My Small but Significant Triumphs with Online Tools

This week I've done some heavy aesthetic editing to my website. I got the pictures back from my photographers and was very excited to get them on my site.

I thought that once I got the photos, I'd get a new template for my site and have a cool picture sliding feature on it. Instead, I spent hours on Wednesday wrestling with new templates and sliders. It turns out that to really get what you want from a website, you either have to find the perfect template that is also user-friendly or learn CSS. So, I plan to eventually learn CSS. Until then, I'm going to keep my original template but "jazz it up" as best I can. I'm also going to look into plug-ins and see which ones will work with my template. A lot of this so far has been trial and error.

Anyways, after deciding to stick with my original, very user-friendly template, I began to resize my photos because the original photos are 13+MB and WordPress will only allow up to 4MB photos. I found a great online tool for resizing pictures. It's called PicResize and it resizes single photos or large batches of photos quickly.

After that was completed, I spent some time in Photoshop creating a good background for my site. This was again a lot of trial and error. I had to place the photos on a blank layer and then spread them the perfect length apart to get them to look the way they do on my site.

This is what my website's background looks like in Photoshop

Thankfully, it turned out great:

I'm really pleased with the way my site looks now. I wrote two blog posts this week and I think I'm going to make a goal to write a post 1-2 times per week. Hopefully I'll be able to get some guest blogging going once a month and eventually some question and answer blogs. Right now I'm trying to figure out how to get my site to post excerpts of the blogs with a "Continue Reading" option on the front page rather than the entire blogs automatically. Some templates come with that feature automatically, but as far as I can tell, mine doesn't.

There is still more work I'd like to do on the blog, such as adding pictures to my Pages (Reasons, Advice, etc.) editing on those pages, creating other pages such as "Submit Your Story," and a more user-friendly contact page. I'd also like to create a Facebook page and get readership that way. I've already created a Twitter account (@EarlyHomecoming) and am learning now the best way to tweet and get more readership. All of this will come with time. Right now, I'm just excited that it's up and going. I've received lots of support from friends and family for my project, and from others that I don't even know. I hope that anyone who needs it will soon be able to easily find it.

Working Outline for Educational Fandoms

Introduction: Talk about fandoms, the stigmas and how they can be compared to academia.

Thesis: One of the values of fandoms come from their ability to reignite the original flame of literary education; by creating a desire to study, engage, and think critically about the text enabling a remarkable academic experience without all of the pressures and stigma of academia.

Body of Paper:

• Address counterarguments (erotica fanfiction, shipping wars, etc)
• Fanfiction is a stepping stone. It leads to further integration into the world of the story (further study, etc)
• address counter arguments to this point (some is horribly off base, badly written, etc) The argument isn't that it is as good as polished academia, it's that it could be.
• Add in pictures if you. (various pins you've found on facebook, also fan theories)
• Discuss the stigmas of fandoms and how that effects the way people view them and how they think of themselves.
• Fandoms are nerdy and have problems connecting to reality
• All fans are antisocial
• All fans are "weird"
• Fans are "better" than other people
• Fans have more fun
• Etc. (stigmas can and should be both good and bad and from both sides.)
• The main focus of this paper needs to be about fandoms and they way they study and immerse themselves in the world of the fandom. How they study it with minute detail. Professors and scholars can be part of a fandom without even knowing it, just by loving the work that they're studying. Fans could open the doorway to a new literary (and cinematic) canon that has previously been untouched in most universities. There's an entire world of literature that academics haven't even touched! (or, if they have, there is still plenty to be said on it)

Conclusion: Why fandoms can benefit academia. Why we should care.

We should care, because fans and fandoms are a community that is only going to continue growing. We should care about their growth and what they do with their talents the same way we care about the humanities and the education one receives from a degree in English. There is so much that we can learn from studying the little things that these fandoms are looking at everyday. Looking at individual lines of dialogue and emotion with the same amount of concentration that we do traditional canological texts. This can open up a whole new world and it's so exciting! There are classes and papers written on various well-known "fan" literature, but there is so much more than we can be found. And though Harry Potter may well become part of the scholarly canon, what about Percy Jackson and the Olympians? Or the Hunger Games? (probably plenty written about that, it's such a huge social commentary). But are there going to be college classes taught about it? Will it be remembered in 15-20 years? This is a chance for the people to be able to immortalize the authors rather than only the academics. A way for the canon to become more open to people other than straight white males. There are endless possibilities and fandoms can be the beginning of it!

Working Outline for DIY Project

Introduction - Relevance of DIY/Maker Movement in the professional atmosphere

Thesis: Argument that DIY in the professional sphere is due to the digital tools available to turn the amateur into the professional

Introduce the relevance and commonality of amateurs becoming professionals. Address communities practicing these efforts online ("makers, hackers..." Google+ group).

