Casey,+Scott

Note to self: Answer questions based on drum therapy. Answer all three of Erin's categories based on drum therapy as well.



^ I L For website

2.16.08 Unit 2 Reflection

I think that, in order to go into a final verdict about my thoughts on collaborative writing, a little background is in order. Collaborative writing, from what I gather, is still a developing form of expression, and I can understand its benefits and drawbacks. To reflect on its actual effectiveness and how it might affect my life in the future is a different set of thoughts entirely.

I believe there are three facts I should bring to the table that would sum up my approach to group writing. First, I've always been around technology; at three years old, I began to type and to interact with computers. I come from a family who is almost always up on the latest technological devices, and I've been thankful for that. Therefore, I do embrace the types of things computers can do - word processing, sharing of information, networking and organizing ideas - and most of these, though with their own series of faults, have dramatically changed communication.

Next, as far as writing goes, I only rarely have had the opportunity to do a project of this calibur, this level of commitment, in groups. Even when the opportunity of groups came along, it seemed there was always a work horse and the ones who reaped the benefits of not being the work horse. It never particularly seemed balanced to me, this idea of group work, and I've almost always favored working individually on such projects to working in a group.

To combine the two ideas, the advancements of technology and the cooperation group writing, is a great thing indeed. After all, messages can be sent at the blick of an eye and across the world. What could be better than that?

Finally, though, I think that, for whatever purpose, there are some ways of communication that computers can not emulate. True forms and assets of real-life communication - enriching conversations, eye contact, gestures and tones of voice - can make online communication seem shallow. Whenever working on this project, for example, I always felt more in-tune with my co-workers when the work was still done face-to-face - the old-fashioned way.

While it was an interesting experience for me, I think I would have to pass on the idea of computer-centered collaborative writing. The long-distance communication for the project, which was compulsory for most of the project, was odd for me. I think this boils down my thoughts on real-life communication over the types of relaying done in the online community. Just the same, during the times when I and my group members took some time, examined our field and tried to express our ideas in the digital realm, it went well. For example, I never knew that Word had so much going for it until we began to whip up a pamphlet and so on.

I think we made some good decisions with the design of the pamphlet. There were a few design elements we wanted to implement - small musical symbols as the bullet points, for one - but, overall, I think it turned out well. I'm hoping that some of the more colorful photographs on the pamphlet don't provide too aggressive a contrast against the black, white and grey of the rest of the pamphlet.

As far as the report goes, we feel the addition of a few action shots of individuals enjoying music therapy would give the information a nice pop. After all, to describe music, if an aural sample is not part of the presentation, then something visual beside text would enhance the information multifold.

//I'm very pleased with what you have outlined here. I think your ideas are smart and definitely doable, and I look forward to seeing this come to fruition. It's gonna be awesome! ~Ms. W//

Unit 3 Write-Up: 1-14-08

Purpose:

What do you hope to accomplish? We're considering an expansion of the audience to not just medical professionals but to parents and caregivers of those to whom musical therapy would be a great benefit. For example, many medical professionals might be skeptic or even vindictive of music therapy methods; however, we feel this information and these exercises are pertinent and important.

Why would anyone bother reading this? It gives an alternative to strictly medicinal healing. For those who don't want to depend on medication, there are alternative methods. After all, healing is not entirely physical; healing can be emotional, even, debatably, spiritual.

Are you trying to persuade? Yes.

Do you need to inform? Yes.

Audience:

What does your audience already know? I believe the ideas of music and therapy are both known well, but only separately. Also, the problems brought on by communicative disorders are known by many. It would be up to us to inform others about music therapy.

What does your audience value? The well-being of those affected by such disorders.

What are your audiences' needs? To know how sweet music therapy can be.

What biases might your audience have? A lot of people probably feel that medicine is the only way to control such internal functions. While there are medical advances which have brought forth many near-miraculous results, the mental well-being can be enriched through the powerful and unifying form of music.

Genre:

What genre will be most appropriate for your purpose (instructions or proposal)? A proposal would work well with this material.

What genre makes the most sense given your audience? Same.

Voice:

How do you want to represent yourself here? As cheerful? Hopeful? Angry? Concerned? Concerned and excited. We want others to open their minds, even just a little bit, to new ideas and concepts. We, our group, have come upon a great form of rejuvination, of sorts, which can bring forth community-building and enlightening results. We want to share that.

Do you want to sound authoritative or are you more likely to sound persuasive if your status as a student is plain?

I think our material should focus primarily on the positive aspects and potential opportunities that music therapy brings. People have a good idea of what both music and therapy are, and the idea of music therapy isn't necessarily too far off. However, we are of the opinion that music therapy as an idea brings forth negative prejudices because of its easily accessible nature. However, it is important to keep in mind that even the smallest interactions with music can bring forth great consequences.

How will your voice affect your ability to persuade? We're hoping our sheer enthusiasm for the material, along with a good deal of supporting evidence, will be convincing.

