The four links pages are still out there and recent interest prompted a review. Given the total number of links included, it is no surprise how url domains are taken over - vape, fitness... It felt good using a links checker and finding and deleting these 'broken' sites and some that are plain dead-ends: the 'domain for sale'. There may be a few more to sort in there...
The pages are archaic in terms of approach - they are not responsive but the format is fine on a desktop and should work on a tablet. The pages started in 1997-98, you don't do this now! People search in real-time for what they need. Besides not everyone may agree with the subjects I have included and the domain in which I have placed them? What is missing?
The intention is to indicate as with another resource the potential scope of Hodges' model in the knowledge and subjects that can be encompassed. I'm not sure of the longer term future of these pages, as I look to new hosting for Drupal.
Over the coming months I will emphasise research, TEL - technology enhanced learning, e-learning and Drupal resources.
Keen to reduce the maintenance overhead, two rows have been removed and categories moved about. As a result there are a couple of 'vacant' columns in there.
In the future I need to investigate the full ramifications of SEO search engine optimization. I receive many requests offering SEO services, and to add links. Given the demanding update task if I can add a few paid links this will help me fund conference travels and studies. ...
As I return to revising my latest essay I'll let you grab a drink and browse, enjoy...(?)
Showing posts with label h2cm website. Show all posts
Showing posts with label h2cm website. Show all posts
Sunday, 31 August 2014
Saturday, 30 August 2014
Welcome to the QUAD to be archived by The British Library
The old website is archived on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine going back to 1999 and so is W2tQ. The British Library also has a web archive, UK based of course. The website's there and now I've news that Welcome to the QUAD will be too.
Thursday, 26 December 2013
To-do list and challenges ... 2014
...in no particular order of priority or level of challenge presented...
Video and Audio skills
Graduate study - distance learning, assignments, supervision, residential week
Research question
Role of simulations - games?
Hosting
Research question
Role of simulations - games?
Hosting
E-mail address (beyond yahoo and demon)
Video and Audio skills
Drupal 8 (stable Windows install - Linux)
the Drupal stack (still)
Abandon/transition from this blogging platform to other
Complete and format recovery, recovery model and Hodges' model paper for submission to journal
Prioritise and relate conference attendance and presentations/workshops to post-grad studies
Complete remaining three books for review
Abandon/transition from this blogging platform to other
Complete and format recovery, recovery model and Hodges' model paper for submission to journal
Prioritise and relate conference attendance and presentations/workshops to post-grad studies
Complete remaining three books for review
focus, focus, focus...
Happy holidays a Healthy and Prosperous New Year to All!
Wednesday, 18 December 2013
Papers, *actual* post-grad studies and a visit to Brian Hodges
Early last month I posted about planned trips to Sheffield and Lancaster Universities.
On the 4th I visited Paula Procter at Sheffield Hallam University, spending two hours there. Paula and I have known each other through informatics conferences since the late 1980s or early 90s and the British Computer Society Nursing Specialist Group. (Sadly this group and its publications are not as active as they used to be.) I really appreciate Paula's time and her key conclusion that rather than thinking about Hodges' model I need to apply my knowledge and experience with the model and DO something with it. In doing something with the model in a certain community - most likely residential care and nursing homes - I would also have a potential community of users for the new website. This was quite something to hear as I'm at that stage of my career when, shall we say - other possibilities beckon.
In the afternoon I travelled the short distance to meet Brian Hodges at his home. It was great to meet with Brian again and his wife. It was a lovely sunny afternoon as per the welcome and some cake! We reflected on the respective changes over the past five years and current events. Hot-off-the-press of course was my sharing the discussion with Paula and the planned visit to Lancaster University.
We agreed to meet again and not leave it so long next time. Brian has a desire to write again and and a prospective topic in dependence - independence. I hope this is something Brian can do and forward a photo for the (still) promised site. Brian now has copies of the most recent papers and the latest draft on recovery in mental health and the model.
On the Wednesday, after work I drove to Lancaster to discuss their PhD E-Research and Technology Enhanced Learning (thesis and coursework) distance learning.
At the start of last week a reserve place - for January 2015 became an offer of a place next month.
So, as of next month I will make a start. There is a residential week to look forward to at the end of March. Three second hand books from the reading list are ordered. There is a recommended video link too that invites repeat viewing, Etienne Wenger on Communities of Practice:
http://www.239productions.co.uk/wenger/
- and in the Nursing Informatics book I'm reading for review, on page 189 box 11.1 is on the same topic and referenced source Wenger, E..
I predicted quite some time ago about the post count decreasing here ... now I have an excuse and I plan on this including Drupal.
On the 4th I visited Paula Procter at Sheffield Hallam University, spending two hours there. Paula and I have known each other through informatics conferences since the late 1980s or early 90s and the British Computer Society Nursing Specialist Group. (Sadly this group and its publications are not as active as they used to be.) I really appreciate Paula's time and her key conclusion that rather than thinking about Hodges' model I need to apply my knowledge and experience with the model and DO something with it. In doing something with the model in a certain community - most likely residential care and nursing homes - I would also have a potential community of users for the new website. This was quite something to hear as I'm at that stage of my career when, shall we say - other possibilities beckon.
In the afternoon I travelled the short distance to meet Brian Hodges at his home. It was great to meet with Brian again and his wife. It was a lovely sunny afternoon as per the welcome and some cake! We reflected on the respective changes over the past five years and current events. Hot-off-the-press of course was my sharing the discussion with Paula and the planned visit to Lancaster University.
We agreed to meet again and not leave it so long next time. Brian has a desire to write again and and a prospective topic in dependence - independence. I hope this is something Brian can do and forward a photo for the (still) promised site. Brian now has copies of the most recent papers and the latest draft on recovery in mental health and the model.
On the Wednesday, after work I drove to Lancaster to discuss their PhD E-Research and Technology Enhanced Learning (thesis and coursework) distance learning.
At the start of last week a reserve place - for January 2015 became an offer of a place next month.
