USES OF THE INTERNET....

I need to have exposure to like-minded institutions to develop pedagogies for these new froms of education. Our approach to the new and growing fields of ‘telepresence’ would be greatly enhanced by this travel grant. I have been working with Sogang University with its summer study abroad program in addition to the digital arts and technology programs to further the important filed of a fully enhanced teleconferencing center. The institutional costs of centers of teleconferencing have lowered each year. Many educational institutions worldwide can benefit from these teleconferenced ‘linkages’ between like institutions. A glaring factor has emerged with the consideration of a total ‘kinesthetic’ space of leaning and cultural collaboration. These space-like much of the low-cost Internet social computing portals-are ripe for an enhancement. This enhancement of image, moving image, text, sound, and many different file formats such as the three dimensional and PDF file formats can combine into a collaborative distance learning space that has enhanced the usability and ‘human factors’ attributes to compliment the cognitive learning through distance and cultures. ‘Immersive environments’ not only can have parts of certain cultural features such as performance, recitation, film, and music, but these spaces can also be used as real time collaborative spaces with the appropriate deliveries of information and participation within.
Through my dozen or so trips to South Korea to lecture, teach for extended periods of time, and conduct workshops, I have developed a relationship with Sogang University that has expanded this work to create these ‘spaces of cultural telepresence’. While the technology currently exists to create these fully immersive, 365 degree projection of mutable image, sound, and text, the means of linking up with similar institutions around the world is a product of human and institutional relationships that find cultural commonalities and the technical means to impart these collaborative spaces.
For example: a series of performances, and exhibitions entailing modern and ancient Korean forms of performances were established on a blog, a Youtube site, Skype as a means of distance collaboration, and wrapped up in a broadcasted performance. All of these teleconferencing technologies were brought together in a real time (skype, ichat) and archived (Blogger and Youtube) space. The result existed as an archive for further study abroad disciplines and participations, as well as a format for collaboration and human factors study in the technical and cognitive benefits of working with cultural forms online.