- detailed later in this paper. Many tried to focus on those applica- ble for one version of Unix. in information technology and tions that are indispensable to me AT&T Unix was an industrial high-end graphic production are in everyday classroom instruction. strength operating system that was using Linux as a replacement for In the sections that follow I have used widely in Universities Windows. BSD and Linux have provided references to websites for because AT&T did not charge a also progressed to the point where program downloads, on-line doc- license fee. AT&T later became they now power over 40% of all umentation and references to the interested in charging license fees web servers (Wayner, 2000).
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Mac OS10 and Free Figure 1: Pixel Enhance is a free image correction program for Software Mac OS10 Apple’s new OS10 (Operating System 10)has brought many free and open-source GNU GPL applica- tions to the Macintosh platform. This is because OS10 is compatible with BSD and Linux. Apple tried to join the open-source movement and attract BSD and Linux devel- opers through their release of part of the source code for OS10. Apple named this program Darwin. The Free Software Foundation has criticized Darwin because it does not use the GNU GPL that defines open-source but instead uses a more restrictive license. Regardless of how Darwin was received, it has made it possible for developers to easily port programs over from BSD and 1993). Developers of early image tions. Pixel Enhance has all Linux. Programs that originated processing software such as Tiffany the basic tone correction tools with Linux are now compatible used Next hardware and software that are in Photoshop, includ- with the new Mac OS. because of its graphics capability ing curves and levels. Pixel OS10 also originates from the and ease of programming. Unlike Enhance can be downloaded Nextstep operating system. Next Photoshop, Tiffany has been avail- from www.caffeinesoft.com. able for OS10 since the beta ver- Inc. was the company founded by Graphic Image Steve Jobs, who is the current sion. A free version of the basic Manipulation Program CEO and past founder of Apple. image correction tools in Tiffany is Next made its own proprietary available in the form of the Pixel Graphic Image Manipulation computers starting in the late 80’s Enhanceprogram (see Figure 1). Program (GIMP) started as a and by 1990 the Next workstation Pixel Enhance is a good means to computer science class project had features such as display teach color correction with its for Peter Mattis and Spencer PostScript and large 24 bit before and after views of possible Kimball who were undergrad- 1024x768 color displays (Stross, color, contrast and density correc- uate students at the
10 Using Free and Open-Source Software to Teach Graphic Production
Figure 2: The clone tool in GIMP is the same as the rubber Figure 3: The layers, chan- stamp tool in Photoshop and is used in combination with the nels and paths tools in GIMP brushes palette to retouch damaged photographs are found in one unified win- dow, as in Photoshop
University of California at users. Tools such as layers, chan- Berkeley. GIMP for Windows nels and brushes work in an identi- (see Figure 4). The script-fu can be downloaded at cal fashion to Photoshop. Its hun- scripting language in GIMP auto- http://www.gimp.org/~tml/gimp/w dreds of developers or contributors mates repetitive tasks such as image in32// and Gimp for Linux is at do not make any money directly correction, cropping and sizing. www.gimp.org. Many unpaid off of GIMP. This is the primary Script-Fu is similar to Applescript developers have improved GIMP reason why Adobe did not sue the on a Mac OS computer but is since its start as Version .54 in makers of GIMP for similarities to more specific to graphic produc- 1996. GIMP is a Photoshop clone Photoshop. tion. One example is that script- and is an open-source free distribu- In photo restoration assign- fu can produce custom back- tion software under the GNU GPL ments students master the same grounds or patterns by recording a license. Most of the functionality cloning, burn, dodge, local blur sequence of actions that can be of Photoshop is available within and smudge tools in GIMP that infinitely manipulated. Such GIMP. Features such as “script-fu” are in Photoshop (see Figure 2). graphic patterns are then used for expand beyond the capability of GIMP layers and channels are web page backgrounds or texture Photoshop. The GIMP toolbox used in the same way to overlay maps for 3D objects. looks almost identical to image elements (see Figure 3). One of the fundamental differ- Photoshop with little or no learn- GIMP also has complete image ences between GIMP and ing curve for current Photoshop correction and color balance tools Photoshop is the pop-down menus.
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Figure 4: The curves tool can be used to adjust the contrast Figure 5: All the controls and density of the RGB color channels in GIMP found in the pop-down menus at the top of the screen in Photoshop can be found by right clicking on an image in GIMP
In Photoshop the pop-down menus specific features throughout the last are located at the top of the desktop, few years but GIMP has been devel- as with most Windows or Mac OS oped from its start with the web in programs. In GIMP the pop-down mind. I still teach Photoshop menus are found by right clicking a because of its superiority in handling GIMP’s compatibility and co-evo- two-button mouse on the current CMYK color space, although GIMP lution with Linux is one of its image (see Figure 5). This menu is my program of choice for web main advantages. Linux is excep- accesses almost all the functions of development. Many books and tionally stable and is also an effi- GIMP. It is very easy to transition training materials are available for cient user of CPU speed and mem- from any version of Photoshop to GIMP. For a complete reference I ory. Older hardware can be used GIMP once you become familiar would recommend GIMP: The with Linux due to its efficiency with this difference. Another differ- Official Handbook(Klander, 1999) with system resources. With Linux ence between Photoshop and GIMP and GIMP: The Essential Reference I am able to use older PC hardware is that GIMP is designed from the (Harford, 2000) as more of an exec- and I do not experience a dramatic ground-up for web developers. utive summary. slowdown in performance. I am Photoshop has historically concen- able to teach basic image editing trated on print applications because Linux and Free Software skills with 166 MHz PC’s with Photoshop predates the web. GIMP was originally developed for only 48 MB of memory. I would Photoshop has added many web the Linux operating system. need at least a 300 MHz machine
12 Using Free and Open-Source Software to Teach Graphic Production
with 64 MB of memory to see the most cases) when compared with in market share on servers and on same level of performance with many Microsoft support options. scientific workstations such as in Windows or Mac OS and Several high profile companies the International Space Station and Photoshop. Admittedly, students that were positioned to support for the National Weather Radar will need to work with small file Linux for the average computer system. There are several free soft- sizes with such hardware but small user abandoned their efforts due to ware projects such as KDE and files are appropriate for web devel- the downturn in the high-tech sec- Gnome positioned to increase the opment and the image editing tor in 2001. One important exam- usability of Linux and all hope is principles are the same. ple was Corel Linux, which was not lost that Linux could one day One unexpected side effect to marketed specifically as a simple to be a widespread and successful using Linux in my classes is that install alternative to Windows and competitor to Windows. some students have become inter- was bundled with full versions of One solution to the Linux ver- ested in using it as a substitute for high quality productivity applica- sus Windows dilemma is to use Windows. This interest often tions such as WordPerfect, both on the same computers. This expands into an advanced knowl- Staroffice and Corel Draw. Dell is relatively easy to accomplish edge of Linux and web server pro- computer is an example of a hard- with the free Liloboot utility pro- grams such as Apache. ware vendor that has discontinued gram that is installed with Linux. Knowledge of Apache, Linux and shipping PC’s preinstalled with This can also be done with one of Unix are highly sought after in the Linux for the home or workstation the commercial disk partitioning current job market for network market. Many hardware vendors and boot loader programs such as administration positions. ship PC’s with Linux installed for Partition Magic and Bootmagic Support can be one of the the server market but Dell was an (www.powerquest.com/partition- biggest problems with free or early example of a company focus- magic/). For those interested in open-source software. Switching ing on Linux as an alternative to putting more than two operating from Windows to the Linux oper- Windows. systems on their computer such as ating system has helped with many Despite these early examples of Linux, BSD and Windows, I of the crashes and unexplained the failure of Linux to take over would recommend reading the errors. This is understandable the average computer desktop, Multiboot Configuration Handbook because some of the free programs many educational and institutional (Smith, 1999). covered in this paper started on users continue to use Linux as an Staroffice Unix or Linux and were later port- alternative to Windows. Large ed to Windows and Mac OS. The companies such as IBM and Red My students have used Powerpoint Linux community also seems to be Hat, among many others, are sup- as part of the standard Microsoft a smaller and closer-knit user porting Linux for the enterprise Office suite to present a portfolio group that I feel is more approach- user. Linux is a dominant operat- of their images to class or to poten- able and less expensive (free in ing system that continues to grow tial employers at job interviews.
