I've been thinking about how I could use this. Will there be room for it Witihin the main body of the dissertation? How and where will it fit in, without going over ground that has ready been covered? How much space should be allocated to it?


I could try and be quite imaginative with this. In my head I'd been thinking that this would be text and photographs. There's an opportunity though to do something more interesting. I could make the write up quite an interesting multimodal artefact in itself, as follows:

• text
  
• photos (people, work)
  
• some of my own hand written notes/comments where appropriate (photos)
  
• my own diagrams sketched during observation e.g. Layout
  
• close up photographs of relevant sections of text
  

Another quite interesting idea...

I could create some form of image (annotated photograph, manipulated photo, my own creation) to demonstrate the different modes being employed. This would almost be a scientific e.g. Medical, biological diagram.

Maybe do this in thinglink: by hovering over different parts of the diagram, text appears naming the mode. THe pop Up text would be a combination of descriptive dialogue interwoven with literature, for instance a direct quote or a 'see for instance Kress 2001'.

A bit like the maps for the NG project, I should take the original photo and do something interesting with it, not least as my own 'people shots' from the observation aren't particularly strong. AS this is in Eca/architecture, maybe I take an artistic or architectural approach to the image. Actually, the idea of architecture is good, although it could cause confusion with the constellation map if it ends up looking like a plan. Maybe just go for something interesting and artistic.

It might be difficult to depict the artwork on a people image therefore maybe i create a composite in PowerPoint, with a 'model and sketches' image inset, which I then import to thinglink to make interactive.

As per the use of videos within this dissertation, I don't want lots of accompanying explanatory text - this implies a lack of faith in the artefact. This image should work as a stand alone, therefore I'll have the smallest amount of text (as part of the wider text) and then have - 'see image' or perhaps not even that.

I know I'm not supposed to be working on this until the writing is out of the way, however I had half an hour in a cafe over lunch so thought I might as well put it to use. Some thoughts on how the 'campus exploration' video might work:

• Outside of university entrance. Sound of the outdoors. The door opens, with pseudo effects (but not hackneyed or forced).
• We've now gone through the corridor. There's the sound of footsteps, possibly echoing. The impression given is of moving down the corridor. This might be by zooming forward or perhaps merging photos - a bit like google maps street view - that progress further down the corridor. There's the distant sound of speaking, through an open or closed door, that gets progressively louder as we move down the corridor.
• We arrive at a door that says 'architecture crit room'. The door is either open or closed. The sound is louder again.
• We enter the room and see students participating in an architecture crit exercise. Or perhaps it isn't architecture and is a different area of art. In fact it doesn't need to be a crit room, it could be students producing some other form of multimodal work. Anyway, we can see and hear what they are doing, perhaps across a couple of different photos, perhaps an image that shows students working followed by a close up showing an example of multimodal work for assessment e.g. sketches, model, notepad, photos.
• We exit the classroom and move out into a different corridor this time. As we make our way along the corridor (signifying a different part of the campus and a different discipline) the sound from the first class fades and instead we begin to hear the sound of music playing. The sound of footsteps is constant, however.
• Now we enter a studio or music practice room or space. The music is louder now. Across the two images we see a student composing (on sheet music) and then playing music. Or perhaps the other way round, to be consistent with the previous visit i.e. activity/still work. When he is writing, the sound of music is replaced by pen or pencil on paper (or perhaps nothing).
• We exit the music room and the music gradually begins to fade as we make our way down a third different corridor. Again we hear the sound of footsteps. We begin to the hear the sound of a student speaking in a more formal way. This time we enter a more typical classroom or seminar room where students are delivering a presentation. Across the two images we see the team presenting and then a close up on the computer screen, with PowerPoint slides displaying text and image (or maybe text is enough). Perhaps their cue cards or slides are also in shot, although that's purely aesthetic. They are also communicating through their formal dress and their body language. The content of what they are saying is relevant to the subject of my dissertation and maybe I select the relevant slide from their presentation to feature as the second image.

What follows?

