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Diary

1st Entry...   Feb 15

On Wednesday 13th of February our first meeting took place at Turku University. This was my first contact with things like "Wikiversity" or "Benchmarking". Also the university- and course system is very different compared to Austria and what we are used to.
All this new experiences promised an interesting time and work over the next few months right from the beginning.

Here is our Facebook-Group:

University of Turku - Social Media


2nd Entry...   Feb 19

In the same week I started to do the Benchmarking about the topic "How big Cultural Heritage Insitutions present themselves in Social Media" which I already mentioned in the firts meeting. Beside this task I had a couple of things to finish for our teachers in Graz, so the Benchmarking took a little bit longer than expected.
Further, the investigation of cultural heritage institutions and organizations and their use of Social Media turned out to be a little bit more extensive than expected. Also the transfer from my papers to the Wikiversity platform was a little tricky because all of us weren’t able to change the language. It was kind of experiencing by doing but finally it worked out quite well.

Here you can see the result:



3rd Entry...   Feb 23

The second meeting on Wednesday 20th of February took place at the Café Art in Turku. A very nice place to exchange ideas...
There we presented our experiences and investigation results. It was very interesting to see and to hear what the others did and which approach they chose because we all have different backgrounds.


After our presentations we talked about what we’d learned in our previous semesters in EuroMACHS. Leigh Ann told us about the Turku main foci of cultural and urban heritage, the philosophies of objectivism, medievalism and ethnography.


On the other hand we told Leigh Ann about the Graz center points of documentation, data modeling and especially about the tools and their possibilities we got to know in the Web 2.0 and Social Media course.



4th Entry...   Feb 24

After our meeting I continued and finished my Benchmarking. I searched for more details and further information about all the cultural heritage institutions I chose to investigate. That was a good possibility to get to know new Social Media platforms I didn't know or use before like Pinterest for example. Also the organizations' different representations in Social Media were very interesting to me.
The final transfer into the Wikiversity document was new for me as well. But after some try I knew how to do it.


5th Entry...   Feb 27

First report after
our first two weeks
in this course...








6th Entry...  Mar 1

I read the Introduction chapter from the book “Heritage and Social Media. Understanding heritage in a participatory culture” but unfortunately I had no time to read the chapter I chose so far. We had little problems with lending and copying the book but in the end it worked out and I think I’m able to read it within the next days and sum it up for the others.


7th Entry...   Mar 6

I read the chapter I'd chosen after we came back from our amazing Lapland-Trip.



Chapter 6: "Heritage Knowledge, Social Media and the Sustainability of the Intangible"
by Dagny Stuedahl and Christina Mörtberg

Check out the summary:

Heritage Knowledge, Social Media and the Sustainability of the Intangible 


8th Entry...   Mar 8

On Thursday 7th of March we had our third meeting, again in Café Art in Turku. Each of us presented his/her chapter to the group. The topics were really different but interesting and I think everyone could use some of the contents for his/her own future project as well as for the group project.
We also discussed about our group project we want to make. We thought about making some kind of "Heritage Tracker" to lean in to the Facebook page of Mu Pori o kaunis but maybe with the city of Turku. In our next meeting on Tuesday 12th we'll discuss further details to the group work.
However, we decided to make a blog where everybody can make contibutions to the group work and where we present our progress in the group project.

Production of Social Media - Group Project: Heritage Tracker


 9th Entry...   Mar 14
 
At our 4th meeting in Café Art on March 12th we discussed the framework and some of the contents we want to work on within our group project.
Everyone of us showed a supporting scientific research paper he/she had found for presenting the ideas to the planned Cultural Heritage Tracker. The outcome of these presentations was really satisfying to me because I have the feeling that this group project is truly working and it seems that everybody is happy with the context and the implications we want to make, even though it's  "only" a theoretical project.
Also the mixture of interest, knowledge and emphsis is well-balanced in th group. Each of us focuses on a differnt aspect of the whole project which is quite pleasant for every single individual. But it's not that far away so that there is always a connection between us people and the topics we work on. Further we created a brainstorming document with all the things we want to implement in the Cultural Heritage Tracker and realize in the project. That was already a good start.
As well, we're quite aware of all the steps we have to do and all the possible challenges and threats we have to solve before finishing the project.
I'm really looking forward to work on this Heritage Tracker and I'm curious what will be the final outcome of our project.