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Figure 6: The slide sorter view in Staroffice 5.2 is very similar to that found in PowerPoint
However, office licenses are expen- looking for in recent years (see fully integrates Java applets and sive to maintain, and the current Figure 6). Staroffice is available for scripting. Staroffice is also able to versions of Office have become a Windows, BSD and Linux. import and export Office files. large set of programs with a corre- Staroffice was originally a popular Staroffice has word-processing, spondingly large appetite for mem- Office clone created by the spreadsheet and presentation com- ory and hard drive space. Some of German company Star Division. ponents that are true to its descrip- the computers my students use do Staroffice was purchased by the tion as a clone of Microsoft Office. not meet the recommended hard- workstation and server manufac- It also has a few features beyond ware specification for Office. This turer Sun Microsystems. Sun has Office such as a drawing applica- combination of factors has led me continued to develop the program tion that can produce vector-based to search for a free alternative to and has made it freely available for drawings. The Stardraw compo- Office that has a smaller memory download on their website nent in Staroffice is a simple but and hard drive footprint. Staroffice www.sun.com/software/star/. Sun is capable drawing tool. Stardraw has become the solution I was the originator of Java and Staroffice has taken the place of Macromedia
14 Using Free and Open-Source Software to Teach Graphic Production
Freehand for a simple line drawing Figure 7: Strata 3D Base is free, has basic modeling tools and logo assignment in my basic such as lathe and extrude and is not save-disabled graphic production class. Staroffice will run quite well on a 166 MHz PC but will require at least 64 MB of memory and 75MB of hard disk space to run smoothly. This program is very sta- ble on Windows 98 and I have had far fewer problems than Office with lock-ups and blue screens on a wide variety of hardware configu- rations. This is probably because Staroffice is a smaller and less com- plex program that uses fewer sys- tem resources than Office. This simplicity does come at a price and I have not been able to use Staroffice as a total replacement for Powerpoint because it is not as compatible with several movie for- mats. The 6.0 beta version of and slides when compared with limited in features and/or are save- Staroffice has added many new fea- PowerPoint on the same machine. disabled. Some software makers tures but has not addressed movie This is due to the smaller memory have followed a different marketing compatibility. As a work-around, I and hard drive footprint. Another strategy in providing their basic can link out of Staroffice to a advantage is that Staroffice is avail- software tool free of charge in standalone movie player applica- able for both Windows and Linux order to attract users to a more full tion and then play any movies I and thus allows me to display the featured product. Strata 3D Base, wish. same files on either platform. I (see Figure 7) is a modeling or 3D Users familiar with Office 97 would recommend Staroffice 5 for content creation program available will be quite at home with Linux (Wells & Taylor, 1999) to for downloads from Staroffice. Importing pictures and those who want to run Staroffice www.strata.com, and is not save- setting transitions as well as view- on the Linux operating system. disabled. Strata 3D Plus includes ing slides are almost identical to animation and the Pro version Powerpoint. An added benefit of Strata 3D Base adds several advanced modeling Staroffice is that I can make larger Trial versions of software are often tools. These latter two programs presentations with more photos the least useful because they are have a license fee. I use Strata 3D
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Base to teach basic modeling tech- tion. I have purchased one copy of and animate their models if they niques such as extruding, lathing, the Strata 3D Plus version so I can wish. ray tracing and texture mapping. demonstrate some of the anima- I am not able to animate 3D con- tion controls not available in the Blender 3D Modeling tent and export in the form of a base version. Students can move to Blender is an open-source and movie but this is not a real limita- the workstation with this program freely distributed 3D modeling and
Figure 8: Blender is a free open-source program that is more full featured than Strata 3D Base but it uses a more complex non-standard user interface
16 Using Free and Open-Source Software to Teach Graphic Production
animation program available for Figure 9: This window in Photovista is used for the stitching and download at www.blender3d.com. alignment of individual photos into one large panoramic It is a full-featured program with a photograph steep learning curve, more suitable for an advanced modeling class. This program shows its heritage as an Amiga program. The Amiga was a dedicated graphics computer used extensively in 3D modeling and animation for video produc- tion in the early to mid 90’s (in the form of Nutek’s Video Toaster). Since Blender uses the same inter- face as it did on the Amiga, it can be confusing to the average Windows and Mac OS user. Blender’s interface has a higher degree of efficiency for the advanced user because complex functions are available with simple entire course in 3D content cre- Panoramic VR’s are click-and- keystrokes in combination with a ation but Blender would be a good drag interactive 360-degree movies. three-button mouse (see Figure 8). alternative for advanced students The most typical QTVR panorama Blender is available for and curriculum. The blender content on the web is interactive Windows, Mac OS, BSD, Linux manual is available for $15 at tours of buildings and real estate. and Unix. Blender uses very little www.blender3d.com (Roosendaal, An Object VR movie is an interac- hard drive space and varies in its 2000). tive click-and-drag view of a small use of memory according to the object such as a product advertised size and complexity of the model- Quicktime Virtual Reality on a web page. Object VR’s are cre- ing work. Blender has a similar Movies ated from a series of still pictures of array of basic modeling tools when Quicktime VR content creation is the subject or object rotated on a compared with Strata 3D Base, but another graphics application for turntable with the camera in a sta- adds advanced texture mapping, which I have found trial and open- tionary position. Panoramic VR’s ray tracing and animation tools source alternatives to commercial are also photographed as a series of that are only available in the most software. Object andPanorama still pictures but the photos span an expensive Strata 3D Pro version. movies are the two main types of entire 360-degree rotation of the Strata 3D Base does not have VR content. camera.The panoramic VR pic- enough depth as a basis for an
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Figure 10: This window in Panoworx is used for importing Mac OS and Windows (see Figure individual photos before the stitching or blending process 10). Panoworx is a better choice than Photovista for the Macintosh because Photovista is not compati- ble with the most current version of the Mac OS. Objectworx is object VR cre- ation software, (see Figure 11) which is available for trial download at www.vrtoolbox.com/vrobject- worx.html. Objectworx allows the keying-out of original backgrounds so another background can put in place. Object VR’s are created on a turntable and keying allows the turntable to be removed and replaced with a more pleasing back- ground picture or pattern. In addi- tion to leaving an icon on the final movie, Objectworx limits users to tures are stitched or blended togeth- software because each is unique in 15 sessions with the program before er into one larger seamless picture respect to how they are pho- it is disabled. and then converted to the QTVR tographed and then compiled in movie format. For a more complete software. Photovista is panoramic Apple VR Tools review of the QTVR production VR creation software that can be Apple has some free VR content process I would recommend The downloaded from creation applications available at Quicktime VR Handbook (Kitchens, www.mgisoft.com. The Photovista http://developer.apple.com/ quick- 1998), or look back at the article on trial version includes an icon in the time/quicktimeintro/tools/. QTVR in the 1998 Visual final movie that can be edited out QTVR Objectcan create simple Communications Journal(Lantz & with some difficulty in Photoshop object VR’s without the aid of a Baggett, 1998), that is download- or GIMP. Photovista 2.0 is a PC commercial program such as able on www.igaea.org. based program. Photovista 1.6 is Objectworx. Make QTVR available for Mac OS (see Figure 9). Panorama 2can convert panorama Photovista, Panoworx and Panoworx is another panoramic VR pictures into a QTVR Objectworx VR program that is available from Panorama movie. This later pro- Object VR’s and panoramic VR’s www.vrtoolbox.com/vrpanoworx.ht gram can be useful in transforming require their own content creation ml. Panoworx is available for both any 768X2496 pixel Photoshop or
18 Using Free and Open-Source Software to Teach Graphic Production
Figure 11: This window in Objectworx is used to import individ- Panorama Tools is available for ual views of an object in order to create QTVR object movies Windows, Mac OS and Linux. I currently favor the trial VR creation software detailed earlier for lab instruction although I have used Panorama Tools for professional work. The PT Stitcher component of Panorama Tools is often more accu- rate than some of the commercial applications. It is free and does not leave its logo on finished content. Transitioning to Free Software Within the last 10 years, I have used many different computer hard- ware and software systems for imag- ing that are now totally obsolete. Were my many hours of training and self-study of these obsolete sys- tems a waste of time? Truthfully GIMP file into a panoramic movie. linked by hotspots (see Figure 12). yes, where such training concentrat- The main disadvantage of these One common example is a hot spot ed on the specifics of obsolete hard- applications is that they are avail- on the door of a room which when ware or the point-and-click training able for Apple hardware only, selected transports the movie viewer to learn unique menus and com- although the resulting movies can to a different Panoramic VR of mands in programs that no longer be viewed on Windows. another room (see Figure 13). exist. However, learning such sys- Panomagic is available from tems also put me ahead of the curve Panomagic and Hotspot VR’s www.yonaites.com/PanoMAGIC/ in some cases because the basic Object and panorama programs can and is a logo embossing trial pro- operations or the look and feel of create VR movies but another pro- gram. the programs were similar to soft- gram is needed to link these movies ware that appeared much later on together into a multi-room tour of Panorama Tools more successful hardware plat- a building or environment. Panorama Tools is a free GNU GPL forms. I am able learn new soft- Panomagic can take several licensed suite of programs for ware applications more quickly as a panoramic and/or object movies panoramic VR’s downloadable from result of underlying past experience and integrate them into one movie www.fh-furtwangen.de/~dersch/. with the common attributes of a
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Figure 12: This window in Panomagic is used to link hotspots limiting factor in providing stu- from one VR movie to another dents with the skills they will need in the marketplace when free alter- natives are available. References Harford, A. (2000). GIMP: Essential reference.Indianapolis: New Riders. Kitchens, S. (1998). The quicktime vr handbook. Berkeley: Peachpit Press. Klander, O. S. & Kylander, K. (1999). GIMP: The official handbook.Scottsdale: Coriolis Open Press. Lantz, C. & Baggett, J. (1998). Virtual reality movies: A state of the art report and tutorial. Visual Communications Journal. Figure 13: This is the user variety of different obsolete appli- interface of a QTVR movie in pp. 54-66. which the user view can be cations. Roosendaal, T. (2000). Blender: enlarged; reduced, rotated It is easier to make the transi- V1.5 manual revised with V 1.8 360 degrees and hotspots tion to free software if you believe appendix. Eindhoven, for linking to other movies that teaching the common attrib- Netherlands. can be made visible utes of drawing, modeling and Smith, R. W. (2000). The multi- imaging programs are more impor- boot configuration handbook. tant than particular commands in Indianapolis: Que. the most popular commercial soft- Stross, R. E. (1993). Steve Jobs and ware. The final imagery produced the next best thing.New York: by these tools is of greatest impor- Atheneum. tance. It has been my experience Wayner, P. (2000). Free for all: that graphic production can be How linux and the free software taught just as well in many cases movement undercut the high with free software as with commer- tech titans.New York: cial products. The cost of com- Harperbusiness. mercial software should not be a
20 Using Free and Open-Source Software to Teach Graphic Production
Wells, N. D. & Taylor, D. T. (1999). Staroffice 5 for linux. Dr. Chris Lantzis a Professor Indianapolis: Sams. in the Instructional Technology Department, a unit of the College of Education and Human Services at Western Illinois University. He has taught photography, video and digital imaging production for the past 13 years.
