CLASS RESOURCES
CLASS 1
MONDAY RECORDING:https://ysu.webex.com/recordingservice/sites/ysu/recording/playback/338076d78c234608b0d8a80d57bd6b06
password: cMKkZWW9
IN CLASS
Register for In Conversation Online: Doug Aitken and Douglas Fogle
HOMEWORK
DO
Post five wonderfully ugly websites in the Slack #ugly channel.
Write one (1) thoughtful observations from watching Rachel Rose's Lake Valley in Slack #thoughts channel. EXTRA CREDIT
Webex is your one easy-to-use and secure app to call, message, meet and get work done. Meet Host video conferences with HD video, audio and screen sharing. Call Get a phone number and business calling system so you can make and receive calls on any device. In order to join a Zoom meeting from a Cisco Webex device, you will have to see if your meeting is compatible with Webex. Check your Zoom meeting invite to see if it has a Meeting ID number (this is usually farther down on the invite page under the H.323/SIP room system section). Your meeting number will have 9 digits.
- Youngstown State University Youngstown State University. Welcome to YSU's Center for Student Progress - Student Tutorial Services! After clicking the link, you will be directed to WebEx where your tutor will meet with you to conduct the scheduled session.
- To create your own meeting, go to ysu.webex.com and log in with your YSU email address. From the main page click Schedule a Meeting on the right side of the screen. Fill in all the fields for your meeting details. After you create the meeting, you will get an email confirmation.
Start HTML Essential Training by Jen Simmons at LinkedIn Learning .
CLASS 2
IN CLASS
Attend the following lecture online: In Conversation Online: Doug Aitken and Douglas Fogle
HOMEWORK
WATCH
Watch Doug Aitken's migration empire.
DO
Write one (1) thoughtful observations from watching Doug Aitken's migration empire in Slack #thoughts channel.
Complete HTML Essential Training by Jen Simmons at LinkedIn Learning .
Submit one (1) discovery to #discoveries channel in Slack.
Last Day to Add Classes or Change Grading Option – Monday, August 24, 2020
CLASS 1: HTML/CSS DEMO
MONDAY RECORDING:https://ysu.webex.com/recordingservice/sites/ysu/recording/playback/f9569cb1079a49079028b2d1698444c1
password: xMJuvpv9
HOMEWORK
DO
Start CSS Essential Training by Christina Truong at LinkedIn Learning .
CLASS 2: HTML/CSS DEMO
WEDNESDAY RECORDING: https://ysu.webex.com/recordingservice/sites/ysu/recording/playback/5c6a4c56ae90476bb7ab1599b690a8d9
password: HcZSKMJ5
HOMEWORK
DO
Complete CSS Essential Training by Christina Truong at LinkedIn Learning. Her codepen is at https://codepen.io/christinatruong/.
Activate your YSU personal web space: cPanel Account Information.
Create an wonderful visual experience with divs, post online using cPanel and sumbit url in #og channel, Slack.
Submit one (1) discovery to #discoveries channel in Slack.
Read selected poems sent from instructor.
Last Day for 100% Refund – Sunday, August 30, 2020
CLASS 1
MONDAY RECORDING:https://ysu.webex.com/recordingservice/sites/ysu/recording/playback/fcfe2bef0d1b4726a32fab38992dd04f
password: mNiGxiS2
DO
Complete chapter 2 from CSS Layouts: From Float to Flexbox and Grid by Christina Truong at LinkedIn Learning. Her codepen is at https://codepen.io/christinatruong/.
Create an wonderful visual experience with divs, post online using cPanel and sumbit url in #og channel, Slack.
CLASS 2
WEDNESDAY RECORDING:
password:
DO
Complete chapter 3 from CSS Layouts: From Float to Flexbox and Grid by Christina Truong at LinkedIn Learning. Her codepen is at https://codepen.io/christinatruong/.
Write one (1) thoughtful observations from currentsvirtual.com/Cabbibo in Slack #thoughts_cabbibo channel.
Submit one (1) discovery to #discoveries channel in Slack.
DO: EXTRA CREDIT POEM-INSPIRED INSTAGRAM COLLAGE
1. Choose a poem (or section of a poem) to create a collage image.
2. Create some preliminary sketches/images for a working critique Wednesday using the sizes below as a guide. Use Instagram guidelines for image sizes: 1080px by 1080px (Square) 1080px by 1350px (Portrait) and 1080px by 608px (Landscape).