So, as of next month I will make a start. There is a residential week to look forward to at the end of March. Three second hand books from the reading list are ordered. There is a recommended video link too that invites repeat viewing, Etienne Wenger on Communities of Practice:
http://www.239productions.co.uk/wenger/
- and in the Nursing Informatics book I'm reading for review, on page 189 box 11.1 is on the same topic and referenced source Wenger, E..
I predicted quite some time ago about the post count decreasing here ... now I have an excuse and I plan on this including Drupal.
Wednesday, 11 December 2013
Critical Thinking - Gaining knowledge: Beginners + Experts = audience?
Clearing through books last month with several bound for the charity shops I came across Critical Thinking in Nursing: An Interactive Approach, by Rubenfeld & Sheffer, with the following table (p.30):
The table is not remarkable in its theme, but it is a useful prompt for Hodges' model and future studies. The concepts listed might help illustrate how Hodges' model can support learning. In addition to having an individual focus the model can consider any situation, hence the claim that the model is 'situated'. As stated previously person centeredness is not a given. It does not follow, nor is it achieved just because 'person centered' features several times in care philosophies and policies. The person must be put at the center of the model and then each of the domains considered together with the spiritual dimensions.
I'm also reading a nursing informatics book (posts and review to follow) that discusses casuistic ethics, that is case-based reasoning. While the utility of casuistry is debated in nursing, the need to consider the individual is always paramount. A prime example of the focus on the individual is the programme Inside the Ethics Committee on BBC Radio 4. Central to ethics are the frequent dilemmas that arise in health and social care, the difficult moral choices and dichotomies that must be faced. The model can be used in a context free way, that is considering rules in general; and also employed in specific contexts, such as a best interest meeting for a person recently moved into a residential care facility and distressed by the experience.
There are many dichotomies that can be identified in the basic model, and to a certain extent they reflect the dualistic thinking of the beginner as they build an understanding of particular fields of health care. As learners progress they integrate the concepts they encounter and are then able to associate these and relate them to prior learning, the current case and generate hypotheses that may also be predictive. Hodges’ model can frame and help represent student encounters be they narrow or broadening (recognising patterns). Gaining knowledge may need particular attention by the student (mentor and lecturer) in terms of the student's strategies for creating and protecting opportunities as a beginner and competent practitioner.
As a sign-off mentor I’ve become acutely aware – as required - of a learner’s level of skills and knowledge. What is their level of competence? What is their level of situational awareness? How are they progressing through their learning according to previous mentors and their own goals, learning objectives and evaluation? The concept of emotional intelligence is not new and still has the attention of researchers. Perhaps this could also inform questions for research into Hodges’ model as students elaborate their initial representations of nursing care, skills and knowledge through their course and ongoing as experts. Is emotional intelligence central to compassion in nursing? Encompassing all of these ‘ways’ in the table is reflection. This is not just for reflective practice but an ability to critique one's own practice and that of others.
The table is also helpful at this time considering future content and content types and the potential audience of a new website. The challenge is to emulate the table above in the way it reduces, simplifies very complex educational matters. Yesterday afternoon I was able to attend a very helpful two hour research clinic in Lancaster, following this I must (still) reduce the above questions and also recognise my own biases.
Rubenfeld & Sheffer (1994) Critical Thinking in Nursing: An Interactive Approach. 1st Edition, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
| BEGINNERS | EXPERTS | |
| Ways of: | ||
| Gaining Knowledge | Assigned readings and asking authorities | Multiple written and verbal sources, and experience |
| Thinking | Dualistic | Relativistic |
| Using rules | Context free | Situation dependent |
| Looking at situations | Narrow | Broad |
The table is not remarkable in its theme, but it is a useful prompt for Hodges' model and future studies. The concepts listed might help illustrate how Hodges' model can support learning. In addition to having an individual focus the model can consider any situation, hence the claim that the model is 'situated'. As stated previously person centeredness is not a given. It does not follow, nor is it achieved just because 'person centered' features several times in care philosophies and policies. The person must be put at the center of the model and then each of the domains considered together with the spiritual dimensions.
I'm also reading a nursing informatics book (posts and review to follow) that discusses casuistic ethics, that is case-based reasoning. While the utility of casuistry is debated in nursing, the need to consider the individual is always paramount. A prime example of the focus on the individual is the programme Inside the Ethics Committee on BBC Radio 4. Central to ethics are the frequent dilemmas that arise in health and social care, the difficult moral choices and dichotomies that must be faced. The model can be used in a context free way, that is considering rules in general; and also employed in specific contexts, such as a best interest meeting for a person recently moved into a residential care facility and distressed by the experience.
There are many dichotomies that can be identified in the basic model, and to a certain extent they reflect the dualistic thinking of the beginner as they build an understanding of particular fields of health care. As learners progress they integrate the concepts they encounter and are then able to associate these and relate them to prior learning, the current case and generate hypotheses that may also be predictive. Hodges’ model can frame and help represent student encounters be they narrow or broadening (recognising patterns). Gaining knowledge may need particular attention by the student (mentor and lecturer) in terms of the student's strategies for creating and protecting opportunities as a beginner and competent practitioner.
As a sign-off mentor I’ve become acutely aware – as required - of a learner’s level of skills and knowledge. What is their level of competence? What is their level of situational awareness? How are they progressing through their learning according to previous mentors and their own goals, learning objectives and evaluation? The concept of emotional intelligence is not new and still has the attention of researchers. Perhaps this could also inform questions for research into Hodges’ model as students elaborate their initial representations of nursing care, skills and knowledge through their course and ongoing as experts. Is emotional intelligence central to compassion in nursing? Encompassing all of these ‘ways’ in the table is reflection. This is not just for reflective practice but an ability to critique one's own practice and that of others.
The table is also helpful at this time considering future content and content types and the potential audience of a new website. The challenge is to emulate the table above in the way it reduces, simplifies very complex educational matters. Yesterday afternoon I was able to attend a very helpful two hour research clinic in Lancaster, following this I must (still) reduce the above questions and also recognise my own biases.
