2009 December | Dan Mason's media and learning blog

Multimedia journalism Lesson 1: It’s about people, not technology

Published: December 31, 2009

I was intrigued by the story of a couple of historians who walked 350 miles, following the footsteps of King Harold in 1066.

Their trek from York to Hastings traced, loosely, the route of Harold and his army after beating off a Norwegian invasion then immediately setting off south for his fateful meeting with William.

Here’s the thing. The journey took them exactly the same time as Harold. OK, shoes and roads might have improved. But what determined their speed was the weight of their tools (which they could control) x the number of daylight hours (which they couldn’t). They simply couldn’t have got there faster.

It’s a bit of a leap, I know. Odd things occur to me on planes. But something similar can be said for multimedia learning.

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So THAT’S what an interactive newspaper really looks like …

Published: December 3, 2009

What Pranav Mistry can’t do with the insides of an old computer mouse is no-one’s business. Or, rather, it’s everyone’s business, because it could change life as we know it.

The beginning of this video has Pranav tinkering with the rollers from a mouse and sticking webcams on his bike helmet. By the end (it does go on for over ten minutes, but – trust me – it’s worth it) we’re dialling people with our hands, accessing our computers on a scrap of paper and taking photographs using only our fingers. Blimey.

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Soundslides star in Nick’s round-Britain Slowcoast odyssey

Published: December 1, 2009

This latest post applauding great examples of audio slideshows is not so much about a Soundslides project, but a Soundslides epic. I mean it. Think Illyad.

So meet Nick Hand, left, a Bristol born-and-bred graphic designer and photographer … with a bike.

This summer he cycled 5,000-odd miles around the minor coast roads and tracks of Britain, A – to see if he could “still do it at the grand age of 52”, B – “to find out more about the island I live on and the people I share it with”, and C – to raise money for people with Parkinson’s, like his brother.

En route, Nick set himself the additional challenge of speaking to artisans who live and work on the coast – people who “make their living from passion and craft.”

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