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First we make our tools, then our tools form us… The famous quote, above, is often attributed to Marshall McLuhan, but a number of people can lay claim to this insight about the relationship between man and machine. I’ve spoken, in stage one, about the way that modern society is a system of machines (machine… Continue reading Platforms + Technics

Observation forms the basis of scientific methodology and creative practice…but the way we observe is culturally informed by the immediate circumstances of our experience, and by the way that the world is presented to us. Also, we change what we are observing by looking at it… Remember that systems of observation always become systems of… Continue reading How to Observe…

In my first post, below, I described some of the main ideas that might be interesting to you in the consideration of design and learning…The names I mentioned were Jean Jacques Rousseau and Ivan Illich, Stuart Hall and Pierre Bourdieu. You can add Jacques Ranciere to that group too. The work of Michel Foucault is… Continue reading Theory + Thematics

Clem Crosby gave a wonderful presentation to BAGCD stage two students for their U8 writing. The presentation was framed as academic support for writing; but I though it could also have been framed as an example of UX design, where you are the writer. The slide, shown above, shows six question that the critical reader… Continue reading Critical Reading as UX Design

I have already referred to the Dubberly model of creative process that we introduced in stage one. This promotes a cycle of observe, make and reflect..to support iteration, experimentation and development. It’s a process as much as an outcome. Your reflective statements should be presented and structured so as to follow this model, and so… Continue reading Observe • Make • Reflect

A substantial part of the U8 contextual report is comprised from the reflective statements that summarise each of your platform project outcomes. By the end of the unit, you will have three of these. In the structural outline that I described in an earlier post, I suggested that your reflective statements would comprise the evidence… Continue reading Reflective Statements

The purpose of the contextual report (U8) is to situate, or support, your practice (U7) with research. The report should include your reflective statements, and develop them further by placing them in the context of a conversation, across time and space, between people, ideas and objects… The thematic conversation is an opportunity for you to… Continue reading Joining the Thematic Conversation

All academic presentations conform to a general template that requires the alignment of thematic concepts, evidence and analysis. These will distinguish the final form of your U8 contextual report. We’ll frame these sections using the familiar terms from Dubberly’s model (introduced in stage one) of observe, make and reflect. These parts of presentation are always… Continue reading Presenting: Structure + Proportion

The name of Walter Benjamin came up in our conversation, between Mikael and me, last Monday, about cultural capital. Specifically, we mentioned his essay, The Author as Producer (1934) You can download Benjamin’s essay, here https://monoskop.org/images/9/93/Benjamin_Walter_1934_1999_The_Author_as_Producer.pdf Benjamin was writing at a particular moment in history and describing the the consequences of technological change in relation… Continue reading Mentioning Walter Benjamin

Hi everyone This is a blog in which Paul Rennie shares resources to help and support you in the work of U8. BAGCD U8 provides an opportunity for you to reflect on the platform project work that you are completing in U7. This year, the platform projects begin with a shared theme of Education and… Continue reading Welcome to U8…