Rubenfeld & Sheffer (1994) Critical Thinking in Nursing: An Interactive Approach. 1st Edition, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
Wednesday, 18 September 2013
H2CM new website - A short-form project brief
In Dani Nordin’s Drupal for Designers, chapter 4 is includes a short-form project brief.
As I pack for Prague and another Drupalcon (my 6th!) and with PHPNW conference fast approaching it's time I re-visited my project brief:
1 Identify the Project Goals
According to Nordin a good list of project goals should be no more than about three bullet points.
- To provide a new archive for Brian Hodges’ lecture notes and make these accessible and multilingual
- To share / signpost papers to date and invite others to collaborate and share work
- To highlight why Hodges’ model matters
2 Identify the Audience
I am looking for student nurses, that is under graduates and post grad, indeed life-long learners within the field of health and social care. In seeking students the natural progression of this is to connect if possible with lecturers and faculty. Nordin lists several ways to characterise the personas through common aspects:- Who they are
- What will win them
- What I need them to know
- Content focus
Learners
Who they are: Student nurses, social work students including medicine and other health and social care disciplines. They will be seeking evidence in theory and practice, with sources and resources to apply to assigned work. They will also be open to ideas and techniques that can help them to structure and recall their learning.
What will win them: Make it easy for them to see what is offered, find what they seek, Brian Hodges' lecture notes, provide feedback on learning if students are willing to register and invest their time. Provide a responsive contact form to answer questions promptly. Link the content to evidence if, or as soon as possible. Make content relevant by allowing users to contribute to website's development and direction.
What I need them to know: I want to convey to them an understanding of Hodges’ model its purposes, structure, content and how the model might be applied in theory and practice.
Content focus: Lecture notes text and video; Quiz; Test; Certificate; h2cm grid; Case study template; Presentations; FAQ; Registration; Contact form; Polls; Bibliography; Biographies; Timeline; Photos.
Lecturers
Who are they: Health and social care related faculty, teaching on nursing, social work, learning disability and other programmes. A diverse range of subjects and disciplines could be included from mental health, acute care, community and across the life course.
What will win them: Illustrate the ways h2cm can facilitate learning the aspects of (for example) nursing, not only reinforcing the key concepts of nursing (care) but why they care.
What I need them to know: Understanding how h2cm fits within their respective curriculum. Gaining awareness of how can the model can potentially stimulate and challenge their students and complement assignments. Why Hodges' model is relevant at this particular time.
Content focus: Brian Hodges' lecture notes; Outstanding questions; Research directions; Blog; Contact form; Registration; h2cm examples.
On the old website I possibly over-egged the pudding in terms of 'audiences'. There is an introductory page for -
- students and lecturer;
- patients and carers;
- the public (citizens);
- and managers with policy makers.
3 Focus on Information Architecture and Content Strategy
Nordin is describing a website re-design and so am I with some simplifications. Taking step 3 literally and from reading having an information architecture is very important to me. Its importance is not just in earning a scout badge, but it may need to vary slightly across the site. Nordin's step three seems to emphasize content. I'm wondering about headings, subtitles and other structural and aesthetic points. How might these work and hopefully cohere across the archive and rest of the site? It is also the case of separating (in my head) information architecture and styling.As to content strategy I've played and doodled with this on several occasions. There's even an A, B, C, ... about it if you check above.
4 Identify New Features or Technologies You Want to Include
Responsive design is as Nordin also indicates a must have for me. In successive Drupalcon keynotes Dries Buytaert has stressed the rise of mobile devices. It would be a major gain to have the archive readable by mobile and tablet users.Thus far I've not made full use of video, Skype and even audio for delivering content. At Drupalcon Prague there's a session media management and the Scald module. I'm hardly a radio or TV station but as people say DO consider those things that you are not skilled at, or naturally drawn to. Slides and presentations both existing and contributions (or links) would also be a key content feature.
If a community can emerge this might also be that as Nordin suggests users can share internally within the site using (unconsciously) specific structures within Drupal. The latest means of classifying and searching a site will also be essential. Seeking to share h2cm with the world I've scheduled some sessions on leveraging the multilingual capabilities of Drupal 8.
Accessibility is another essential feature.
5 Upgrade, or Start from Scratch
This, thankfully, is not an upgrade. To the list in #4 I could have added database - a dynamic website because this is the primary need, the enabler. With that though comes complexity and responsibility. Website management then demands data be protected, secure, backed up, and this involves migration and upgrades. So, starting from scratch - yes, but with an eye to upgrading.The NW Drupal meetings in Manchester and Drupalcon Prague program bring the news of the many new tools and changes in Drupal 8:
- Views in core;
- New configurable fields e.g. entity reference, date, e-mail and others;
- Multilingual changes;
- Blocks & Layouts;
- Responsive images and breakpoints.
From Drupalcon Prague "Drupal 8 for Site Builders" session
6 Figure Out Theming and CSS Issues
If .Net and Web Designer magazines inform us of two things it's the pace of change in tools and the range of tools. It's helpful then when those choices are reduced. This may be the case with CSS within Drupal and adopting a grid system, a point made by Todd Nienkerk (p.79).There are some excellent themes and sub-themes within Drupal 7. Drupal 8 extends this potential. I posted previously about Omega.
To conclude:
I think there is an interesting project here, but thinking alone isn't going to get this done!
Monday, 9 September 2013
Hodges' model - Website, Blog and the UK Web Archive
Early this morning the blog threw a wobbly, at least on Firefox. The sidebar was being displayed below the main content. I take this as a sign that it's time to move on digitally. This evening the problem seems to have corrected itself, but time is pressing.
Returning from holiday there was another sign, a tap on the shoulder. This was positive in that as I left for Italy (minus laptop) I had submitted the old website, first published online in 1998 to the UK web archive.
Well, they have accepted the proposal and would like to archive the website. I really appreciate this. I've to fill in a form and will also use this as an opportunity to do some Northerly autumnal cleaning. There may be some broken links and other edits to make.
This is quite apt then given the long winter of the website and this blog, especially as I prepare for Drupalcon Prague on the 22 September. As I've written here before one of the first 'menu options' of any new site will be to provide a new archive for Brian Hodges' original lecture notes.
