Abstract
USING A CUSTOM DESIGNED HYPERCARD PROGRAM, 26 undergraduate students at Iowa mastered the computer skills and research techniques to collaborate in creating their own “interpreter’s annotated edition ofParadise Lost.≓ The annotator program coordinates Milton’s primary text with an outline of narrative structure and commentary consisting of text, graphic imagery, or voice. Shaped on the model of a book, the student-made edition also presents introductory material written and edited by themselves. The basic HyperCard annotator can also be used by teachers to focus the tasks and motivate the learning process involved in mastering other kinds of texts, e.g., journal articles for students in biomedical research, play scripts for theater majors, etc. To use these technical resources successfully in a college context, however, teachers should be mindful of basic computer skills to be mastered, learning tasks to be defined, the social dynamics of collaborative, creative work, and fresh ways to involve students in setting standards of quality and in applying those standard to their own efforts.
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Notes
With gratitude I acknowledge the source of this facility. A dozen Macs, sufficient printers, and the local area network were given to the English Department by The Apple Corporation three years ago for the primary use of writers, writing instructors, and students of literature. The gift was matched by the University; the facility is maintained by the Weeg Academic Computing Center.
Send me a self-addressed envelope and $3.00 (for 3 diskettes and postage). Text and graphics will expand to 2.3 megabytes. Running the program requires HyperCard 2.0 (or higher), a Mac SE, SE/30, or faster machine with at least 2 megs of RAM, and harddisk storage. I will include directions for loading and operating the program.
For more detail, see John M. Slatin, “Reading Hypertext: Order and Coherence in a New Medium,≓College English, 52 (1990), 870–83.
The program was designed from scratch by Joan Huntley, Director of the Multi-Media Studio at the Weeg Computing Center of the University. It was coded by Todd Papke who, fired by enthusiasm, kept adding nifty features. Using insights gained from early users, the Multi-Media Studio is now building a more complex, generic “Annotator≓ that can handle stillor motion-picture illustrations, high fidelity voice or musical sound, or formatted text annotations to the sequence of any primary text. For more information, write to The Second Look Multi-Media Studio, c/o WCC, Lindquist Center, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242.
The MacSE’s monitor provides only 1-bit contrasts; a pixel must be either black or white, no grey scale, no color. Consequently, many of Doré’s prints turn out very “contrasty.≓ A process called “dithering≓ compensates a little, but still these remain token pictures, not true sources of visual enjoyment. Computers with 24-bit color and high resolution monitors can reproduce very attractive scans; in the near future affordable computers will provide photographic accuracy.
For those interested, I can add some technical details. Very few persons actually tried to compose their notes on the Annotator; it was easier to write with the word-processor, edit for clarity and accuracy, then copy and paste the text into the stack. As it imports text, HyperCard automatically reformats to fit the space assigned; and since the space is a scrolling field, up 32000 characters can be packed into a note. For graphics, we used a flat-bed scanner to create MacPaint images which we then imported, one by one, into a separate HyperCard stack called “PLPics.≓ Each graphic bore the name of the book and line number it concerned. Finally, from the Annotator we selected the proper image and established the link. Once this was done, clicking the marked word inPL brings up the image from the accompanying stack. When students want to add a voice note, the annotator first shows a testing window that lets readers set a voice level and estimate required reading time. For the “take,≓ the Annotator runs a 30-second thermometer so readers know how much time is left. Again, the 30-second limit is temporary, technical, and (for the moment) practical. Digitized voice consumes memory voraciously. Many predict that within a few years, however, cheaper, faster memory will make make these limitations feel like travel by Model T down muddy lanes.
“Well, Mr. Dryden,≓ Milton once said to his young, ambitious friend, “it seems you have a mind to tag my points [into the riming verse ofThe Age of Innocence] and you have my leave to tag them. But some of them are so awkward and old-fashioned that I think you had as good leave them as you found them.≓
The Sense of an Ending: Studies in the Theory of Fiction, London, Oxford University Press, 1966.
“The Judgment and Public Measure of Value in Academic Contexts,≓ (1986).The Journal of General Education, 37(4), 280–312.
Andrew Pollack, “The Computer Age: Still a Work in Progress,≓The New York Times, Sunday, 11 August 1991, Section 4, p. 1.4.
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Huntley, J. Teaching Milton by computer. J. Comput. High. Educ. 3, 62–84 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02942598
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02942598