Studio Exploration: Second Story Studios

Second Story Studios is located in Portland, Oregon and produces interactive content largely for museums and cultural institutions, both on the Web and in interactive gallery installations.

Blogging Goals

Goals for the course blog include encouraging student exploration and contemplation of issues related to contemporary interactive media arts and the studios and artists making it. Students will explore the Web to find, share, and discuss compelling and cutting-edge examples of interactive media design. Students will further investigate and discuss issues and practices related to interactive media including technology use; design principles and techniques; creative, developmental and business processes; and critical/theoretical analysis.

Given that all of the students in the class will be searching and exploring the Internet for design studios, artists, projects, resources, and other information that relate to interactive media design, a collaborative course blog will allow each student (and the instructor) to be exposed to more (and higher quality) projects and resources than each may have found on their own. Beyond being exposed to a wider variety of content (and points of view) students will contribute to the "collective intelligence" of the course and play a role in shaping course content and their own experience with the course.

Blogging Policies

Students are required to:

1. Remember that the purpose of the blog is academic and that they have a responsibility to contribute to the collective learning of the group. Posts should relate in some way to course content.
2. Post using their real name. Knowing that others will read their postings, students should not make comments that they would not make in person to another student's face.
3. Refrain from posting abusive or profane content.
4. Refrain from posting links to content or materials that they have not thoroughly reviewed.
5. Strive for the best writing (including grammar use) and analysis that they are capable of.
6. Include links to outside sites, sources, and reference materials, particularly resources that may be useful or interesting to other students, whenever possible.