I have been really thinking about the use of digital mediums that I’m using in the process and product.  A number of questions arise in my mind.

• Has the wiki and the blog been a valuable tool for the process?
• Will the wiki and the blog be valuable after the process for the exegesis?
• Are the the social networking sites we are developing for the characters going to be beneficial?
• Will the student audience look at these sites?
• Will they add another level of engagement for the student audience?
• Will this provide an avenue for teachers to work on follow up material?
• Have all of these been valuable as research?

The blog and the wiki seem to have proven themselves as valuable throughout the process so far.  The blog for recount rehearsals and the process and reflecting on thoughts that will hopefully be of use for my exegesis.  The wiki while not as interactive as I would have hoped have still been valuable for me to post my ideas and the others to read and engage with them.  It is a great medium as well being able to post all types of media – text, image, sound, movie, and links to other digital media sites.

I also wonder about how valuable using this technology has been for the ensemble.  We are engaging with all of the technology that could be used to cyber bully another. This is in a way a form of research and I would argue an effective one.  It has really given me a greater perspective for how easy could be to cyber bully another on a variety or different digital mediums.  I could create a blog or wiki which bullied another.  Fake myspace accounts which degrade someone.

In regards to the profiles we created for the characters it will be interesting to see if any students engage with them and to see what develops.  I think it’s really an interesting avenue to explore and it would be great to really have the time to explore this further.  I also wonder if having these is going to be a factor that gets students engaged with the content a little more.

I know I said I was going to start with discussing the brief but since sitting down and reflecting I have decided that it is first essential to briefly discuss the process and how it proceeded which will hopefully to a certain degree illuminate the series of posts to follow.

The process was roughly broken up into four phases: research, devise, score and rehearse. These names really do not do justice in describing what happens in the process and even at what time they occur. For instance this is not a linear sequence progressing from one to the other on certain dates. Instead it is more like a fluid Rhizome (this is not exactly the word I’m after but it will do for now) each phase expanding and contracting as they become more or less important or necessary in the process. The Rhizome areas grow and out grow each other at different stages changing day to day and week to week. At the start of the process there is no rehearsing as such, minimal scoring, some devising and a lot of research

Looking at this diagram I am positive a Rhizome is not the word I want but I cannot find nor articulate a word that encompasses my thoughts. Therefore I will leave it as Rhizome for the moment. Looking at this during the later stages of the process we would see that the research has shrunk in comparison to the devising and scoring aspects of the process and rehearsing has appeared but still remains relatively small in comparison.

Initially I had perceived the process as more linear and actually had planned specific dates that would mark the transition to the next phase. What I’ve learnt is that while these dates were important in the time line to ensure the process moves forward and reaches where it needs to be in time, it is not a linear structure and each phase will organically and fluidly become more and less important as the process evolves.