• It would be nice to have arty style notes included at the end explaining the significance of each scene, for instance that the music student completes Phd assessment without accompanying text. This would be small white type on black background but maybe with a different image from that scene  in the bottom right corner of the screen (almost like end credits). Within this I would refer to specifics i.e. the programme and university, just to show that its real rather than conceptual. I'll have to think about what the background noise would be over the credits - if there's any at all.
• But why would I go from shots around campus to graphics on a black background? Maybe it would be more interesting to continue with the idea of photos on campus. Maybe I reuse idea from the SWOP video and have them as notices pinned on a board. Although why would this information be pinned on a board? it might though appear on screen. That's it! In each of the venues where I set one of these multimodal scenes, I take an additional image of a computer screen with limited accompanying text displayed. For instance, I would take a photograph of my laptop displaying the explanatory information for the musician, with the musician in the background out of focus. Or maybe just his empty chair and music stand can be seen in the background. And this would the same for the other scenes - an empty lecture theatre with spoiled presentation notes and a references slide. An empty studio space, perhaps no longer with any work on display. In each case the background will be blurred but still identifiable - achieved either using the close up function on my camera or in photoshop. 
• Do I include a quote from the literature to be a part of each explanation. Hmm, danger of overlapping with the multimodal definition video?
• Maybe the video ends with the lights being switched off in the final classroom, as used to good effect in the SWOP video. This will be distinct from my final technologies video where I will log off or shut down.

[Lunch ends]

[From written notes] My Macbook was overheating therefore I've switched to manual. I wanted to write down a few notes before going to sleep. A couple of semi-ideas (and, I think, semi-interesting ones) have come into my head over the weekend. Maybe it's the freedom from worrying about trying to submit during August (as per agreement with Sian)?!

Here goes:

Video! I hadn't really planned to use this medium. Too time consuming to prepare. But perhaps it can feature, albeit in a small supporting role. Perhaps I would include - where relevant, obviously - a couple of short video-photo montages. This might work for the Architecture crit? Or maybe to show the different types of existing multimodal study within the academy (as proposed in the Lit Review)? 

Hang on! Here's an idea...

In the Lit Review, where I take the reader on a walk through the university's corridor, why don't I accompany this with a video that goes into more detail. The 'viewer' could be led/make their way down a corridor of rooms (or a series of corridors in the university), dropping into different rooms where multimodal activity is taking place. Basically, a photographic/filmic representation of what's in the text, but so much richer.

Here are some quick thoughts on how this might work:

• I'll use still images rather than video recording as it easier, as an amateur, to achieve high quality with stills rather than moving image. I can use the Ken Burns effect where appropriate - i.e. in the corridor - to give the effect of movement.
  
• The audio/soundtrack though will be 'in motion' rather than static. The soundtrack could include a heavy door opening at the university's entrance, the sound of footsteps in the different corridors (and any other ambient noise), a musician practising, students presenting and so on.
  
• I could collect images from across the UoE campus to reflect relevant disciplines. It might begin with the door to the university (perhaps the same as the signifier image for the Lit Review of which this would be a component part). I could use a series of corridors to reflect different parts of the campus/subject disciplines.
  
• The video would need to start and end in a relevant and interesting way. This is so that it works as a stand-alone artefact, as well as part of an assemblage within the Lit Review. Perhaps there's something from the student presentation that would be relevant in drawing the presentation to a close? 
• This 'campus exploration' - hmm, nice use of the constellation metaphor [maybe within Information on front page of website I decribe how there are a number of video explorations of some key themes that particularly lend themselves to a multimodal approach - for another day] - would be embedded within the text (but if its in Vimeo, also hosted on a new or my existing channel).  The title of the video should match words that I use within the accompanying text.

Why should my discussion of the data be purely text-based (as I've had in my head). It should be multimodal. And this goes beyond a the use of enlarged type and so on as purely aesthetic visual effects. It should by critical. Here's an idea, then:

While this has been a useful bit of quick thinking-and-jotting-down, I suspect that I should probably focus on the data and see what types of visual approaches lend themselves to emerging themes, rather than thinking of visual approaches and then trying to find data to match.

Following on from my previous post (about McEwan Hall entrance) here's a picture I took of an (old) University crest attached to a wall on Bristo Square. I'm not sure where this will come into my dissertation (if at all) however I'm adding it here as a reminder, and also because I like the photo. Actually, the ideal place for this would be within the Literature review when I'm talking about Ray Land's reflections on university crests. Perhaps I include the static image alongside the text. Or perhaps I develop it in some animated way. Or both.

Yesterday morning I wandered over to McEwan Hall where the University graduations were taking place. I took some photos partly to test my camera, but also as a reminder of what I'm missing out on through my lack of recent activity on the dissertation. This was self-punishment for my slow progress. 