If you are new to nursing, health and social care and reflection and are interested in using Hodges' model please let me know. There are contact options in that sidebar - if it's behaving itself...
Returning from holiday there was another sign, a tap on the shoulder. This was positive in that as I left for Italy (minus laptop) I had submitted the old website, first published online in 1998 to the UK web archive.
Well, they have accepted the proposal and would like to archive the website. I really appreciate this. I've to fill in a form and will also use this as an opportunity to do some Northerly autumnal cleaning. There may be some broken links and other edits to make.
This is quite apt then given the long winter of the website and this blog, especially as I prepare for Drupalcon Prague on the 22 September. As I've written here before one of the first 'menu options' of any new site will be to provide a new archive for Brian Hodges' original lecture notes.
If you are new to nursing, health and social care and reflection and are interested in using Hodges' model please let me know. There are contact options in that sidebar - if it's behaving itself...
Monday, 20 May 2013
H5P framework: rich content and applications in Drupal
In addition to the archive material on the model, it is important to offer students a means to test their knowledge. This might involve a trial of several modules, including H5P:
H5P is a framework for creating HTML5 content and applications that can be easily moved between web-sites. H5P facilitates sharing and reuse of code used in rich content and applications. H5P also includes an authoring tool so that H5P content may be created and edited using a web-browser.Drupalcon Portland is now underway and I'm looking forward to tuning in live and following sessions, starting with Dries' keynote. This should begin at 7.30pm here in the UK. Drupalcon Munich seems ages ago now (4.7 even longer ..! ) and suddenly Prague is on the horizon.
Organizations and governments spend millions of dollars creating rich Internet content, games and applications. The code used may be shared here on h5p.org as libraries so that others may fill in their own content and reuse the code.
Additional link:
Quiz Questions Import for Drupal 7 released
Tuesday, 9 October 2012
A shoutout to University of Northumbria at Newcastle - and others!
Although school terms and university semesters vary especially between the northern and southern hemispheres, I can often tell when a new academic year is upon us again. Not only that, but possibly a new cohort of nursing or other health care related students.
The signal is the visitors to the old website. The past week or so there's been a lot of traffic from University of Northumbria at Newcastle. Only the institution is listed, not individuals. And don't get excited about the numbers: we are talking 10s here not 100s and 1000s.
Those tens (still greatly appreciated!) could be even more significant if I could connect with someone. So if you are revisiting this blog and from UoN or any other institution please get in touch: h2cmng at yahoo.co.uk
I would really help to hear your views on:
What prompted your visit?
Who are you - what's your role, course and stage of learning?
How are you using the site and model (if at all) is it:
What is useful and should be archived?
What sucks!
Is there something that you could add to a future site?
Do you have work on h2cm that I could highlight here on W2tQ?
There are many rich seams to dig here and if we can work together we might find some light.
There is someone at UoN I will approach if they are still there: quite possibly!
The signal is the visitors to the old website. The past week or so there's been a lot of traffic from University of Northumbria at Newcastle. Only the institution is listed, not individuals. And don't get excited about the numbers: we are talking 10s here not 100s and 1000s.
Those tens (still greatly appreciated!) could be even more significant if I could connect with someone. So if you are revisiting this blog and from UoN or any other institution please get in touch: h2cmng at yahoo.co.uk
I would really help to hear your views on:
What prompted your visit?
Who are you - what's your role, course and stage of learning?
How are you using the site and model (if at all) is it:
- as part of an exercise merely identifying models of nursing, aspects of nursing theory...?
- as part of a piece of (reflective) written work?
- applying the model to a specific context, case study, nursing (or other) discipline?
- as a critical nursing or informatics exercise?
- as an initial exercise to help assure holistic care?
- some other discipline and purpose perhaps?
What is useful and should be archived?
What sucks!
Is there something that you could add to a future site?
Do you have work on h2cm that I could highlight here on W2tQ?
There are many rich seams to dig here and if we can work together we might find some light.
There is someone at UoN I will approach if they are still there: quite possibly!
Tuesday, 28 August 2012
Drupalcon Munich 2012 [ii]
I've greatly enjoyed a talk by Mark Boulton before at Drupalcon and as a contributor to LHC@Home this collision of the Internet's birth, Drupal, web design and high energy physics was not to be missed.
I'd heard of the LHC experiments before, but not the fact of there being four [how could I miss that ;-) ].
Mark explained about his work with CERN, the legacy site, the culture and the creation of a new site he has been tasked with in Creating Wonder. The Facet API for search and resort to personas to identify and appreciate the needs of the sites users proved key tools. There is quite a coincidence here in that CERN's user communities reflect the potential audiences I envisage for h2cm. One allied to each of the knowledge domains on the old site:
Mark also explained some of the ways he has differentiated content across the CERN community and its organisation. All very helpful advice.
Maintaining the design angle, Morten Birch Heide-Jørgensen delivered Theme < 3 drupal in his usual irascible style.
If there is a nightmare in learning Drupal apart from the learning curve and sound of the rolling rock (ppuuussshhh!!), it is the nature of the markup that Drupal currently produces. Morten explained his frustration with the problem of DIV-itis and his resolve to address this producing a theme - Mothership which seeks to get the markup right. There are other ongoing challenges and how they will be resolved in Drupal 8, accessibility and HTML5.
As we contemplate the various processes set to try us, we become accustomed to the notion of 'lead time'. Morten's highlighting the 'time lag' in the latest and greatest HTML and CSS compared with Drupal releases was a very helpful dose of realism.
Mustn't forget Morten's fun delivery - this helps the medicine go down. In addition to the sessions there were many contacts made, people I really do hope to meet again.
More to follow.
Additional link:
BBC 2 Horizon: How Big is the Universe?
I'd heard of the LHC experiments before, but not the fact of there being four [how could I miss that ;-) ].