3. Post them in #poem in Slack (in recap email). Please indiciate the inspriation poem with the image.
CLASS 1: NO CLASS
CLASS 2: CRITIQUE + CONSPIRACY
WEDNESDAY RECORDING: https://ysu.webex.com/recordingservice/sites/ysu/recording/playback/217df836224b44228539c00aeab16ac3
password: 4KjuksM5
DO
Write one (1) thoughtful observations from currentsvirtual.com/Cabbibo in Slack #thoughts_cabbibo channel.
Write one (1) thoughtful observation from the article Why Conspiracy Theories Have Become the Most Influential Art Form of Our Time by Ben Davies: part 1 and part 2 in Slack #thoughts_conspiracy channel.
Write one (1) thoughtful observation from the podcast The Incunabula Papers by Decoder Ring in Slack #thoughts_conspiracy channel.
Read Fake animal news abounds on social media as coronavirus upends life.
Submit one (1) discovery to #discoveries channel in Slack.
Complete flex example, upload to a new 'flex' folder in cPanel and post in #flex channel in Slack.
Brainstorm a potential conspiracy theory. Bring ideas (plural) to small group meeting on Monday
CLASS 1: SMALL GROUP CONSPIRACIES
5pm Lucas, Dominic, Morgan, Annisa
6pm Tess, Zoey, Emily, Victoria
7pm Isabella, Naomi, Alexis, Linda, Samantha
DO
PREPARE 5-MINUTE PITCH for conspiracy theory/fake stories/satire for Monday
CLASS 2: 1-on-1 HELP DAY
DO
SUBMIT one (1) discovery to #discoveries channel in Slack.
CLASS 1: SMALL GROUP CONSPIRACIES PITCH
5pm – Lucas, Anissa, Tess, Zoey, Emily, Victoria
6:30pm – Isabella, Naomi, Alexis, Linda, Samantha
CLASS 2: Flexbox Refresh Demo
DO
SUBMIT one (1) discovery to #discoveries channel in Slack.
CLASS 1: MOREHSHIN ALLAHYARI
ATTEND
MOREHSHIN ALLAHYARI
RECORDING:https://ysu.webex.com/ysu/lsr.php?RCID=66437e09041641f58cda4778464a85fa
DO
POST a link to your website plus supporting materials the correct channel (#conspiracy_yourname) in Slack. Please post a minimum of five websites that you are using as reference materials for your website.
CLASS 2: PROJECT 2 PIVOT
RECORDING:https://ysu.webex.com/recordingservice/sites/ysu/recording/playback/f50e6cebdfa1446193422752b678ec7b
password: bSNVMi2m
DO (DUE NEXT WEDNESDAY)
RETHINK your project (watch class recording). POST your new ideas, new website designs, graphics, PLUS five (5) websites that you are specifically using as visual touchstones for the new version of the assignment in your personal conspiracy channel in Slack.
SUBMIT one (1) discovery to #discoveries channel in Slack.
Last Day for Withdrawing with a Grade of “W” – Thursday, October 1, 2020
CLASS 1: work day
CLASS 2: REBUILD && REPLACE
WEDNESDAY RECORDING: https://ysu.webex.com/recordingservice/sites/ysu/recording/playback/7c8e52cefca44c62b0a215f11c23baac
password: 4DeqV8qG
DO (DUE NEXT WEDNESDAY)
REBUILD one of the templates completely
ALTER the code to fit your design needs && REPLACE elements such as text and images with your own.
POST your project in your personal conspiracy channel in Slack.
SUBMIT one (1) discovery to #discoveries channel in Slack.
COMPLETE the mid-semester survey (sent via email).
SUBMIT one (1) discovery to #discoveries channel in Slack.
CLASS 1: NO CLASS
CLASS 2: NO CLASS
DO (DUE NEXT WEDNESDAY)
COMPLETE the mid-semester survey (sent via email).
SUBMIT one (1) discovery to #discoveries channel in Slack.
CLASS 1
MONDAY CLASS RECORDING:https://ysu.webex.com/recordingservice/sites/ysu/recording/playback/f9176d47e7504cc7a04a34052ae3f0b4
password: aU5mtCq5
MONDAY HTML/CSS REFRESH RECORDING:https://ysu.webex.com/recordingservice/sites/ysu/recording/playback/c73bb79d78ae4d5ba62f3fc561a1946e
password: 6fUrxB4F
DO
POST your project in your personal conspiracy channel in Slack.
CLASS 2: SMALL GROUP CRITIQUES (w/o DANA)
GROUP 1 – Lucas*, Anissa, Tess, Zoey
GROUP 2 – Emily*, Victoria, Naomi, Samantha
GROUP 3 – Linda*, Isabella, Alexis
* this person needs to log into webex to schedule a meeting, inviting the other members of the group. Please schedule the meeting ASAP and email me problems.
