Task 5: "Concept of Interactivity"

In the article "Interactivity", Jens Jensen presents loads of different definitions by previous academical studies about "interaction" and "interactivity" together with synthesizing a conceptual construction of "interactivity".

Communication patterns are presented to see who owns and provides the information and who controls the distribution:

• Transmission type exists when information is produced and distributed by a central provide. This is how classical media (Tv, radio) works.
• Conversation communication pattern - information production and distribution is controlled by the consumer. E.g. telephone, e-mail, IRC etc.
• Consultation occurs when central provider produces information and consumer controls the distribution. E.g. FTP, WWW
• Registration pattern - information is produced by the consumer but processed and controlled by information providing center. Surveillance systems, registration systems, logging to networks work with this patterns.

In communication and media studies there isn't a clear concept of "interaction" but appears several different:

• Interactivity is presented as a prototype when a list of technologies are said to be used to exchange information in the form of images, drawings and data.
• Interactivity as criteria, that is a certain trait or feature that must be fulfilled(Rockley Miller's writing)
• Interactivity as continuum is where interactivity can be present in different dimensions:

1. 1-dimensional model by Rogers says "the capability of new communication systems to 'talk back' to the user, almost like an individual participating in a conversations. Communication technologies like press, radio, Tv have low interactivity and others like interactive cable Tv has high interactivity.
2. 2-dimensional model by Szuprowicz claims interactivity defined best by the type of multimedia in information flows. Its also divided to 3 categories: user-to-document, user-to-computer and user-to-user.
3. 3-dimensional model by Brenda Laurel characterizes 3 variables: "frequency" or "how often you could interact", "range" or "how many choices were available" and "significance" or "how much the choices really affected matters"
4. 4-dimensional model by Lutz Goertz defines "degree on choices available", "degree of modifiability", "the quantitative number of the selection and modifications available" and "degree of linearity/non-linearity" to be meaningful to interactions.
5. N- dimensional concept of interactivity is illustrated with and example of Carrie Heeter with 6 dimensions are defined.

Still these concepts are too complex and very difficult to deal with on a practical basis for the author. Jensen proposes a more "suitable" concept of interactivity with mutually independent 4 dimensional concept of interactivity. These 4 dimensions transmissional interactivity, consultational interactivity, conversational interactivity and registrational interactivity can be understood by using the communication patterns. As transmissional and consultational interactivity both concerns the availability of choice it can be represented in 3-dimensional graphic model.

Task 3: comparison of descriptions of creating a study plan

Maarjas blog

Her main factor for choosing the courses have to do with travel itinerary. She wants to take the maximum out of her studies on the first period of courses. 6 out of 9 courses are doable online. She has a nice activity chart which show the process of choosing courses. Edraw Soft seems a good tool to be used, just if it could have a mac version.

Maibritt's blog

Comparing to some other NIE's who have made a cycle about the process of choosing course, she has made a tree of factors that have been considered while making seleciton of course. She has gone really in dept. of the time planning and has considered every aspect. Probably the huge workload during last year has made her much freedom of which courses to take or not.

Norberts blog

What pop's out from his assignment that there is no visual used. Visuals are always good diving already some sort idea what the article is about and like we all know "they say more than 1000 words". He doesn't go in dept. to selection of the course as we all are mostly familiar with it in Tallinn University. The course selection is depending on the time available in Google Calendar.

Jakobs blog

He's study plan is like a piece of art:) You just want to have a closer look at it.

The ones that are afraid of blood might just get wrong impression about the red drops.

Anyway he has gone in detail to describe whole study plan development process and mentioned many aspects that have change the selection of courses on the timeline.

He has used very colorful terms which rise interest and make you want to read the blog post about it. I wish he had shared the name of the tool used.

Ottavio's blog

You always want to here what he has to say because he has always a lot of things to say. I would have expect to have a lot of "whistles" and "colors" on this schema but contrary it has a clear define of activity and most probably that's the way to be when it concerns a study plan.

Conclusion

There where mostly used two kind of visuals to present the study plan. Either keep "it simple" or "dress to impress". It's just questionable where each way of presenting is necessary. I believe in the matter of making study plan once mostly consider if the course is interesting or if it's mandatory. In the process of this it doesn't need much visualization but to keep in plain and simple. Sometimes the value of information or visual is in its simplicity.

Task 2: self-observation and analysis of creating a study plan

This semester I'm studying in Södertörn University in Stockholm. This means that the selection of the courses was rather different then during the previous years.

As I'm a third year IMKE student I have more or less completed my curriculum. There are just two courses and thesis to be made to receive masters diploma. It means that Tallinn University courses had to be taken without considering anything.

For Södertörn University courses I had free will to make selection. Still during the selection process interest, availability and weather it is in English or Swedish had to be considered. These criteria foam and list of elective course which had to be approved by international office in both host and home university.