Mark explained about his work with CERN, the legacy site, the culture and the creation of a new site he has been tasked with in Creating Wonder. The Facet API for search and resort to personas to identify and appreciate the needs of the sites users proved key tools. There is quite a coincidence here in that CERN's user communities reflect the potential audiences I envisage for h2cm. One allied to each of the knowledge domains on the old site:
Students and Teachers (SCIENCES)
General Public and Carers (SOCIOLOGY)
the Patient, Client (Inter- Intrapersonal)
Policy Makers, Managers and Citizens (POLITICAL)
Mark also explained some of the ways he has differentiated content across the CERN community and its organisation. All very helpful advice.
Maintaining the design angle, Morten Birch Heide-Jørgensen delivered Theme < 3 drupal in his usual irascible style.
I r a s c i b l e here means -
insightful, Röyale, accessible, singular, commonsensical, inspiring, besuited, and leading edge.
If there is a nightmare in learning Drupal apart from the learning curve and sound of the rolling rock (ppuuussshhh!!), it is the nature of the markup that Drupal currently produces. Morten explained his frustration with the problem of DIV-itis and his resolve to address this producing a theme - Mothership which seeks to get the markup right. There are other ongoing challenges and how they will be resolved in Drupal 8, accessibility and HTML5.
As we contemplate the various processes set to try us, we become accustomed to the notion of 'lead time'. Morten's highlighting the 'time lag' in the latest and greatest HTML and CSS compared with Drupal releases was a very helpful dose of realism.
Mustn't forget Morten's fun delivery - this helps the medicine go down. In addition to the sessions there were many contacts made, people I really do hope to meet again.
More to follow.
Additional link:
BBC 2 Horizon: How Big is the Universe?
Monday, 27 August 2012
Drupalcon Munich 2012 [i]
 |
| Drupalcon Munich 2012 Group Photo |
I'm not sure if this particular sponge is saturated to its limited capacity, but compared with previous years I took fewer notes and haven't posted as yet. The (glaring) take home lesson for me remains the same. Write less: do!
The notes I do have started after the first keynote by Dries Buytaert on the State and future of Drupal. Personally, I prefer a presentation rather than the interview format. A change in format must be a relief for Dries and for circuit regulars, but despite a visual interlude the social negotiation seemed for me to get in the way of the show and tell. Given that though Drupal is a year aware from the next release, so this reduces the 'news'. Portland 2013 will no doubt be literally more telling.
I did scribble some ..., on Entities and Properties and attending How to Dominate the Theme Layer. Useful to consider that the visual hierarchy may not match the outline of your site in terms of information architecture. The idea of styling now and injecting classes later has much appeal. I am enthralled by the prospect of font selection, colour and other site design aspects.
There were several sessions on Multilingual sites in D7 & D8. The pros and cons of node level translation vs. field level translation were explained, the latter being considered the best model for most use cases and set to be the likely default in D8. Given the cons of translation and the need to keep it simple I would set about limiting translation to Brian Hodges' original course notes and a new introduction to h2cm. Another key question referred to the type of experience you are building - is it totally symmetrical or asymmetric?
More to follow.
Photo source:
http://blog.erdfisch.de/2012/08/drupalcon-munich-2012-opening-drupal-association-and-international-communities
Thursday, 2 August 2012
Update: Drupal 7.14 + 8 and papers
My laptop is four years old next month and a refurb at that. The DVD and webcam no longer work. The Apple store in Manchester helped me update the OS to Snow Leopard and I'll catch up with the rest of the cat pack soon.
It seems I've 'summer cleaned', deleting files and older Drupal installs, the rain making me think it's April. Drupal 7.14 and version 8 are insitu. Drupal 8 would not install, MAMP's version of PHP being too old. I'm sure I checked the site, but must have missed the MAMP update which is now running. Trying to resolve this issue one really useful find c/o PHPNW is the package manager HomeBrew.
This weekend I'll upload my first Drupal test site. It's for a family member not a client, but this does not mean that the passing of time - months, years... has gone unnoticed. It's a pretty basic site, nothing elaborate. Three pages: About me, DJ-ing, and an Enquiry form. The enquiry form has been created using the Webform module.
I want the user form to be clean, without the tab options (view, edit...) being displayed. I removed them using Tab Tamer. There may be an easier way to do this - over riding, for example but it is all learning. The development effort is still not helped by picking Drupal up, putting it down...
The 'client' then wanted comments added to the form. Searching around the content types, module configurations ... was getting frustrating, a search brought me to the Drupal community and voila: success! Comments added to form. User requirements have shifted further ;-) the Sound Engineering page is to be reinstated. At least it's just a case of re-enabling it (I think) and tweaking the menu. This experience reminded me of tips from local Drupal meetings and Drupalcons: keeping a record of changes. If a new h2cm site is to be created then a log will be essential. If there is a new version of the DJ site then I will definitely use a responsive theme.
Drupalcon Munich is fast approaching. I've checked the schedule and created my personal itinerary. With Drupal 8 on the horizon for late 2013 the core conversations should be popular. I'm really looking forward to it. There are no BoFs (birds of a feather) sessions planned as yet on education or mental health. Anyone interested? I'll see if I can submit something.
On the papers front; when the details are known the bibliography entry will be fully completed:
Doyle, M., Jones, P. (2012-13) Hodges’ Health Career Model and its role and potential application in Forensic Mental Health Nursing, Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing.
I am still keen to explore the possibility of a symposium session next May as per previous posts. Likewise if there are any teaching opportunities in Australia to share Hodges' model and help to fund the (ad)venture please let me know.
It seems I've 'summer cleaned', deleting files and older Drupal installs, the rain making me think it's April. Drupal 7.14 and version 8 are insitu. Drupal 8 would not install, MAMP's version of PHP being too old. I'm sure I checked the site, but must have missed the MAMP update which is now running. Trying to resolve this issue one really useful find c/o PHPNW is the package manager HomeBrew.
This weekend I'll upload my first Drupal test site. It's for a family member not a client, but this does not mean that the passing of time - months, years... has gone unnoticed. It's a pretty basic site, nothing elaborate. Three pages: About me, DJ-ing, and an Enquiry form. The enquiry form has been created using the Webform module.
