Final Blog Entry: Top 10

10. Creating compelling videos - I believe that videos are more compelling in a way in which there is the sound and visual both incorporated. Knowing how to concisely illustrate the message within a brief commercial has been challenging but has helped me be more succinct in my communication

9. Click Click - Taking pictures: I love photography and have done some before without knowing how to create compelling photographs. This course has helped me to know more about the structure and compelling aspects of taking pictures. Now that I take pictures, I know more about angles, perspectives, patterns, etc..

8. Technology - Technology seemed to have become key in terms of designing compelling experiences for the new  generation of millennial. I learned to utilize several software and hardware that I was not used to prior to this course. These skills will definitely be helpful in my job search.

7. Environmental aspects - It is good to know what is in our environment to be able to utilize it in a more effective way. For instance, whether we are utilizing interior design  or architectural concepts, either methods may be implemented in a more effective way to create  a better learning environment for college students. This way, students will feel more comfortable learning in "safer" spaces.

6. Music - I don't know how to read music notes nor have I studied music in the past. But what had made an impact on me is the "hook." This concept made me realize why I (or others) tend to like music that much even though we never really were classically trained for it. The hook is really what makes us more interested in hearing more about the song/melody.

5. Student Engagement - In certain interactions with students, we tend to be very self-centered in our content delivery whether we are teaching or advising students on a one-on-one basis. In order to make it more compelling, we ought to engage them and seek different ways of keeping them entertained. This can certainly be done through small group activities and ice breakers among the students while intentionally maintaining the adequate content.

4. Research -  In order to create compelling experiences, we ought to do some research in order to know what is being innovative. We can seek new ways of being compelling and tweak what is already being done to match the needs of the students we're working with.

3. Assessment - How are we going to know whether a student experience is compelling or not? The only way to measure the level of effectiveness is through evaluation and assessment. This way, students can provide feedback on how they believe the content delivery can be more compelling.

2. Creativity - This concept plays an important role in knowing different means of implementing compelling experiences. Without creativity in developing compelling experiences, these experience may not be compelling.

1. Be yourself - I believe that all of us are individuals and that we all bring our own personal touch and contributions. In creating these compelling experiences, we ought to stay true to ourselves while digging deep into our creative minds.

2 Minute Moment #3

Music Module

Music - Catching, then holding the listener's interest

After doing the readings, I found that the hook is the most important part of catching someone's interest considering that it initially appears at the beginning of a song/musical piece. However, it can sometimes be hard to maintain someone's interest throughout a song/musical piece. In order to do that, one should know what kind of feelings/emotions they are trying to reveal from the listener, whether it is a happy, exciting, sad, or jealous emotion. For instance, when creating a video or any audio projects to celebrate the Martin Luther King Jr. Day, one would play inspirational music. The kind of music that will motivate and empower students (in the college setting) in developing and implementing leadership skills and abilities. The music would be with high beats and high tones of trumpets, saxophones, and drums, for example. The rhythm of the music will be fast pace and reaching higher and higher notes as a symbolism of reaching and accomplishing higher and higher goals in life.

Music Hooks

Working at a large institution such as Michigan State University (MSU) has its perks and challenges. One of the advantages that MSU offers is the spirit that can be found within the sports culture. Let's take football as an example. MSU is very well known for its sports culture which can be transcribed as its fans knowing the fight song and singing it whether they are inside or outside of the football stadium. Indeed, the MSU fight song does include several hooks and repetitive rhythm that makes the audience wants to sing more and more of it. It's very energetic and parts of the song contain non-lyrical aspects which makes it more catchy. There is also the part that says "fight fight fight team fight" which reminds us of the AAABA hook that makes it more emotionally appealing. While trying to teach part of the American culture to international students, this song could be helpful in keeping them engaged and hooked to the learning experience.

2MM Project

As an ordinary video experience showcasing the perks of studying abroad, there could be random videos of student's experience while abroad. Other institutions have advertised study abroad programs with text heavy slides and some without any pictures not video clips. In these instances, the audience will have a knowledge of what study abroad does but without really experiencing it nor feeling the emotions that past participants have felt.

In my compelling study abroad video, I have included slides that display ten significant reasons why study abroad is beneficial. The ways I did it include displaying short and concise texts that make interesting appearance on the slides (coming from upward, downward, or from the sides). The music chosen was very adventurous which fits the personalities of study abroad programs and mostly purposes. I wish I had included videos (but I didn't have any). However, the pictures that I have chosen were probably the best that recalled memories of tremendous and exciting moments while I was abroad. This feature introduces a little tease to the audience in living abroad through viewing these pictures as well as encouraging them to live these adventures or even better.

