Presentation on the implications of technology, the communications landscape and how the MFA at Champlain College in Emergent Media prepares a student for it.
16. The Law of Accelerating Returns
“...the history of technology shows that technological change is
exponential... So
we won't experience 100 years of
progress in the 21st century—it will be more like
20,000 years of progress (at today's rate). The "returns," such as
chip speed and cost-effectiveness, also increase exponentially. There's
even exponential growth in the rate of exponential growth.”
—Ray Kurzweil
speed
connectivity
portability
lower cost
17. The Law of Accelerating Returns
“...the history of technology shows that technological change is
exponential... So
we won't experience 100 years of
progress in the 21st century—it will be more like
20,000 years of progress (at today's rate). The "returns," such as
chip speed and cost-effectiveness, also increase exponentially. There's
even exponential growth in the rate of exponential growth.”
—Ray Kurzweil
speed
connectivity
portability
lower cost
18. The Law of Accelerating Returns
“...the history of technology shows that technological change is
exponential... So
we won't experience 100 years of
progress in the 21st century—it will be more like
20,000 years of progress (at today's rate). The "returns," such as
chip speed and cost-effectiveness, also increase exponentially. There's
even exponential growth in the rate of exponential growth.”
—Ray Kurzweil
speed
connectivity
portability
lower cost ?
26. the
ging to
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ction is
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27. idth
ation Bandw
P articip
the
ging to
nga ual
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in divid key.
ction is
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28. idth
ation Bandw
P articip
“...it is less and less im
portant to
compete for attention,
and more
and more important to
compete
for things like brain cy
cles and
interactive bandwidth.
— Jane McGonigal, “Eng
agement Economy”
http://janemcgonigal.com
/
32. “It’s code dude, we
can do anything.”
—Clint Hocking
Magic happens
Code: provides the possibilities
Content: evokes the emotional & intellectual experience
33. MFA Career Paths
Artist – April Cornell Marketing
3D artist Online Marketing expert– Rich
Nadworny
Animator
Social Media Guru
Technical artist
Procedural artist Community manager
Graphic designer Programmer
“Film” maker - Digital video editor Fine art/programming, database
programming – Jonathan Harris
Experience designer
Writer
Interaction designer
Content designer
Game designer – Randy Smith
Narrative designer
Mobile media – Justin Siegel
Interactive storyteller
Entrepreneur & Business
Blog journalist - Jerringan Pontiac
Innovator – John Abele
Technical documentation writer
Online communities & news
Professor, critic – Frank Lantz
Project manager
37. Foundations: connecting to experts
The Emergent Landscape (visiting lecture series/seminar)
Who are the thought leaders in emergent technologies and what are they thinking? Visiting practitioners, entrepreneurs,
researchers, and scholars will present their work and concepts in a discussion series on current trends impacting
communications. Special attention will be given to the origins and evolution of these ideas. Students will market, host and review
the series, leading the forum after each presentation. As a group they will select and organize the agenda for the following
semester’s series.
Check out our current speaker series guest and expertise:
http://www.champlain.edu/MFA/Emergent-Landscape-Speaker-Series.html
38. Foundations: content, code, and context
Foundations of Digital Image Making (studio)
What concepts guide the creation of traditional, time-based, and interactive imagery? What is the function of the digital toolbox?
Students explore a variety of tools for creative image making—from drawing and painting to Photoshop, Maya, and Flash—often
in unexpected combinations. Projects serve as departure points for the discovery and discussion of universal principles of
aesthetics and design. Special emphasis will be given to human factors of perception and interaction and the historical context of
imagery to communicate.
Causes of Emergence: Programming Languages (lab and seminar)
What is emergence and what role does code have to play in successful applications? The student discovers scripting and
programming languages with an emphasis on how they enabled application development. Case studies will investigate models
such as Google, Voice Over IP, Facebook, World of WarCraft—the languages that were chosen or developed and why. Labs will
provide a platform for exploration of fundamental concepts such as scripting, object oriented programming, event driven
architectures and databases.
Technology as a Disruptive Force (seminar)
In today’s society where our work, fun and personal connections are managed
and influenced by technology, have you ever wondered how technology will
shape your future? We will explore how technological innovation has been
viewed over time by philosophers, writers and sociologists. Which
perspectives hold true today? What about present-day perspectives? Do you
think they will hold true tomorrow? How do we imagine that society and
ultimately our place within will be affected day-by-day as technology
continues to advance?