I want the user form to be clean, without the tab options (view, edit...) being displayed. I removed them using Tab Tamer. There may be an easier way to do this - over riding, for example but it is all learning. The development effort is still not helped by picking Drupal up, putting it down...
The 'client' then wanted comments added to the form. Searching around the content types, module configurations ... was getting frustrating, a search brought me to the Drupal community and voila: success! Comments added to form. User requirements have shifted further ;-) the Sound Engineering page is to be reinstated. At least it's just a case of re-enabling it (I think) and tweaking the menu. This experience reminded me of tips from local Drupal meetings and Drupalcons: keeping a record of changes. If a new h2cm site is to be created then a log will be essential. If there is a new version of the DJ site then I will definitely use a responsive theme.
Drupalcon Munich is fast approaching. I've checked the schedule and created my personal itinerary. With Drupal 8 on the horizon for late 2013 the core conversations should be popular. I'm really looking forward to it. There are no BoFs (birds of a feather) sessions planned as yet on education or mental health. Anyone interested? I'll see if I can submit something.
On the papers front; when the details are known the bibliography entry will be fully completed:
Doyle, M., Jones, P. (2012-13) Hodges’ Health Career Model and its role and potential application in Forensic Mental Health Nursing, Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing.
I am still keen to explore the possibility of a symposium session next May as per previous posts. Likewise if there are any teaching opportunities in Australia to share Hodges' model and help to fund the (ad)venture please let me know.
Saturday, 14 July 2012
Gestalt, patterns and models: pressing buttons
The three recent events have all in different ways emphasized the role of patterns.
Patterns were there at the Drupal Education Camp, then the Visual Methodologies Workshop and the Scottish Ruby Conference.
There is a lot of very informative content in .net magazine. In the two most recent issues a single page has proved a great help (Buttons gestalt, .net August 2012, p.74) and in the current issue (.net Summer 2012) page 72.
Gene Crawford notes that gestalt in graphic design refers to how a person will recognise and react to an element of something we've designed. Buttons are discussed as an essential part of any design. Crawford points out how a button is the end point in submitting a form, completing an action, or transaction of some form.
A button has to fit in with an overall design - so that as an individual element it shouts out its function, its potential; whether or not that potential is realised.
In case of a medical emergency there is only one button to press: that which activates emergency procedures.
When we are concerned to deliver health and social care the button we should press is: Hodges' model. This is a compound operation. One press activates four (five) buttons: four care domains. This is the umbilicus, not just the nexus, the physical 'belly' button, but the mind, the social, political and spiritual.
For holistic, reflective and integrated care viewing h2cm as a button begs we contemplate the potential that lies beneath. Beneath in the sense of what follows after the button is activated. This is precisely Gene's focus in the summer 2012 issue of .net Mental Models on page 72.
He points to a book: Mental Models Aligning Design Strategy With Human Behaviour, which I also learned of from a lady staying in Lund at the same B&B. Here the thought processes of a visitor to a web site are central. I have some old content - archive material, but vital and still central to understanding and the history of h2cm. How are visitors to navigate their way to find original content, what mental model do they bring even before they seek out menus and buttons. What expectations will they associate with the words and vocabulary of the website: Hodges' model, conceptual framework, structure, content, and conceptual spaces?
I often think of h2cm as a care (information) architecture and Crawford notes the need for empathy with users as a website is designed. So, closer than ever these worlds: nursing and websites. ...
Patterns were there at the Drupal Education Camp, then the Visual Methodologies Workshop and the Scottish Ruby Conference.
There is a lot of very informative content in .net magazine. In the two most recent issues a single page has proved a great help (Buttons gestalt, .net August 2012, p.74) and in the current issue (.net Summer 2012) page 72.
Gene Crawford notes that gestalt in graphic design refers to how a person will recognise and react to an element of something we've designed. Buttons are discussed as an essential part of any design. Crawford points out how a button is the end point in submitting a form, completing an action, or transaction of some form.
A button has to fit in with an overall design - so that as an individual element it shouts out its function, its potential; whether or not that potential is realised.
In case of a medical emergency there is only one button to press: that which activates emergency procedures.
When we are concerned to deliver health and social care the button we should press is: Hodges' model. This is a compound operation. One press activates four (five) buttons: four care domains. This is the umbilicus, not just the nexus, the physical 'belly' button, but the mind, the social, political and spiritual.
He points to a book: Mental Models Aligning Design Strategy With Human Behaviour, which I also learned of from a lady staying in Lund at the same B&B. Here the thought processes of a visitor to a web site are central. I have some old content - archive material, but vital and still central to understanding and the history of h2cm. How are visitors to navigate their way to find original content, what mental model do they bring even before they seek out menus and buttons. What expectations will they associate with the words and vocabulary of the website: Hodges' model, conceptual framework, structure, content, and conceptual spaces?
I often think of h2cm as a care (information) architecture and Crawford notes the need for empathy with users as a website is designed. So, closer than ever these worlds: nursing and websites. ...
Monday, 18 June 2012
Musings on a mixed and busy fortnight: Oxford Drupal Education Camp
There is a busy fortnight coming up here. If all goes according to plan it runs like this: Drupal, Visual Methodologies and Ruby.
On Thursday evening I will travel down to Oxford for Drupal Education Camp. My first Drupal effort is taking shape. There are five photos in a jCarousel. I think I'm almost there but after the five scroll through there are five empty placeholders or blanks. It's probably just a tweak to the settings. The enquiry form is completed. I'm not happy about the formatting which seems to characterise many Drupal pages: that of the long series of fields. Listening to discussion at Drupal NW this month also reminded me of the need for spam capture.
I'm hoping one or two Drupal mental health contacts from Cambridge in January may also attend. The accepted sessions for Oxford present a very useful mix (timing permitting), especially:
Drupal 7 Semantizer
How we built a virtual learning environment
There was a debate on the longevity of VLEs in Wolverhampton in 2008-09. As I tried to look up that event I noticed that variations on the theme of "The VLE is dead, long live the VLE" are still doing the rounds. Clearly a case of the undead.