A Tale of Two Retail Spaces

Architecture

After doing the readings, I realize that they architectural traits to build a compelling area/space do contribute substantially in making the area more appealing. The architecture of my current office actually reflects fairly well the aspects of good architecture. For this matter, my imaginative bridge will reflect the architectural traits of the my office. As we get ready to enter the waiting room/lobby of the office, there is an impression created before crossing the door. The reception faces the door while creating a warm welcoming and "we're at your service" type of atmospheres to the students/partners.

Most offices are one-person offices for advising and privacy reasons due to the content of the advising sessions. However, the way the offices are set up reflect a pattern in which all the office doors are aligned to the wall together with office windows allowing for proper light to come in the office. The intern area illustrates perfectly the cisco system (the intern area used to be cubicles). This allows more interaction, communication,  and team work between the interns and better access from supervisors and vice versa. In the middle of the intern area is an island which also allows space for great office dynamic and a team-oriented office. I believe that if we were to still have cubicles, the dynamic of the office would not have been as great.

Below are some pictures to illustrate:

Interior Design

After learning about the compelling aspects of interior design, I feel like office spaces, study spaces, residence halls, and student waiting areas could be much more appealing to the campus community and visitors, but more importantly the students who are the main stakeholders of the university.

Considering that students are the main stakeholders, it would be interesting to know where most of them spend their time: the cafeterias. In order to make the cafeterias more compelling, there are several aspects to take in consideration such as the visual  and the "customer service" aspects. The visual aspects involve the space, sequence of places (patterns, symmetry, public vs. private places, etc), color scheme, and lighting. These aspects of the design of the cafeteria are very important for the first impression as the constituents walk in. The second component to making the cafeterias more appealing is the "customer service" aspect such as the availability of electrical outlets, the coziness of the furniture, and study spaces, etc. The designer ought to know their audience in order to make it more compelling due to the fact that college students have different needs and level of satisfaction than individuals in their mid-40s.

In my 30 seconds video, I was displaying part of the office I work at. We are constantly trying to advertise our services to the international student and scholar population. Through our programming, one of the services offered reflects that community building among international and domestic populations. My project displays several still pictures/shots that represent the different constituents that the office serves. By putting all these shots together, the outcome becomes a comprehensive video. This is an analogy for when the different international constituents come together; they become a community (just like the video made of several shots).

The video is similar to a story telling in which the person behind the camera is on an adventure to seek for services/resources offered by the office. At the end, he/she finds a business card providing all the contact information needed to get in touch with the office. The zoom effect on the business card displays the importance of the content of the business card in reaching out to the office whenever the students need us.

At the end of the video, there is a note that reads “Lonely? Contact the Office for International Students and Scholars” as an encouragement for the audience to reach out to the office which can help them to build community, especially in times of loneliness. 

Television and Film

This week, I realized that there are potential and possibilities in communicating a message within 30 seconds. It requires a lot of creativity depending on what constraints or restriction the theme of the video is limited to. Other things that I learned is that it in order to be compelling to the audience, it needs to be entertaining and by entertaining. There are different components and aspects that make a short video compelling such as transforming it into a story, having focus points such as the Doritos bag, the color scheme, the props and clothes chosen, etc.

In order to translate all of that into an imaginative bridge, I almost feel that it can be used as a teaser for college students. Having a series of 30 second videos can help in advertising an event or a campaign for the office I work at. For instance, promoting safe sex among college students is something that hard to do. However, through a 30-second comical video, this will be feasible. More to come on as I complete my assignment for this module.

Film and TV

International student advisers usually struggle in keeping students engaged or behaved prior to the beginning of an important presentation. Especially in the case of the main Orientation presentation/speech, new international students are often distracted or lost in their new environment. In order to help them feel more comfortable, the implementation of a brief video reflecting current international students' college experience could be useful in keeping the new students engaged and behaved.

In order to keep the international students engaged, I would have the video feature successful current international students and have them talk about their genuine experience of how they achieved such success. As the readings stated, having an engaged audience is good but having the audience involved emotionally is even better. This way, the story telling process from new international students, under the shape of interviews, will generate ideas of how to get involved on campus, where to seek for resources, where they can find support and peers, etc. It will be a seamless learning experience for new students and simultaneously. From the current international students' perspectives, they will be reflecting on their own success and will hopefully sense a feeling of pride from achieving such great experiences. Another goal of this video is to have the audience empathize with the interviewees and that's when we'll know that the video has been a success.