DO
WATCH Werner Herzog's documentary Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World
Write one (1) thoughtful observations from watching Werner Herzog's Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World in #thoughts_lo_behold channel in Slack
CLASS 1: 1-on-1 Critique with Dana
5:00pm – Lucas
5:15pm – Anissa
5:30pm – Tess
5:45pm – Zoey
6:00pm – Emily
6:15pm – Victoria
6:30pm – Naomi
6:45pm – Linda
7:00pm – Isabella
7:15pm – Alexis
7:30pm – Samantha
CLASS 2: Work Day
DO
POST the final links for project 2 in your individual conspiracy channel in Slack
CLASS 1: THE END OF CONSPRIACIES
MONDAY RECORDING:https://ysu.webex.com/recordingservice/sites/ysu/recording/playback/97f75372586e4f84887b0e388b9971ff
password: hKGvciV8
DO (FOR WEDNESDAY)
PLAY Naomi Carrier’s video game (in progress). We will have a critique for it Wednesday. Instructions included in class recap.
EXPLORESuper Bad: http://superbad.com/
EXPLOREMy Boyfriend Came Back From the War: http://www.teleportacia.org/war/
DECIDE your path for the next project: tehnical/formal exploration or non-linear narrative.
LOOK at everyone’s final project for conspiracy. Be ready to critique.
DO (FOR NEXT MONDAY)
COMPLETE Val Head's CSS: Animation on LinkedIn Learning: LinkedIn Learning
CLASS 2: Critique: Advanced Digital Media Studio + Conspiracy
WEDNESDAY RECORDING: https://ysu.webex.com/recordingservice/sites/ysu/recording/playback/d7e47636e885469182c208d1e2a7fa64
password: WkQJYVZ5
DO
WATCH the documentary Feels Good Man
WRITE one (1) thoughtful observations from watching Arthur Jones and Giorgio Angelini's Feels Good Man in #thoughts_pepe channel in Slack
DECIDE your path for the next project (non-linear narrative or formal/technical experience) and EMAIL it to me.
LOOK at everyone’s final project for conspiracy. In a document, WRITE 3 small fixes, 1 big fix and 1 positive thing to keep for each site and EMAIL it to me.
SUBMIT one (1) discovery to #discoveries channel in Slack.
Teams Webex Sign In
CLASS 1
MONDAY RECORDING:https://ysu.webex.com/recordingservice/sites/ysu/recording/playback/be9b3b11d758473eacd3e6d20c6f1106
password: NdnnVWd4
DO
WATCH the documentary Feels Good Man
WRITE one (1) thoughtful observations from Arthur Jones and Giorgio Angelini's Feels Good Man in #thoughts_pepe channel in Slack
MAKE a web-based version of Cory Arcangel's Super Mario Clouds (2002) using CSS animations and post to #mario_clouds channel in Slack.
SUBMIT one (1) discovery to #discoveries channel in Slack.
CLASS 2: NO CLASS
CLASS 1: MEETING IN GROUPS
5pm – Formal/Technical
Naomi
Lucas
Emily
Linda
Alexis
6:30pm – Non-Linear Narrative
Zoey
Isabella
Tess
Anissa
Victoria
Sam
CLASS 2: INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS: Non-Linear Narrative
COME ONLY AT THE TIME BELOW (do not be late or early)
5:00 – Zoey
5:30 – Isabella
6:00 – Tess
6:30 – Victoria
7:00 – Anissa
7:30 – Sam
DO
WATCHBabycastles Academy: Email with Char Stiles
WRITE one (1) thoughtful observations in #thoughts_email channel in Slack
WATCH Steven Spielberg's experimental film project Director's Choices
WRITE one (1) thoughtful observations in #thoughts_choices channel in Slack
SUBMIT one (1) discovery to #discoveries channel in Slack.
CLASS 1: Formal/Technical Demo Day
MONDAY RECORDING:https://ysu.webex.com/ysu/ldr.php?RCID=be4c9d895e55491fa37a58aa3bb1cc44
password: yWMxRHJ3
DO
POST your final project materials/links for the 1-on-1 working critique in #final channel in Slack.
WATCHBabycastles Academy: Email with Char Stiles
WRITE one (1) thoughtful observations in #thoughts_email channel in Slack
WATCH Steven Spielberg's experimental film project Director's Choices
WRITE one (1) thoughtful observations in #thoughts_choices channel in Slack
SUBMIT one (1) discovery to #discoveries channel in Slack.