So, three - four years on this should insightful: What is a VLE? Is there a hybrid form? How far can Drupal be pushed? Why do students use FB and by-pass the institutional 'tools'? Perhaps it's because the institutions are busy deliberating the existence of this TLA versus that?
Migrating data into Drupal using the migrate module
NeuroHub: The information environment for Neuroscientists
The content of a new h2cm website will (yes, I know....) combine archive material - Brian Hodges' notes - with new work. For student users a means to assess and measure understanding of the content makes sense. I implemented a crude multiple choice test. The questions were probably not too bad, but there was no log-in, administration. If assessment can be done in a standardised way then that would be a huge bonus. What a new site should be about though is facilitating students in developing their knowledge and application of Hodges' model. The context of that knowledge and application need not be wholly limited to nursing.
After Oxford, on Monday 25th and after work I'm heading east to Newcastle for two days. I'll reflect on that soon. The trick is going to be threading all these together.
On Thursday evening I will travel down to Oxford for Drupal Education Camp. My first Drupal effort is taking shape. There are five photos in a jCarousel. I think I'm almost there but after the five scroll through there are five empty placeholders or blanks. It's probably just a tweak to the settings. The enquiry form is completed. I'm not happy about the formatting which seems to characterise many Drupal pages: that of the long series of fields. Listening to discussion at Drupal NW this month also reminded me of the need for spam capture.
I'm hoping one or two Drupal mental health contacts from Cambridge in January may also attend. The accepted sessions for Oxford present a very useful mix (timing permitting), especially:
Drupal 7 Semantizer
How we built a virtual learning environment
There was a debate on the longevity of VLEs in Wolverhampton in 2008-09. As I tried to look up that event I noticed that variations on the theme of "The VLE is dead, long live the VLE" are still doing the rounds. Clearly a case of the undead.
So, three - four years on this should insightful: What is a VLE? Is there a hybrid form? How far can Drupal be pushed? Why do students use FB and by-pass the institutional 'tools'? Perhaps it's because the institutions are busy deliberating the existence of this TLA versus that?
Migrating data into Drupal using the migrate module
NeuroHub: The information environment for Neuroscientists
The content of a new h2cm website will (yes, I know....) combine archive material - Brian Hodges' notes - with new work. For student users a means to assess and measure understanding of the content makes sense. I implemented a crude multiple choice test. The questions were probably not too bad, but there was no log-in, administration. If assessment can be done in a standardised way then that would be a huge bonus. What a new site should be about though is facilitating students in developing their knowledge and application of Hodges' model. The context of that knowledge and application need not be wholly limited to nursing.
After Oxford, on Monday 25th and after work I'm heading east to Newcastle for two days. I'll reflect on that soon. The trick is going to be threading all these together.
Wednesday, 22 February 2012
Mental health follow-up II: Drupal ScienceCamp Cambridge 20-21st Jan 2012
After the birds of a feather (BoF) session in Cambridge last month I spent an hour chatting to Beatrice and Matthew Taylor who share my interest in mental health and Drupal.
Since that Sunday morning I've exchanged emails with them both and am sharing some points here raised by Matthew. ...
Matthew:
There are lots of things that I'd like to talk to you about. I've been browsing your pages on the Hodges' Model and I'm really impressed. You've done a huge amount of work.
PJ:
Thanks for that! A lot of the content in the website is quite dated and the HTML & styling reflects this, but positive feedback is always very welcome and I also greatly appreciate your bringing the repeated paragraph in the Michel Serres paper to my attention (corrected now).
Matthew:
It seems to me, on first reading, that you're looking at things from within an institutional setting and that I'm on the outside. However, I can see that there are ways in which the two perspectives could overlap and that the technology now exists that can facilitate the testing of the fit between different health models (and their creation in the first place).
PJ:
Yes, I'm looking at things from an institutional setting in terms of working within the NHS (with regular social care contact), being on the service side of the nurse education system, and working amid a mechanistic medical system that also seeks to be (psycho-)social in orientation. H2cm - Hodges' model however, helps to provide flexibility in the perspectives we can adopt.
In that respect I left the 'institution' in 1985 to work in the community. Your point Matthew is a very useful reminder about not taking things for granted and to what extent is 'community care' free of the institution? What has the institution (of old) become?
I suppose the other side to this is that you are not on the outside. Instead of pushed into the nooks and recesses of individual minds, we need positive mental health to be pushed into the open. The community, the commons, society. We need an infusion of insight to combat stigma and a misalignment - holistic asymmetry - in physical and mental health education and delivery.
Matthew:
As you probably gathered, the direction that I'm coming from is that of personally managed mental health care records. Here are some of the websites that I'm using as guides:
http://www.media.mit.edu/research/groups/1465/collaborhythm
http://indivohealth.org/
http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/
PJ:
These website are well worth knowing about - thanks very much. I'll explore them in more depth. Making enquiries (seeking guidance) on my research aims it was suggested to me just before Christmas (c/o Wolverhampton University) that my work seems to be more about ontology than a literature search. I've realised this for quite a while. Key attractions of Drupal include its RDF functionality and the examples provided by specific modules such as Neologism.
Matthew:
I'm currently building an ontology for mental health (from a virtual world perspective) using OBO edit http://oboedit.org . My objective is to embed the ontology in a Drupal website http://www.playsthething.org.uk/ that also exists to promote a conference on well-being.
PJ:
I'm clear that I'm not about to create a mental health record system, truly fascinating a project as that may be (especially in some sectors). There are proprietary and open source solutions out there. I'm also aware of problems with the uptake of Google's, the NHS's and Microsoft's respective attempts to engage with the self-maintained and managed e-record. Drupal's appeal for me also lies in e-learning and using Drupal educationally.
If you've a specific objective in mind Matthew then that immediately cuts through my concerns and that's excellent. I'm lost in my own bag of potential users and requirements. The thought of embedding a health ontology into Drupal is an exciting prospect. I wonder if there is a basic ontology that could fit with h2cm (as one or more conceptual spaces)?
