I recently worked with a team to develop a site to promote a vacation rental property. The client has a lovely second home in the Orlando area that he makes available for rent. While he has a relationship with a local property management company, he wants to promote and rent the home himself. The client … Read more UX Doesn’t End With the Final Click
Do You Sleep with Your Phone?
When’s the last time you ventured out without your phone? (I mean, on purpose. I occasionally get down the block without mine, and worry that this will be the one time I really, really need to make a call.) If you are like most other Americans, the answer is “not often.” According to Pew Internet … Read more Do You Sleep with Your Phone?
We’re All Learners, We’re All Teachers
Colbert isn’t the first to talk about MOOCs, but he is one of the funniest. He also makes some good points. While public universities do have a higher mission than just/solely making money, and therefore have some incentive to provide a tiny taste of their education online, free is rarely a sustainable business model. … Read more We’re All Learners, We’re All Teachers
Dragon Box+: Algebra Made Easy?
Confession time: math in all its forms (algebra, geometry, calculus, trig) was not my strong suit in high school. I had some great teachers, but it was an incomprehensible blur. Algebra has slowly come into focus in adulthood. (Sine, cosine, etc.: still a mystery.) So it was with interest and some hesitation that I decided … Read more Dragon Box+: Algebra Made Easy?
Confab 2013: Zombies, Underpants Gnomes, and Cake
I just returned from Confab 2013 in beautiful (rainy) Minneapolis. Confab: The Content Strategy Conference brings together a lot of really smart people to talk about the critical intersection of content, usability, UI, and marketing on the Web. (“On the Web” is meant broadly — encompassing virtually everything.) I’ll be unearthing brilliant takeaways for months, … Read more Confab 2013: Zombies, Underpants Gnomes, and Cake
Gamification: Not Always Evil
“Gamification” has become a bad, bad word in a lot of circles. If you are getting an MA in Serious Games, for example, your fellow students will likely be horrified that game elements have been co-opted in pursuit of commercial gain. (Except, perhaps, when it is a game design company designing games in pursuit of … Read more Gamification: Not Always Evil
Games as Journalism
The idea of using games for journalism isn’t intuitive — games feel inherently biased and sometimes frivolous. But games can be an ideal way of teaching about complex concepts. Wired Magazine developed Cutthroat Capitalism a few years ago at the height of headlines regarding piracy in the Gulf of Aden. The game has pretty simple … Read more Games as Journalism
Crowdsourcing Crime
I’ve been fascinated about the potential for crowdsourcing to facilitate human rights and humanitarian work, ever since I read about Ushahidi following the earthquake in Haiti in 2010. Ushahidi, an open source mapping project, allowed anyone to pinpoint trapped people, unsafe buildings, people in need of treatment and more. Anyone with a mobile phone could … Read more Crowdsourcing Crime
Gettin’ Into the Book
I recently spent some time playing the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board’s game, Into the Book. The game, developed in conjunction with Wisconsin Public TV and others, is designed to increase reading comprehension among K-3 students. It is a well-done series of fun activities (even for me, and I’m way outside the K-3 range) crafted around … Read more Gettin’ Into the Book
Democratization of Journalism
In this TEDx talk by Simon Rogers of the Guardian, one of the real exemplars in data journalism (see their Datablog, including their nice approach to Dr. Who villains and many weightier subjects), Rogers compares the ease of data journalism to punk: anyone can do it. The ease of new tools, such as Many Eyes, … Read more Democratization of Journalism