39. Building Skills: discover potential
This list is a sampling of suggested graduate and undergraduate courses offered as electives:
Management: •Advanced Video Editing •Implementing Web Media
•Foundations of IT Management; •Audio Production •Server-side Scripting
•Legal and Ethical Issues in Technology; •Advanced Audio Production & Sound Design •Implementing eCommerce Technology
•Reflective Leadership and Planned Change. •Cinematography and Lighting •Usability and Design
•Legal Issues of Communications •Audio & Digital Editing •Using ASP
•Digital Filmmaking I •Applying XSL/XSLT
Aesthetic:
•Digital Filmmaking II •Animation and Interactivity II
•Anatomy and Perspective
•Video Compositing and Special Effects •C++ Programming I
•Level Design
•C++ Programming II
•Game Technology II
Communications: •Data Structures and Algorithms
•Conceptual Game Design
•Ethics and Communication •Java Systems Development
•Intro to 3D Art
•Social Interaction in the Digital Age •Systems Analysis and Design
•Drawing for Game Development
•Legal Issues of Communication •Linux/Unix Programming
•Foundations of Concept Painting
•Advanced Graphical User Interface
•3D Modeling I
Computational/Code: Programming
•3D Animation
•Web Development I •Programming for Mobile Devices
•3D Modeling II
•Web Development II •Game Technology
•3D Game Environments
•Relational Databases with Web Applications •Graphics/Game Engine Programming I
•Digital Interactive Design
•Client-Side Scripting •Graphics/Game Engine Programming II
•Digital 2D Motion Graphics
•Mastering XHTML & XML •Game Architecture
•Video Communication
•Animation and Interactivity I •Console Programming
41. Deep dive: Theory meets Practice
Experience Design: Play and Participation (seminar)
Networks and computational systems are profoundly changing the essential human experience of communication, participation,
and play. Design is shifting as control passes from designers to consumers. What underlying characteristics determine
engagement and connectivity? How are electronic games and social networks creating new forms to entertain and shape social
space? Students examine topics that include: computer interfaces as limitations and bridges; identity; participatory media and
social engagement; mobility; game genres, mechanics, and ecology; and technologies for building games and social networks.
The goal is to formulate methodologies for designing interactive experiences that facilitate participation.
Our Human Experience: Through the Lens of Neuroscience, Education and Business (seminar)
What is identity, how do we learn, what influences decision-making and emotional responses? The answers to these questions
pose new insights that can impact the media design. Ongoing research in neuroscience and changing theories in education and
business bring new understandings of what guides human behavior. Students examine the impact of mass communications and
newer concepts of online media—such as the collapse of distance, global connectivity, and information delivered in short bursts
—on identity and how we process information.
42. Deep dive: Theory meets Practice
Human Interfaces (studio and seminar)
What are the physical and psychological constructs shaping human interaction? Students will discover fundamental interaction,
communication, and design concepts through a myriad of perspectives: dance, music, language, crafts, architecture, and
engineering. Did mechanical and early computing devices take these into account? Students will explore the evolution of
computer interfaces from command line to GUI, from hypertext to hypermedia. Insights gained will be applied to constructing
computer-mediated environments that support human interaction.
Digital Storytelling (studio and seminar)
Whether commercially produced or user-generated, storytelling can effectively communicate ideas and construct meaning.
Students will explore traditional story structures and how they can find expression in new media and varied outlets–from news,
public relations, and advertising–to entertainment, games, and such online venues as websites, blogs and Youtube postings.
Examining the Hero’s and the user’s journey in close detail, students will develop an original story concept and execute it through
interactive and/or time-based media.
People, Place & Community (field class)
Application and integration of technology in the real world varies from community to community—from the digital display at the
gas station to the neighborhood Facebook group. How does computational media impact face-to-face interaction? How can it
improve outreach for groups such as small businesses and non-profits? How can we design interfaces that integrate with the
physical world to create meaning and connection? The student will select a local community and research the challenges facing it
and the local technology and connectivity constraints. Assessing this information, the student will propose an emergent media
solution that is human-centric and responsive to community.
44. Collaborative Production and ÇÇÉätà|ÉÇ
Puzzles and Prototypes (studio and seminar)
Much like a traditional artist creates quick sketches that influence the masterpiece, students will generate rapid prototypes to explore
interactive solutions and games. Working individually or in teams they will create weekly solutions or iterations to design puzzles posed
by current media trends and news events. Prototyping activities will rely on research and testing in the design process. Various
methods covered will include paper prototyping, mind mapping, participatory design, mini-game format, agile development, etc.