Here is the links to the summaries of the related articles I found to my special theme and focus:



10th Entry...   Mar 15

After our meeting we started a Google Doc to get our thoughts together and to make some kind of an idea paper about the project including timetable, division of labor and the individual steps we plan to do.
We tried to point out our main topic and our aims within the project, as well as our theoretical and practical considerations about a cultural heritage tracker.

This is the list of steps we thought would be useful for the project.


First
  • Do online research about the visual representation of Turku on different websites. How could photos be used for a tracker?
  • Selection and analysis of some photosharing sites from inhabitants of Turku
  • Find and share related articles, research papers and applications
Then
  • Combine our individual research into one paper
  • Analyse an existing sports tracker and see which features are useful for a Heritage Tracker
  • Field study (track a tour through Turku as example) and share it through social media, take photos of CH sites
  • Combine theoretical considerations and results of our field study
Finally
  • Write a final paper and select the photos of the cultural heritage locations for the tracker 
  • Make a video (how to use the tracker)

We also want to include SWOT analysis to be sure about possible strengths, weaknesses, oportunities and threats.


11th Entry...   Mar 23

Yesterday we met again in Café Art - fifth meeting. There we discussed the next steps regarding our Cultural Tracker group project and it is slowly taking shape. However, we had a few problems to get the whole thing started but I can't really say why. Everybody is ambitious and takes care of his part of the project but it doesn't seem that it's really working together... Maybe it's because we're not really sure what the final outcome should be or will be.
Additionally, the Tumblr blog doesn't seem to support our needs as we'd like and so we moved our project into a Wordpress blog... suddelny everything looks brighter!

Turku Culture Tracker


12th Entry...   Mar 25

Our Wordpress blog started to run quite good and it looks and developes in a really satisfying way. Everybody contributed posts about theoretical and practical research and it looks like the small single parts of our project are finally coming together.

My task was to post a short description to Sports Tracking Applications and how they work. I chose a tracking tool called "My Tracks" by Google. I used it a couple of times myself on my smartphone and I think that this app has all features we need for our tracking project.


My Tracks uses the GPS sensor in your device to record geographic and velocity statistics, but the app also syncs with third-party biometric sensors. My Tracks records path, speed, distance, and elevation while walking, running, biking, or doing anything else outdoors. While recording, one can view data live, annotate the path, and hear periodic voice announcements of the progress.

Here you can see the result:

Sports Tracking Applications


13th Entry...   Mar 27

Unfortunately I wasn't able to take part in the video conference today...


14th Entry...   Mar 30

We all finished the research and theoretical part of our project and it seems that all the work fits together very well. Now we're starting to divide the labour of the practical things of our tracker project and everybody goes back to work ;)

I'm very excited what our video will look like in the end...


15th Entry...   Apr 5

The last week was very fruitful concerning the video ideas and the storyboard. I think it's nearly finished and all the scenes are pretty clear and relatively easy to realize. We're going to direct everything on the 9th of April - thats going to be a lot of work but hopefully also a lot of fun...

I almost forgot to mention that we have a name... FOLLOW ME!


16th Entry...   Apr 9

The day of recording the video material was really a lot of fun and also very successful. We started with searching a location for the first scene (the local leaves the house). It took us quite a while but then we found a perfect door enterance at the History building of Turku University.
Along with the first scene came also a few really funny takes we can use for the outtakes :)
The second scene in front of the Turku cathedral took us a little bit longer due to passing-right-through-the-scene-bikers and -pedestrians. I like people!
Almost all the other scenes were one-takes and also the last scene in Café Art was recorded without any problems.



We're all really excited what the raw material looks like...


