FLOG: Light Blue Bean

FLOG (Failure Log) Alert:

In a previous post, I started exploring the Light Blue Bean, also referred to as the Arduino Bean.  I had little difficulty getting it set up on my PC, and I was excited to try to my first real project, but I made a serious miscalculation by jumping right into a project without prototyping first (something that would have been easier to do with more than one Bean).  As a result, I ended up making a soldering error that caused the Bean to stop connecting to the power pin.  After several hours of playing around, taking things apart, and re-soldering did not solve my problem, I suspected that I'd damaged the gadget beyond repair.

Another error that I made, when attempting to solder header pins to my Bean (an idea that I took from Lucie's post), was making an assumption that Beans work in the same way as a typical bread board.  I mistakenly thought that all of the pins in column 1, for example, could be programmed in the same way as the first pin in that column. Since all of the holes in the first row of my Bean already had solder in them from my first project, I figured I'd just move down a row and start over. This did not work!  Only the first pins in each column are directly programmable via Arduino or an iOS device via the Bean Loader or the Tickle app.

Success at Last:

To make a long story short, +Craig Lyndes identified and repaired my power issue and encouraged me to try prototyping again, this time moving my header pins from the second to the top row!  I am happy to report that I've got my Bean working again!

Now, I am able to make LEDs blink on demand from a PC, iPad, or iPhone, and I have a working Bean to use exclusively for prototyping.  Although I will need to buy an additional one for a future project, I have learned a lot from this process!  Thanks +Lucie deLaBruere and Craig.

Creative Commons and Captivate

Creative Commons and Captivate

For the past two weeks, I've been learning how use Adobe Captivate to create interactive e-learning for my Instructional Design class.  It has been a steep learning curve, but I can see a great deal of potential for this tool for flipped or blended instruction. For example, there is a way to design instruction that adapts to a variety of devices, so that it looks good on every screen.  I haven't tried that yet.

(Updated 25 March 2012)
For my project, I wanted to create an interactive way to teach students and teachers about Creative Commons licenses.  This is the link to the latest draft:  http://www.fastswf.com/xXdR8Us

You may also get there by clicking on the image above. I am interested in hearing feedback about what works and what can be improved.  Please note that this file will only play on a PC, not on a smartphone or tablet.

FLOG (Failure Log):
I really like what this software can do, but I had a heck of a time publishing the latest revisions to Fastswf.com.  After reaching out to a colleague, he suggested that I clear my browser, rename the file, and try again.  I did those things and deleted some extraneous audio.  It finally worked (after 50 previously unsuccessful attempts)!

FLOG: Deleting Can Be Dangerous

Wow, have I failed fabulously!

A few days ago, I got a wild hair and decided to tidy up my photographs.  I'd gotten an alert that some new images from my iPhone had been automatically uploaded to Google+, along with an option to share them.  For some reason, rather than ignoring the message like I usually do, I was prompted to look through all of the photos and start deleting images that I didn't think that I'd be needing again.  I had duplicates of several images, and I thought others were no longer needed because they were already posted to my blog.

What I didn't realize was that deleting the images from this stream had the result of automatically removing them from all of my blog posts!  Conceptually, I missed the boat on where the images actually live when they are uploaded to Blogger.

Since I'd been so thorough that day, I emptied my trash before discovering my error.  The images that had been saved to my Drive were safe, but the ones that I'd downloaded to my Chromebook and then uploaded to my blog (without saving to Drive) all disappeared.

After spending the morning trying to reconstruct and replace the missing images, I can safely say that I have learned something new about what NOT to do.  I have also learned that it might be a good idea to create a folder in my Google Drive for all of my Blogger images.

FLOG: Creating a Job Aid with Snag It

One thing that I'm attempting to do better this year is be more open and transparent about the things that I try that don't work out as planned.  In addition to blogging, I will be flogging (maintaining a failure log) to elevate my focus on process over product.

Words of wisdom from my Marlboro professor, Rick Oller:

"Fail early and fail often."

"The process is the product."

Context:  I am currently taking Instructional Design at Marlboro College.  Our first task was to create a Job Aid in two pages or less.  It must aid learning, be visually compelling and easy to print out, and not result in cognitive overload for the user.  Sounds simple, huh?

Process: 

To get started, I found a numbered list of directions that I'd previously given to students as a reference sheet and decided to create a Job Aid with the list.  

Next, I experimented with Snag It for the first time to take a series of screen captures.

Lastly, I exported the captures to Google Drive, inserted them into two Google Drawings, and attempted to design a layout that visually captured the essence of my list.

Discoveries and Reflection:

• Some tasks are too complex to explain well within a limited space.  
• Job Aids are better suited to simpler tasks with fewer steps.  
• Too many screen shots can be overwhelming.  
• The clarity of my images is inconsistent.
• This looks much better in color than printed in grey scale; the orange boxes and arrows don't show up in black and white.
• I should have used more interesting subject matter for the images I combined, rather than a picture of myself.
• I like the use of numbers.

FLOG ALERT: 

This is an example of what NOT to give to students.

Next Step:

• Try again, but focus on a simpler skill.
• Focus on having clearer images.

Update:  If you'd like to see my latest attempt at creating a job aid, you can view it here.