Evaluating pros and cons of methods and results, students will learn to match method to scope and complexity of a design problem.
46. Collaborative Production and ÇÇÉätà|ÉÇ
Collaborative Production I (studio)
In this first of three collaborative production experiences, students identify their strengths, areas for growth, and preferred focuses in media
production. With these in mind, they are selectively chosen to collaborate with faculty, student production teams, and sponsors on Emergent
Media Center supported projects. The student participates in a collaborative process in a professional level project. These collaborative
project experiences are intended to inform, but not necessarily contribute to the student’s final thesis project. What is the spirit and goal of
the entrepreneur in emergent media? Focusing on the business goals of a project at the Emergent Media Center, the student will focus
on needs analysis, cost, capacity, value, budget implications, project planning, iteration, production, and collaboration in an applied
context. The full semester project engagement will emphasize the convergence of business goals, end-user needs, technology, and
collaborative leadership.
Collaborative Production Project II (studio)
The consumer drives emergent media. To create innovation in this landscape, design and communication needs to begin with an
understanding of the end-user. Focusing on the goals of a project at the Emergent Media Center, students will conduct qualitative and
quantitative research into users' behaviors, attitudes and expectations. Likewise, they will conduct secondary research into published
literature and other sources. Working with the project team this information will guide the design, production, and testing processes.
Collaborative Production Project III
Producing emergent media forms draws upon the skill sets of a diverse group of talented people. In this final collaborative studio
students learn to facilitate, manage and implement the creative process. They will take on the roles and responsibilities associated with
project leads and project managers effectively communicating with partners, sponsors and the student production teams. In these
roles students become key decision makers and strengthen abilities in describing strategic creative and production decisions.
48. Individual Exploration and VÜxtà|ä|àç
Integrative Thesis Project I (studio)
Innovation doesn’t spring from a void. Ideas are iterative, changing and emerging over time. In this first of two independent
studios, the student develops a vision by researching a pertinent problem addressable through emergent toolsets and presenting
it to the community for ongoing feedback. Through systematic examination, the student will consider social impacts; develop a
project plan; establish goals and objectives; collect and analyze information; and prepare and deliver a conceptual prototype
agreed upon by the student and faculty advisor.
Integrative Thesis Project II (studio)
Students will complete production and post-production of the project prototyped in Thesis I. They will develop and conduct a
user-test of the prototype. Based upon test outcomes and knowledge gained through development; the project plan will be re-
evaluated and production will continue. During the final faculty review the student will exhibit and defend the work, submitting a
written thesis.
53. The Process
Kat Ray,
Office of Graduate Admission & CRM
kray@champlain.edu
1-802-383-6602
Counsel interested students on degrees
Link to financial questions, admission process & status updates
54. Program Specifics
On Campus Full Time Program
60 Credits over five semesters-21 months
Application Deadline is
February 15, 2011,
Admission Process
Application Form
Resume and Statement of Purpose
Official Transcripts
3 Letters of Reference
Project Post Mortem
Graduate Admission Test/Graduate Record Examination
(optional)
55. Program Financing
Cost: $900 per credit hour
Financial Aid
Graduate student aid in the form of
lower interest education loans (e.g,
Stafford Loans)
Limited Graduate Teaching
Assistantships & Project
Management positions available to
qualified full-time students.
Financial Aid Assistance
Leigh Bouffard, Financial Aid
Advisor
lbouffard@champlain.edu
1-802-860-2789
56. MFA in
Emergent
Media • —
Create. Collaborate. Innovate.
