Let’s get past that moment when a blogger becomes enamored of self-expression. The kid is hooked and now wants to know how to add value to the blogging communities around her.
Motivating Questions
Recommended Reading
I found this slidedeck today during my usual Internet skulking. I have never heard of these “wiki” things and I don’t know the author, but perhaps we can profit still from her hard work.
This representative slide explains clearly what several thousand of my own words, thus far, have not:
God created slides and handouts for different purposes.
The designer pushes text and images into a single slide at the expense of both. Recognizing that slideware is great for images and paper is great for text, how would this look had she:
Great, that’s how.
Watch this music video for Radiohead’s track, All I Need, which is as flawless a visual essay as they come.
And then watch this vodcast [3:48], in which I lay out some guiding principles for writing and shooting visual essays like this.
Radiohead, Child Labor, and Visual Literacy from Dan Meyer on Vimeo.
Alec, this one’s for you, bud.
My favorite problems are simple but not easy. The difference hasn’t always been apparent. I’m talking about clear, minimal constraints which require complicated, comprehensive thought. These problems are rare, but some lucky days they arise from a single image, like the one up there, like the one today.
The Question
If that table tennis ball is the Earth:
Follow Through
You take bets. Is the sun a tennis ball? A beach ball? (A: something closer to a weather balloon.) If you miniaturized the solar system, what solar body would focus the Earth’s orbit? (A: the taqueria down the road.) You pick their pockets with these bets, getting them to buy into the problem unwittingly.
Maybe you put them into groups and wait until they requisition data. (eg. the radius of the Earth, the tennis ball, and the Sun; the mean distance from the Earth to the Sun.) Maybe you give them all laptops and let them scour the ‘tubes for the same data.
And I Wonder Constantly:
Scott McLeod issued a call for button designs mid-April, for use at NECC, working with the slogan, “I’m Here For The Learning Revolution.”
My submissions wandered a mile or two from his chosen theme (distractable, can’t help it) so I won’t hold my breath for the win. I will, however, take this moment to announce the grand opening of the dy/dan mercantile.
Buttons
Tees
Pricing
Buttons: $75.
Tees: $90. Two for $180.
Leave your order, size, and credit card number in the comments. I’ll take care of the rest.