Matthew:
I've been asked to guest edit a section of ArtsProfessional magazine, coming out in May, that will be focused on arts and well-being. I'm going to use it as the opportunity for launching the 'Moonshot for Mental Health' that I touched on at the Cambridge Drupal conference.
If you'd like to write something for the magazine/website on the theme of arts and well-being (and why we need a moonshot for mental health) then just let me know. I can let you know more if you'd like to follow this up.
PJ:
I really would like to contribute, so although I work full-time please do f/w more details.
Last summer in Warrington at Disability Awareness Day (DAD) (July 15 for 2012) I came across Reflections. Specific examples of art were also displayed at this event at Walton Park by 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and others. There is so much more that the arts can offer in mental health and the residential care / nursing home sector.
Matthew:
I'd be delighted if you were able to promote a Drupal/MH meeting. I'll start putting something together. Let me know if you have any ideas.
PJ:
I will and would be pleased to assist. There may be scope for a venue in the NW - I could make enquiries at least. There is always Munich and the European Drupalcon this summer!
Thanks for getting in touch Matthew. Lovely to share and talk shop with you and Beatrice also. I hope we can meet again.
(I'll add your sites to the arts listing on Links III too.)
Since that Sunday morning I've exchanged emails with them both and am sharing some points here raised by Matthew. ...
Matthew:
There are lots of things that I'd like to talk to you about. I've been browsing your pages on the Hodges' Model and I'm really impressed. You've done a huge amount of work.
PJ:
Thanks for that! A lot of the content in the website is quite dated and the HTML & styling reflects this, but positive feedback is always very welcome and I also greatly appreciate your bringing the repeated paragraph in the Michel Serres paper to my attention (corrected now).
Matthew:
It seems to me, on first reading, that you're looking at things from within an institutional setting and that I'm on the outside. However, I can see that there are ways in which the two perspectives could overlap and that the technology now exists that can facilitate the testing of the fit between different health models (and their creation in the first place).
PJ:
Yes, I'm looking at things from an institutional setting in terms of working within the NHS (with regular social care contact), being on the service side of the nurse education system, and working amid a mechanistic medical system that also seeks to be (psycho-)social in orientation. H2cm - Hodges' model however, helps to provide flexibility in the perspectives we can adopt.
In that respect I left the 'institution' in 1985 to work in the community. Your point Matthew is a very useful reminder about not taking things for granted and to what extent is 'community care' free of the institution? What has the institution (of old) become?
I suppose the other side to this is that you are not on the outside. Instead of pushed into the nooks and recesses of individual minds, we need positive mental health to be pushed into the open. The community, the commons, society. We need an infusion of insight to combat stigma and a misalignment - holistic asymmetry - in physical and mental health education and delivery.
Matthew:
As you probably gathered, the direction that I'm coming from is that of personally managed mental health care records. Here are some of the websites that I'm using as guides:
http://www.media.mit.edu/research/groups/1465/collaborhythm
http://indivohealth.org/
http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/
PJ:
These website are well worth knowing about - thanks very much. I'll explore them in more depth. Making enquiries (seeking guidance) on my research aims it was suggested to me just before Christmas (c/o Wolverhampton University) that my work seems to be more about ontology than a literature search. I've realised this for quite a while. Key attractions of Drupal include its RDF functionality and the examples provided by specific modules such as Neologism.
Matthew:
I'm currently building an ontology for mental health (from a virtual world perspective) using OBO edit http://oboedit.org . My objective is to embed the ontology in a Drupal website http://www.playsthething.org.uk/ that also exists to promote a conference on well-being.
PJ:
I'm clear that I'm not about to create a mental health record system, truly fascinating a project as that may be (especially in some sectors). There are proprietary and open source solutions out there. I'm also aware of problems with the uptake of Google's, the NHS's and Microsoft's respective attempts to engage with the self-maintained and managed e-record. Drupal's appeal for me also lies in e-learning and using Drupal educationally.
If you've a specific objective in mind Matthew then that immediately cuts through my concerns and that's excellent. I'm lost in my own bag of potential users and requirements. The thought of embedding a health ontology into Drupal is an exciting prospect. I wonder if there is a basic ontology that could fit with h2cm (as one or more conceptual spaces)?
Matthew:
I've been asked to guest edit a section of ArtsProfessional magazine, coming out in May, that will be focused on arts and well-being. I'm going to use it as the opportunity for launching the 'Moonshot for Mental Health' that I touched on at the Cambridge Drupal conference.
If you'd like to write something for the magazine/website on the theme of arts and well-being (and why we need a moonshot for mental health) then just let me know. I can let you know more if you'd like to follow this up.
PJ:
I really would like to contribute, so although I work full-time please do f/w more details.
Last summer in Warrington at Disability Awareness Day (DAD) (July 15 for 2012) I came across Reflections. Specific examples of art were also displayed at this event at Walton Park by 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and others. There is so much more that the arts can offer in mental health and the residential care / nursing home sector.
Matthew:
I'd be delighted if you were able to promote a Drupal/MH meeting. I'll start putting something together. Let me know if you have any ideas.
PJ:
I will and would be pleased to assist. There may be scope for a venue in the NW - I could make enquiries at least. There is always Munich and the European Drupalcon this summer!
Thanks for getting in touch Matthew. Lovely to share and talk shop with you and Beatrice also. I hope we can meet again.
(I'll add your sites to the arts listing on Links III too.)
Matthew Taylor - Director - Escape Artists
Studio 24, 7-15 Greatorex St, London, E1 5NF
EscapeArtists.co.uk | Support our Work
Studio 24, 7-15 Greatorex St, London, E1 5NF
EscapeArtists.co.uk | Support our Work
Escape Artists promotes mental wellbeing through the arts. The charity works across sectors and art forms with homeless people, mental health care service users, young people at risk, prisoners and other disadvantaged groups: providing structured routes into further education, training and employment.
Registered Charity Number 1086004 | Company Limited by Guarantee 4041776
Join us on SANe - The Social Arts NEtwork
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