CLASS 2: NO CLASS
CLASS 1: WORKING CRITIQUE: Non-Linear Narrative
COME ONLY AT THE TIME BELOW (do not be late or early)
5:00 – Zoey
5:30 – Isabella
6:00 – Tess
6:30 – Victoria
7:00 – Anissa
7:30 – Sam
CLASS 2: WORKING CRITIQUE: Formal/Technical
COME ONLY AT THE TIME BELOW (do not be late or early)
5:00 – Lucas
5:30 – Naomi
6:00 – Alexis
6:30 – Emily
7:00 – Linda
MONDAY, 5:30-7:30PM: OPTIONAL meetings with Dana (please email in advance to set up time)
THURSDAY, NOON: FINAL PROJECT IS DUE!
FRIDAY, NOON: EVERYTHING ELSE IS DUE!
I used to think of higher education as stuffy and out of touch with reality. Before I began to work in a university environment, I never associated universities with technology and practical approaches to the modern world. I was wrong.
I’ve since witnessed how institutes of higher learning have embraced cutting-edge IT. Forward-thinking academic administrators use technology to put students first, accelerate learning, prepare tomorrow's leaders, and overcome a wide range of challenges.
Inspired by a Visionary Leader
I first joined as a consultant. I was coming off a 26-year stint at Mercy Health, one of the country's top nonprofit healthcare systems. I'd spent the last 15 years as a corporate IT executive and was asked to move to Cincinnati to eventually replace Mercy's retiring CIO. However, I wanted to stay in Youngstown for several reasons, one of which was that I was drawn to the technology landscape.
Sign Into My Webex Account
I never pictured myself taking a permanent position at YSU, but I was swayed by the vision of YSU President Jim Tressel. He has an entrepreneurial mindset and is very respected here in Ohio for his business acumen and philanthropy (and his place in the College Football Hall of Fame for a 25-year coaching career doesn’t hurt). When he took the reins at YSU in 2014, he energized the university's executive team with his hands-on approach. His leadership inspired me, so I accepted his offer to become our interim CIO in 2016 and was promoted to Associate VP and full-time CIO a year later.
YSU operates a 13,000-student campus, and we run the school like a small company. President Tressel might call my cell on a Saturday afternoon because he's had a great idea pop into his head. Our provost may want to discuss an IT issue on a Thursday night, and I'll gladly take his call. We're very informal that way: Our leaders talk to one another and exchange ideas on the spur of the moment. Sometimes, those moments are when the best plans become reality.
But for any plan to be effective, I had to solidify our IT strategy.
Shifting Our Focus to Standardization and Governance
When I took over as CIO, our IT infrastructure and collaborative tools were patched together with solutions from different vendors. My predecessor was an old school IT guy—tactical but not strategic. Rather than establishing a big-picture vision, he focused on staying within budget and keeping the lights on. Instead of providing IT leadership to the colleges, he gave them the freedom to do their own thing and simply offered support. We had stretched our IT resources to their limits, and I had to remedy the situation.
My mindset was the complete opposite of his. Coming from a large health system with 35,000 users across nine markets, I learned the value of strategy and standardization. So, I spent my first three years as YSU's CIO standardizing our application portfolio, our hardware, and our infrastructure refresh—everything from desktops to print stations and VoIP telephony. I took everything we had and consolidated our technology framework around two vendors: Microsoft and Cisco.
As part of this turnaround, my staff and I also turned our focus from maintenance to governance. In the past, YSU's IT staff was 99% tactical and 1% strategic. I worked with our teams to change those ratios. Our engineers and network architects are planners, and are now 80% strategic and 20% tactical. Meanwhile, our technicians are doers, and 80% of their role is focused on tactical work.
A Gift That Changed Everything
In 2017, YSU received a $1.1 million donation from Dr. Chandler Kohli, a prominent local neurosurgeon and the former chair of our Board of Trustees. He'd made a similar donation to to finance the purchase of , a tool that records and archives lectures. The idea was that having 24-hour access to lessons would help prevent students from dropping out because they missed a class.
Dr. Kolhi wanted to gift the same technology to YSU, but it only fit the needs of a small number of our students. Instead, President Tressel and I pitched him the idea of classrooms without walls. All educators know that learning extends beyond the classroom, and at YSU, we knew that it wouldn’t be long before traditional education moved away from being a solely in-person experience.
Instead of being physically present, we wanted students to be able to attend a lecture from their dorm room if they're not feeling well. Rather than driving an hour or two to campus, we wanted rural students to be able to participate from home. We wanted to give students the ability to collaborate with their peers and instructors in real time, not just a way to broadcast and archive lectures. But to make this work, we needed an interactive solution.
