In my research on learning styles, a strong preference for the visual presentation of information was revealed. This finding led me to experiment with visual support for what is otherwise a text-dominated informational environment in my online courses.
One area of exploration is with “mashups” that combine existing Web-based applications that offer highly visual presentation as well as interactive multimedia support. CommunityWalk.com offers a Web-based mashup that allows users to mark locations on a (Google) map interface and add annotations that not only include text, but also regular and embedded links to relevant material on other Web sites.
When conducting research for a book on Renaissance innovations, I traveled to the northern Italian town of Vicenza to capture images and video and see firsthand the architectural designs of Palladio, a late Renaissance architect.
On my return, I noticed how useful a customized Google maps interface can be for geographic-situated information such as the design of buildings by Palladio. Instead of merely describing these innovations in text (as I am here), I can arrange an audiovisual tour of several sites by placing markers on the actual (satellite photo aerial view) location in or near Vicenza where his designs were realized.
http://www.communitywalk.com/vicenza/italy/map/301661
Upon marking my first Palladio site: Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, Italy with the scripting that can be used to place annotations in the marked space, I see how a Quicktime panorama can bring the viewer inside the site to explore the principles of its design or an embedded streaming video of an opera performance on that stage.
As you can see by clicking on the Teatro Olimpico link in the marker for that site (1) on the map, this theater has a design with a goal to immerse the user (viewer) in the look and feel of the context of the plays they are attending. His stage design uses accelerated foreshortening of the columns of (stage set) buildings representative of an ancient city as they recede to a vanishing point (composed of painting alone).
My next marker is the Villa Capra “La Rotonda” by Palladio, a symmetric design for a villa just outside Vicenza that I marveled at by roadside on my way into Vicenza’s centro storico during a research trip. With little time to tour the inside or proximity of the building, I stopped my car on the road that passed it on the way to Vicenza. From the road, I was able to see two of the four sides and felt that I understood and appreciated the goals of that design. Suggestion: Zoom in on the Google map to view this historic house from above and notice its symmetric design from any of its four sides.
If you enjoy this interactive learning space, bookmark it, comment there as you wish, and stay tuned (I will try to add more sites and markers). You can add comments about the whole topic or environment at the bottom of the main viewing window and/or you can add specific comments at the bottom of the site marker (popup) window.
I welcome your brief comments here in reply as well.
Enjoy,
Doc
This is really interesting. I could almost see myself posting my photos from my vacations… a living photo album by geographical location!
Hi Sue, thanks for sharing your experience with my educational use of this geographic and multimedia mashup. You’re welcome to post your comments there as well. Also, consider how useful this would be for a virtual field trip.
This may sound a little off topic, but it really makes you appreciate history. Some of the things remembered are a staple of modern technology, some of the things forgotten (as in the middle ages forgetting about the Romans) are things that never should have been lost and will one day be rediscovered. Surely some of these same concepts have been installed in modern theaters, however not of the same experience!
Thanks Jarrett, for sharing your insights on a relevant issue associated with the goal of (providing a positive) user experience: UX is not an entirely new human concern, but rather one that has evolved through practice over time and the emergence of new technologies, such as computers and the Internet. When I studied cognitive science, I learned about an associated field of study called cognitive anthropology. It offered a way of studying the cultural influence on issues in cognition. I think that the field of User Experience (and the related field of Customer Experience) could benefit from an historical and cultural perspective. That is what exploring the designs of Palladio in the Italian Renaissance can offer to inform our contemporary concerns for user-centered design of software.
I had a Civil War history class at MSU that used text links to pictures, videos, and interactive maps of buildings, parks, monuments, etc. I must admit, using this format made the required text reading part of the class more enjoyable, informational, and embedded the sites unique characteristics within my memory. We often brain dump after a university class, later recalling very little of what we learned. But I find myself still visualizing some locations covered in that class – it’s like I was there and is now part of my personal makeup.
Charles
Thanks Charles, for sharing your perspective on “mapping” out concepts covered in courses with richer and more interactive use of media, especially online courses that rely on textbooks and text-based posting as the predominant informational resource. Whether it’s hyperlinks to Web-based resources, embedded video in posts, or external links to interactive multimedia mashups, a wider range of user/learner preferences for information presentation can be addressed.