21 Visual Communications Journal 2002 www.igaea.org Hypertext: A Brief History
called hot spots(Roblyer, Edwards, Bill Havice & Havriluk, 1997). If you’ve College of Health, Education, clicked on a link in the document, the browser follows that link; the and Human Development current display information is Clemson University replaced by the new linked infor- mation. For this linking system to work, information is exchanged on the WWW according to a specific pro- search programs) you can find Introduction tocol (set of rules) called Hypertext information on almost any topic in Each day around the world mil- Transfer Protocol(HTTP). Each just a few clicks of your computer lions of people are using their com- hyperlink has a particular format, mouse button. You can move from puters to access the information or aUniform Resource Locator item to item and back again with- that makes up the Internet. They (URL). Web pages are written out following a predefined path, search for and retrieve information using a language called Hypertext following links according to your on all sorts of topics in a wide vari- Markup Language (HTML). personal needs (attributes). The ety of areas, including arts, human- The term hypertextis used to ities, science, business, and recre- browser makes the connections to a specific WWW site, retrieves describe text that contains non-lin- ation. The information appears in ear (non-sequential) links to other a variety of digital formats, such as information from the site, and dis- plays it on your computer screen. text. We use the term hypermedia text, images, audio, or video. Any when the hypertext and links are information that can be digitized is The information displayed on from a variety of media (e.g., text, being shared through the Internet. the computer screen is normally movies, pictures and audio), as is People are also able to communi- shown in a multimedia format. It the case in the WWW (Roblyer, cate with each other using elec- may contain text, images, video, et. al, 1997). On a WWW page or tronic mail (e-mail). All this activi- and/or audio. You can navigate to screen, some items are boldfaced, ty is made possible because of the other locations on the Internet to underlined, or colored differently. thousands of networks that are search, browse, and retrieve infor- Each of these items represents a connected making up the Internet. mation. You use a mouse to move link to another part of the current When you use the World Wide a browsing tool (a hand) to a link document, file, page, screen, Web (WWW), you are working in represented by an icon, menu item, image, or other Internet resource. a hypertext or hypermedia environ- region of a map or image, button, You can follow or jump to infor- ment. By using a Web browser (the or underlined portion of the win- mation the link represents by computer software that lets you dow, where you click the mouse selecting one of the links or you access the WWW, i.e., Netscape or button. These items are referred to can return to the previous link. Internet Explorer and associated as hyperlinksand sometimes are There is a definite starting point,
22 Hypertext: A Brief History
but the path you take after that is instantaneous publishing and the user to access the text, graph- your choice. You are not con- archiving system that is without ics, etc. Nelson compares the strained by having to go in a linear confusion. He also thinks that Xanadu stations with McDonalds’ (sequential) order; you can think everything should be accounted for restaurants, where personnel wear of being able to move in any non- and not be duplicated (Nelson, neat uniforms which are changed linear (non-sequential) direction 1987). periodically. The menu would from any link. Readers using Nelson’s system include services such as printouts, So how did all of this hype to create hyperdocuments can cre- picture digitization, or even video- evolve? The term hypertext was ate their own personal browsing tape. These SilverStands would be coined over three decades ago. Its paths through the information located in highly visible locations. conceptual foundations go back space based on their own needs Again, like McDonalds, the stands over five decades. The evolution of and interests. Nelson believes would be built in modular format hypertext was most directly affect- hypertext should be a liberating making them easy to build and ed by individuals such as Vannevar experience. expand in the future (Nelson, Bush, Douglas Engelbart, and Nelson’s life work, for over three 1987). Theodor Nelson. decades, has been developing a Ted Nelson believes that knowl- Nelson’s Vision global information network system edge structure is an individualistic process. The text and its structure Theodor Holm Nelson, a self-pro- called Xanadu(after the “stately pleasure dome” in Coleridge’s should be malleable, not set. This claimed computer visionary, coined accommodates the text to the poem Kubla Khan). Xanadu would the term hypertext. As a young learner, rather than the learner to have all of the world’s knowledge Harvard graduate student, Nelson the text structure (Jonassen, accessible for any user at any work- used the term hypertext to describe 1989). his concept of non-sequential writ- station. ing. Nelson felt the computer was In his book, Literary Machines Learning Theory too limiting, lacking the ability to (1981), Nelson describes Xanadu Learning is a reorganization of branch in other directions. He as a service that every person and knowledge structures. (Jonassen, envisioned hypertext as a solution company will need for different 1989) Knowledge structures refer to speedily access all of the world’s reasons. He has a very grandiose to the organization of ideas in literature using a network link that view of what hypertext can semantic memory. These ideas are would be available from any com- become. He believes that Xanadu often referred to as schema. puter (Fiderio, 1988). stations or SilverStandswill be like A schema for an object, event, Nelson believes that hypertext public utilities that can be accessed or idea is comprised of a set of should encourage readers to jump from home or office. At the attributes. Attributes are the associ- around and alter text to make it Xanadu station a person can open ations that an individual forms more personally meaningful. an account and learn to use the around an idea. The schema for Furthermore, he envisions an system. Help would be available to storm, for instance, is comprised of
23 Visual Communications Journal 2002 www.igaea.org
attributes such as wind, hail, thun- become actively involved in devel- vision for hypertext allows a user der, lightning, as well as other asso- oping their own text can benefit to browse through huge databases ciations such as tornado, hurricane, greatly from their experience com- of information. etc. Our personal knowledge struc- pared to those who just browse it A similarity between Nelson’s ture consists of schema of all these (Jonassen, 1989). Hypertext and the WWW today is attributes, so schemas are embed- According to Norman et al. the freedom of choice provided the ded within each other. We generate (1976), memory and hypertext user. In Nelson’s eyes this liberation concepts for ideas based upon our have some commonalties. He is paramount. However, WWW association with those concepts. believes that developing good tuto- applications with too much free- Each schema that we construct rial/instructional systems involves dom of choice and learner inde- represents a mini-framework in matching the network structure of pendence may cause chaos that which to interrelate elements or the subject matter with the seman- many educators are not ready to attributes of information about a tic network of the learner. This accept. topic into a single conceptual unit semantic network is often referred Assessment of using the WWW (Norman, Gentner, & Stevens, to as web of concepts(metaphor of a in the classroom is an issue that 1976). These concepts are all spider web). Web learning develops Nelson does not concern himself arranged in a network of interrelat- a person’s semantic learning in a with in the Xanadu project. New ed concepts known as our semantic web-like structure. In other words, methods of evaluation will be nec- network. Schema are to memory as the person’s learning is multi- essary to properly assess the learner nodes are to hypertext. They are dimensional, not linear. New mate- in this interactive learning environ- the building blocks for memory rial becomes a part of the web in ment beyond the set of instruc- and hypertext. Hypertext resembles the form of nodes or schemata tional objectives we use to evaluate memory. based upon each learner’s individ- the learner in a traditional environ- Hypertext and hypermedia ual association with the informa- ment. applications in education can tion. The WWW allows learners to include the WWW, computer- have control over their access to orchestrated storybooks, encyclo- Similarities and information in much the same way pedias, and tutorials with each hav- Differences Ted Nelson envisioned learners to ing a unique system linking infor- have control over information Two features of any hypertext doc- acquisition. Therefore, users have mation in the form of sound, ument are nodes and links. Nodes dynamic graphics and user directed the freedom to navigate or move are the information units of text, around at will in a hypertext envi- links. Hypermedia in instruction graphics, articles, etc. Links are the ronment. can support problem solving. It relations that connect nodes. can also enable learners to create (Marchionini, 1988) The WWW Summary new knowledge and become teach- and Nelson’s hypertext have these As we look to the 21st century, ers themselves. Learners who two elements in common. Nelson’s educators in all settings are chal-
24 Hypertext: A Brief History
lenged to develop new ways to man- References age and best utilize information. Fiderio, J. (1988, October). A Bill Havice, Ph.D., is a Richard Saul Wurman wrote in his grand vision. Byte, 237-243. Professor and Associate Dean in book Information Anxiety(1989), Jonassen, D. H. (1989). the College of Health, Education, that there is more information in Hypertext/Hypermedia. and Human Development at the Wall Street Journalthan was Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Clemson University, Clemson, available in a lifetime of a person in Educational Technology South Carolina. Dr. Havice has 24 seventeenth century England. As a Publications. years of high school and university society, we must work to manage Marchionini, G. (1988). teaching and advising experience. this information overload, to devel- Hypermedia and learning: He has taught numerous under- op and refine electronic systems for Freedom and chaos. Educational graduate and graduate courses in data input, storage, and retrieval. Technology, 28(11), 8-12. graphic communications, technol- I believe Ted Nelson’s vision is Nelson, T. (1987). On the road to Xanadu. Personal Computing, ogy and instructional technology. coming true through the World Recently, he served on the board of Wide Web and the Internet. People 11,170. Nelson, T. (1981). Literary directors for the International are sharing ideas, information and Machines.Swarthmore, PA: The Technology Education Association resources all over the world. Author. and has earned the honor of Information has become a strategic Norman, D. A., Gentner, S., & Distinguished Technology and valuable resource that is accessi- Stevens, A. L. (1976). Educator (DTE). His primary ble to anyone using the WWW. Comments on learning schema- areas of research include distrib- Networks can help society make ta and memory representation. uted/distance learning applications, changes, improve productivity and In D. Klahr (Ed.), Cognition and multimedia, and hypermedia. He improve work life. Networks can instruction.Hillsdale, NJ: is an active member of several also help fulfill people’s needs to Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. organizations including the belong. Ted Nelson’s SilverStand just Roblyer, M. D., Edwards, J., & International Technology may be the place to go network. You Havriluk, M. A. (1997). Education Association (ITEA) and Integrating Educational deserve a break to today ... at the International Society for Xanadu. Technology Into Teaching. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Technology in Education (ISTE). Inc. Bill has numerous published arti- Wurman, R. S. (1989). cles and professional presentations. Information Anxiety. New York, NY: Bantam Books.
25 Visual Communications Journal 2002 www.igaea.org Faculty Training in an Interactive Television (ITV) Classroom
Rita L. Dobbs implemented by the faculty of the institution (Hall, George, & Department of Technology Rutherford, 1986). In describing The University of Texas at Tyler their development of the Concerns Based Assessment Model (CBAM), Hord, Rutherford, Huling-Austin, and Hall (1998) wrote, “the single most important factor in any change process is the people who will be most the technology so that communi- Introduction affected by the change” (p. 29). cation and dialog can take place In 1998, 62% of the public four- Even though the technology and between the instructor and the year higher education institutions the institution are important to in the United States offered remote students (Smith, 1998). Teaching in a distance-learning the successful implementation of a courses via two-way interactive distance education program, the video. At that time, 61% of the classroom is different than teach- ing in a traditional environment. faculty, staff, and administrators respondents indicated that dis- utilizing the system are the most tance education delivery utilizing As Beaudoin (1990) noted, “this is a difficult and threatening situ- important factors in successful two-way interactive video would implementation (Hord et al., start or be increased by their ation for teachers, most of whom are themselves products of class- 1998). Moore and Kearsley institution within the next three (1996) suggested that success of a years (National Center for room-bound education and whose professional identities are distance education program in an Education Statistics [NCES], institution is dependent upon the 1999). However, only about a linked to the traditional image of the teacher at the front of the internal commitment by the quarter of higher education insti- teachers and others within the tutions offering distance educa- classroom and at the center of the process” (p. 22). organization. Personnel must be tion courses required faculty to given the necessary training to have training in distance educa- When an institution is imple- alleviate their concerns about the tion teaching methodologies menting or expanding its distance new innovation so that the change (NCES, 1999). education component through process can be accomplished and A review of research in dis- means of interactive television (ITV), it is important to include successful implementation of the tance education indicated that innovation can occur, not only even though instruction in the training for its faculty. It is important to note that the success because of the personnel involved distance education environment in the endeavor but because of the resembles traditional instruction, of any new program in higher education is dependent upon the expense of implementing and strategies must be incorporated by continuing ITV programs. the teacher to offset the effects of innovation being supported and
26 Faculty Training in an Interactive Television Classroom
Problem Statement 25,000 people. The college is part The population for this study The use of distance education of the TSTC system, the only was comprised of full-time faculty technologies to deliver instruction state-supported technical college and administrators of the college. to geographically bound or time- system in Texas. The population was divided into three groups for the purpose of restrained students has become The instrument used in this this study. The first group, the commonplace among higher edu- study was the Stages of Concern classroom group, consisted of per- cation institutions. This study was Questionnaire (SoCQ) developed sonnel who participated in only undertaken to determine if formal by Hall and Hord (1987) for the the classroom portion of the dis- distance education classroom train- purpose of assessing change in indi- viduals’ concerns when an innovation tance education training activities. ing or classroom training com- The second group, the classroom bined with laboratory experiences is introduced. Hall and Hord (1987) recommended, “for more systematic and laboratory group, participated would affect the concerns of col- in the classroom training and lege faculty and administrators study and for research and evaluation efforts where reliability of data is par- completed an additional 18 hours about the implementation of dis- of hands-on training in the dis- ticularly important, the Stages of tance education in their institu- tance-learning classroom. The Concern Questionnaire is the assess- tion. third group served as the control ment technique to use” (p. 68). group for the study. Research Question The validity of the SoCQ Each participant in all three Do the stages of concern, as meas- instrument was established by Hall groups received the 35-item SoCQ ured by the Stages of Concern et al. (1986) over two and one-half questionnaire on the first day of Questionnaire(SoCQ), differ years of research with “intercorrela- the scheduled classroom training. among groups of college faculty tion matrices, judgments of con- Respondents were given as much and administrators who are expect- cerns based on interview data, and time as necessary to complete the ed to begin delivering instruction confirmation of expected group dif- survey. via distance education and who ferences and changes over time” (p. The control group attended the receive (a) classroom training on 12). The seven stages of concern distance education, or (b) class- (awareness, informational, personal, first fifteen minutes of the first scheduled classroom training to room training and laboratory expe- management, consequence, collab- complete the survey. Once their riences on distance education. oration and refocusing) are grouped survey questionnaire was returned, into the three dimensions of self, the control group members were Research Methodology task and impact. They are assessed dismissed from the classroom This research was conducted at using the SoCQ and represent a training session. The other group Texas State Technical College- developmental sequence that an members completed a three hour Marshall (TSTC-M), which is individual progresses through when informational session about dis- located in Marshall, Texas, a rural confronted with change or innova- tance education teaching method- East Texas town of approximately tion. ologies.