Case Study: My correspondence with Kristin Thornton

• 100 Etsy Sales
• Her BYU business degree
•  Knitted beards
• idea
• correspondence with other Etsy producers
• positive/negative experiences with the Etsy
• transition from amateur to a "professional"
• patent laws

Introduce Anderson's theories to call for digital resource examples (aside from Etsy)
Include my research on Internet Explorer's new platform for creating and distributing content (Amy Burvall).

Conclusion - Impact of small businesses cropping up from amateur makers. Something inspiring to motivate the benefit of the amateur to professional transition.

Working Post: DIY Homemade to Professional

Working Thesis Statement: Entrepreneurs are professionalizing the Do It Yourself culture through utilizing digital means to create small businesses.

Preliminary Exploration: Through Anderson's book, I have gained increasing interest in the Maker Movement in terms of the entrepreneurship. In my review of his Makers book, I review the means by which Anderson lays out his argument. I have read about several inspirational cases in that have given me insight as to the variety of fields in which amateur makers have gone professional. I am using the preliminary insights that I have gained as a basis for the rest of my research.

Relevance: The Maker Movement gaining professional pick-up is extremely relevant as the economy is having to adapt to the changes of digital culture and an online free market economy. The opportunities now available to entrepreneurs can make drastic long-term changes for empowerment of small businesses. It also empowers the idea of the American dream as individuals can easily use the resources available to become professionals.

Format: I would like to write a research paper accompanied by an abstract for submission.

Outlet: I have decided to submit a 250-word abstract to an International Conference with the theme of DIY Culture. The topic from the conference I have chosen to write about is DIY Careers: Social and Professional pathways. 

Curation: 

Primary Sources - Data regarding Etsy business trends and historical information on Etsy success and failures. I also intend to research the transition from amateur to professional. I also intend to research the prosumer trend and the constructivist pedagogy.

Secondary Source (so far): Chris Anderson, Makers: The New Industrial Revolution (Random House, 2012).

Communities: Google+ community Makers, hackers, artists, & engineers; Goodreads review of Anderson's Makers

Social Proof: I have been following the communities listed above and plan on making assertive contributions as I ask specific questions to individuals instead of posting general questions to "the public." I have also been following Amy Burvall, who is a maker enthusiast but teacher by profession. Her association is becoming less relevant as her focus is dominantly hobbyist in nature and does not apply as much to becoming professional. However, my friend, Kristin Thornton, has recently achieved her 100th sale on Etsy as of November 27. Kristin crochets beards and caters to the long tail consumers who desire her selection of knitted beards. I plan on using her experience to demonstrate the effectiveness of DIY turned pro. I also hope to get more familiar with Etsy through our correspondence.

Next Step: I plan on getting more specific with my social correspondents and really get a more specific audience so I can decide if I really want to pursue Etsy producers and consumers. I also need to start working on my paper so that I can then write my abstract for submission. I feel that writing my abstract afterward and then submitting will be a more accurate summary of my final, polished ideas.

A Working Post: The Literary Effects of Youth and E-Readers

Working Thesis Statement:
While many people enjoy the traditional use of books for learning, E-readers are a modern method of educating students that advance the reading and writing proficiency of youth through its tailored learning features and easier access to online learning.

Preliminary Exploration:
I have read more blogs and articles than I can count on this subject. I have also discovered great non-profit organizations that actually service youth by providing them with e-reads to promote literacy. I have curated a lot of material here on Springpad. I have also written blogs about youth thriving by embracing the net generation they are in, completing a book review regarding youth being online, and how important it is to incorporate digital culture into the classroom and educating more. I have also written in several forums and communities to gather input from others.

Relevance:
This subject is relevant to the subject of digital humanities, as there is a lot of debate surrounding the topic of whether or not reading on a tablet is as beneficial as reading from a book. School districts are starting to put these e-readers in classrooms for students to use, but there are also a lot of teachers against this idea. I don't want teachers to think I'm advocating to rid students of books (heaven forbid), but I want to inspire teachers to embrace this other form of advancing literacy among their students.

Format:
I will be writing an academic research paper.

Outlet:
I want to do a guest blog post at Learn Egg and a proposal for the Journal of Youth Development. Both are great resources that are relevant with my subject.

Curation:
a) Content for Analysis: I have curated a lot of data through documented research projects, my own personal observations and experiences, trends.
b.) Secondary texts: I have curated a large number of blogs and articles, Don Tapscott's book, Grown Up Digital, and a lot of scholarly research from my classmates.
c.) Community: There are some great Google+ communities that focus on digital culture and technology in education, such as here, EdTech, and E-Learning and Digital Cultures.

Social Proof:
I have done a lot of social proof on my Facebook page, and I've especially reached out to friends who have become teachers and my past educators. I have also created a Twitter account that has allowed me to spark conversation. I have made posts in several Google+ communities and forums that are relevant to my subject. My Facebook efforts have been the most helpful. I haven't gotten many responses from the other sources.

Next Steps:
I've curated a lot of research, so now I need to organize and outline my paper. I also want to push for more social proof. Although I have received feedback from my Facebook friends, I would really like to get a conversation going in relevant websites that focus on education and digital culture.