17th Entry...  Apr 12

The first cutting looks amazing and also fitting music has been found. Now the difficult and long part has started - making all the designs for the graphic work and maps for our "animated"/"comic" part of the video. Also the voice recordings are in progress.
Here I can show a few single buildings I drew for the "animated" scenes,...


... our faces walking through the city ...


... and a first preview of how it could look like when it all comes together ;)



18th Entry...   Apr 14

We're still in progress and now have some graphic prieviews of the app itself...



19th Entry...   Apr 15

There's a competition going on in the C.H.I.E.F. (Cultural Heritage Innovation European Forum). The are looking for future projects dealing with the topic “Cultural Tourism/Internationalization & Localization”. Our Heritage Tracker fits just perfectly for that and this could be the fist step into international cooperation and attention for all of us. I guess we're all really excited and hope that we can win a trip to Barcelona or Florence to present our project.
We wrote some catchy abstracts about the project, made a very nice group photo, updated the bolg and made everything ready to take part in the contest. So far, there is not much goining on in the forum, maybe we have good chances!

Keep your fingers crossed! ;)

GROUPPHOTO --> coming soon


20th Entry...   Apr 29

Long time no see... or something like that
The last 2 weeks were really busy and we made a good progress in drawing graphics, writing the text, recording the speech and making a first raw-cut. Everything looked pretty fine but something was missing! A last real scene should be directed that the plot of the video and the amazing "remembering-scene" makes sense.
Vappu is near and so we decided to shoot it in a Vappu style. The last scene should connect the memory of a person to the place the tourist is visiting in the video - I think Vappu was a perfect choice. LeighAnn stole her husband's old student-overall and his Vappu-cap and we had all the props for the scene, pear juice as champagne replacement included!
To be honest, I was totally unmotivated to shoot again but at least we just needed two takes and about 15 minutes to get it. And finally the video makes more sense - glad we did it, though. And we could convince camera shy Nora to act in that short scene as well - victory!


21st Entry... May 8

Bad news - they didn't chose our project!
ByeBye Spain and Italy!
It would have been nice!

:(


22nd Entry...   May 11

Finally some good news!
We (actually Nina and Nora) had time to make the final cut! The video is completed and it looks very nice. The girls and we all did a great job! We didn't expect it to be so "professional" when the idea of
making a video came up in the beginning of the semester. It was a lot of work but it was worth it, definitely. Everything fits together so nicely - the real scenes, the "animated" graphics, the static graphics, the speach and the music is also not so bad. The best free music we found.
It feels very good to complete something and to see the result of hard working!

Prepare your tissues and hide the children! IT#S VIDEO TIME


 


23rd Entry...   May 14 

Today we finally had the official video release presentation of our cultural tracker application “Follow Me” at the University of Pori. I guess we were all really excited about that because we already knew that there is a “real audience”, other students and also some people from the local museum and from local business companies. That kind of critical audience that is in the heritage business and that knows what’s going on. The baptism of fire for our project.

The ride to Pori was early in the morning - at least for us - and we were all pretty tired but when we arrived in Pori it was sunny and warm - good weather for sightseeing. But there was no time, not yet. We passed the pedestrian zone, the main square, the church and the bridge. The university building is really nice - an old cotton factory. Perfect place for modern use of heritage.
 
First we had a little introduction into the history of Pori and the university, as well as into the university system. I really like the collaboration work of different departments from a couple of Finnish universities. They also work together with businesses which is a good thing to get in touch with the “real world” and maybe to gain a foothold in heritage business. After the introduction we had lunch with a very nice student from Pori University, Nana. Very nice place and very good and cheap food - nice place for students.
 
Then came the moment of truth. We presented our tracker application to the audience. Two ladies from the local museum, one business guy from Pori and two students. I think we did a good job, we had split the work before and everyone of us had about 5 minutes to explain his/her part of the app. Also the reactions were really positive in my opinion. They had a lot of questions and suggestions, which is really good to get feedback from heritage people. I think we see the project from a little different point of view now and we also think more about how to realize the project in reality with cooperators and funding. It was good to find the boundaries of what we can do ourselves and for what we would need help.