27 Visual Communications Journal 2002 www.igaea.org
Respondents indicated on a sions. In order to receive credit, the control group with the pretest Likert scale the degree to which this group participated in 18 hours scores used as a covariate” (p. 496). each concern was true and circled a of individual, hands-on practice in Independent t tests of least squares number from 0 to 7 on the printed the distance-learning classroom in means were conducted on the scale. Each series of the question- addition to the classroom instruc- comparison results of the groups to naire consisted of items that are tion. Logs were maintained in the determine which differences important at a certain stage of con- classroom. Logs were reviewed by between and among groups were cern, according to the Hall et al. the researcher and by the Dean of significant. Data obtained from (1986) concerns theory. Each of Instruction for TSTC-M to ensure the SoCQ were hand-scored using the seven stages of concern was that each participant completed the Quick Scoring Device included represented by five questions on the required 18 hours of practice. in the Hall et al. (1986) manual the survey. A scale score was Participants presented a 10-minute about measuring the stages of con- obtained for the peak score and for lesson in their subject area to a cern of an innovation. Data was each of the stages of concerns on remote site as part of their course transferred by hand to scoring the questionnaire. requirements for credit at the con- sheets. Raw scores, the sum of the Personnel were placed into two clusion of the practice sessions. responses to the five questions groups because of scheduling con- Upon completion of the presenta- matching each stage of concern flicts. Each group met one day tions the SoCQ was administered from the scoring sheets, were every second week for three hours to the classroom and laboratory entered into the SAS statistical of instruction. Classroom training group and to the control group. program (SAS Software, 1999), which was used to analyze the consisted of three, three-hour ses- Results of the Data sions over six weeks of instruction. Analysis data. Participants took part in discussion Concerns research shows that and hands-on activities that famil- The initial pretest score on the concerns change over time in a iarized them with the technology Stages of Concern Questionnairewas developmental manner. Because and the necessary skills for teach- used as the covariate in this study. this is true, professional develop- ing at a distance. At the conclusion Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) ment for faculty and administra- of the last classroom session, the was used to adjust for initial differ- tors should address the stages of participants who elected to end ences between groups before a concern in a progressive manner if their training with the classroom comparison of the within and the innovation is to be effective. portion were administered the between groups was made. Gall The sum of the responses to the SoCQ as a posttest. M.D., Borg and Gall W.R. (1996) five questions addressing each of The classroom and laboratory suggested that “the preferred statis- the seven stages of concern should group was comprised of the faculty tical method is analysis of covari- show the progressive development and administrators who wished to ance in which the posttest mean of of an individual or group moving receive college credit for their par- the experimental group is com- from a high awareness or self con- ticipation in the classroom ses- pared with the posttest mean of cern to the refocusing concern that
28 Faculty Training in an Interactive Television Classroom
indicates acceptance and willing- Table 1: Analysis of covariance of stages of concern grouped ness to implement an innovation into dimensions (Hall & Hord, 1987). The SoCQ identifies the concerns of individu- als involved in change. The con- Dimension probability Adjusted mean (se) F-value Probability cerns are developmental in nature as the implementation of change Self (0, 1, 2) 98 ns progresses in an organization or Classroom 36.86 (4.31) institution (Hord et al., 1998). Classroom and Laboratory44.66 (3.82) The seven stages may be Control 41.04 (4.47) grouped into three dimensions of self, task, and impact which was Task (3) 7.04 p < .01 the method used in this study. The Classroom 11.97 (2.11) developmental nature of change Classroom and Laboratory17.11 (1.93)* shows that individuals have more Control 6.47 (2.11)* self-concerns at early stages of innovation. As implementation is Impact (4, 5, 6) 12.61 p < .01 effected, they move to task con- Classroom 41.33 (4.31)* cerns. At later implementation Classroom and Laboratory60.04 (3.59)*+ phases, they are concerned with Control 33.97 (4.83) + the impact of the innovation. Hord et al. (1998) noted that *indicates significant difference between means designated * “when teachers’ most intense con- +indicates significant difference between means designated + cerns are about the effects of an innovation on students and what can be done to improve the effec- Results of the data analysis of When evaluating the classroom tiveness of the program, they have the stages of concern were grouped and laboratory group in this reached the impact level” (pp. 31- into dimensions for reporting pur- study, the analysis of the data 32). The analysis of covariance poses. The data analysis indicated indicated that this group had procedure was used to determine if that a significant difference at the shifted its focus away from con- the concerns of college faculty and p < .01 level of confidence cerns primarily about self and had administrators were progressing occurred in two of the three begun to evaluate the manage- from the self-level to the impact dimensions for the classroom com- ment, consequence, collaboration, level as a result of classroom and bined with laboratory experiences and refocusing stages that are classroom and laboratory experi- group. ANCOVA results for each essential for the new innovation, ences in distance education group in each of the three dimen- distance education, to be success- methodologies. sions are presented in Table 1. ful at TSTC-M.
29 Visual Communications Journal 2002 www.igaea.org
High concerns in stage 3 for the Figure 1: Line graph representation of the peak scores for classroom and laboratory group the classroom group, classroom and laboratory group, and indicated that this group was con- the control group on each of the seven stages of concern cerned about logistics, time and management concerns. The highest Relative Intensity 100 adjusted mean score for the class- Classroom room and laboratory group 90 Classroom and Laboratory Control occurred in stage 4. This indicated 80 that the group had concerns about the effects of distance learning on 70 students. Their next highest adjust- 60 ed mean score was in the adjacent 50 stage 5, collaboration. This indicat- ed that the group had concerns 40 about the collaborative efforts of 30 distance learning. The high score on the refocusing stage, with a low 20 score in the awareness stage, indi- 10 cated that the group who had par- 0 ticipated in classroom and labora- Awareness Informational Personal Management Consequence Collaboration Refocusing tory experiences tended to be posi- tive in attitudes toward the innova- tion and were concerned about its based point of view, the resolution ences, this group was more con- effects on students. They were also of self and task concerns is only cerned with the processes and/or concerned with collaboration part of the final goal. The arousal tasks of distance education, the efforts among colleagues that of impact concerns is also desir- impact of distance education on would make distance education able” (p. 74). The classroom and students, and the coordination and more effective. laboratory group benefited from cooperation with colleagues to Grouping the stages of concern the nine hours of classroom make distance education successful into dimensions presents a clear instruction and the additional 18 at TSTC-M. picture of the progression of the hours of laboratory experiences. Significant differences occurred three groups used in the study. The Their progression on the stages of in the task and the impact dimen- highest adjusted mean score for the concern indicated that this experi- sions between the classroom and classroom and laboratory group mental treatment was effective in laboratory group and the control occurred at the impact level. Hall addressing the concerns, attitudes group. This indicated that class- and Hord (1987) wrote that “for and perceptions of the group. After room training and laboratory expe- ultimate success from a concerns- classroom and laboratory experi- riences were effective in assisting
30 Faculty Training in an Interactive Television Classroom
college faculty and administrators Analysis of Peak Scores in Data raw scores were converted to per- to progress more rapidly through Results centile scores using the procedures the stages of concern about dis- Hall et al. (1986) suggested that recommended by Hall et al. (1986). tance education. Significant differ- “the simplest form of interpreta- ences also occurred in the impact Conclusions and tion is to identify the highest stage dimension between the classroom Recommendations score” (p.29). To determine the and laboratory group and the class- 1. The classroom training com- highest score in grouped data, the room group indicating that train- bined with laboratory experi- approach is to tally the number of ing and laboratory experience ences strategy was more effective affected stages of concern about participants who are high on each than classroom instruction only distance education. stage. This gives a clear picture of or no treatment, for addressing The concerns of nonusers are the high scores within a group concerns of college faculty about typically the highest on stages 0, 1, (Hall et al., 1986). the innovation of distance edu- and 2, and typically lowest on Another way to identify the cation. stages 4, 5, and 6. The highest peak stage for a group is to aggre- 2. The classroom training com- adjusted mean score for the control gate individual data in a profile bined with laboratory experi- group occurred in the self dimen- that presents mean scores for each ences strategy was more effective sion. This indicated that the group stage. Hall et al. (1986) suggested than classroom instruction only was more concerned with personal that “normally, the group averages or no treatment, to prepare fac- position and well being in relation will reflect the dominant high and ulty and administrators for to the change. The responses for low Stages of Concern of the com- teaching in a distance education the control group followed the typ- posite group” (p. 32). When ana- classroom. ical pattern of a nonuser of dis- lyzing these data, the raw scores are 3. The classroom training com- tance education. This group computed by summing the scores bined with laboratory experi- appeared to have little interest in on each of the five questions in ences strategy was more effective distance education. each stage. When interpreting the than classroom instruction only The results of this study should peak score, the raw score is con- or no treatment, to help faculty not be generalized to extend to verted to a percentile score. and administrators move from other institutional groups without The group data for peak scores the early stages of concern, comparative data. The findings on the Stages of Concern are pre- awareness, informational, per- must also be viewed with limita- sonal, to the task and impact sented in Figure 1. The line graph tions specified by the experimental stages of concern of manage- design, the participating faculty is a pictorial representation of the ment, consequence, collabora- and administrators, the researcher, peak scores on each stage of the tion, and refocusing. the questionnaire, and the statisti- SoCQ among the three groups. 4. The SoCQ was an effective cal analysis. The adjusted means of the summed instrument for evaluating faculty
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and administrator concerns the smooth acquisition of the Hord, S., Rutherford, W., Huling- about the innovation of distance innovation of distance education Austin, L., & Hall, G. (1998). education. programming provides pertinent Taking charge of change.Austin: 5. Classroom and classroom com- and useful data on how higher Southwest Educational bined with laboratory experi- education administrators and fac- Development Laboratory. ences are important to the suc- ulty embrace and adapt to change Moore, M., & Kearsley G. (1996). cessful implementation of dis- as measured by the SoCQ. This Distance education: A systems tance education platforms. study was conducted under the view.Atlanta, GA:Wadsworth. 6. Faculty and administrators will assumption that personnel imple- National Center for Education be more willing to accept and menting distance education pro- Statistics. (1999). Distance edu- institutionalize the new innova- grams desire a smooth and success- cation in higher education institu- tion of teaching in a distance- ful adoption of the innovation. tions: Incidence, audiences, and plans to expand (NCES 98-132). learning environment as a result References of classroom instruction and Washington, DC: U.S. classroom instruction combined Beaudoin, M. (1990). The instruc- Government Printing Office. with laboratory experiences. tor’s changing role in distance Smith, N. T. (1998). Student satis- education. The American Journal faction in distance learning class- 7. Professional development in dis- of Distance Education, 4(2), 21- es. Unpublished doctoral disser- tance education methodologies 29. should be offered to faculty and tation, Texas A&M University, Gall, M. D., Borg, W.R., & Gall, College Station. administrators to address their J.P. (1996). Educational research: concerns about the new innova- An introduction (6th ed.). tion and to increase adoption of White Plains, NY: Longman. the innovation. Hall, G., George, A., & 8. The results of this study corrob- Rutherford, W. (1986). orate the evidence found in the Measuring stages of concern about review of the literature that the innovation: A manual for use classroom training combined of the SoC questionnaire(Rev. with laboratory experiences ed.). Austin: Southwest should be provided to all users Educational Development of telecommunications systems. Laboratory. 9. Training in distance education Hall, G., & Hord, S. (1987). methodologies is a critical com- Change in schools: Facilitating the ponent for successful institu- process. New York: State tionalization of an innovation. University of New York Press. Determining if classroom training and classroom experiences aid in
32 Faculty Training in an Interactive Television Classroom
Rita L. Dobbs, Ph.D. is an assistant professor in Technology. She completed her Ph.D. in Educational Human Resource Development at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas. Her Master of Science and Bachelor of Science degrees were completed at Texas A&M University, Commerce. Dr. Dobbs has over twenty-years of teaching experience at the graduate, under- graduate, and K-12 levels. She has also served as an administrator in the Texas public schools. Before joining the faculty of the Department of Technology, Dr. Dobbs worked extensively with distance learning systems and in school-to-work programs. Recently, she was awarded the top honor, the Pillar Award, from the International TeleCon Association for her distance learning product development. She currently serves as a national technical assistance provider for distance learning implementation and training.