For more info contact; Kat Ray kray@champlain.edu or
Ann DeMarle demarle@champlain.edu
Notes de l'éditeur
Welcome\n
you can ...\n
create images, reflect, post a blog\n
or publish a book\n
you can design its cover\n
or its interface\n
with your cell phone you can\n
capture the moment, or take a video and use it as your mantle\n
you can post and share or you can design a an app or a game \n
with a game you can engage\n
or teach\n
\n
or work to save lives\n
Its all due to the exponential returns from engineering: impacting speed, portability and connectivity.\n\nGordon Moore (Chairman of Intel) was dead on in his prediction named for him Moore’s Law which described the exponential increase in speed of due to advancements in silicon transistor technology. And as Moore’s Law comes to an end, researchers are moving molecules, investigating nanotubes and other concepts incomprehensible only a short while ago to create new computing technologies.\n\n
Likewise the rapid rise of network capabilities first impacting computer, then the internet and now mobile devices. \n\nThese are due to the thin film semiconductors behind flexible or wearable computers, large-area high-resolution displays to the electronic paper of our nooks and kindles.\n\nWhat this means to us is the emergent means to distribute, display, interact and create new layered media and experiences in anyplace.\n
Futurist Ray Kurzweil has stated…(read from above “So we won't experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century—it will be more like 20,000 years of progress”) \nSo looking at the next 100 years based upon the advances of the last, what can you envision?\nWe’ve gone from this old TV TO MOVIES ON DEMAND ON OUR MOBILE DEVICES and our platforms have become cheaper and with more functions. That’s the challenge set out to our MFA grad students.\n
Futurist Ray Kurzweil has stated…(read from above “So we won't experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century—it will be more like 20,000 years of progress”) \nSo looking at the next 100 years based upon the advances of the last, what can you envision?\nWe’ve gone from this old TV TO MOVIES ON DEMAND ON OUR MOBILE DEVICES and our platforms have become cheaper and with more functions. That’s the challenge set out to our MFA grad students.\n
We do know that shifting technology paradigms impact our media and ourselves - They change how we communicate, learn, think , create and work.\n
So what’s the impact for us as creators? We’ve entered an emergent space where media is now networked and connected, interactive – in that we can make things happen, its participatory in that groups can do things and change things together. And even better news, the barriers to entry to those with the creativity and the skills are changing as well. The new creative understands both the technology and its implications on culture. With these they can create avenues to reach and engage.\n
The advent of newer, cheaper technologies, it has become increasingly easier for us to put a message out into the world and broadcast it globally.\n
For example it doesn’t take massive printing presses or expensive TV studios to become a go-to-source for news and opinion anymore. As can be seen by this 2006 example from Technorati ranking readership of news outlets online. The blue representing traditional media, the red – newer blogs.\n(Click)\nAuthenticity, transparency and dynamic content now top mass market media. It means that the individual and the small group has as much say as the mega-mass media producers of old.\n
For example it doesn’t take massive printing presses or expensive TV studios to become a go-to-source for news and opinion anymore. As can be seen by this 2006 example from Technorati ranking readership of news outlets online. The blue representing traditional media, the red – newer blogs.\n(Click)\nAuthenticity, transparency and dynamic content now top mass market media. It means that the individual and the small group has as much say as the mega-mass media producers of old.\n
As can be seen in this hyper-saturated, networked world, getting attention and simple connectivity is no longer enough. The audience is no longer looking for a single message, image, catch phrase or memorable tune. Connecting is the beginning - but just as easily and quickly, it can become the ending point.\n\n
Today’s audience is looking for engagement. \nToday’s creative understand this and sees innovation and collaboration as an important part of the new communication landscape. \n
They are flexible in their approach to new tools for creation, and embrace the form to fit the purpose. Likewise they are merging forms and inventing new forms of engagement. \n\nAnother key change in our communication landscape is “Participation Bandwidth”. This term refers to the increasing amount of online spaces and tools for creating communities - and our limited time to participate. As it becomes cheaper and easier to share messages it has become increasingly more difficult for the individual to differentiate and to remain loyal. \n\nThe new creative understands this - and creates new means to breakthrough the clutter.\n
A good example would be game designer Jane McGonigal who created “The Lost Ring” sponsored by McDonalds as a lead-in to the Beijing Olympics. The Lost Ring was a game played live for 6 months in 2008 by thousands of people across six continents. Players were trying to find a fictional Lost Olympic Ring. Jane and her team posted clues were posted through blogs, via email, instant messaging and through twitter. \nThe Lost Ring is a good example of new ways of reaching large audiences and engaging them through games. McDonald’s spokesperson and chief global marketing officer, Mary Dillion, said of the project “Our goal is really about strengthening our bond with the global youth culture”. \nMcGonigal has dubbed this new reality of engaging the individual as the “economy of engagement”. She has written “In the economy of engagement, it is less and less important to compete for attention, and more and more important to compete for things like brain cycles and interactive bandwidth.”\n\n