The Classrooms and Conference Rooms of Tomorrow
We established a permanent endowment with Dr. Kohli's donation and also equipped 13 classrooms with collaborative tools to serve all three colleges on the YSU campus. It was a pilot project and a learning initiative at the same time.
We had discussions with Dr. Lance Ford from Cisco about the power of Webex. We then engaged both Dave Jessup of , Dirk Holsopple of Cisco, and two of our own, Corey Pedaline (Engineer) and Jeff Wormley, who served as our internal project manager and was also instrumental with his vast AV engineering knowledge. Everyone brought a unique outlook to the table.
Cisco offered a global perspective; Lance is a powerhouse and a Cisco Webex evangelist who showed us how other universities like Rutgers and Case Western Reserve used the platform to promote distance learning. Logicalis and Cisco came to the project with strong technology design expertise. Our internal team helped customize Cisco and Logicalis' solutions to meet the specific needs of our student population. It was an equal partnership and a collaborative effort from day one.
Our 13 classrooms of the future all share the same design. We installed a camera bar and three 65-inch monitors (coding developed by the afformentioned Jeff Wormley) in portrait mode in the front of each room to act as a video wall that displays content. Next to that is a monitor in landscape mode that shows all the students attending remotely. In this way, the instructor and those students who are physically present can see and interact with remote learners. We also have a conference monitoring camera at the back of the room and ceiling-based microphones to give students attending online the same point of view as those present in the lecture hall.
We also embraced Webex for its messaging and meeting capabilities and built 10 conference rooms, also known as business spaces, for our internal use. These spaces tend to have dual 65-inch screens for content and participants, along with a single camera bar at the front of the room and an array of ceiling mics tailored to the size of each space.
Our Investment Prepared Us for the Global Pandemic
This all happened back in 2017, and our investment set us up to pivot online learning when the global pandemic transformed learning spaces in March 2020. Prior to that point, 90% of our learning happened in person, and only 10% of students were online. Fortunately, our lockdown order came while we were on spring break. We were supposed to resume classes on March 13th but President Tressel extended the break to the 23rd, which gave us 10 days to pivot all our courses to distance learning.
There was no way to schedule all our normal lectures in the 13 classrooms that were equipped with Webex. Even if we booked the rooms around the clock, we couldn't accommodate the thousands of hours of instruction delivered in our 400 classrooms and lecture halls. But there was another silver lining to our earlier Webex adoption: in addition to a campus-wide license for Microsoft Teams, we also had a campus-wide license for Cisco Webex.
Given the urgency of the situation, we let our instructors choose the remote learning platform best suited to their activity instead of imposing a solution from the top down. For example, our music faculty initially chose Zoom because it had a high-fidelity music mode that disables echo cancellation, eliminates compression, and enhances audio codec quality. We signed a one-year deal with Zoom when Webex lacked this functionality, but now that Cisco added this feature, our music school will be switching over to Webex when that agreement expires.
Shaping the Future of Instructional Delivery
Many people have become familiar with Cisco Webex over the course of 2020, but the platform has effectively changed the future of instructional delivery at YSU. Our provide an immersive experience that allows remote learners to interact with their onsite peers through Cisco Webex. We also use for Learning Management Systems to schedule classes and office hours, share files, record lectures and classroom sessions, and collect and view attendance data and other useful analytics.
We’ve adapted to meet the needs of our current students while eyeing the impacts of our shifting student demographic. Most of our learners come from the immediate vicinity, with three counties supplying 80% of our student population. However, the number of high school graduates is declining locally, and we have to look further afield to attract new candidates.
With Cisco Webex, we can give students in rural areas the opportunity to take remote classes part or most of the time. Instead of spending an hour or more driving into Youngstown every day, they can come in once a week for in-person activities, such as study groups, labs, and one-on-one meetings with their professors. Distance learning is a stopgap measure right now, but a small group of teachers had begun to champion Cisco Webex before the pandemic, and we'd like to increase their numbers over time.
The Gift of Choice
President Tressel's vision and Dr. Kohli's generous gift gave YSU a head start in distance learning. Our technology investment allowed us to serve our students and staff during the pandemic and has laid the groundwork for the university's future. We didn't plan it this way, but the pandemic forced us to expand our use of remote learning and collaborative tools.
Our experience with Cisco Webex has been an incredible journey. It not only prepared us to weather this crisis, but it is also the cornerstone of our strategy to innovate and attract new students from across the state. Right now, our students have to learn from home, but when the world goes back to normal, they'll be able to choose between onsite, online, and hybrid learning.