33 Visual Communications Journal 2002 www.igaea.org Establishing a Computer-Mediated Communication Laboratory in a Graphic Communications Department
one-way or interactive, or prere- Cynthia Carlton Gillispie-Johnson, corded televised courses utilizing Derrek B. Dunn, Dewayne Brown & satellite, ground or microwave broadcast, and audio-teleconfer- Vincent W. Childress encing (telephone) courses. CMC North Carolina Agricultural and Technical is also multidimensional allowing State University the transmission and reception of not only text and graphics, but also animation, video, and sound sequence with multiple informa- Abstract and university undergraduate and tion paths that allow for a dynam- graduate students with instruction- ic, interactive interface (Defining A number of benefits have been al tools that can be useful in meet- associated with using computer- ing information challenges of software for the curriculum, mediated communication (CMC) today. Some educators are using 1994). CMC is one of the fastest to improve instruction. CMC is a CMC for classroom instruction to growing technologies, in terms of blend of computer and telecom- help manage the complexities of an the numbers of teachers and learn- munication networks that are used information-based society. “No ers who are using it (Johnston, to compose, store, deliver, and longer are teachers the sole experts 1992). Many teachers found with process communication. and information providers, teachers computer-mediated communica- Computer-mediated communica- become facilitators and guides” tion that the level of teacher-stu- tion has the potential of becoming (Berge & Collins, 1995, p. 6). dent and student-student interac- a powerful means of merging Introduction tions is higher than in most tradi- information from a variety of tional classroom settings (Kearsley sources. It is relevant to collabora- Computer-mediated communica- & Lynch, 1991, Grabowski & tion, student participation, and tion (CMC) refers to communicat- Pusch, 1990; Boshier, 1990; individualized instruction. CMC ing at a distance by means of a net- Davie, 1987). can be used for daily information work that utilizes a personal or A Computer-Mediated exchange among colleagues, mainframe computer as a commu- Communication Laboratorymust between faculty and their students, nication medium (Holden & have the state-of-the art personal among students, for delivering dis- Mitchell, 1992, Basham, 1991). computers, network equipment, tance education, and for providing This communication includes any software, and printers to help access to resources and informa- educational exchange of informa- establish the CMC -L for under- tion. tion available at a distance. graduate and graduate education. The primary goal for a Transmitted information can This laboratory will enhance the Computer-Mediated include text, graphics, or other delivery of technical instruction Communication Laboratory CMC correspondence study, com- not only to undergraduates and (CMC-L) is to provide educators puter-mediated course work, live graduates on campus but also
34 Establishing A Computer-Mediated Communication Laboratory
undergraduate and graduate stu- how to delivery technical education competitive programs. dents off campus by answering to the maximum number of under- 3. Advertisement - When students questions, solving problems, and graduates and graduates with the learn and are exposed and explore new ideas for people to least investment in infrastructure. trained on certain equipment, work together via the internet. The CMC-L allows professors to they enhance the reputation of deliver technical lectures to under- the University. Proposed CMC graduate students online via the Laboratory World Wide Web. The types of Implementation The primary goal for a Computer- courses that are to be delivered via The equipment that will compose Mediated Communication the CMC-L includes Cellular the CMC-L will provide the Laboratory is to provide educators Communication Systems, Optical department and university with suf- and undergraduate and graduate Communication Systems, Satellite ficient infrastructure to implement students with instructional tools Communication Systems, Graphic this distance learning option for that can be useful in meeting infor- Animation, Advanced Multimedia, undergraduate and graduate stu- mation challenges of today. Videographic, Electronic Imaging, dents. The university must have Satellites, video recorders, and com- Distance Education from the space allocated for CMC-L and puterized data can eliminate not Graphic Communication have the necessary infrastructure to only distance barriers, but time bar- Department. support the lab with cables for net- riers as well (Grabowski & Pusch, working, computer desks, and 1990; Kamper, 199l; Mason, 1990; Need for a CMC Laboratory chairs. Norton & Stammen, 1990; Tooey A CMC-L provides the following Both faculty and students should & Wester, 1989). CMC -L can benefits: take an active role in the develop- make the teaching and learning 1. Training - This system helps ment, maintenance, and use of this process more flexible and instruc- develop skilled personnel for the laboratory. However, there must be tion more effective in aspects such industry, and provide a service an accountable person or persons as speed, cost effectiveness, flexibili- that will assist companies in hav- responsible for the laboratory. ty and convenience (Goode & ing a ready cadre of applicants Faculty, students, and techni- Johnson, 1991, Phelps, Wells, from which to choose as they Ashworth, & Hahn, 1990; cians can be responsible for installa- seek to replace and/or expand tion of the required equipment. In Grabowski & Pusch 1990; their work force. Romiszowski & Josh, 1989; Kaye, reference to the students, this will 1987). 2. Exposure - Universities can be a give them hands-on experience in pioneer in seeing that students the implementation of a state-of- Capabilities of the CMC are in the forefront with the lat- the-art lab such as the CMC-L. Laboratory est equipment and software in This will also help the students feel One of the greatest challenges that order to give the students a quali- like they are part of the develop- face university professors today is ty education and to maintain ment of a CMC-Laboratory.
35 Visual Communications Journal 2002 www.igaea.org
University Support for the References Holden, M. & Mitchell, W. (1993, CMC Laboratory Basham, D. A. (1991). The impact March/April). The future of From the top-down there must be of computer-mediated commu- computer-mediated communica- tion higher education. Educom an overall commitment toward nication Dissertation. Abstracts Review, 28(2), 31. growth as well as to expose the stu- International. 52(7). 2509A. Johnston, V. L. (1992). Toward a dents to the current trends in tech- Berge, Z. L. & Collins, M. P. global classroom: Using computer- nology. Computer-mediated com- (1995). Introduction in comput- mediated communication at UAA. munication is recognized as a er-mediated communication and growth area for developing a University of Alaska, Anchorage the online classroom(Vol. 2, pp. (ERIC Document Reproduction vibrant program. The first step 1-10). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton toward this goal is to develop a col- Service NO. 356 759). Press. Kamper, R. J. (1991, November). laborative effort between depart- Boshier, R. (1990). Socio-psycho- ments, such as graphics communi- Computer-medicated communi- logical factors in electronic net- cation: Conquest of time and cation systems, engineering, and working International Journal of electronics. Second, this collabora- space or just another technologi- Lifelong Education, 9(1), 49-64. cal seduction? Educational tive effort should extend to include Davie, L. E. (l987). Learning corporate America. Technology, 31(11) 20-25 through networks: A graduate Kaye, A. (1987) Computer confer- Conclusion course using computer confer- encing and electronic mail.Open encing. Canadian Journal of Developing a laboratory in CMC Learning for Adults. 186-193. University Continuing Education, is needed to keep departments and Kearsley, G. & Lynch, W. (1991). 13 (2), 11-16. universities on the cutting edge of Computer networks for teaching Defining software for the curricu- technological and engineering and research: changing the nature lum (1994, September). instruction. We must be commit- of educational practice and theo- Syllabus, 8(1), 16-17. ted to excellence in education and ry. DEOSNES - The Distance strive to provide real-world experi- Goode, J. & Johnson, M. (1991, Education Online Symposium, 1 ences for the students. This type of November). Putting out the (18). BITNET. laboratory will make students more flames: The etiquette and law Mason, R. (1990). Computer con- employable and provide employers of e-mail. Online, 61-65. ferencing in distance education. with applicants that have extensive Grabowski, B. & Pushch, W. In Bates, A. W. (Ed.) Media and training on the information super- (1990). Social and intellectual Technology in European Distance highway. value of computer mediated Education, (pp. 221-226). communication in a graduate Milton Keynes: Open community. Educational and University, Walton Hall. Training Technology International, 27(3), 276-283.
36 Establishing A Computer-Mediated Communication Laboratory
Norton, R. E. & Stammen, R. M. (1990).Long distance learning, Dr. Cynthia Carlton Dr. Vincent W. Childressis a look at the future. Vocational Gillispie-Johnsonis an assis- an assistant professor in the Education Journal, 65(5), 26- tant professor in the Department Department of Graphic 27, 41. of Graphic Communication Communication Systems and Phelps, R. H., Wells, R. A. , Systems and Technological Studies, Technological Studies, School of Ashworth, R. L. Jr., & Hahn, School of Technology at North Technology at North Carolina H. A. (1990). Effectiveness and Carolina Agricultural and Agricultural and Technical State costs of distance education using Technical State University, University, Greensboro, NC. He computer-mediated communi- Greensboro, NC. She holds Ph.D., holds Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. cation. The American Journal of M.S., and B.S. degrees. degrees. Distance Education, 5(3), 7-19. Romiszowski, A. J., & Jost, K. (1989, August). Computer-con- Dr. Derrek B. Dunn is an ferencing and the distance learner:assistant professor in the Problems of structure and control. Department of Electronics and Paper presented at the 1989 Computer Technology, School of Conference on Distance Technology at North Carolina Education. University of Agricultural and Technical State Wisconsin, Madison, University, Greensboro, NC. He Wisconsin. holds Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. Tooey, M. J. & Wester, B. R. degrees. (1989, July). Computer confer- encing: A campus meets online. Dr. Dewayne Brownis an Online, 54-60. assistant professor in the Department of Electronics and Computer Technology, School of Technology at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greensboro, NC. He holds Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. degrees.