I wonder however whether an image similar to those above might be useful in a different way? My current thinking for the 'cover photo' for my dissemination website is that the content of the computer screen in the centre of the picture will represent the opening to my work. Clicking on the screen will open the Introduction/Abstract/Background section. Although I had given much though to the final detail of what would be 'showing' on the computer screen, however I loosely imagined that it would clearly signifiy the content that would follow, for instance it could be the abstract or similar on screen text.

An alternative approach is that I could use a photograph of a university entrance way as the entrance to my work. The door/entrance visual metaphor is far from original on websites, however I could offer added meaning by having the image content as specific to my own work: Edinburgh University's entrance as the opening to my ideas about multimodal assessment in the same institution. Further, the image on screen could be in the process of edited so that it goes beyond a static image to a photograph that is alive and an active part of the depicted scene. Could I make the image itself multimodal - perhaps the editing involves adding some text over the image within Photoshop?

Maybe this is a bit cliched. It's more interesting than simply text on screen. Yes, what is on screen should be multimodal - to do otherwise would partly contradict my work and the rest of the image of which the computer screen is a part. I'll revisit this at a later date and see if it still stands up.

Here's an idea to overcome the difficulty of composing the different representational artefacts in a way that offers a convincing constellation. Rather than using a standard landscape size photo, I could create a panoramic image in order to offer enough canvas space to place all the components in a way that is clear and convincing, as well giving a reasonable chance of presenting a constellation.

And here's one I created earlier. Obviously I won't be using a VW Golf dashboard. What I need to do next is try and see whether I can create an image of the approximate size and orientation using the 360 function on my camera (as I don't want it to as wide as the above) and then whether this will work in Thinglink. 

Hmm. I wonder whether the image will become skewed and I'm actually better off just using a slightly different orientation from the standard portrait. After all, it still has to look like a map. Yeah, maybe that's it. Worth exploring both approaches, though.

Do I title, caption or have some explanatory statement alongside images within the text?

Or do I leave the reader the space to critically reflect on the content?

Maybe I come with the approach - reflected in the literature - that if the images are strong enough they need not be accompanied by words.

What I would instead do is perhaps have a hyperlink to the list of images? Perhaps with an identifying number? Or perhaps I reproduce the image smallsize, alongside a caption, organised by section within an appendix or similar.

This way, the reader has the space to draw her own critical conclusions on the image alongside the text, but can seek clarification and 'bibliographical detail' as desired as a later time, without interrupting the flow of the audience experience.

Some images from my scribbled and sketched notes.

I've spent a lot of time thinking about dissemination. Maybe that's worth reflecting on somewhere in the dissertation itself. If this had been an 'essay' I could have spent days and days more time on 'content' rather than 'form'. But that wouldn't have been as much fun.

I met up with Michael and Jeremy last night to run a couple of ideas past them. I'll blog about that later however I've had some clarity this morning on a significant change I might make to the dissertation. 

Bearing in mind the difficulty (technology, conceptually, time required) to include aural components within my dissemination, I feel inclined to drop that area. As I've acknowledged elsewhere, this was always going to be a bit ambitious, particularly in terms of the need to create an aural 'channel' that is representative, integrated or complementary to the text and visuals on the page. Basically, how do I create a piece of music that is significant to or representative of 'Data collection'? Or 'Methodology'? Or Lit review? This would be hard to realise. It might also be difficult to justify within the rationale i.e. how can I show that music actually contributes to the communication of (my) meaning in the same way that image or text would. I don't think I can. It would be easier to drop the sound element of dissemination, then. 

Dropping the aural element of dissemination also impacts upon the wider dissertation: I'll also need to drop the 'sound' from my title. But then, when I come to think of it, the content is actually attending to text and visuality much more than aural anyway (in fact, it only gets a couple of token mentions). So the dissertation title becomes: A constellation of image and text: tutor experiences of multimodal assessment in the digital classroom.

What does this actually mean in terms of the dissertation:

• I need to include in the introduction/lit review that multimodality tends to be dominated by textuality and visuality and that maybe this will be reflected in discussion - hmm, not sure about this - does it offer and implied shift in focus in what I'm setting out to do - my focus is on multimodal assessment, not just abut image and text
  
• within data analysis and discussion I need to spend more time attending the the textual and visual themes than might otherwise have been the case
  
• in terms of dissemination I need to spend more time interweaving image and text
• also in terms of dissemination, my front cover constellation image needs to have a balance between image and text and to drop the pictured sound components

Of course, I'll also need to get Sian's take on this: on dropping sound and changing the title.