Sunday, April 7, 2013

SoundCloud on your Blogger

Step 1: Go to your SoundCloud Profile, select Share and copy the
Widget Code.
If you are a musician, or simply a person who loves music, and you want to share this passion via your Blogger, but you don't know how to tackle the problem... Continue reading friend, because I will walk you through the process of making a SoundCloud feed on your blog. The more I use Blogger, the more impressed I become with its functionality. The Gadgets are truly amazing and allow for almost any HTML code to be embedded in the top, bottom, or side bar of your blog. The screen shots in this
blog post walk you through the process step-by-step.
Step 2: In Blogger, go to Layout and select the Add a Gadget button.











Step 3: Select the HTML/JavaScript Gadget.


















Step 4: Give your Gadget a title and paste the code.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

QR Codes in Art Education

Art installations enhanced with QR codes.
When a person thinks of QR codes, they rarely picture art work or artists, but at Korea International School things are a little different. Our Art department has a spring art show each year where our students showcase their artistic endeavors. The art teachers adopted online portfolios for high school students two years ago, and this year they added the middle school students to that initiative.  So the art teachers started wondering, "what else can we do with technology?" QR codes in the art installations! Now a student creates an art installation for the spring art show with QR codes included that direct the audience to the student's online portfolio. Instead of posting a reflection or additional information about the art piece next to the art work, they can save space by simply placing a QR code next to the art work. Audience members can use the QR code to listen to a reflection about the piece, or look at other art pieces by the student.
Example of an audio art reflection linked to a QR code.
It is a simple idea that adds great value to the art show and allows a student to share more art work with the audience members. Genius!

KIS Secondary Art Department: Sara Arno, Sondra Mullenax, Sallie Inman, and Angel Catholic

Monday, April 1, 2013

Thoughts on being in a "State of war" with N. Koera

We are coming off our spring break here at KIS; Aysem (@aysem_bray) and I stayed here in Seoul to simply rest, recharge, and work on a few projects. So, being here in Korea, you can imagine how surprised I was to receive a frantic Skype from my mother asking about the war between North and South Korea. The "war" went by rather unnoticed here in South Korea. For those of you unfamiliar with the antics of North Korea, let me simply say -- they're crazy. Period. End of story. And as one of my psychology professors once said, "Don't try to understand someone who is insane, because... Well... They're crazy." But, if you look at what is happening with N. Korea, you can see some logic at play; it is just a very, very strange logic.

The first thing to understand is that N. Korea and S. Korea have been at war since 1950; in 1953 they agreed to a truce, not peace. So when Kim Jung-Un, the new great leader, says that N. Korea is at a "state of war" with S. Korea, it really is old news. They have always been in a "state of war." The second thing to understand is that N. Korea really wants to get the US and S. Korea to the bargaining table and ridiculous threats have worked in the past. Third, Kim Jung-Un is trying to establish himself as the legitimate ruler of the country and like grandpa and dad -- he isn't afraid of the S. Korea and the US. Finally, and this is my opinion, the new S. Korean president is a woman. Mrs. Park will hopefully prove herself to be a tough lady who will not bend to the threats of the North, but is it surprising to think that a reclusive country shut-off to the modern world for the last 60 years would be sexist? Not really. There you have it -- North Korean threats of war explained in a nutshell. But, like my psychology professor said, "Don't try..." You get the picture.