37 Visual Communications Journal 2002 www.igaea.org Taking the Magic Out of Scanning
resolution for a halftone screen. It Mengtsung Tai and Charles D. Johnson refers to how an image will be Department of Industrial Technology divided into cells for output. For a high quality magazine, an image is University of Northern Iowa often made into a halftone with 150 lines per inch. Scanning Resolution Depends on Output Resolution Introduction Actually, dots per inch (dpi) is Resolution for scanning depends not the best term for scanning on printer resolution, so it is help- When you scan a picture, you are ful to understand printing resolu- often told to scan it at 300 dpi, although it is often used. DPI is better used to describe how many tion first. Basically, what a digital without further information on why printer does is create an image on this is the case. This happens in physical dots a laser or inkjet print- er creates in one inch. For exam- a surface by printing dots from left both a school or work setting, and to right and then gradually moving in fact many people working in ple, a 600 dpi laser printer can print 600 dots in one linear inch. down the page. For a 600 dpi positions of graphic design or pre- black and white laser printer to press know only how to scan it Samples per inch (spi) is the best term to use for scanning resolu- print on letter size paper it needs right without an understanding of to move from left to right 6,600 this magic number. But why it is tion. It describes how many sample points are acquired from the origi- times, or 600 lines of dots multi- not more or less than 300 dpi? Let’s plied by 11 inches. If your laser investigate. nal image in one inch. For exam- ple, if I scan an image at 300 spi printer can print 20 pages per Basic Terminology then I am picking up (sampling) minute then it can move at least 132,000 times from left to right in The first step in scanning is to information from 300 points on a minute. If every dot is printed, determine the type of copy we have: the image in each linear inch. this is 79,200,000 dots! And we line or continuous tone. Line copy While we are on the topic of still complain about print speed! is high contrast artwork without terminology, there are two other any shades of gray. Black and white terms which may confuse people: The highest resolution (dpi) a clipart would be an example, as well ppi and lpi. PPI (pixels per inch) printer can reach refers to its as a pen drawing or even text on a refers to the number of pixels in a addressability. The addressability page. Continuous tone copy, on the picture that is in digital format , refers to the maximum number of other hand, has gradations in tone, but also is used to describe moni- printer dots that can be generated also known as gray levels. Examples tor resolution (Romano & in an inch. A 600 dpi printer has include a black and white photo- Romano,1998). Again, dpi is an addressability of 600 dots graph, color photograph, or a paint- sometimes used, but ppi is pre- although it might also be used to ed picture. ferred. LPI (lines per inch) is the print at 300 dpi. A 2,400 dpi
38 Taking the Magic Out of Scanning
Figure 1: Printer dot, halftone cell, and halftone image
Printer Dot Halftone Cell Halftone Image imagesetter has an addressability of we have a 600 dpi printer, we can and so blend them together on the 2,400 dots, but might also be set scan at 600 spi and there should page to create various shades of to print at 600 or 1200 dpi. be no jaggies. However, if we scan gray. Halftones are used for color at 1200 spi, the image quality will images as well, but in this case, Scanning Line Images be the same (no jaggies), but the inks are cyan, magenta, yellow and Since line copy is high contrast, file size will be much larger, which black, and each color is printed as such as a black image on a white is undesirable. dots on the surface. background, it is easy to see any Halftones Digital halftones are pictures unevenness on the edge of the (formerly continuous tone pic- image. For this reason, line copy is Halftones originated because of the tures) that are broken up into scanned at a fairly high resolution limitations of printing inks and square halftone cells. A 65 lpi compared to continuous tone copy. printing presses. For example, if halftone has 65 cells in one linear Typically, the scanning resolution you want to print a black and inch. Each cell is made up of a (spi) is equal to the output resolu- white photograph on a printing number of printer dots and these tion (dpi), up to about 800 spi for press, or even your inkjet printer, are turned on or off to create light an imagesetter. After 800 spi, there you use only black ink. So, how do and dark areas. (see Figure 1) is little noticeable difference to the you get shades of gray? The answer Think of a white checkerboard eye in the edges of the image. is the halftone. By breaking the (matrix) that you can place black When too low a resolution is image up into small dots, with checkers on at random. No check- used, aliasing (jaggies or stair-step- large dots being shadow areas and ers would be white (nothing print- ping) will become apparent on the smaller dots being highlights, you ed), and all checkers would be edges of the image. Essentially we get the illusion of the original pho- black. Half the checkers would be want to use the lowest resolution tograph. This is because our eyes 50% gray, and so forth. This is one where this is not apparent. So, if cannot see (resolve) the tiny dots halftone cell.
39 Visual Communications Journal 2002 www.igaea.org
Figure 2: A gradient printed by a 600 dpi laser printer at 10, 60, and 150 lpii
10 LPI 60 LPI 150 LPI
In the case of a cell that has 4 (1 - 256 dots printing). When you when printer resolution is low, it is printer dots (2 x 2 in a square), add the option of no dots being permissible to have fewer printer then this can print as all white printed, this makes 257 different dots in a halftone cell, such as 10 x (nothing printed) or 4 levels of options for one halftone cell! 10, or 100 gray levels or tones. darkness (1 - 4 printer dots print- Actually, 256 printing dots in Halftone Screen Resolution ing). Ideally, you would have 256 each cell is ideal for the highest printer dots (16 dots x 16 dots in a quality printing. However, the Screen ruling, a.k.a. screen fre- square) in each halftone cell, which human eye can only see about 120 quency or lines per inch, is a meas- can give you 256 levels of darkness levels. So, in some cases, especially ure of how many rows of halftone
40 Taking the Magic Out of Scanning
cells fit in one inch. Screen ruling example above, then the halftone 1.5 pixels per cell will also work, so is determined by the detail needed cells are very large. If they are too the range is typically 1.5 to 2 times and the absorption of the paper large, our eyes can see the individ- pixels per cell. used. Newsprint, uncoated and ual halftone dots, defeating the Steps for Scanning coated papers absorb ink different- whole purpose of a halftone ly. Coarse screens (85 - 100 lpi) are (blending the dots with our eyes 1. Determine your type of original: used for newspapers. Finer screens, into grays). If the halftone screen line copy or continuous tone. If such as 133 - 150 lpi, are used for frequency (lpi) is too high for the it is line copy, scan at the printer color work on coated stock in printer resolution, then too few resolution up to 800 dpi. For magazines. Most offset quick print- levels of gray can be printed, and example, you scan at 600 spi for ing on uncoated paper requires a posterization (banding) occurs, a 600 dpi laser printer, and you 100 - 133 lpi screen, while coated which gives a stair-stepping appear- scan at 800 spi for an imageset- stock requires a 150 - 300 lpi ance from one gray level to another ter or platesetter that has 2,400 screen. Common screen rulings are (see Figure 2). dpi addressability. 65, 85, 100, 120, 133, 150, 175, 2. Continuous tone copy will be The Relationship Between Screen printed as a halftone. If printer and 200 lpi. Frequency and Image Resolution resolution is low, then you are Screen resolution is also When scanning, a typical method dependent on printer resolution, limited as to the screen resolu- for calculating samples per inch, tion. For a 600 dpi printer, if especially if printer resolution is which in turn becomes pixels per low. For example, if you have a you want 100 gray levels (actu- inch when the image is stored, is to ally 101 with white) for each 600 dpi printer, and you want 100 double the halftone screen ruling. cell (10 x 10), then the screen gray levels, then the highest screen For example, if the screen to be resolution must be no finer than resolution would be 60 lpi. This is used is100 lpi, then you need a 200 60 lpi. A 1200 or 2400 dpi determined by dividing 600 (num- ppi image. This is for an image that printer allows for more printer ber of printer dots in one linear will be printed at the original size. dots in each halftone cell, so inch) by 10 (number of printer How does the image resolution there will be more options in dots along one side of a 10 x 10, or (ppi) of a digital image relate to lpi? regard to gray levels and screen 100 dot halftone cell). So, if you I mentioned that the rule of thumb resolution. With 2400 dpi, you want 256 gray levels, the screen is that ppi needs to be twice the lpi. can have 256 gray levels (actual- resolution would be 37.5 lpi, Why is this? If technology were ly 257 with white) and a 150 lpi which is unacceptably low. In this perfect, then one halftone cell halftone screen. case, a higher resolution output would need only one pixel of the 3. Resizing (scaling) is typically device would be needed, such as image. However, this is not the 2400 dpi. done in a photo-editing pro- case. So, with ppi at twice the lpi, 4 gram or page layout program. If the halftone screen frequency pixels are in each halftone cell (2 x When scanning, you need to be (lpi) is very low, as in the 37.5 lpi 2), and this is adequate. Actually,
41 Visual Communications Journal 2002 www.igaea.org
Table 1: The formulas for scanning line and continous tone images Mengtsung Taiis a doctoral Line Copy Formula student in the Department of Scan Resolution (SPI) = (Final image width or height) / (Original Industrial Technology at the image width or height) x Printer DPI (up to 800) University of Northern Iowa in Continuous Tone Copy Formula Cedar Falls, Iowa. He is an inter- Scan Resolution (SPI) = (Final image width or height / Original image national student from Taiwan. width or height) x Screen Ruling (LPI) x 2 Mengtsung completed his Master’s degree in Graphy Arts Systems at the Rochester Institute of sure that the chosen resolution References Technology in Rochester, New for your images takes resizing Romano, F. & Romano, R. (1998). York and his undergraduate degree into account. For example, line The GATF encyclopedia of graph- in Graphic Communications at copy that is to be scaled to ic communications. Sewickley, Shih-Hsin University in Taipei, 200% should be scanned at PA: GATFPress. Taiwan. His research interests 1200 spi in order to print at the include printing technology, multi- correct resolution on a 600 dpi media publishing, statistics process laser printer (see Table 1). control, database applications, Let’s say that I have a 2” high printing estimating & manage- image and I want it to be 4” high ment, and digital printing work- in my publication. I also know that flow. I want to use a screen ruling of 100 lpi. So, 2 x 100 x 2 = 400 spi. Dr. Charles D. Johnson is Summary a Professor and Coordinator of As you can see, there is more to Technology Education in the scanning than simply choosing 300 Department of Industrial spi for the scanning resolution. Technology at the University of Factors to consider include type of Northern Iowa. He also serves as copy, printer resolution, halftone Assistant to the Dean for screen resolution desired, and scal- Community College Relations. ing. Done correctly, file size will be kept to a minimum while image quality is optimized. This takes the magic out of the formula, but replaces it with understanding.