In producing the video, the committee in charge has to do some research in terms of locating the successful international students, hear their stories (before they get shared), research on what effects or soundtrack can be used to make it more appealing to the international community. Obviously, they would have to find a music/soundtrack that fits the visual that is being displayed. Even the timing of the music plays an important role in the film making process. In the readings, the author talks about power of silence as in "'quiet' is an effect." This makes complete sense when someone is talking. However, there are some special moments in which quiet can indeed be powerful depending on the moment during the video.

Some other aspects to take in consideration while making the video is that it can be manipulated. Truth and reality can be distorted in order to obtain the right outcome, in this case, impressing and engaging new international students. By editing the video, much essential footage can be lost; the director and the editor may have two very different perspectives on what should be showed at the end of the editing process.

2MM1

I'm exploring how to make student advising more compelling. Students usually come to us because they need something. During my experience as an undergraduate, I used to go see my adviser/mentor all the time and not necessarily only when I needed assistance. I want students to realize that we're there, whether it is for an informal conversation or to help them succeed through the higher education system.

Photography blog

This week, I learned a lot about photography. In the three articles that I read, they all reflected distinct but useful elements that would make a great photographs compelling to the eyes. I guess that I may have known what would be appealing to me in a photography but putting words and terminology to it makes my appreciation for photography grow even more.

In terms of imaginative bridge, photography is definitely underused in student affairs. Student affairs professional do interact with students on a daily basis but have to think about different ways of keeping them engaged or encouraging them to use the available resources. Eisner talks about the forms of aesthetic and I believe that photography can be a great tool in encouraging students to use the resources. For instance, while working in the International Center at Michigan State University, I could start a photography contest between students who study abroad. There will be guidelines such as what elements make a good photograph in order to direct them in the right path in creating a compelling picture.

Photography

Graphic Arts

This week's topic made me think more about my environment and how compelling it can be depending on the amount of thinking one puts into it. Regarding graphic arts, it seems like every element of a poster/flier/visual graphic (whatever you want to call it), plays an important role on whatever message ones wants/needs to deliver. The size of the header/object,font, the color chosen for each component, and the location of each element play an important role in making the graphic more compelling and appealing to the eyes. Another factor that I have never thought about prior to discussing the assigned graphic was that our experience and memory also contribute in visualizing a graphic or making it more compelling.

As imaginative bridges, I believe that all of the components above need to be taken in consideration in creating a compelling graphic. Of course, we would need to know the content/context while designing the graphic but also the audience that we are targeting. For example, college students and senior citizens may be two totally different audience to consider while creating a graphic. Another important factor to consider is the branding of the graphic (font, color, logos, etc.). For instance, MSU branding looks very distinct from any other institution making it recognizable to internal audience because they are familiar to the branding. As mentioned before, the graphic plays with our memory  and past experience and appear more compelling to some than others. Below are two examples of MSU posters/fliers that contain the MSU branding.

Eisner - Aesthetic Modes of Knowing

Eisner wrote substantially about aesthetic forms in creating compelling experiences. In higher education, more specifically teaching, the interaction between instructor(s) and students can often get in a regular routine, making the content of the learning insignificant. The methods of teaching is often done through lectures and PowerPoint presentations. Furthermore, in a history course for example, with the fact that there are dates and specific periods in time that need to be remembered, the course can easily turn into a boring session in which students could get disinterested.

In order to make the history course a compelling experience, the instructor will need to know the content (obviously), the audience (what type/generation of students is in his/her course), technological resources (in case the audience finds it easier to learn through technology), or other compelling experiences. Nowadays, in a traditional college course, most students are compelled by interaction, discussion/engagement, and technology. Different ways to create imaginary bridges (in this case: innovative teaching methods) is simply to know the audience and what motivates it. For the history course, several ways to keep the students engaged is to involve some kind of technological platform. For example, students can answer anonymously to questions via text messages, use of technological devices such as digital camera, iPad, laptops, video camera, and/or compelling YouTube videos could be played regarding the topic of the course specifics. Other interactive teaching methods would include small groups discussions, debates, poster presentations, etc.

Eisner's book provides several great ideas and relationship between concepts in order to create compelling videos. Education is a constant changing field, with new technology, student demographic, course content, and research discoveries. Teaching pedagogies need to keep up with the consistent change that education is facing.