When we examine the online space we see that In 2010 Americans spent on average 32 hours a month online - roughly an hour a day. ( http://www.comscoredatamine.com/2011/01/average-time-spent-online-per-u-s-visitor-in-2010/ ). As more and more organizations utilize social media for mass media purposes, truly participatory and collaborative media are becoming the holy grail of engagement. \n\nHow are people behaving on line, how do they participate and collaborate? This Business Week chart of data from Forester Research illustrates key online behaviors for differing age groups. What becomes apparent is that the generations that grew up with technology - the digital natives are very active - joining, sharing, creating, reviewing, tagging, and observing. Their efforts influence one another and extend beyond their age groups spilling into older demographics. Non-digital native generations - the digital adopters or TV generation - tend more toward consumptive behavior - following information shared by others but also comment on online content.\nhttp://images.businessweek.com/mz/07/24/0724_6insiid_a.gif\n
Social networks and games are proving to be a very powerful pull for online participation. June 2010 a Nielsen report showed that social networks and online games were the dominant forms of internet activity. Looking closely at the Nielsen report, the top five online activities share in common the behavior of active feedback. In this “engagement economy”, the first step to harnessing individual "participation bandwidth" is to create active avenues for user experience. This is where the expertise of design comes in.\n
The MFA is designed for this new media landscape. It is built upon the need in media today to bring together creative individuals from differing domains, who are highly motivated with a willingness to dive deeply and to collaborate across fields and offer critical feedback to create and refine truly new media experiences and platforms.\n
And when they work together, they discover MAGIC HAPPENS\nAnd it comes down to a simple formula code plus content. Students in the MFA learn to balance, work within, and create both.\n
Depending on what you embrace while at Champlain - matched to who you are, and your motivation, the MFA in Emergent Media can prepares you to enter these career paths & others yet to be created. \nREAD LIST\nHighlighted are some of our speakers in the MFA speaker series this year.\n
To understand how Champlain prepares you for your future, the key touchstone of this degree is innovation. To enable the student to make magic happen the 60 credit curriculum is designed to build practical skills while providing a deep understanding of theory. \n
Based on this foundation, in upper level coursework, students create projects both personal and collaborative.\n
Specifically the program begins by connecting the student to experts – both at Champlain and out in the professional sphere.\n
Through a series of foundational courses such as the Emergent Landscape – an intimate speaker series\n
The other foundation courses lay the esthetic, programming, and historical to current theoretical basis for media that you will built upon…\n
The student rounds out the skills they need as individuals through 4 self-selected electives chosen from across our undergraduate curriculums and the existing online Masters program.\n
The next tier of courses allows the student to marry theory to practice in the form of seminars and studios that explore relevant principles and emerging understandings that can impact media creation.\n
Such as found in the Experience Design: Play & Participation and the Human Experience: Through the Lens of Neuroscience, Education & Business courses.\n
These classes can become the test bed and form the framework for ideas and concepts that the student wishes to explore in depth in their final year. One course I’m particularly thrilled about is People, Place, & Community – this year we are working with the Flynn Theater and other groups to apply our knowledge & skills to their challenges. Likewise the student may choose a community that they wish to enable through technology.\n
As important as guidance from experts is the collaborative experience of other students in the program. In crafting each class during the selection process, we look for a diverse group of students with a range of talents & expertise. This years’ cohort is an amazing group of individuals coming from communications, technology and science, graphic design, game design, video, dance to name a few. \n
Creating a collaborative environment through these classes, MFA students form the essential component of critical friends providing feedback that strengthens eventual project outcomes.\nPuzzles & Prototypes – a studio and seminar - is one such class where working with peers transforms the work and the learning.\n
Collaboration is a keystone of the Emergent Media Center where the MFA is housed. We’ve partnered with organizations local and international – from the State Archeologist to the United Nations to create emergent media forms and solutions. The collaborative production series provides the student with skills, by having the MFA students work on change generating projects with the partners & undergraduates at the Emergent Media Center,…\n
These courses in Collaborative Production build the MFA students technical and esthetic skills but as important build the skills for creating, working on, and managing large media productions.\n1. Business goals & production: needs analysis, cost, capacity, value, budget implications, project planning, iteration, production, \n2. Qualitative and quantitative research: users' behaviors, attitudes and expectations,\n3. Creative and technical project leads and project managers\n
The curriculum balances collaboration by providing the individual student with the space, the mentoring, and the grounding to develop and explore concepts they choose to further develop.\n
Specifically building off of the earlier studios, in the final year the student develops and creates a personal project and supporting thesis argument. This can be done as a solo production OR it can be built by a team.\n
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Thank you to Attendees. Turn it over to Brian to moderate questions.\n