42 The Re-evolution of Visual Language The Re-evolution of Visual Language: Student-Produced Film in the K-12 Classroom
language (Webster’s New Twentieth Jason A. Schmid Century Dictionary, 1983). The Washington State University written languages of humans are based on the letter, or a symbolic representation of a concept, as the least unit. Strings of these symbols create more complex symbols that in turn, represent some abstraction of a tangible thing. So, it is only logical that one associate literacy In the late 19th century, the sec- As time progressed, television with the ability to read. But when ond mass media revolution (the technology emerged and brought the meaning of the word is more first being the introduction of the the language of the image to the closely examined, an alternative printing press) occurred. It was at masses (Hoge, 1993). In the verita- definition can be found; to be lit- this time that pioneers and vision- ble blink of an eye, the manner in erate not only means to have a aries began to experiment with which humans communicated was command of the written language, ways to make still pictures move. changed forever. The debate over it also implies a “…necessarily suf- As these new and exciting tech- whether this change was positive or ficient” degree of education and nologies developed, humans creat- negative rages on and may never be knowledge in any given area ed a novel way to communicate clarified. However, the transforma- (Webster’s New Twentieth Century with one another, the moving pic- tion from the written word to the Dictionary, 1983). ture, or as we now commonly language of the image as the most know it, the movie. popular means of communication With this in mind, the applica- tion of the word as well as the There was nothing new with is a natural and positive progres- sion toward the way in which concept of literacy can be wide- the type of language being used in ranging. Central to this work is the movie however; the movie sim- humans most effectively communi- cate and understand. We are wired the application of the concept of ply presented a new medium to literacy to visual language. Thus present verbal as well as visual lan- to understand this way, and we are wired to learn this way. emerges the foundation of visual guage. Whereas previous media literacy (Adams and Hamm, used to convey visual language Literacy 2000). This is the ability to per- might have been a canvas and ceive, interpret, and connect paints of Michelangelo or the The word literacy almost invariably images in order to create meaning- primitive camera and silver sparks an assumption of the ability ful knowledge and understanding daguerreotypes of Mathew Brady, to read the written word, and from them. Humans are constantly visual language could now be rightly so; the word literacy origi- bombarded with visual informa- brought to the masses via the mov- nates from the Latin litera, which tion cues that require the innate ing action camera and cellulose. translates to “letter” in the English ability to understand and create
43 Visual Communications Journal 2002 www.igaea.org
coherent meaning. In this way, it the birth of the moving picture in seen (e.g. Cox, 1983; Kohl, 1978; can be said that no one is illiterate; the late nineteenth century, film Shelton, 1975). At first, film was all who have the benefit of vision has been used to convey specific used to teach, and then we began (and some who do not) have at messages in a concise and deliber- to teach about film. Today, this least some ability to understand ate manner. Think of any provoca- drive is still seen, manifest in the and interpret visual cues. tive film. What images come to teaching of film critique and analy- Within the last quarter of the mind? Why are these images so sis. This field is very important and twentieth century, the focus on provocative and powerful? Why do plays a critical role in acting as a visual literacy has begun to sharp- these images create emotions and lens by which to examine how stu- en. With the continual emergence perhaps even a sense of urgency to dents use film to create knowledge. of film and television, this process act on them? The answers to these Within the past few years, edu- seemed inevitable. As we progress questions hold the keys to the cators and theorists have begun to from the baby boom generation, to understanding of visual language. explore the use of student pro- the me generation, to the x-genera- To illustrate the sheer power of duced film in education (e.g. Burn tion and beyond, abilities in visual the image, consider the billions of and Reed, 1999; Ferraro, 1989). literacy seem to be increasing. In dollars that are spent each year on The underlying theory is that as fact, with the onset of the digital advertising; visual imagery intri- students produce a film, they will age in the late twentieth century, cately designed to make humans create a more authentic learning humans have entered an entirely think or act in a certain way. environment in which the knowl- new realm of communication that Perhaps the reasons for the efficacy edge that they freely generate is requires not only a highly devel- of such visual approaches are construed in a more personalized oped sense of traditional literacy deeply rooted in our early develop- fashion. This notion is deeply root- but also a finely tuned ability to ment when we relied heavily upon ed in the student-centered interpret visual language. Thus, the vision for our very survival. Or Constructivist framework. development of visual literacy perhaps the human mind is simply Many progressive educators along with traditional literacy is designed to react to images in a teach within the Constructivist imperative in the further develop- certain way. There is no doubt framework. Ironically however, the ment of human communication in however, that film and other visu- use of student-produced film as a the twenty-first century. ally oriented communication teaching tool is not widespread in Communicating with media are very powerful tools. the Constructivist classroom. Images Film as a Teaching Tool Educators often use film to teach Now, that an orientation has been Throughout the last quarter of the with, but rarely do they allow stu- provided to the background and twentieth century, many instances dents to use the medium in order development of the language of the of the use of film for various pur- to capture and describe their image I will explore the use, effica- poses as well as speculations as to thoughts and knowledge. Recently, cy, and power of the image. Since its usefulness in education can be researchers and practitioners have
44 The Re-evolution of Visual Language
broken new ground in the use of ing. It has been well established (Schmid, 2002). This type of student-produced film as a teach- through the work of some of the cooperative learning environment ing tool. Although the work in this greatest educational theorists such falls within the Constructivist field is fledgling, student-produced as Piaget and Vygotsky that stu- framework of teaching and learn- film has already begun to show dents receive a more meaningful ing. promise (Schmid, 2002; Yerrick educational experience if they are Teachers not skilled in the use and Ross, 2001). the directors or their own educa- of filmmaking equipment also have tional fates. The use of student- many resources. Many companies Considerations and produced film makes this possible. Directions for the Future that produce filmmaking software By no means am I suggesting an and hardware offer much support Much however, is still to be under- all-out shift to an exclusive use of to teachers interested in expanding stood about the efficacy of the use film as a teaching tool; indeed, their horizons. In addition, many of student-produced film as a quite the contrary. Film should be organizations exist that can offer teaching tool. Because visual com- used as a way to allow students an guidance, ideas, and peer support. munication media, including film opportunity to present their ideas A last issue to consider is the and television, are so widespread in a format that they find most time and resource investment and effective in conveying mes- understandable and enjoyable. required for a student produced sages, why not explore the use of a What is most certain to emerge in film project. No matter how one medium that makes use of knowl- this environment is a greater sense chooses to produce a film (e.g. dig- edge, literacies, and ways of under- of ownership over the material as ital, traditional, animated), the standing that students already pos- well as a more in-depth under- time commitment is enormous. sess? standing and retention of key con- Often, teachers are not blessed Perhaps one reason some educa- cepts and ideas. with limitless time. Also, budgets tors may balk at a move towards Others reluctant to consider the are tight and the equipment neces- the use of visual media in teaching use of film in the classroom may sary is not usually found in the is that it represents a shift from the cite technological literacy issues average classroom. Equipment can traditional pedagogical role of the with either their students or them- be expensive (especially for top of teacher toward a new educational selves. This is a very important the line items) but in this age of ideal. A teacher using student-pro- issue to consider but is easily con- rapid technology turnover, prices duced film invariably has less con- quered. The students of today are are quickly falling. For teachers trol over the learning fate of his usually highly skilled in the use of wishing to implement digital film- students than does a teacher who new technologies. Even if they do making into their curriculum, a uses, for example, an expository not possess the necessary skills to system capable of performing the teaching methodology. But, this operate the equipment used to pro- necessary tasks (computer, soft- shift is the very essence of inquiry- duce a film, they can learn together ware, digital video camera) can based learning, one of the tenets of quickly and will benefit greatly currently be purchased for around Constructivist teaching and learn- from this collaborative learning two thousand dollars.
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The Art and Promise of References Shelton, S. M. (1975, May). Do you Film Adams, D. & Hamm, M. (2000). need a film? Paper presented at One can attempt to learn about Literacy, learning, and media. the International Technical art, but will miss the very essence Technos, 9 (4), 22-27. Communications Conference, of what it is all about. In the same Burn, A. & Reed, K. (1999). Digi- Anaheim, CA. way, one may simply learn about teens: Media literacies and digi- Webster’s New Twentieth Century any subject but most certainly will tal technologies in the secondary Dictionary (2nd ed.). (1983). miss the very soul of the subject. class.English in Education, 33 New York, NY: Simon and Ideas and concepts, just like art, (3), 5-20. Schuster. are best experienced, rather than Cox, C. (1983). Young filmmakers Yerrick, R. K. & Ross, D. L. (2001, learned. When students are speak the language of film. July/August). I read, I learn, allowed to truly experience a sub- Language arts, 60(3), 296-304. iMovie: Strategies for developing ject, they are given the opportunity Ferraro, C. D. (1989). Desktop literacy in the context of literacy- to begin to shape their own ideas video uses synergy of computer, based science instruction. and opinions as well as their own video camera.Journalism Reading Online, 5(1). Available unique knowledge framework, Educator, 44(3), 37-40. at http://www.readingonline.org which they can build upon in the Hoge, J. D. (1993, November). future. Facilitating children’s understand- ing of television as an agent for Student-produced films are one cultural change.Paper presented vehicle that can be used to assist at the Annual Conference of the students in becoming more inter- National Council for the Social active with a subject and thus Studies, Cincinnati, OH. become an active participant in Kohl, H. (1978).Through the their own education. There is still camera’s eye: Filmmaking as a much territory to explore in the basic skill. Media and Methods, field before any concrete teaching 15(4), 26-28, 30. methodologies can be devised. The Schmid, J. A. (2002). Charging pioneers in this emerging field ahead on the bleeding edge: The have a great distance to go and a use of student produced film in great deal to learn before student- the secondary science classroom. produced film is a common fixture Manuscript submitted for publi- in the classroom. Once it is howev- cation. er, the possibilities for education using visual media are virtually limitless.
46 The Re-evolution of Visual Language
Jason Schmid earned his B.A. in marine biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1998. He is currently earning a master’s degree in secondary science educa- tion and educational technology along with teacher certification (Grade 5-12 Science) at Washington State University. He works as a Graduate Research Assistant for the CO-TEACH project, a US department of Education Title II Partnership grant, providing technical assis- tance in web and graphic design, and in mentoring via cyber media. His area of research interest is the incorporation of digital filmmak- ing into the K12 classroom. In his life outside of education, Jason enjoys hiking, SCUBA div- ing, camping, kayaking and spend- ing time with his wife, Karen, 3 dogs, 3 cats, and bird. May 2002 will bring with a baby Schmid, Jason and Karen’s first child.