Formatting:

Does this genre call for traditional formatting, or are more diverse ways of presenting your information more effective? I think yes, because we want to come off as professional.

Will you use charts and graphs? Weve thought up ideas for charts and graphs to implement into the project.

Will you add photos? Are they necessary or just for appeal? Yup. We feel they are necessary and for appeal, not only as providing examples but also as casting the fun and exciting nature of music therapy into the limelight.

Problem:

Do you need to point out any sort of problem? We feel the problem is with the holier-than-thou feeling toward medicine and the "granola" nature of music therapy.

Will your audience be quick to agree that there is a problem? Or will they resist? A little bit of both. Some want to use alternatives while others operate strictly by the book.

How much of the problem do you need to convey? I feel that we can't too much of "just no medicine", as medicine does help a great deal.

Appeals:

What appeals will be most important here? Mostly emotional and logical, so pathos and logos.

Is an emphasis on logic important? About as much logic as would be emotion.

How will you establish your credibility? Charts, graphs, research, interviews.

What do you want your readers to feel? How will you accomplish this? Energized by our energy.



2.10.08 Unit 1 Personal Reflection

I think that what I discovered after analyzing the images both through a text document and a Powerpoint presentation is that there is a wide variety of ways to represent something visually. That is also why I decided to use the two images that were remarkably different in approach and design. Even while having viewed countless visual representations - advertisements, diagrams, brochures, even my own drawings - it didn't "click" that the digital realm has a great deal of visual design methods. It really dawned on me as I was working on the PowerPoint that the way to represent something has an almost-unlimited amount of possibilities.

One of the points I wanted to stress in both my text and in my PowerPoint was that very same idea. Music therapy is shown in both of these images, but the way to represent the same idea can be approached in a variety of different ways. Image 1 is a bold yet crowded logo, used to capture the public's eye and allow individuals to remember the AMTA when it's off their browser. Image 2 is a representational image, used to explain an idea and to allow viewers a condensed, easy-to-follow introduction to or explanation of an idea.

I know there is are a lot of different facts and ideas that are in the text document that are not in the PowerPoint, but I owe my changes primarily to the differences in the media. Very rarely does one see full sentences in a PowerPoint presentation, and it is seems that it is almost counterintuitive to include them. It's not to say that I wasn't able to get my creative juices flowing in the text document, but I'm glad I didn't - couldn't? - be too wordy in the PowerPoint either.

This sheer contrast in design approach is reflected in the differences between my text document and my PowerPoint. I knew I could be wordy in my text document, analyzing each element of the image deeply and exploring to my heart's content. On the other side of the coin, that's not really what a PowerPoint is all about. A PowerPoint is about visualization with minimal text. It is a pristine visual tool which allows computer users - with some good sense on design - to take a topic and visualize it in a unique way that a magazine or video can't really top. With that in mind, the purpose and audience of each document are vastly different.

In the text document, I wanted to describe the true intricacies of both images. I found that text was the best way to do this, as a traditional document has not changed in form or design. I imagined it unusual, perhaps even counterintuitive, to go into the same amount of textual detail in a PowerPoint. In the PowerPoint, I was able to more or less let the images describe themselves, and I added bullet points and small blurbs to help readers point out what might have been missed at first glance.

If I had to choose one of the two media to work with, a text document or a PowerPoint, I would choose do present something through PowerPoint if I had the choice and the time to do so. I was never intimately familiar with PowerPoint before this class, and I know there are still multiple features I haven't tinkered with, like the inclusion of audio, manipulation of slide cues and the like, but it's definitely more than a novely tool. I was able to move, shift, rotate and resize text with relative ease, and the ability to place text and pictures anywhere on a slide made it a lot easier to make a slide design without the confines of spacing or indentations.

All in all, I was able to discover for myself the benefits of both types of representation. In a text document, brevity is encouraged, and detailed descriptions are not only allowed, but necessary, to back up opinions and ideas. By contrast, a PowerPoint serves a very different purpose, emphasizing imagery and other elements not readily available in text (more intimate visual organization, audio and video elements) to provide an approach that is light on text but heavy on visualization.

We don't always have the time or even inclination to analyze the bombardment of visual representations all around us. As we watch commercials to our favorite shows, trying to take in the hundreds of flashing images, constant changing of camera perspective and high-budget, crazy advertisement hooks can be a strain. However, to take the time and sit back to analyze what we see, even if it's just one image, can surprise a person in how a certain object or thing - music therapy, hamburgers, or whatever the object displayed may be - is represented.



Image 1



Image 2

Research proposal for Erin Allison, Amanda MacKenzie and myself (for 1.18.08)



Form for 1.16.08





I'm in my third year at Alma, and I'm a German major. I like to draw and write in my spare time. There was a time during which I wanted to pursue art professionally, but I became more pulled toward secondary German education, as it seems to be a considerably more lucrative career path. The representation I chose to put up on the site is one by M. C. Escher; I've always liked his work, particularly his attention to perspective.