Unfortunately the rest of the day was not so nice. When we got out of the university building it started to rain and storm very heavily. The only thing we saw from Pori was the church (very beautiful though) and a café where I had a coke and a salmon bread! Also not too bad.

Generally I'd say that the trip and especially the presentation with the feedback was very successful and helpful for the whole group and the project. Let's see if we can realize it.

I think the chances are there, we just need to stay on the ball…


24th Entry...    May 24

Now it’s time for the last entry. The project is finished and the course comes to an end. It was a really interesting semester and I can say that I’ve learned a lot. Not just about Social Media and cultural heritage but also about myself.

I think the start into the semester was a little bit unusual for all of us. I don’t know why, maybe it was the Finnish university system, maybe it was something else. I really can’t say. Suddenly we had so much freedom and it was hard to deal with it. All the teachers just asked what we want to do and what we want to learn. We were totally not used to that. It took a while to realize what I really want to do and to come up with own ideas and own things I want to investigate. That was really hard in the beginning but in the end we all got used to the “Finnish way” and now I don’t want to go back to the old, traditional teaching system. The use and development of my own ideas has become very important in this semester and to me this is the right way to go. Combine your interests and the things you like with scientific methods and the project will be successful.

Also the Wikiopisto-platform was a little but strange for me in the beginning. First of all it was all just in Finnish language and we couldn’t change it. It was really hard to create the content and to get it into the forum, but it the end it worked quite well. The only problem with this platform was (and still is) that I think it’s meant to be some sort of a scientific Wikipedia for universities; and to be honest, our entries were not really scientific. Nora had some really serious problems with the administration and they blocked her account as well. Summarized, the work we did and the system behind it was pretty good I think, but the choice of the platform was totally wrong unfortunately.
The best and most important part for me in this course was the group project. It was so nice to be a part of that from the very beginning to the “final” outcome. From just loose thoughts and ideas to a theoretical mobile cultural heritage tracker application. It was really hard to agree on a topic and to point out the things that are important. In this first phase we had lots of disagreements that nearly led to some serious arguments but we always could find a good compromise that everybody was happy with, though it was hard sometimes. That is definitely an important thing I’ve learned, to make group discussions and compromises in a group.

When the theoretical background was fixed it was the next step to go on with the practical work. No one of us had experience in tracking or making apps or something like that. Luckily Nora was familiar with filming and cutting videos, that was a huge advantage for the whole group. Otherwise it wouldn’t have been possible to do the project in that way. Tough it was hard to get all the things together - maps, graphs, speech and real video material. Everybody of us focused on different thing and my part was to do the comic-like buildings, little heads and marked routes on the map.

I had some experience with Photoshop before, but it was long time ago since I used it for the last time. The first couple of days were horrible and it took me hours to get together just a simple house, but after some time and with Nora’s help I made it to create all the buildings and other graphic stuff we needed. That is definitely something I learned during that course and something for later use as well.

I think I also learned some basics in video recording, making storyboards, recording speech, getting it all together, coordinating the whole and a lot more. Beside the technical aspects I think we all developed some project management and team working skills. We were all involved in the creation process from the beginning to the end, with all good and bad experiences. I think this is one of the most important things I can take with me from this course.

Further, when we were finished with the theoretical app, we also thought about funding and realization of the project and got deeper into the business-aspects of this project. I think this is very important concerning the future of the app and also our personal future in the working world.

Beside that we also spent some thoughts on the importance of legal aspects when you have an online product. We learned about creative commons, open content and all this stuff, which is indeed very crucial for a product like this and also very helpful for future projects and activities.

Last but not least I learned another very important thing. If you reach the point you can’t do it on your own and you realize that you need help don’t be afraid or hesitate to ask for it. During the graphic process I had some help from Nora and Nina but if I would have asked earlier it would have gone a lot easier and faster. Also concerning the realization of this app we would need some technical help. Probably also for marketing, promoting and many other business things. We know now what we can do, and what we could do if we get a little bit deeper into something, but we also know now when to ask for help.

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