47 Visual Communications Journal 2002 www.igaea.org Advantages of Dual Processing
processor, andas such is multipro- Jonathan Guy for Dr. Daniel Wilson cessing capable (Reed, 2000). Pennsylvania College of Technology Cache Advantages The single largest problem in designing multiprocessing is keep- ing the cache or caches in agree- ment with data in main memory or hard drive memory. The cache is essentially a holder, or storage The Apple Power Macintosh G4 In 1996 they released the Power area, for the most often used data. with dual processors was intro- Mac 9500 and the Power Mac To speed up processing time, the duced at MacWorld Expo on July 9600 (Snell, 2000). The Power processor will access the cache, 19, 2000 in New York (Apple Mac 9500 had two 180MHz which is physically closer to the Debuts New Power Mac G4s with PowerPC 604e processors and the processing chip, rather than the Dual Processors, 2001). Apple was Power Mac 9600 had four RAM (Random Access Memory). the first company to introduce a 180MHz PowerPC 604e proces- The Apple 604 based multipro- two-processor computer into the sors. cessing systems had one central mainstream public. With both Some processors lend them- cache located on the motherboard. processors active, the computer can selves better to multiprocessing The new G4 processors have two deliver seven billion calculations than others; the ones that do caches, one directly built into each per second. The dual processor require relatively less work writing processor (Reed, 2000). The cache model, running at 500 MHz, can hardware and software to enable is only a copy of data stored in the process data just as fast as atwo- multiprocessing (Reed, 2000). main memory. As a result, any 600 MHz Pentium III’s, when run- When they were released, the changes made to the data in the ning applications such as Adobe 9500s and 9600s were very effec- cache need to also be made to the Photoshop. This article will explore tive, but the development of the main memory (Reed, 2000). The the advantages of the multiproces- G3 single processor surpassed dual processor design requires pro- sor technology, how it works and them in speed. The 604e processor tocols to keep the data in caches how it compares with single was designed to be a capable mul- and main memory in sync, processor models. tiprocessing component, but the because the processor can access cache data so much faster than Multiprocessing Hardware less powerful PowerPC 603 was not. Like the Power 603 the G3 data in the main memory. A multiprocessor computer takes processor will never be paired with These protocols provide com- advantage of two or more proces- a second processor. The G4 munication schemes from one sors. Multiprocessing technology is processor, on the other hand, was cache to another. The absence of not new to the Apple Corporation. designed in the mold of the 604 the protocol will result in the two
48 Advantages of Dual Processing
different processors working on the Figure 1: Tests performed by MacWorld same data, negating any benefit. Gaussian Unsharp RGB to Arbitrary The protocol MEI (Modified, Resize 50% Exclusive, and Invalid) is used in blur 10 Mask 2.3 CYMK Rotate .3 the 63 and the 603 processors to Power Macintosh OS 9 maintain cache coherency among a G4-450 11.9 11.1 6.0 22.7 13.2 (Dual Processor) single cache, a single processor, and Power Macintosh OS 9 main memory. The G4 and 604 G4-450 18.9 17.4 9.5 25.2 21.4 processors use the MESI (Single Processor) Power Macintosh OS 9 (Modified, Exclusive, Shared, and G4-500 16.0 15.4 8.4 22.3 18.2 Invalid) protocol, which can man- (Single Processor) age data transfer among multiple caches, multiple processors, and main memory. An advantage of the was called asymmetric multiprocess- any available chip. Any application ing, designed by Apple and that supports Apple’s 5MP will G4 multiprocessing unit is that it supports three different cache DayStar. With this design, the make threads as it runs. These coherency protocols. The MEI and operating system designates one threads are channeled by the sys- chip as the main processor and the tem to the CPU that has available MESI protocols allow for more communication among multiple other chip as secondary. The sec- bandwidth to perform the opera- processors and caches. ondary processor is responsible for tion. One benefit of this new sym- managing an application that has metry design is that operations that Furthermore, the G4 supports on- been specifically written to support once took over the Mac’s operating chip snooping. This describes what happens when the chip supervises the multiprocessing system. For system halting all other operations example when used with Adobe (like burning a CD) can now be bus traffic to further enhance cache coherency (Reed, 2000). Photoshop, the secondary proces- performed in the background sor would handle most of the load (Reed, 2000). Hardware is only part of what a of resizing an image, and the pri- multiprocessing system needs to mary processor would save the Advantages of Dual run at full potential. image (Reed, 2000). Processing Multiprocessing systems require an The new G4 operating systems, Users of both Photoshop 5.5 and 6 operating system that can manage can really benefit from the G4 dual interactions among the multiple Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X, both support symmetric multiprocessing processor. Photoshop’s multipro- processors and applications (Snell, cessing support works on roughly 2000). as opposed to asymmetric (SMP). In this new symmetry design all of three hundred commands; any- Multiprocessing Software the processors are treated equally thing from filters to color correc- and the operating system functions tions. MacWorld lab tested the G4 The old symmetry that the Power dual processor, reporting the infor- Mac 9500 and 9600 were using to automatically thread tasks to
49 Visual Communications Journal 2002 www.igaea.org
mation in their 07/28/2000 issue. option, this is a built in antenna References In these tests performed by and card slot for the optional Apple debuts new Power Mac G4s MacWorld, the dual processor out- AirPort. The PCI slot can be with dual processors. (2000, July performed the single processor in expanded to four full length 64 bit 19) Apple Computer Inc. all categories except for the conver- at 133MHZ. Some machines are Retrieved January 21, 2001 sion from RGB to CYMK, where being sold with both Mac OS 9.2 from the World Wide Web: it lost by four tenths of a second. and the new Mac OS X. http://www.apple.com/prlli- The most impressive accomplish- Conclusion brary/2000/jul/9g4.html ment was using Cinema 4D XL Reed, D. (2000, May 18). 6.1 on the dual processor Mac. A The future of the Power Macintosh Analysis: Multiprocessing on the 640 x 480 pixel model was ren- G4 dual processor computers is Mac. Mac Week. Retrieved dered in almost eight minutes looking bright, but a few things February 12, 2001 from the while this processor intensive func- need to happen to take full advan- World Wide Web: tion took fourteen minutes on a tage. First, developers will need to http://macweek.zdnet.com/ single processor 500MHz G4 code their applications to take 200010511410519dronmp.html (Snell, 2000). Photoshop results advantage of Mac OS X’s symmet- Snell, J. (2000, July 19) With two are in seconds (see Figure 1). ric multiprocessing. Mac OS X is 500 MHz processors, the New tailor made for dual processing. Power Mac G4 is the fastest Present Options With this new operating system, Mac yet. MacWorld. Retrieved As of this writing, the Power two 500MHz processors will really February 12, 2001 from the Macintosh G4 dual processor perform the same as a one-giga- World Wide Web: http://mac- comes in several configurations, but hertz system because the OS will world.zdnet.com/ 20001071191 the machines are fundamentally the be able to push both of those powermac.html same. The Power Mac G4 dual processors to their limits (Reed, processor running at one gigahertz 2000). At this moment, it is worth is available with level two cache at waiting for the Mac OS X to come 256 kb. A one processor model out with the dual processor running at one gigahertz is also because for the OS 9 the differ- available. It also comes with 80 GB ences in speed are just subtle. The of Ultra ATA hard drive space and OS X operating system will take a SuperDrive DVD-R and CD- full advantage of dual processing RW. This machine comes with a capabilities and will run at 1.5 to NVIDIA GeForce4 MX video card 2.5 times faster than a single with 64 MB DDR SDRAM, a processor, making the added V.90 modem and 10/100/1000 investment worthwhile in produc- BASE-T Ethernet. One of the new tion situations. features is the wireless networking
50 What is Premedia? What is Premedia?
design includes a photo, then the Mengtsung Tai for Dr. Charles Johnson photo may need to be a different Department of Industrial Technology resolution for different applica- tions. The photo may need to be a University of Northern Iowa very high resolution for a maga- zine, but much lower resolution for the web. So, premedia involves taking these variables into account while creating the elements of the design. media. For example, you see ads Introduction The premedia workflow is more and commercials for Coca Cola in Today, more than ever, printing is complex. A page formerly designed all sorts of media. being driven by customer for printing on paper using a tradi- demands. Customers continue to Premedia can be defined as the tional offset-lithography press may challenge the field by asking for design of communication material, now be printed on a digital press high product quality, quick turn- in digital form and with visual and with variable data, published on a around, variable data printing, sometimes audio elements, to be website, shown on a PDA or a cel- cross media applications, and color. published in a variety of media lular phone, or burned onto a CD- Premedia is a new innovation that (Costello, 2001). For example, if a ROM. Different output devices holds promise for meeting these demands. Figure 1: Traditional prepress workflow and premedia workflow Premedia Traditional prepress involves preparing pages with graphics and text ready for print. However, today’s printed material often has to take on additional forms. This is often called repurposing or cross media applications. For example, data in printed documents often need to be placed on the Internet, on CD-ROM, and even on out- door signs. This is especially true with advertising, where customer exposure is increased by showing your advertisement on different
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have different design requirements. Color ranges and image resolutions Mengtsung Taiis a doctoral vary by device, so a design for an student in the Department of RGB monitor may be different Industrial Technology at the than a design for an LED display University of Northern Iowa in on a laptop or a PDA, and differ- Cedar Falls, Iowa. He is an inter- ent from ink or toner. However, national student from Taiwan. Eastman Kodak expects to see its Mengtsung completed his Master’s trademark displayed on all of these degree in Graphy Arts Systems at media with exactly the same yel- the Rochester Institute of lowish gold, and Coca Cola Technology in Rochester, New expects to see its pop cans with the York and his undergraduate degree same color on all media around the in Graphic Communications at world. Shih-Hsin University in Taipei, Summary Taiwan. His research interests include printing technology, multi- Premedia involves design of com- media publishing, statistics process munication with different media in control, database applications, mind. It is in its infancy, but will printing estimating & manage- quickly evolve as more people ment, and digital printing work- understand its capability. It will flow. ultimately save time and money so will be a part of tomorrow’s graph- ic communications workflow. References Costello, F. (2001, Summer). When Print and New Media Merge. New Media Trends, 10- 12.
52 Manuscript Guidelines
Manuscript Guidelines
Eligibility for Publication jurors for acceptance/rejection. 1/2” disk, Zip disk, CD-ROM, or Only members in good standing of Juried articles are typically as an e-mail attachment. the International Graphic Arts reviews of the literature, state- The text should be submitted Education Association, Inc., or stu- of-the-art technical articles, and in the Microsoft Word format. dents of IGAEA members, may other non-empirical papers. Do notsubmit documents created publish in the Visual Jurors make comments to the in page-layout programs. author, and the author makes Communications Journal. Call out the approximate loca- required changes.The decision tion of all tables and figures in Audience of the jurors is final. the text. These call-outs will be Write articles for educators, stu- 3. Refereed articles are submitted removed by the editor. dents, graduates, industry represen- to the editor and are distributed List your name and address on tatives, and others interested in to jurors for acceptance/ rejec- the first page only! Article text graphic arts, graphic communica- tion. Refereed articles are origi- should begin on the second page. tions, graphic design, commercial nal empirical research. Jurors art, communications technology, make comments to the author, Artwork visual communications, printing, and the author makes required You may submit either digital art- photography, journalism, desktop changes. The decision of the work or hard copies. Electronic publishing, drafting, telecommuni- jurors is final. artwork is preferred. Place all art- cations, or multi-media. 4. Student articles are submitted by work files and/or hard copies with Present implications for this IGAEA members. These articles the first submission. audience in the article. are accepted/rejected by the edi- If you choose to submit only tor. These articles are not sub- Types of Articles hard copies of artwork, send mitted to a panel of jurors. The clean, crisp, camera-ready artwork editor’s decision is final. The Visual Communications Journal (lines and figure text mustbe accepts four levels of articles for Manuscript Form and Style solid black). publication: Prepare manuscripts according to Identify all hard-copy artwork 1. Edited articles are accepted or the APA style, including the refer- on the back with your name, rejected by the editor. The edi- ence list. brief article title, and figure num- tor makes changes to the article ber. as necessary to improve readabil- Submit a maximum of ten word-processed, 8.5” X 11” pages Electronic artwork is preferred ity and/or grammar. These arti- ifyou can provide EPS or TIFF cles are not submitted to a panel (excluding figures, tables, illustra- tions, and photos). files only. No PICT, BMP, WMF, of jurors. The decision of the or JPEG files will be accepted. All articles mustbe submitted in editor is final. Include hard copies and electron- electronic form and as a hard copy. 2. Juried articles are submitted to ic files. the editor and are distributed to Articles can be submitted on a 3
53 Visual Communications Journal 2002 www.igaea.org
Scan photographs at 300 ppi work (if any) or edited digital art- resolution. Scan line drawings at work. Do notinclude your biogra- 800 ppi resolution. Screen captures phy or portrait until you receive should be as large as possible. notice that your article has been accepted. Submittal of Manuscript After typesetting and page lay- Manuscripts for juried or refereed out has been completed, you will publication in a given year must be receive a PDF proof. Carefully received by the editor no later than examine the proof and notify the December 15th of the previous editor immediately if any errors are year. Articles for edited publication found. or student articles must be submit- The Visual Communications ted by January 15th of the publica- Journal is generally published and tion year. distributed in the fall of each year. The manuscript packet must include digital and hard copies of Notice all text and figures. Prepare text Articles submitted to the Journal and artwork according to the cannot be submitted to other pub- instructions given in these guide- lications while under review. lines. Articles published in other copy- Be sure to include your name, righted publications may not be mailing address, e-mail address (if submitted to the Journal, and arti- applicable), and daytime phone cles published by the Journal may number with your materials. not be published in other publica- tions without written permission Acceptance and Publication of the Journal. If your article is accepted for publi- Submit All Articles and cation, you will be notified by e- Correspondence to: mail or mail. IGAEA First Vice-President If your article is accepted, sub- mit the following: biographical (see Page ii) information; portrait (black and or white photo or pre-scanned Check www.igaea.org for contact grayscale photo on disk); edited information for the IGAEA electronic version of the text that First Vice-President. includes any edits recommended by the referees; and original art-
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